From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Quiet, restrained, looking at each other—

Improvisational performance was still full of challenges for these beginners, but somewhat surprisingly, many students' eyes sparkled with eagerness, wanting to try even if they weren't good at it.

So, Ansen raised his hand.

He wasn't sure if he could do it, and even regretted it the moment he raised his hand. His palms were sweating, his heart was racing, and the emotions of nervousness and excitement intertwined and exploded, but he still stood up and jumped twice.

He was gradually awakening the reckless, bold, and unruly self from his previous life before the age of twenty-five, otherwise wouldn't he be wasting the opportunity of a second life?

Then.

Another figure also stood up, entering his sight. The smile on the corner of Ansen's mouth gently curved upwards, without tension, without shrinking back, and without restraint. Instead, there was a kind of heroic spirit and pride quietly swelling in his chest.

Jake Gyllenhaal.

Although it was just an introductory acting class, and it was the twenty-year-old, green version of Jake, being able to act with Jake was also a rare experience.

Ansen was even more looking forward to it.

Jake still seemed a little shy, with a bashful smile on his lips, his shoulders slightly hunched. Even standing up, he still looked uncertain, but upon closer observation, one could notice that his steps forward were not hesitant.

The teacher looked at Ansen, then at Jake—

He didn't know their names at all, but that didn't matter.

For beginner students, don't be burdened. Enjoying the process is more important.

Then, the teacher looked at Jake.

"You raised your hand later, so we will use the former as the core and you as the driving force to develop this scenario. Note that this is just a scenario, focusing on the flow of emotions, the outburst of emotions, immersion, and feeling."

"I..."

The teacher looked into Jake's eyes, reminding him that the main content of the scenario was coming up.

Not just Jake, not just Ansen, the entire room fell silent, as if one could hear the sound of hearts hitting chests, stirring up echoes.

Ansen didn't have time to pay attention to others, completely focusing on himself, clearing his mind, like a blank sheet of paper, waiting for pencils and paints to splash lines and colors, slowly raising his eyes, looking at Jake, looking for the resonance of the aura between the characters, trying to find similar frequencies to each other—

Just like the dance game before.

"I know the real killer who murdered my parents. That person is my uncle."

At the end of the sentence, the teacher looked at Ansen and raised his hand to signal.

Ansen was the uncle.

Such a melodramatic and dramatic scenario, but there was no sound in the room, everyone held their breath, their attention completely focused.

Ansen instead lowered his gaze, no longer communicating with Jake, all thoughts and emotions settling down, feeling the tug of emotions—

Uncle, in English, the brothers of the father and the brothers of the mother are all unified with one term, so is he on the father's side or the mother's side?

At this time, in just a short moment, there was no time to think about the criminal motive. The only thought in his mind was a pure emotion.

When he personally killed his own close relative, what was his emotion? Anger? Guilt? Cruelty? Sadness? Relief?

Different emotions often represent different motives and completely different stories. Maybe he was a victim forced to fight back and kill his own close relative; maybe he was addicted to gambling and had no way out, choosing destruction; maybe he was purely impulsive and committed a crime, his brain dominated by anger and passion…

Thousands of thoughts and emotions surged in his brain, erupting in an instant.

The teacher's words did not stop, "So, the first line is, 'Uncle, how could you…'"

A line, also an entry point.

Seemingly unremarkable lines can produce completely different emotions, perhaps angry questions, perhaps shouts of betrayal, perhaps unbelievable confirmation. These different emotions will also define the relationship in the story background of the two characters. Are they close or distant?

And so on.

The biggest feature of improvisational performance lies here. A simple background, like a blank sheet of paper, can be used to freely unfold the painting, and different lines, different colors, and different frameworks will present different possibilities.

Huff.

Ansen gently exhaled, instead putting aside and clearing all emotions. This scene is not a monologue, but a partner. He needs to feel the other person's emotions, give feedback, and form a collision between you and me.

Only tension can be formed.

Then, he raised his head and looked at Jake.

Jake took half a step forward but then braked suddenly, using all his strength to control himself. The tense muscles could sense the surge of emotions, "Uncle…"

Those eyes, so angry, with despair and pain mixed in with the anger, seemed unable to accept reality for a while.

Ansen did not avoid it, looking directly into Jake's eyes, "Oh, sorry."

Calm, indifferent, understated, as if apologizing for accidentally stepping on his foot just now, thus easily erasing all sins.

Heh.

Everyone in the room held their breath, completely unprepared for Ansen's choice of response, so indifferent and cold-blooded that it made people shudder.

Jake was the same, unable to believe his ears, "Get out of here."

Unexpectedly, Ansen took the initiative in such a way, so he grasped the initiative in the next plot and emotional direction of the play, and Jake had to follow Ansen's "instructions" to react.

Ansen gently raised his eyebrows, "I didn't want to either. But recently, your father and I have been arguing, we don't want things to develop like this, but we didn't leave each other room to turn around."

"Either him, or me."

Cold, contemptuous, indifferent.

Not only did he not have guilt or sadness, but he also had a matter-of-fact calmness.

Jake was instantly enraged, "Shut up!"

Emotions, erupting in an instant.

Jake also realized that Ansen now completely controlled the initiative of the play. He needed to break the balance and break the deadlock in order to reverse the passive situation.

But, what should he do?

Jake followed the emotional thread of anger, took a step forward, grabbed Ansen's T-shirt collar, and roared, "So, we are in the same predicament now, right? Either you, or me, so the next step is for me to kill you, right?"

"Ah!"

Aggressive and intimidating.

Although Jake was a little older, he was slightly shorter than Ansen, and he was now in a passive position due to the difference in height, but he was not afraid at all.

One step forward, those big eyes burst out with a raging flame, overwhelmingly rushing towards Ansen.

Then, losing control—

"I'm going to kill you."

A push, a throw, Jake just threw Ansen out like that.

Fourth chapter.