The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

"WONDERFUL!  Simply wonderful!" Daniel couldn't help but exclaimed, both in excitement and amazement.  His eyes were shining brightly, looking at the teenager as if looking at a rare treasure.

That was just a short scene but Astrid managed to give life to it.  His every gesture, the way he spoke, he perfectly embodied the sleeping god Aether at that moment.  Right now, he was not just a teenager with good looks, he was an immortal god who's above all mortals.

This level of acting was not something that an amateur could do.  Could it be that the other had undergone training before?  That could explain everything.  In any case, he was very satisfied with this performance.

He finally found the slumbering god. 

Mark, the casting director, couldn't believe his eyes.  Did that really just happen?  Was this how someone with no acting experience supposed to act?  Did he somehow lie about that?  If not, then there's only one explanation.  Astrid Townsend was an acting genius!  Was he now actually watching the birth of a star?

Reas was also a bit stupefied.  Although he knew that his brother was good, he didn't expect that he was this good.  He was standing behind the director.  So, he also saw on the virtual screen the moment Astrid opened his eyes.  At that very moment, he was no longer his brother.  He completely transformed into a different person.  And he did it all with just using his eyes. 

He didn't speak, he didn't move, he just showed the complexity of his emotions in his eyes and that was it.  It's almost like magic.

So, this was acting.

The three were not the only ones impressed by Astrid.  All the crew members who were there and the others who followed along to watch the audition showed an awed expression. 

Some of them followed there just to watch the fun.  Probably just to see this beautiful teenager humiliate himself.  After all, whether they admit it or not, people just sometimes enjoyed looking down on others.  Especially if the other person was better than them. 

But they didn't expect such a surprise.  To others, this might just be a simple scene.  But because of its simplicity, it's even harder to let people be pulled into it.  Unlike an emotional scene where people could get angry or sad.  But this black-haired teenager managed to pull everyone's attention simply by the emotions on his face and his small gestures.  It's incredible.

Even Miria who was only there to see the 'vase with no talent' was surprised.  Because even she could tell that this guy was no vase.  In that short scene, it was obvious to all that he had genuine talent in acting.  As someone who barely had one, the contrast was even more prominent.

She suddenly felt like she had been slapped.  And it's no one's fault but her own.  Who told her to be judgmental?  But even so, she still couldn't help but feel a little envious.

She took a deep breath and said to her assistant, "Let's go."

As Miria and her assistant left, Astrid also went down from the crystal slab when he saw that the bridge that connected the slab to the lakeshore appeared. 

He walked towards the lakeshore. Before he could speak the director had already clapped his hand on his shoulder while laughing heartily.

"Go.  Let's go and sign that contract," Director Trevane said.

"Director mean that I passed the audition?" Astrid asked carefully.

Daniel looked at the teenager amusedly.  Why asked such an obvious question.  "Yes.  If I don't pass you, then the people here would doubt my ability as a director and we couldn't have that, right?"

Astrid let out a sigh of relief and smiled.  Although he was confident of his acting skills, he still couldn't help but feel a little bit nervous.  After all, this was his first audition in this life.  He truly didn't want to start on a bad note.

"Thank you, Director Trevane!"

He glanced at his brother and Reas gave him a big thumbs-up.  He couldn't help but laugh seeing that.

----------

After passing the audition, Astrid, Reas, Director Trevane, as well as Mr. Rogers all went to the director's temporary office at the set.  It was one of those easy-to-build room.  The type that can be built within a few hours.  Instead of trailers in his past life, the people in the entertainment industry liked to use this easy-to-build rooms. 

It's more than a dressing room, it could also act as their own private lounge where they could rest and even bathe.  In Director Trevane's case, it acted as his office. 

Sitting inside, the director sent him a contract via his Terminal.  Astrid carefully read every clause and precedent.  There was nothing wrong overall.  But he was just a bit surprised by the amount of star coins he would be paid for this short acting gig.

50,000 star coins.

Although he wasn't familiar with how artists were being paid in this era.  He knew that this amount was till too much for someone who hadn't played any roles prior to this.  Basically, a true newcomer in every sense of the word.

"Director, this pay, isn't it a bit too much?" he asked tentatively.

"It's fine.  With your acting skills, you totally deserve it," Daniel said, waving his hand in the air, as if what he had just done was nothing.

And it was.  Their production had enough budget to give Astrid this kind of pay.  But just like the other said, he was indeed being overpaid.  If this was normal, the pay for a newcomer like Astrid in a production like this would be at most 20,000 star coins.  Maybe even lower than that since his role only had a few minutes of screen time.

But Daniel felt that such number was not deserving of Astrid's talent.  So, he raised the pay on his own accord. 

Hearing that, Astrid no longer entangled with this problem.  If the director said so himself, it would be rude of him to continue to argue.  So, he just happily signed his first ever acting contract.