Spoiled by the President novel Chapter 54

“It’s fine. Proceed with casting then. I believe in Mia.”

Letting out a gentle smile, Celine turned to Mia. “Mia, what do you say?”

To be snatched of her role at the last minute, Mia was not having it.

She arrogantly stuck her chin out. “For sure.”

Gareth frowned.

The role of Nicole Block played a close friend of the female lead. Shouldering family feud and bitterness towards the country, it was a role embodying a mixture of forbearance and rigidity.

However, Mia’s arrogance and naivety channeled characteristics beyond this role.

Nevertheless, it was best that Gareth refrained from commenting before the screen test, to avoid affecting the concerned party’s state of mind.

Hence, he passed over the scripts highlighted in red and told them about their lines, emphasizing on character analysis, with special attention to the character’s inner stifle.

The duo retrieved the scripts and went their separate ways to memorize the lines.

Skylar took Mia to one side. Instead of leaving, Celine sat beside Gareth, engaging in a delightful conversation.

Nell brought Lucy over to another side.

She spoke softly, “How is it? Are you confident?”

With her eyes still on the script, Lucy firmly nodded.

However, she was spotted with a long face two seconds later.

“Oh no, Nelly, I’m so nervous. What do I do?”

It was her first encounter with a huge production. As an actress, this was a rare chance to come by.

She could climb to great heights if she played the part well and on the contrary, she could kiss this part goodbye if her acting skills were not up to par, or worse, failed the audition.

Identifying with her nerves, Nell gently patted her back.

“Don’t let your nerves get the better of you. Imagine you’re Nicole Block and forget everything around you. Put herself in her shoes. Remember, don’t let your mind wander elsewhere and don’t bother about Celine. Just believe that you are Nicole Block and go with the flow, okay?”

Lucy gazed at her before giving a firm nod.

After tending to her emotions, Nell returned and took a seat behind Gareth.

From her angle, she had a direct view of the stage and could see their close-ups from the monitor in front of Gareth.

It was not long before the duo conveyed that they were ready.

Gareth had someone lead them to hair and makeup.

Styling was most important in costume drama as more often not, it enhanced the presence of a character.

Soon, both of them walked out of the dressing room after painting their faces and a change of wardrobe.

Since she was an internet sensation, Mia had a plastic face. She was blessed with a sharp jawline to begin with but she had her jaw bone shaved in a bid to follow trends. As such, her already V-shaped jaw was now a narrow V.

Moreover, she went for a shot a few days ago in hopes to present a better version of herself, seeing that she was meeting Gareth today.

It was a pity that the interval for the swelling to go down was too short. The hyaluronic acid had not completely dissolved, leaving her face rather bloated. Plasticity was not one to miss at first glance.

Lucy, on the other hand, was different.

She may have a little round face, but she was natural and adorable. At first, her bearing and face shape did not work in her favor against a strong and forbearing character such as Nicole Block.

It never crossed anyone’s mind that she would come out looking good after styling.

Not only was the fortitude that was of Nicole Block captured perfectly, but she also carried herself with a natural presence of indifference and conceit.

This was a fairly complicated person.

She was once a princess of an empire, high above the masses, after all. There was no one above her other than the emperor. Her arrogance was bred in the bone that even with her country and family in ruins, she could not get rid of, despite falling in the hands of the enemy.

Hence, she had to conceal.

Recognizing this, the matron restrained herself.

After a moment, she sneered.

“I can’t teach you a lesson, but I can do so to others. Bring me them!”

It was silence on stage.

No one came up.

Mia stared at the vast stage dumbfounded.

Nell curled her lips.

There were a lot of scenes that were hard to set up in costume dramas, so a lot of the time, acting was done in front of green screens.

Gareth was testing them in mind on their acting without props.

It did not take long before Mia got the picture. She wore a sullen look.

As an internet sensation, she never went through formal acting class. Although she was involved in a few plays throughout the years, these were minor productions.

The actors she worked alongside with were basically of the same class. She was not fond of learning, hence the reason why her acting skills were without progression.

Moreover, she did not carry any passion for this drama. Costume dramas were hard work. Needless to say, the boundless war and fighting scenes in this drama were unquestionably laborious.

She would not be willing to act if it were not for the weight of the role and the drama being a major production!

For this very reason, she made light of the opportunity, thinking she could get by with the bare minimum.

Nonetheless, how was she to act without any supporting actors?

The matron was already onto the next line.

“I can’t lay a finger on you because you’re the princess of Xiyu Empire but these lot are merely enslaved prisoners. No one will say a word even if they die. Today, you’ll learn. They’ll live if you are good but another word of defiance from you... don’t come blaming me then!”