The Greatest Showman

 Chapter 12 - Finalizing the decision

It was late in the evening in New York, but the brightly lit island of Manhattan showed no signs of silence, and the noise and bustle in the air made the summer's restlessness more and more rampant, with groups of young people enjoying the recklessness and exuberance of youth on the streets.

Pushing open the side door, Renly took the lead and walked out into the street, then pulled the door handle and waited for both Tom and Steven to come out before closing the door again, "Sorry, the lounge is full, and I'm not sure you guys are used to talking on the street, so I hope this isn't too out of line."

Renly's humble and courteous yet funny remarks managed to get Tom to laugh lightly, "It's not the point whether I don't mind, as long as you don't mind it, it is fine."

The tail of Renly's eyebrows gently rose upward, "I thought this conversation was due to my brief absence just now, resulting in you being less than satisfied with the service. But now it seems that my conjecture seems to be wrong."

Tom chuckled a couple of times and turned to look at Steven, handing over the initiative of the conversation.

"Ahem." Steven cleared his throat and drew Renly's attention, "We wanted to formally extend an invitation in person, to tell you the news and welcome you as a part of the "The Pacific" crew." Since the decision has been made, Steven did not hesitate to reveal his intention.

However, his words contain a concealed message, lightly conveying their formality and respect, as if giving Renly the highest treatment - two of the top gods of the Hollywood pyramid appeared in person, which is indeed the glory for any actor. Without even thinking about it, it made Renly grateful and probably no newcomer would not be moved by it.

If Renly had not lived two lives and witnessed the different kind of emotions of people, it would have been difficult to be immune at this point; but Renly knew that Tom and Steven had obviously not come specifically for their sake - there had been a small misunderstanding between the two sides when they ordered the food, and just in the past few hours, there was no telling what accident had happened to make them change their minds. But that didn't matter to Renly, what mattered was that he got the role!

The ecstasy swept through him like a tornado from the bottom of his feet to the top of his head, and the tingling sensation set off waves in his veins.

He did it, he really did it, he really won the first role in his life with his strength, he really took the path of an actor! After being reborn, all the hesitation, all the confusion, all the uncertainty, at this moment all dissipated, his efforts, his persistence, his struggle finally paid off. Although this is only a small step, but it is the first time since he was born in two lives, he really achieved his goal according to his own desire, the joy is really surging too much, so much so that it is a little out of control.

Clenching his fist, and then clenching it again, the tightly contracted fist held all the exuberance, excitement, celebration, joy and happiness securely in his hand.

"You mean it?" Renly's voice couldn't help but tremble a little, and he coughed wolfishly and lightly twice, "I thought I'd have to keep waiting for news."

Steven shrugged, "Now it's just an early message, the next two days, the news will be communicated to each actor's agent one after another, you just wait to enter the cast."

"Uh ...... I don't have an agent at the moment." Renly arrived in New York just a little less than three months ago, and is slowly familiarizing himself with life here.

Although there were four or five agents who contacted him during his off-Broadway participation, in Renly's opinion, two were frauds, two were just a bunch of smattering but had no real strength, and only one seemed okay, so he was in no hurry for the time being. An important partner like an agent is better to have than to be without.

"The Pacific" was an open audition, they released the recruitment information in the American Actors Union, as long as you meet the conditions you could participate. This was Renly's first official audition, and although it was only a TV series, not a movie, it was a rare opportunity; Renly also wanted to test the waters and at least understand how the movie industry works.

So, when he was told to "wait for notification" at the end of the afternoon audition, he was a little disappointed, but not too depressed. He didn't expect that things would take a turn for the better now.

"No agent? Don't worry, the Actors Union will send you an agent." Steven waved his hand, new actors without an agent is a very common situation, the United States entertainment industry has developed a mature, natural corresponding solutions, "we will contact the Actors Union directly, then they will send an agent to help you deal with follow-up matters."

"If you have a request for a fee, you can mention it to the public agent assigned to you by the Actors Union, and then we will discuss it." Standing beside, Tom suddenly supplemented to their instructions as Steven glanced at Tom, with a speechless look in his eyes, which made Renly smile.

Tom is the president of the Screen Actors Guild, constantly campaigning for the interests of actors, and is highly respected among actors. This is where Tom and Steven, who is a producer, are very different.

"I believe HBO will give me a reasonable number." The two bigwigs once again looked sideways and then couldn't help but show a hint of laughter.

As a new actor, Renly doesn't have much leverage in terms of getting paid; what's more, "The Pacific" is the first official on-camera performance for Renly, and acting should be the focus of his attention.

After informing Renly that he got the job, Steven turned around and was ready to leave, but after a moment's hesitation, he asked again in passing, "Did you have a role you'd like to play when you participated in the audition this afternoon?"

The American Actors Union recruitment information, for the four core roles had a brief introduction, to help narrow down the choice for actors. However, Eugene, who was decided in advance, was not listed among the roles. Steven was simply curious as to which role had prompted Renly to choose the afternoon performance.

"No." Renly's answer was unexpected, "I just wanted to give it a try. However, the segments I had prepared in advance were not used." The latter words did not continue, and Renly just looked at Tom, which was obvious at a glance.

Tom shrugged innocently and expressed his innocence, "Don't worry, you'll definitely have use for it later."

Steven paused for a moment, and then sighed with relief. Perhaps, this is fate, one after another accident, resulting in the replacement of the designated Joseph, by Renly to fill in for the role. In that case, we will see where fate will guide them to in the end. At this moment, Steven has completely accepted the fact that Renly was cast as Eugene.

So, which role did I end up with?" Renly curiously asked them.

Tom and Steven exchanged a look, and finally Steven gave the answer, "Eugene."

Renly secretly clenched his fist, adrenaline bursting out from the difficult challenge and exciting opportunity, there is no doubt that Eugene is the most difficult role to perform in  "The Pacific" series, which also means that Renly's first real-life battle will be a serious test. But he was not the least bit timid, not even nervous, you could even see exuberant emotions like fireworks in the depths of his pupils.

After sending Tom and Steven off, Renly returned to the backstage of the bar, Jason's performance had ended, and Jason came off the stage to communicate with the audience up close, the scene was not overcrowded, this kind of happy atmosphere was something special.

Stanley, who constantly paid attention to the movement of the door, was the first to spot Renly, and took three steps to greet him, but before he could say anything, Neil sprinted over and asked first, "How did it go? What did they want from you?"

Renly on purpose didn't answer them immediately, looking at Neil and Stanley, the two people could not help but hold their breath, their body movements stopped instantly, then Renly said, "I got the role."

A simple phrase, but as heavy as a thousand pounds. The two people in front of him froze, and then Neil threw back his head and laughed, "Haha, I knew it, I knew it!" Neil jumped up and down straight away, his mouth yelling, "Count on them to have a good eye! I knew it!"

Stanley didn't lose his cool, but did put on a big smile and gave Renly a big hug, "Congratulations, congratulations! Although I knew it was only a matter of time before you became a top star, I didn't think it would all come so quickly."

 Renly was dumbfounded, "Isn't it too early to say that? You should know that there are more then a eighty thousand second-tier actors in the United States who can't find work. Not to mention, I haven't even touched the edge of the third tier." Thanks to these months of off-Broadway performances, he can barely be considered an eleventh- or twelfth-tier amateur actor.

Such a witty tone made Stanley smile broader than ever, "I'm already worried now that I won't be able to find such great cheap labor in the future. You must know that every time you come on stage to save the day, the reaction of the live audience is extraordinarily outstanding, and even more popular than many professional musicians."

"That's because they all know my face." Renly said smilingly.

Stanley, however, didn't buy it at all, "I'm serious. I know that you are only playing around with music and that acting is what drives you. But believe me, you're a great performer." Stanley was serious for once and said with a straight face, "To make up for the loss of the bar, you should record all those songs as singles and give me all the proceeds."

"Haha." Renly was amused, his mind could not help but recall the words of Tom before leaving, "Thank you for the performance just now, I have not experienced in a long time a really genuine music", then Tom asked the name of the song, repeating it twice in a low voice, he then turned to leave.

"You can cross your fingers and pray silently, and maybe someday in the future it will come true." Renly said jokingly, the words clearly not serious, causing Stanley to be speechless for a moment, pointing to the busy scene in the bar, and Neil, who was sharing Renly's good news with the other waiters, "I should go help out a bit, if we still want to get off work on time."

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T/N - If you notice any mistake please write it down in the comments and I am going to fix it when I can. Enjoy the chapter:)