First glimpse

Hugo's performance was so amazing that even the on-site staff couldn't help but praise him. Not only did this newly crowned Golden Raspberry Award winner for Worst Actor explode with incredible energy, presenting a classic play that uses softness to overcome strength, but also because Hugo displayed extraordinary acting skills that stunned everyone.

In this scene, Al's performance was also at the apex, fully releasing the pain and conflict in the Colonel's heart, making it more profound than in the previous scenes. However, it was exactly the type of play that Al was best at, and he was able to fully display his strengths. Hugo was not afraid of Al's performance and vividly portrayed Charlie's psychological transformation in facing the Colonel, from absolute weakness to taking a firm stand, to overcoming his weaknesses and mastering the situation, and finally achieving a reversal, all of which were perfectly demonstrated by Hugo in just four minutes.

It had to be said that Hugo and Al's performance just now was absolutely stunning.

Moreover, Hugo's portrayal of Charlie was so delicate and true. The fear of death, the fragility in front of the Colonel, and the worry about the future were all clearly visible in his amber eyes. The slightly trembling lips also revealed his youthfulness and fear, but the strong and resolute words burst out with infinite sparks. The extreme contradictions were merged into this four-minute performance, presenting Charlie's character of honesty, kindness, weakness, principles, and beauty in an exhaustive manner.

This time, Hugo's performance not only showed his youthfulness and impulsiveness, but also his talent and professionalism as an actor. He was truly admirable.

Facing a veteran actor like Al, Hugo devoted himself to this brilliant performance, and the two actors fully displayed their passion, giving the characters infinite vitality and making the sparks of this scene light up like fireworks.

Martin's happy expression directly expressed his true thoughts, and Al, who had exhausted himself in the performance, looked at Hugo with satisfaction. In this scene, Al also exerted all his efforts to release himself. This was the first time he had such a feeling since the filming of "Scent of a Woman": the pleasure of encountering a worthy opponent, which allowed Al to let go and immerse himself in the performance. Hugo's talent was completely verified in this scene.

The staff members who had been questioning Hugo's ability just five minutes ago now shut their mouths and had to rub their chins to avoid dislocation caused by their excessive surprise. Hugo's performance was so amazing, perfect, and breathtakingly stunning.

Razzies for Worst Actor? That was just an entertainment award for the masses. The brilliant performance by Hugo, who was like a graceful swan, was the real deal. Even though he had experienced three consecutive failures in his previous works, Hugo still proved with his talent that the excellence in "Dead Poets Society" and all of his previous works were not just a flash in the pan. Hugo's acting talent still shone brightly.

Hugo's actual performance silenced all the doubts of the staff on the scene, and they were willing to believe that when the movie was released, many people would be amazed, including the journalist Nicolas who had just visited the crew not long ago.

The staff members who complained about Hugo just now were feeling ashamed of their idle talk. From the exchange of eyes between colleagues, they could all see the "amazement". Quietly, they seemed to have formed an alliance because they remembered the media and the audience's lack of confidence in Hugo now. Whenever they thought of the future release of "Scent of a Woman", they would also experience the same situation they just went through - embarrassed, awkward, and incredulous, but at the same time, they would also be amazed, surprised, and speechless. This mixed feeling was truly indescribable.

Thinking of this, the joy in the hearts of these staff members couldn't be restrained so it just exploded.

But at this moment, Hugo had no time to care about the people and things around him. He was carefully savoring the essence of the previous scene.

Just now, Hugo entered a perfect state of performance, just like the enlightenment in a martial arts novel. He suddenly entered a realm and perfectly displayed his strength, even reaching a level of strength that he could not normally peek into. Hugo was trying hard to savor this feeling, and only when he fully understood it, could his acting truly reach a new level.

Unfortunately, Hugo seemed to have grasped something but couldn't clearly feel it. Al's words, "Don't analyze acting, analyze the character." kept circling in his head. At the previous moment, this sentence was vividly blooming with infinite brilliance in his mind, but currently, Hugo was pondering hard: how should he grasp the essence of a character's life?

Every character has a story, which is inevitable. A director with a strong overall view can even come up with a lot of setups for a passerby so that the entire story has endless possibilities. However, it is not that easy to summarize a highlight from a character's life, combine it with oneself, and then display it through acting.

After Hugo came out of the state of enlightenment just now, he seemed to be infinitely close to the answer, but there was still a layer of window paper left. This made Hugo feel itchy and intolerable. He knew that once he broke through the window paper, his understanding of acting could be taken to the next level, allowing him to move beyond a state of mere imitation and become a true actor. But he just couldn't break through, which was a feeling that was both beautiful and unbearable.

However, Hugo soon became relieved. He realized that this was his first insight after becoming an actor in these five years, and it was achieved within less than a month after his transmigration. This was truly something to be happy about. Without transmigration, he would not have had the opportunity to star in "Scent of a Woman" or act opposite Al Pacino. He might have remained lost in the realm of imitators. Now, Hugo had already glimpsed the gateway to acting, which was truly something to celebrate, so there was no need to be discouraged.

Of course, the reason why Hugo was able to become so relieved so quickly was also because Martin did not give him too much time to reflect. Although the filming of this scene went very smoothly, Martin still had to shoot many more shots. Previously, the focus of this scene was on Charlie's shots, and Al had been helping with the supporting shots. Now, they needed to finish shooting all of Charlie's shots first, and then move on to the Colonel's shots, where it would be Hugo's turn to support Al.

Today's task was still very difficult.

Although the filming was very difficult, Hugo, who had found his feeling, was obviously able to control the situation, so filming was no longer the awkward situation it was at the beginning of the day. And Hugo had been constantly pondering his state after getting into character during the filming process. Opportunities to act opposite Al were rare, and opportunities to film a difficult and explosive scene like this were also rare. Hugo still wanted to seize this opportunity.

The crew had been filming from morning until night, and Martin finally called it a day, but Hugo had no intention of stopping. He followed Al and Martin, despite not being a smoker, to the balcony to chat. Some of the crew members had even planned to invite Hugo to dinner, but when they saw Hugo persistently asking Al various questions, they knew that Hugo was not willing to give up the opportunity to learn, so they could only admire Hugo's diligence and pack up the equipment and leave the luxury suite.

Joseph looked at Hugo like this and couldn't pretend to not be surprised, but with the groundwork laid over the past few weeks, he found it not too difficult to accept. After all, a change like this in Hugo was a good thing. If Hugo was willing to put in enough sweat, Joseph believed that with his talent, he would surely be able to carve out a place of his own in the field of acting. As Hugo's agent, his responsibilities were gradually increasing.

In the past year, Hugo had been in a state of depression due to the setback caused by "Hudson Hawk" and a series of unfortunate events, which had led Joseph to also become lazy. However, Joseph knew that things were different now, and he must take an active role in paving the way for Hugo.

After that, the "Scent of a Woman" crew stayed in New York for three days, followed by Long Island, and then headed towards Boston. After completing the filming there, they finally arrived in New Jersey to shoot the preparatory school scenes for the movie. In the preparatory school scenes, Hugo played the lead role of Charlie, which was not a difficult task for him after enduring a four-week-long test.

It's worth mentioning that the actor who played the important role of George in the movie was Philip Seymour Hoffman, who was the same age as Hugo. Philip was a trained actor who graduated from the drama program at New York University, but he only made his big-screen debut this year. "Scent of a Woman" was only his third work, and they were all supporting roles.

However, Philip's future acting career gradually grew into that of a powerhouse in Hollywood. His appearances in works such as "The Talented Mr. Ripley", "Magnolia", and "Mission: Impossible III" were easy to note, but it was "Capote" that made him an Oscar-winning actor. He was a character actor who excelled at incorporating his own feelings about real life into his roles, giving them complex and varied traits.

But at this early stage of his career, Philip's acting skills were not yet outstanding. He was a bit restless, exuding a youthful and inexperienced aura. His acting was even a bit greasy, but it gave Hugo a different kind of pleasure: watching a future successful actor's early, naive appearance was really interesting. The wonderful feeling was no less than acting opposite Al.