Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Encountering a Pay-to-Play Recast
Three days later, the teacher posted the production team’s final confirmed cast list in the class group chat.
Her roommates gathered around Lily Sterling as she opened the document, full of anticipation, only for all their expressions to freeze after seeing its contents.
Jade - Suzanne Sawyer.
Suzanne Sawyer from Class 8?
"What’s going on?" Hannah Warner asked, completely bewildered. "Wasn’t it decided on the spot that Lily would play this role? How did it end up being Suzanne Sawyer?"
Anna Sanders was just as surprised. Recalling the audition, she spoke up indignantly on Lily’s behalf. "What the hell? The role Suzanne Sawyer auditioned for that day wasn’t even Jade, was it? How did she end up playing this character?"
And looking further down the list...
Ruby - Lily Sterling.
The roles the two had been assigned were the exact ones the other had auditioned for—a complete switch.
"They must have made a mistake." Hannah patted a stunned Lily on the shoulder and urged, "Lily, you need to ask Mr. Marshall right away. Maybe the production team messed up and mixed you up with Suzanne Sawyer."
Anna Sanders nodded in agreement.
Only Nina Zimmer looked at Lily and sighed. "Lily, don’t even bother asking. This result is probably final. There’s nothing you can do to change it."
"Nina, what do you mean by that?" Hannah’s brow furrowed. "Do you know something?"
Lily looked up as well, her eyes red-rimmed and brimming with tears that she fought hard to hold back.
She had been so looking forward to playing Jade.
Nina Zimmer looked at Lily’s pitiful expression and squeezed her hand sympathetically. "Yesterday during military training, I happened to overhear some news from Class 8. They said Suzanne Sawyer’s father invested five hundred yuan in the Heavenly Destiny as Phoenix production."
"Five hundred yuan?" Hannah and Anna Sanders exclaimed in shock, instinctively glancing at Lily.
Unexpectedly, after hearing Nina’s words, most of the grievance in Lily’s eyes faded away.
As if accepting the outcome, she nodded lightly and said in a low voice, "A moment ago, I still felt a little resentful. But if she only got the role by spending five hundred yuan, I actually don’t feel so bad anymore."
"Lily..."
Her roommates thought she was just putting on a brave face. Who wouldn’t feel it was unfair after something like this? How could she possibly accept it so calmly?
But Lily forced a smile and shook her head at her roommates. "I’m serious. Even though the role of Jade has the most depth among the maids, she’s still just a maid in the end. It doesn’t really make a huge difference who plays her. But if she could bring in a five-hundred-yuan investment for the production, I can understand their decision."
Hannah and Anna Sanders hugged her from either side, offering silent comfort.
Nina patted her hand as well. "Actually, this kind of thing happens a lot in the entertainment industry. You’ll inevitably run into it again. Having a role stolen from you on your very first audition... just think of it as an early lesson to help temper your mindset."
Lily nodded. "A lot of students didn’t get a role at all. At least I still get to play Ruby. That’s pretty good."
Seeing her so optimistic, her roommates all breathed a small sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Cecilia Sterling had not left her dorm for three days, finally finishing the nearly two-million-character novel, Heavenly Destiny as Phoenix.
Although she had only skimmed it for the general gist, she now had a solid understanding of the main plot and the key characters.
"You finally finished?"
Estelle Goodman, holding a plate of vegetable salad, shook her head in amazement. "You’re incredible. It took me almost a month to read that book. I had to take a two or three-day break when the Second Miss died. I cried so much..."
She put down the salad, her eyes lighting up. "You haven’t left the dorm in three days. Shawn Lane came by three days in a row. I just sent him away when I went downstairs to get takeout. Let’s go out to eat, shall we? I’m craving that little place we went to last time."
Cecilia Sterling smiled and nodded. She had been holed up in the dorm reading for days, and Estelle had been the one bringing her food. It was only right to indulge her as a way of thanks.
On their way off campus, Cecilia made a video call to her sister.
With her sister’s recent military training, she was only reachable in the evenings.
The call connected quickly. Before either of them could speak, Cecilia noticed something was wrong with her sister.
Though she was putting on a brave and optimistic front, Lily had secretly had a good cry in the shower just moments before. She hadn’t expected the iPhone’s camera to make her red eyes so obvious.
"What’s wrong?" Cecilia’s smile vanished as she asked.
Lily quickly forced a smile. "It’s nothing, Sis. Actually, I have some good news to tell you. The crew for Heavenly Destiny as Phoenix came to our school to pick actors a few days ago, and I got a role."
Cecilia paused. ’What a coincidence.’
"I just finished reading that book. Who are you playing?" Cecilia asked.
"I’m playing Ruby, the little maid who serves the Fourth Miss."
Cecilia had to think hard before remembering such a minor, cannon-fodder character. In the early-to-mid part of the novel, she was beaten to death with clubs after "taking punishment for her master."
"Sis, Lily was supposed to play Jade, but some pay-to-play actor stole the role!"
Just then, Hannah suddenly squeezed into the camera frame and blurted it out. Before Lily could react, she saw her sister’s expression darken.
Estelle Goodman, standing next to Cecilia, frowned when she heard this. "Isn’t your sister a freshman? People are already using these kinds of tactics to compete?"
"Lily, tell me exactly what happened," Cecilia asked, her voice calm.
Seeing that she couldn’t hide it anymore, Lily explained everything from beginning to end. Fearing her sister would be upset, she added in a deliberately lighthearted tone, "But I think it’s fine. It’s better than nothing, right? There will be other chances in the future."
Cecilia naturally felt for her sister, but from her perspective, she didn’t want her sister playing Jade anyway.
"Lily, listen to me. The role of Jade isn’t right for you. The director and teacher might think you played her very well, but that’s precisely why I don’t want you to take this role."
"She’s a villain. Even though it’s a minor supporting role, if you play it too well, it’s very easy to get typecast as a newcomer. What happens when everyone starts offering you roles as the evil maid?"
Cecilia wasn’t just trying to make her sister feel better, nor was she being an alarmist. Many actors are typecast by their debut roles. If they perform too brilliantly, they get flooded with offers for similar characters.
Besides, she would never let her sister play a maid—no matter whose.
Even if she couldn’t be the female lead right away, she had to at least be a supporting character with a moment to shine.
For instance, the Second Miss—a character who is timid, kind, and carefree in the beginning, but later resolutely sacrifices herself for the female lead. That was the kind of good role she wanted for her sister, one that would surely win her a huge following.
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