Chapter 261: Job Matching Hobby (3)
Since the beginning, Kang Ra-Eun had always preferred performing action scenes with her body rather than acting with her expressions while memorizing lines. She masterfully performed the action choreography despite not having practiced with the extras in advance.
Ra-Eun had once heard from a martial arts coach during her acting career that action performances needed to be flashier than actual martial arts. Since it was simply a performance, style mattered more than practicality.
‘My movements need to be large and exciting.’
The amount of stamina consumed also increased proportionally, but that didn’t matter since it wasn’t like Ra-Eun would be mock sparring with the extras for 24 hours straight; it was only a short performance for the audition.
Director Geneve was able to tell just from Ra-Eun’s movements that she was extremely proficient in action scenes.
“You’re all satisfied, right?” Geneve asked his production team if they were satisfied with Ra-Eun taking on the role of Black Cat.
He asked while practically knowing the answer. Although they had not discussed it in advance, they were pretty much in agreement about the audition results.
“I guess it was worth coming all the way to Korea.”
“Let’s go with your casting, Director Geneve.”
“I should have never doubted your eye for something like this. You’re as discerning as they say.”
The members of the production team continued to praise Geneve for recognizing Ra-Eun’s talent, but Geneve himself wanted to redirect those praises to Ra-Eun. After all, none of this would've happened if it hadn’t been for her.
***
After the audition, Ra-Eun went to have dinner with Geneve, Lotier and the other members of the film production team. They still had a lot to do in Korea besides Ra-Eun’s audition, such as checking out locations.
Ra-Eun felt like she was dreaming; she had been able to sit next to Lotier, whom she had been a massive fan of ever since her past life.
“I absolutely loved your portrayal of Steel Man, Lotier. I’ve always wanted to meet you if the opportunity ever came... I still feel like I’m dreaming.”
Lotier was surprised as he looked at Ra-Eun with sparkling eyes.
“From what I know, the majority of Steel Man fans are male.”
At least, that was how he had felt. Even in the film, there were many aspects that would appeal more to men than women. A mechanical suit, and piloting a machine that was like a massive robot to decimate his enemies... It was all things that men would dream of. Steel Man toys, merchandise and figures were bought like hotcakes all over the world by children all the way up to adults.
However, that did not mean there were no female fans. There was no rule that women couldn’t like robots and mechanical suits.
“Anyway, thanks for your support. I’ll be in your care later when we start shooting.”
The shoot was to begin next month. They were on a tight schedule, and had moved up the shoots on the schedule to be held in foreign countries. There weren’t many things that Ra-Eun needed to do in the meantime; she would just practice her scenes while looking at the script, and wear the Black Cat suit that would be completed soon and give her feedback on it.
Before their dinner party ended, Ra-Eun approached Lotier with her smartphone while blushing.
“Could I take a selfie with you, please?”
She looked like a cute fan in Lotier’s eyes.
“Of course.”
They posed while standing side by side.
Snap!
Ra-Eun thanked Lotier after taking the photo. She had been overflowing with charisma during the audition, but that part of her was nowhere to be seen right now. Lotier smiled as he watched Ra-Eun walking away from him.
“What an interesting woman.”
There was a clear gap in her professional and private attitudes. Lotier’s interest in her grew more and more for some reason.
***
The news of Ra-Eun starring as Black Cat in the film Steel Man 3?had been officially announced, once again unintentionally garnering the attention of the Korean film industry. She had absolutely no interest in the entertainment industry or being an actress, but had ended up rising to become the poster actress of the entire nation. It was a very strange feeling.
Ra-Eun had printed out the photo that she had taken with Lotier. She wondered in joy while staring at it in the living room.
“Where should I frame it?”
Seo Yi-Jun, who had been looking at her in silence, asked uncomfortably, “Noona. Since when have you been such a huge fan of that Lotier actor?”
“Ever since Steel Man 1. You’ve watched it too, haven’t you?”
“Well, I did.”
Yi-Jun had also enjoyed the film back when he had been in high school. However, the entertainment that he had experienced aside, he couldn’t stay comfortable as he watched Ra-Eun acting in such a way.
“Noona. Do you perhaps like that person as a man, or...”
Ra-Eun turned to look at Yi-Jun.
“Are you jealous?”
“Well... I don’t know.”
He played it cool for some reason. Ra-Eun grinned at him.
“And what if I do?”
“If you do, then...”
Yi-Jun couldn’t finish his sentence because he couldn’t think of the right way to answer. Ra-Eun had never shown such affection for a man until now, so Yi-Jun’s mind couldn’t help but be disturbed. Ra-Eun giggled as she watched Yi-Jun’s face getting more distorted by the second. He stared at her dumbfoundedly as she giggled mischievously.
“Come on, man. I can’t even make a joke around you.”
“A... Joke?”
“It’s true that I like Lotier, but it’s in the capacity of a fan. I don’t like him as a man.”
That was the genuine truth. Yi-Jun sighed in relief.
“I was worried that you’d actually fallen in love with him.”
Yi-Jun was genuinely relieved, but a thought also crossed his mind about who the person would be if Ra-Eun actually ended up falling in love. Expectations and worry stormed inside his head.
***
Ra-Eun headed to GNF right away after hearing that the costume had arrived. The costume design team had come to Korea last time to measure Ra-Eun’s body for thirty whole minutes. After exchanging feedback via mail back and forth, the final product had finally arrived in Korea via plane.
The stylist, Ryu Ha-Yeon, took out the Black Cat suit that Ra-Eun would be wearing in the clothing room.
“Ta-dah!”
Just like the hero name Black Cat would suggest, it was all black. It was a tight suit made out of latex.
“Try it on,” Ha-Yeon expressed.
“Okay.”
It fit Ra-Eun perfectly. She checked herself wearing the film version Black Cat suit in the mirror. The lines of her entire body were clearly visible. The costume designer that had flown to Korea with the suit expressed her admiration.
“We were thinking about adding more volume around the butt and hips on the costume if needed, but... I think it’s fine the way it is. Your figure is so amazing that it looks good enough.”
Ra-Eun felt like she had become a doll after changing in front of several people.
“How do you feel about it, Ra-Eun?” the costume designer asked.
Before answering, Ra-Eun moved around with purposefully large motions to test if she would be able to perform her action scenes while wearing the suit.
“I think it’s fine. I have no trouble moving around.”
“There's no way that it’ll rip, so you don’t have to worry about that aspect. In that case, I’ll take it that you’re satisfied with it, and take the suit back. You know that the shoot is at the end of this month, right?”
“Yes, I know.”
The shoot would last for one week in Korea. There had originally been a portion where Ra-Eun would have a scene in America, but it had been cut out of the script due to opinions that the film would run for too long. In exchange, they had added more scenes to be shot in Korea.
“I’ll see you then. Make sure to get plenty of rest, Ra-Eun.”
“Have a safe trip home,” Ra-Eun expressed.
After sending the costume design team off, Ra-Eun looked down at her body and recalled the feeling of wearing the suit.
‘Life sure is full of surprises. I can’t believe a day will come when I star in a Rail Universe film series.’
Maybe as a bodyguard of Rail Universe film stars, but she had never expected to star in one as an actress. She thought that this might also be one of the perks of having become a woman.
***
The Steel Man 3 production team and Director Geneve flew back into Korea. Lotier was also with them, and they were busily preparing for the shoot. Since they had only come to Korea to shoot scenes, they abstained from as many interviews and TV appearances as possible since they wanted to focus on the shoots.
On the first day of shooting, Ra-Eun couldn’t stop staring at Lotier wearing the Steel Man suit as soon as she arrived on the set. The perfect mix of red and gold, and the crude and angular lines typical of mechanical suits... Ra-Eun was once again enthralled by every man’s hopes and dreams.
‘I’d wanted to purchase a suit like this that was scaled 1:1, but had to settle for a 1:6 one because I couldn’t find any.’
Ra-Eun was fanboying so hard that she couldn’t tell whether she was here for work or to attend a fan meeting. Lotier’s eyes changed as soon as he saw Ra-Eun in her Black Cat suit before the script reading session.
“That suits you well. You have a great figure. Better than most Hollywood actresses.”
Ra-Eun softly laughed at Lotier’s remark. A staff member filmed the two of them with a regular camera, likely for a behind-the-scenes film. It was a rare scene of a Hollywood star together with Korea’s poster actress.
Director Geneve came up to the actors and said, “If you’re done with the reading, please get ready for the shoot.”
“Understood!”
Ra-Eun’s first joint work with a Hollywood production team had finally begun.
‘The air is certainly different from Korean teams.’
It was probably a cultural difference. However, Ra-Eun felt that it wasn’t bad to experience such things at least once.
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