Chapter 102: Professional Gender Bender Actress (2)
There was still a long way until Director Yoon Tae-Yoon would make a name for himself, but Kang Ra-Eun decided to take a gamble on this production. Not only did the gender bender genre intrigue her, there was also something else she was aiming for.
“And this might be extremely difficult for you, but...” Director Yoon said. He was asking for her understanding before the filming started. “You’re going to have to act like a man in front of the camera. I know... this is rude to ask from a lady, but I’d still like to ask regardless.”
Director Yoon thought that it would be hard for Ra-Eun to do such a thing, since it was obvious for anyone to see that Ra-Eun was a woman.
“Don’t worry, I understand,” Ra-Eun answered.
Contrary to the director’s worry, she was smiling. The director was telling her that it was fine for her to act like a man. No, he was practically begging her to act like one. That was exactly what Ra-Eun wanted to hear.
‘Because I’ve been a man most of my life, director.’
Not even Director Yoon could possibly know that Ra-Eun was a professional gender bender actress.
***
Today was Kang Ra-Hyuk’s moving day. Ra-Eun and Yi-Seo visited his home to check if he had moved in safely, as well as to give him a housewarming gift in addition. Since it was only five minutes away by car, it was no trouble to visit.
“Welcome,” Ra-Hyuk greeted.
“Hello, Ra-Hyuk oppa. Ra-Eun and I prepared this housewarming gift for you,” Yi-Seo greeted back.
“Oh, thanks! You’re the best, Yi-Seo.”
Ra-Eun narrowed her eyes. “Did you even hear what Yi-Seo just said? She said ‘Ra-Eun and I.’”
“Did she?”
Ra-Eun had to fight the momentary impulse to kick Ra-Hyuk in the shin because her friend was watching them. Ra-Hyuk checked what the girls had gotten for him.
“Aren’t these tissues?” he asked.
Tissues were one of the top housewarming gifts that one could get for someone.
Yi-Seo said while pointing at Ra-Eun, “Ra-Eun said that we definitely needed to get you tissues, so we got you some high-quality ones.”
“I certainly do need tissues, but you didn’t have to buy me this much.”
There was a huge amount, but Ra-Eun spoke in a tone that implied it was better that way.
“You’re gonna need tons of tissues anyway, aren’t you? You won’t be bothered by anyone now that you’re living alone.”
Yi-Seo tilted her head. “Won’t be bothered? What do you mean?”
“...”
Unlike Yi-Seo, Ra-Hyuk realized exactly what his little sister was implying.
“What the hell are you saying in front of your friend?”
“What? It’s not like I said anything wrong.”
“How do you know so much about men?”
He had felt this when living with Ra-Eun, but he had always been fascinated by it. There was no way Ra-Eun wouldn’t know; although she was an actress with top-tier looks and figure, she was a bona-fide man on the inside.
Yi-Seo let Ra-Hyuk know as they entered the living room, “Ra-Eun is actually going to be starring in a gender bender film.”
“Then, is she the protagonist?”
“Yes. She’s going to be playing a middle-aged man who’d entered a woman’s body.”
Ra-Hyuk got some drinks from the kitchen and asked about the gender bender film while sitting across from Ra-Eun and Yi-Seo.
“When does the filming start?”
Ra-Eun answered, “The fifteenth of next month. The news will be out tomorrow.”
The movie had not been talked about among the public because its production had not been announced in a press conference. Neither Ra-Hyuk nor Yi-Seo were aware that she would be starring in a film like this until she told them herself.
Yi-Seo looked toward Ra-Eun. “I’m sure it’ll be hard for a woman to act like a man. I’m a bit worried.”
However, Ra-Hyuk thought otherwise. “No, I actually think that movie was made for her.”
He sometimes thought his little sister felt more like a little brother to him. That was how similar to a man Ra-Eun’s actions were. She had gotten a lot more ladylike since so much time had passed since she had become a woman, but Ra-Hyuk could still see traces of a man in her actions.
“I guess I’ve gotta go watch it when it’s released,” Ra-Hyuk mentioned.
The movie hadn’t started being filmed yet, but there was no doubt in Ra-Hyuk’s mind that there was no woman more suited to be the protagonist of a gender bender movie than Ra-Eun.
***
The day of the first shoot of Director Yoon’s next work, One of a Kind of Girl, had arrived. Since it was the first day, a strange sense of awkwardness and anxiety filled the air of the studio. Not only was this Ra-Eun’s first movie shoot, it was as a protagonist.
‘The air is definitely different from drama shoots.’
Drama and movie shoots were different just from the rhythm of shoots. Dramas were filmed each week to meet a certain quota, but movies filmed to extract the best result possible within a set duration. In the case of Director Yoon, he set the filming duration much longer than other directors.
‘That goes to show how strictly he assesses the actors’ performances.’
The movie One of a Kind of Girl had not been foreseen to succeed, but Ra-Eun had already confirmed that the future did not go exactly as how she expected it to. A hit could become a flop, and vice versa. Ra-Eun was thinking of making Director Yoon’s new movie into a hit with her own power. Because of this, she was full of spirit despite the shoot only having begun.
Ra-Eun did not have much screen time during the initial portion of the film, because it would be focused mainly on the male form of the protagonist Min Ju-Tae. She had little scenes to shoot for today, and they were also extremely short. All she needed to do was to wake up at a hospital and be surprised that she had turned into a woman.
Until her turn came up, she observed the script reading of Woo Kang-Hyun, the male actor playing the male Min Ju-Tae.
“Team Leader! Didn’t I tell you that you needed to submit the report regarding the Philippines case by today?! Do you seriously expect me to believe that you forgot?!”
Woo Kang-Hyun, like Yeo Song-Won, was the kind of person who instilled emotion into their script reading. Lines could only be properly exchanged in such a situation if the partner also matched their level of immersion. Ra-Eun did not rehearse her lines with anyone because she was only given solo scenes for today.
After ten minutes of script reading, everyone focused on preparing to film right away. Kang-Hyun belatedly noticed Ra-Eun looking at them from behind the camera.
“Huh? Is that you, Ra-Eun?”
“Hello, sunbae. This is our first time meeting again since the film meeting, isn't it?”
“It sure is. But why are you so early?”
Ra-Eun’s scenes were scheduled to be filmed in the late afternoon, so she was three hours early.
Ra-Eun smiled and responded, “It’s my first time in a movie shoot, so I thought I’d come early to get used to the mood here.”
“Right. I guess drama shoots are pretty different from movie shoots.”
Unlike Ra-Eun who only had drama experience, Kang-Hyun mainly starred in movies.
.
“Feel free to ask me anytime if you have any questions. I’ll help you to the best of my ability.”
“Thank you, sunbae.”
Kang-Hyun had worked with Director Yoon for almost seven years, so Ra-Eun would be able to see what sort of performance Director Yoon expected from his actors by observing Kang-Hyun’s performance.
‘Now then, I should take a seat somewhere and watch.’
One of the privileges of being an actor was that they could watch movie shoots from front-row seats.
***
The initial portion of One of a Kind of Girl was simple. Min Ju-Tae, a 32-year-old ordinary salaryman, drove home in a great mood after finishing his duties for the day. He then turned the car around after realizing that he forgot something at the company, but got into an accident and met his death. He then opened his eyes to see that his original body was nowhere to be seen, and had been replaced by the body of a woman who he had never seen before.
Kang-Hyun grabbed the steering wheel to film the car crash scene. Director Yoon concisely explained how the shoot would progress through a megaphone.
“We’ll film you driving first, and then we’ll put some special make-up on you and move on to the scene where you’re passing out in the stunt car we’ve prepared.”
The staff members diligently prepared for the scenes. Ra-Eun quickly scanned the stunt car. It could be because the production had received plenty of support, but...
‘This is pretty expensive for a stunt car.’
It was not a domestic, but a foreign car. The character Min Ju-Tae was set to be a car fanatic, and he especially liked foreign cars. It was not like he drove foreign cars because he had lots of money, but he was paying it fully in installments. He was set to be a character with great passion for cars.
‘I’m not as passionate as Min Ju-Tae, but I’m a lover of cars myself.’
Ra-Eun kept comparing herself with the character Min Ju-Tae, likely because he was a protagonist of a gender bender movie.
It was finally her turn after this scene.
‘I guess I’ll do some vocal warm-ups first.’
She was already excited for the shoot.
***
It was finally Ra-Eun’s turn. She wore a hospital gown and laid down on the hospital bed with her eyes closed. She needed to act like a man who had just become a woman; in terms of acting difficulty, it was by no means low. Before the clap of the slate, Ra-Eun recalled the previous scenes that were filmed.
‘Each scene had an average of three re-attempts.’
Despite not calling an NG cut, Director Yoon repeated the scenes over and over again, asking the actors to ‘try one more time’ until he was shown a better performance. The actors who were not yet used to the director’s methods showed signs of exhaustion right from the first day.
In that case, how would Ra-Eun fare?
“Ready... action!”
Ra-Eun slowly opened her eyes. She recalled the moment when she herself first became a high school girl.
“Wh-What the hell...? What happened to my body...?!”
She touched her thin neck, plump breasts, slender waist, and lastly... her nether region.
“...It’s gone!”
Director Yoon was astonished as he watched Ra-Eun’s performance through the monitor. He then said to Ra-Eun after the scene was over, “Your acting is so realistic, Ra-Eun.”
He was surprised by how perfect it was. Unlike the other actors, Ra-Eun had managed to get Director Yoon’s OK in just one attempt.
This was the power of experience.
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