A younggun

"Joseph, I have a very serious question to ask you," Hugo stopped his steps and looked at Joseph with a frown. Joseph looked at Hugo's serious eyes and nodded slightly. Then Hugo continued to ask, "Did I steal George's girlfriend? Or, did I have any conflict with one of his relatives?"

Hugo asked such a funny question with such seriousness that Joseph's expressionless face twitched a bit. "No, you don't know him, and there's no overlap between you two," Joseph replied. After a moment of thought, he added, "As far as I know, that's the case. As for things you didn't tell me, I don't know." Joseph and Hugo's relationship could only be considered as work partners, not even friends. But ever since Hugo was kicked out of Tracey's house and moved into Joseph's terrible house, their relationship had improved significantly.

Hugo pursed his lips slightly and pointed to his head, "Then I'm pretty sure he's not fully developed up here."

"He's just jealous," Joseph said simply. Although Hugo made a name for himself in the Golden Raspberry Awards, the media attention on him has indeed made many new actors envious and jealous. Even though Hugo won the award for Worst Actor, he was still able to stay active in newspapers and magazines thanks to his popularity, which was something that new actors dream of.

For new actors, they want to get opportunities, they want to win exposure, and they will spare no effort to do so. If they could land a magazine cover by sleeping with the editor, countless new actors would be willing to do it.

Hugo pondered for a few seconds, then smiled and said, "If they want to, I don't mind switching with them." Although he spoke with a smile, there was a hint of bitterness in his tone, like the steam rising from a hot cup of coffee in the afternoon.

If he had a choice, Hugo would rather go back in time and become an unknown actor like George or William, maybe then he would face fewer difficulties. Of course, if he had a choice, he would prefer not to go back at all as he began to miss his former teammates from Glory or Death.

Joseph sensed the unusual tone in Hugo's words, but he did not understand it since, for him, Hugo's current situation was entirely of his own making. Although Joseph had also reviewed and agreed to shoot "Desperate Hours", "The Adventures Of Ford Fairlane" and "Hudson Hawk", the one who really took the lead was Tracey, or in other words, decisions made by Hugo himself. Therefore, Joseph could only assume that Hugo was regretting his past behavior, and there was no other explanation.

Hugo's thoughts in his mind were only briefly tangled, and soon he regained his composure and looked at the increasingly lively crowd around him. "There are so many people participating in the interview today." In the endless sea of people in front of him, whether it was George, William, or Hugo himself, they could only be considered as one of them, so small that they were hardly worth mentioning. "So, when will my audition start?"

Hugo brought the conversation back to the core issue, and Joseph's attention also shifted. "There is a reception room ahead, we can go there now and wait inside."

Due to the special nature of the role of Charlie in "Scent of a Woman", the production crew conducted an open audition, aiming to attract more young people with little acting experience to join, hoping to find actors who fit Charlie's temperament. This also made the number of new actors participating in the audition particularly high today, but even so, many young actors with an acting experience like Hugo from the second and third tier came to the scene, because the chance to act opposite Al Pacino was not a common occurrence.

Compared to new actors, Hugo's advantage of having a broker was an unreachable advantage. At least he didn't have to wait here continuously and could enter the reception room first to have the audition.

It was said to be a reception room, but it was actually just a shed built with plywood, with three walls forming an empty space. The front was empty, allowing a clear view of the noisy scene inside the photo studio. As Hugo walked into the reception room and sat down on the sofa, he had the feeling that he was stepping onto a stage. He could have been a performer in a sketch or a musical, and the people outside were the audience. Fortunately, there were no spotlights here, or Hugo wouldn't have known what to say.

There were less than ten people sitting in the reception room at the moment, and it seemed that these were the first batch of actors to audition. Hugo nodded politely at the others, although they were all unfamiliar faces. Who knew if he had met them before he crossed over? And in the entertainment industry, having one more friend was always more cost-effective than having one more enemy.

Hugo's gaze finally settled on the young man to his right, who had long golden hair, delicate eyebrows, deep blue eyes, rosy lips, cute freckles, and thin shoulders. He looked exactly like in "Growing Pains" a smart and witty teenage boy, with a youthful and vibrant look. Although the young man still had a childish air and a creamy aroma, Hugo was very sure that he would not mistake this man for anyone else - Leonardo DiCaprio.

This heartthrob, who became famous worldwide through "Titanic", was still an eighteen-year-old boy at the time. He gained a lot of popularity through his performance in "Growing Pains" and began to gradually seek his position on the movie screen. Obviously, Leonardo was also here to audition for "Scent of a Woman" today, even though his temperament was more like that of a teenager than a college student, and his age didn't seem to be a perfect match. But wasn't the purpose of an audition to find the most suitable actor from all kinds of performers?

Hugo knew that his current expression must look foolish. After admonishing himself not to act like a crazed fan after meeting Brad Pitt and Charlize Theron, he still couldn't believe the absurd feeling that overwhelmed him when he saw Leonardo.

Just imagine, the male lead of "Titanic" and "Inception" whom he had seen numerous times before, was standing in front of him. This feeling was truly magical. If it had been the female lead of "Avatar" he probably wouldn't have had any special thoughts because her makeup and special effects made it hard to recognize her. But the person in front of him was Leonardo DiCaprio, and the absurd feeling of being speechless was all too real.

Just a moment ago, Hugo was still thinking that if he didn't time travel, he could continue to work with members of the band Glory or Death. But in the next moment, he deeply felt how full of surprises life could be.

Thinking about this, a smile involuntarily appeared on Hugo's lips, not only because of his own loss of composure but also because of the incredible nature of it all. Even though he had time-traveled for over a week now, this magical feeling continued to impact his brain.

"What's wrong?" Leonardo looked up and saw Hugo's self-deprecating smile, and couldn't help but curve his lips upward to the right, "Is there something wrong with me?"

"Oh, no." Hugo's smile blossomed and he waved his hand lightly. He couldn't say, "Hey, I've really watched your "Titanic" and "Inception" many, many times" so he just added, "I'm just thinking that the competition today is really fierce, it's not easy to win this role."

"Yeah, with so many people here, it's really crazy." Leonardo cast his gaze outside the reception room at the surging crowd, and echoed. However, there was no worry between his eyebrows, but rather the exuberance and confidence of youth. "I just hope the audition will end soon so I can leave here early." After speaking, Leonardo even rolled his eyes expressively, conveying his impatience.

Compared to the middle-aged Leonardo that Hugo was familiar with, the youthful boy in front of him was obviously much more lively. This vivid expression made Hugo find it really amusing.

"I didn't expect to meet you here. I thought you wouldn't take a role unless you were the main character," Leonardo expressed his opinion bluntly without considering Hugo's feelings. However, his tone was sincere without any mocking tone, making it sound like friendly banter.

Hugo shrugged, "I have to compromise since I can't afford the rent, right?" This ambiguous joke made Leonardo burst out laughing.

Then Leonardo reached out his right hand, "Leonardo DiCaprio, nice to meet you."

"I know you, "Growing Pains"," Hugo also reached out his right hand. The two held each other's hands tightly and smiled brightly, "Hugo Lancaster."

"Yes, "Hudson Hawk" plus a Golden Raspberry Award," Leonardo didn't avoid any topics and spoke directly with a lively tone that had a hint of teasing, which made Hugo laugh as well. "You know, my name comes from Leonardo da Vinci. Are you also named after someone?"

" "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" was my mother's favorite novel,"Hugo said here referring to the novel by the great writer Victor Hugo. This was the name decided upon by Chen Yuguo's parents after a deep discussion together - as for how Hugo Lancaster's name came about, he didn't know. "I must be grateful that my name is not Quasimodo," referring to the name of Notre-Dame hunchback. This passage was clearly just a casual joke by Hugo.

Leonardo couldn't help but burst out laughing, "What if I called myself Mona Lisa?" Now both of them couldn't control their laughter and were holding their stomachs.

Perhaps the two of them laughed too loudly, as a voice came from nearby, "Shh! Please be quiet, I'm reading the script!"

This made Hugo and Leonardo both hold back their laughter, but at that moment, a series of applause and laughter could be heard from outside the reception room, even reverberating in the studio. Obviously, this open reception room couldn't stop the noise in the entire studio. In an instant, Hugo could see the man who had spoken earlier with a blackened face. "Splat..." Hugo and Leonardo looked at each other and smiled, but this time they remembered to cover their mouths.