A madman

"Good morning, Heath Ledger! You're here so early again today!" The middle-aged woman sitting at the front desk beamed with a big smile. Her slightly chubby cheeks carried a hint of pleasing meaning. "You should find a personal agent. It's much better than always searching for opportunities in the union."

After saying that, she continued, "I have several agents' phone numbers here. Do you need to contact them?"

Heath Ledger shook his head politely and replied, "No, thank you. I haven't made up my mind about that yet. I'm not in a hurry for now." Then he smiled slightly and asked, "So, any news updates this week?"

Although it was just a small contact office of the Screen Actors Guild in New York, it still witnessed the various facets of life.

Thinking back to when he first arrived three years ago, no one cared about him like this. But in March of this year, the release of "A Knight's Tale" performed well at the box office, and as a result, his status as a supporting actor also rose significantly. Suddenly, he had many people reaching out to him.

Heath Ledger knew their intentions. They simply valued the market value brought by his participation in a successful movie. Although he still had no fame, he had made a name for himself in the film industry and had the potential to make connections.

"Take a look for yourself. The announcements have just been updated, but there aren't many suitable movies recruiting actors," sighed the middle-aged woman. "You've suffered from not having an agent. Movies like this, the good roles are mostly already taken by others. The options become limited when they're published by the Screen Actors Guild. But..." Her regretful tone couldn't be more obvious. She still wanted Heath Ledger, this newcomer, to sign with an agent through her channels so that she could earn a commission.

Heath Ledger didn't respond as if he didn't catch the meaning behind her words. He simply nodded and smiled politely, saying, "Thank you." After exchanging greetings, he quickly walked towards the location of the bulletin board.

Livy Mollison leaned slightly to get a glimpse of Heath Ledger's figure, lightly exhaling a breath. Was this person pretending not to understand or did he really not understand?

Before, although they would see each other, she didn't have a particularly good impression of Heath Ledger. The union received hundreds of unknown actors every day. Who would pay special attention to one person? But now it was different. Heath Ledger had participated in a movie and succeeded, yet he still didn't have an agent. Naturally, their attitude towards him changed. Hollywood always pursued successful individuals, even if it was the success of a minor actor, he would stand out among the extras.

"What a pity," Livy pouted, not concealing her disappointment. She didn't approve of this actor. Heath Ledger naturally didn't know Livy's opinion of him, and even if he did, he didn't care. He was now pondering while looking at the bulletin board.

The American film industry was a massive operating machine. Every year, thousands of projects were established, and about five to six hundred of them would directly enter production, which meant there were plenty of acting opportunities. Therefore, in the absence of an agent, the guild was the best platform for these small actors to find work.

After the release of "A Knight's Tale" in 2001, he hadn't received a suitable role for several months. Now, he would make time every week to visit the union, hoping to seize a good film production opportunity.

The actor announcements in 2001 were still written on old-fashioned blackboards with colorful chalk, displaying the latest information for various projects. For example, yellow indicated high-priority film and television productions with moderate or higher investments, while green represented newly updated projects, and so on, making it easy to understand at a glance.

Standing in front of the bulletin board, Heath Ledger skillfully searched for the information he needed on the colorful board. This had been his routine for the past three years.

Peter Jackson's film "The Lord of the Rings" was recruiting male extras above the age of 25, requiring a good physique. This information was marked in red, indicating the union's high importance. Heath Ledger glanced at it briefly but wasn't interested. He had already played roles with substance and didn't want to be an extra. Then he saw that Warner Bros. was hiring two supporting actors for "The Princess Diaries", with not much screen time, but he noted down the audition location. This was better than being an extra; it was worth paying attention to...

Each project listed on the board seemed tempting, open for actors from all over the United States to compete. This was one of Hollywood's most distinctive features. Unlike other regions that were conservative and narrow-minded, in the United States, although most of the good resources were still in the hands of those in the upper circles, there were still many rare opportunities that appeared regularly. Heath Ledger had come from his hometown in Australia seeking development precisely because he saw more opportunities here.

Even a grassroots person with nothing had the possibility of reaching new heights. Although he hadn't made a breakthrough after all these years, he had heard of many such people or stories, and they had been his source of motivation all along.

After carefully scanning the bulletin board, Heath Ledger found another movie project that interested him. In the bottom right corner of the large bulletin board, there was a message marked in white chalk. The movie was called "Buried" and was recruiting a male lead for an audition.

The use of white chalk indicated that it was a low-budget independent production with uncertain investment costs, investment companies, and distribution companies. Generally speaking, it was likely one of those independent movies with low investment costs. After all, as long as they followed the official channels and paid a fee, they could advertise their recruitment in the Screen Actors Guild. As a result, all sorts of situations could be encountered there.

Such labeled projects were known for being unreliable. Some couldn't be released after filming, some experienced production team bankruptcies during filming, and some had their pre-production projects canceled. In short, for actors making choices, it was like a gamble in a mystery box. The result was entirely uncertain. However, Heath Ledger was intrigued. After all, this was a leading role in a movie. As an actor, who wouldn't want to play the most important and prominent character?

Such opportunities were rare, perhaps encountered only a few times a year. Whether he could handle it was another matter, but if he didn't give it a try, he would always feel regretful.

Returning to the front desk, he asked Livy, "Do you have more detailed information about the movie "Buried" on the bulletin board? I'd like to know more about it."

"The one written in white chalk?" Livy was a bit puzzled but had some impression of the name.

"Yes, that's the one."

"I'll see if I can find it." Saying that, Livy bent down and took out a large stack of reports from a drawer. These were the originals she used to mark the information on the bulletin board every day. "Found it. It says here that it's a movie invested by Mann Studios. The investment budget and production schedule aren't listed. It only mentions the director and the audition location. I don't know anything else."

Upon hearing this, Heath Ledger felt a bit disappointed. He had hoped to get more useful information from Livy, but it turned out to be no different from the limited information posted on the bulletin board.

"You're not thinking of taking this movie, are you?" Looking at Heath Ledger's expression, Livy kindly advised, "These kinds of movies are mostly dreams of inexperienced directors who rely on a bit of funding to try to become famous based on their talent. The chances of even getting a release are slim. It's better not to waste your time."

"I still want to give it a try," Heath Ledger responded.

"But this requires going to Cannes in France for the audition. They haven't indicated that they'll reimburse travel expenses. It looks like a trap. You don't want to spend money and come back with nothing," Livy, who still cared about him, continued to advise.

"Thank you for your concern, but I still want to try," Heath Ledger politely smiled, bid farewell, and left the New York branch of the Screen Actors Guild.

"He's just naive. No wonder he can't understand the implications," Livy muttered to herself.

Choosing "Buried" was undoubtedly a risky move. Even Livy, who had been announcing project information for years, said so. It was clear that the lack of production background made people very pessimistic about it. But Heath Ledger still wanted to take a gamble.

Ever since he embarked on the path of an actor, he had always dreamed of playing the lead role. Now the opportunity had come, and even though the path ahead was unknown, he still wanted to try. It didn't matter if there was no script, if he didn't know the basic shooting conditions, or if he couldn't judge the quality of the work. He just wanted to play the lead role.

Even if the pay was low or nonexistent, even if the movie was unlikely to be released, Heath Ledger was mentally prepared. He was already 22 years old, and after three years of playing extras, he had only exchanged it for a supporting role. Who knew how long he would have to wait to play an important role in a reliable project? He was tired of those days of waiting desperately without any opportunities.

Didn't Heath understand the benefits of having an agent? No, he did. That's why he wanted to sign with a powerful talent agency rather than settle for a moderately connected agent. Besides incurring additional expenses, what prospects could they offer him? What choices would they provide? He was not an ignorant newcomer. He was aware of the harshness of the industry, which is why he needed a strong backing instead of a struggling agent similar to himself.

To bring about change, he had to prove himself. If success in supporting roles couldn't impress the bigwigs, then he would try as a lead. That's what Heath Ledger was considering.

For his lifelong dream of being an actor...