Star Beyond the River – The Audition
Creak—
In the darkened space, a door opened with a sound that raised the hairs on the back of the neck.
Click—
The lights came on, and a voice laced with a metallic rasp spoke.
"I told you last time not to do this. Why the hell are you waiting with the lights off?"
"Ah, sorry. I just prefer the dark…"
The man waved a hand as if the whole thing were a nuisance.
"Whatever. Tell Kim Gye-sik to come in."
"Yes, sir."
The man made a call somewhere, and soon another man opened the door and entered.
"You called for me."
"Ah, Manager Kim. Come sit down."
At the summons from the man in the seat of honor, Kim Gye-sik walked over quickly and sat before him.
"Among the guys we've set up, pick one of the suitable ones, tie him to drugs, and feed it to the press."
"How big a scale should we go for…?"
The man in the seat of honor stroked his chin, then spoke again in that metallic voice.
"There's that CEO Yoon's son."
"You mean Bongrim Construction?"
"No, not that one. The old man who builds ships."
"Ah, you mean Yoon Gwang-seon of Jeongyang Shipyard? That one's a daughter, though."
The man in the seat of honor frowned at that.
"It was a daughter? With the speeding hit-and-run, I figured it was a son. Anyway, we need to bury that incident."
"Yes, sir. I'll prepare something of that scale."
Three days later, the rescheduled audition day dawned.
Yeon-woo was riding in Min-su's car toward KBC. Team Leader Jeong Hyeok, who had already been waiting in the car, asked him,
"Actor, did you prepare well?"
"Auditions are my specialty."
Yeon-woo grinned as he answered.
"Right. You even charmed Director Park Chan-hong, after all. Still, Actor Jin Yu-han won't be an easy opponent."
"True. I looked up his work—he's good."
When they pulled into the broadcasting station parking lot, a station staff member who had been on the phone with Min-su approached to guide them.
As Yeon-woo's party crossed from the annex to the main building, fans waiting for idols coming in for a music show spotted Yeon-woo from afar.
"Holy crap. It's Ryu Yeon-woo!"
"Waaaah. Oppa!"
"No way. Look over here!"
Yeon-woo looked toward the voices and waved in greeting.
"This way, Actor."
Following the staff member who opened the main building door, they entered the waiting room off the hall, where Director Lee Sang-hun—who was directing Star Beyond the River—and Writer Kim Jin-ju were waiting.
"Ah, welcome. Mr. Ryu Yeon-woo. I'm Director Lee Sang-hun."
"Hello, Director."
Yeon-woo greeted the director and the writer in turn. Just then, the door opened and Jin Yu-han entered with entertainment company staff.
The production team welcomed Jin Yu-han, and once the greetings were finished, Jin Yu-han approached Ryu Yeon-woo. Ryu Yeon-woo extended his hand first.
"Nice to meet you. Looks like we'll be competing in good faith today."
"Yes. We met once at the awards ceremony. This role is just too appealing—I can't yield it."
Jin Yu-han smiled as he greeted him, but there seemed to be an invisible war of nerves underneath. Yeon-woo, on the other hand, seemed largely unbothered—more interested simply in meeting a peer actor.
Manager Han Yeong-ho whispered in Jin Yu-han's ear.
"He's not as ordinary as I thought. Not a flicker of change in his expression—didn't even get nervous?"
Jin Yu-han shrugged as if it didn't matter to him either.
"In the end, acting skill will decide the result."
He didn't doubt his own ability by so much as a speck.
Then Director Lee Sang-hun spoke.
"Well then, I think it would be better to proceed with the two of you separately. Would it be all right if we start with Mr. Jin Yu-han first?"
"Yes. I'm fine going first."
"I don't mind either."
Director Lee Sang-hun nodded.
"Then Mr. Ryu Yeon-woo, please wait here, and Mr. Jin Yu-han, let's head into the stage hall first."
Ryu Yeon-woo's party sat in the waiting room chairs, while Jin Yu-han's party entered the open hall with the stage. Team Leader Jeong Hyeok watched Jin Yu-han go in and said,
"He definitely has that actor presence."
"From where I'm standing, our Actor Ryu's presence is way more presence-y."
Min-su hyped Yeon-woo up, worried he might get discouraged.
"Well, of course. That's obvious."
Team Leader Jeong shot Min-su a look and hastily continued. Yeon-woo smiled watching the two of them.
About ten minutes later, Jin Yu-han's party came right back out. Their bright expressions suggested he had done well, just as prepared. Well—with a career carefully built from child acting spanning more than ten years, it would have been strange if he hadn't.
Meanwhile, inside the stage hall, the production team.
"Hmm. Definitely proven skill."
"Honestly, it's surprising an actor on his current momentum even agreed to do our drama. I thought he'd only do films from now on."
They were evaluating Jin Yu-han, who had just finished performing and left. There wasn't much to evaluate. He had digested the performance so perfectly there was nothing to fault.
Then Writer Kim Jin-ju, who had been quietly looking at the script, spoke.
"He acts well, no question—but he doesn't show anything that goes beyond the script."
"Come on, Writer Kim. You weren't expecting that in the first place. That's something we can direct on set."
Just then, Ryu Yeon-woo's party opened the door and entered. Min-su and Team Leader Jeong sat in the chairs in front of the stage hall, while Ryu Yeon-woo went up onto the stage.
Looking at Yeon-woo on the stage, the production team each spoke up.
"Looks are definitely top-tier, right? I was surprised earlier too."
"His previous work was a hit, but it wasn't a role that could really showcase acting ability."
"And for film, he's only done cameo appearances."
"Still, Director Park Chan-hong must have seen something to cast him as the lead, right?"
The production team nodded at the casting director's words. Then Director Lee Sang-hun, who had already leaned somewhat toward Jin Yu-han, spoke.
"Well then, we'll begin the closed audition for the role of Seo Hui in Star Beyond the River."
"Yes, I'm ready."
Yeon-woo stood before the stage camera, loosening up, while the production team watched him both on the monitor and with the naked eye.
"Please start with the first passage."
At Director Lee Sang-hun's words, Yeon-woo locked in his emotion. In an instant, the expression of Yeon-woo reflected on the monitor changed.
"If we must resort to a political marriage, would that not be proof that our house holds no such power in this land of Goryeo?"
A line that sounded almost like the petulant complaint of a chaebol family's still-immature youngest son. It was the complete opposite of Jin Yu-han, who—because this was a historical great man and the male lead of the drama—had delivered the lines with a somewhat solemn, thick voice and force. The production team showed interest at the completely different vocal delivery of the same lines.
"Father. I believe that we, a house of founding meritorious subjects, have no need of such a thing."
This time it was slightly persuasive, and with the confidence of one who believed no aristocratic house stood above his own in the land of Goryeo—as if stimulating the ambition of his father, Seo Pil. Then Yeon-woo finished the lines with a thicker vocal delivery than before.
"Through my free marriage, make it an opportunity to display the prestige of the Seo clan."
The production staff, who had been sitting casually with their hips slightly forward in their chairs, were gradually persuaded by the expression and speech that shifted in fine detail moment by moment—and as he delivered the lines, they leaned their upper bodies forward into a serious listening posture.
"…I thought Director Park Chan-hong wouldn't have cast him for nothing, but still."
"The detail is incredible. He seems like a very clever actor."
"He got into Korea University, didn't he?"
"Wow, really? I just found that out."
Looking at the murmuring production staff, then back at Yeon-woo, Director Lee spoke.
"That was excellent acting. Are you ready for the second passage right away?"
"Yes. Of course."
Yeon-woo cleared his throat and focused on emotion again. The second passage was that part with just a single line of dialogue and no explanation. Writer Kim Jin-ju's eyes lit up with a hopeful spark.
"I'll begin the performance."
The moment Yeon-woo announced the start, he began the lines with a solemn face—and on one side of it, an expression of disappointment—in a strong vocal delivery.
"How can you be so lacking in spirit and so powerless? Will you take yet another step back? Take one step back, and in the end you must take ten thousand."
How a young man could produce such deep vocal delivery that revealed dignity and authority—it was as if they were seeing Seo Hui, the Naesasi-rang of the Goryeo royal court, rebuking unjust treacherous retainers. But Jin Yu-han's performance had been similar. Of course it was remarkable that he was performing at a level comparable to Jin Yu-han, who had been acting for twelve years—more than half his life—but the production team had been hoping for something a little different. And Writer Kim looked somewhat disappointed that he had performed the lines with the same interpretation as Jin Yu-han.
Just as Director Lee was about to say well done, Ryu Yeon-woo opened his mouth again.
"Beginning the second performance of the second passage."
They had only given one second passage to begin with, yet he was starting a second performance—the casting director's eyes went round, while the writer and director showed interest.
The reason Yeon-woo had said, comparing the audition passage and the treatment, that it was a little wicked was because he thought there were two places in the work where this passage could be used.
The first was the latter half, where—as in Yeon-woo's first performance and Jin Yu-han's interpretation—he delivers a rebuke to officials advocating surrender in the generally imaginable confrontation between the Liao and Goryeo.
The second was right now.
"Hmmm."
Having announced he would begin acting, Yeon-woo clasped his hands behind his back, looked up at the sky, and slowly paced in place. His face was full of contemplation.
"How can you be so lacking in spirit and so powerless?"
Seo Hui, who had recently learned that he was not the only one harboring unrequited love for Hong Ui-yeon—that his close friend Lee Ji-baek felt the same—had been fretting over whether to choose friendship with his friend or to fight for his own love, and had lately been avoiding both Hong Ui-yeon and Lee Ji-baek.
"Will you take yet another step back?"
Hands still behind his back, Seo Hui looked down at his own toes, lost in thought. Then, as if reaching a decision, he set a resolute expression.
"Take one step back, and in the end you must take ten thousand."
Then he unclasped his hands from behind his back and strode with confident steps toward someone.
He had spoken the exact same lines, but by changing the tone and adding appropriate action, what the production team saw was not the aged Seo Hui from before, but a young man fallen into first love. It felt as if this young man's invisible story was fully contained and delivered intact.
"That's all."
Writer Kim Jin-ju, who had been quietly watching Yeon-woo, spoke.
"…I don't want to do this project unless it's this actor."
Looking at Writer Kim Jin-ju, Director Lee Sang-hun raised both hands and shrugged.
"Don't worry. I'm thinking the exact same thing right now."
Director Lee Sang-hun stood from his seat and approached the stage. Then he went up and extended his hand to Yeon-woo for a handshake.
"Work with us. Seeing you in person, I can understand Director Park Chan-hong's choice."
Only then did Yeon-woo smile faintly.
"I'll repay you with good acting."
Looking at Yeon-woo and smiling back, Director Lee Sang-hun's face soon shifted into a slightly troubled expression.