Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

"Aiden, are you listening to me?"

Miranda, the makeup artist that was working on [Black Saints], tried to attract Aiden's attention but the young man before him was too immersed in the script in his hand, thinking about something.

She had been working in the movie industry for a long time, over 10 years actually, but she had never seen someone like Aiden who would always be looking through the script on the set.

She felt like he was trying too hard.

"Aiden, I need to start your makeup!"

Finally, she tapped on his shoulders, and he looked up. A bit of confusion was in his eyes.

"What happened, Miranda?"

"I need to get your makeup done for the scene. You should get your head out of the script, especially when you are at the end of your shooting."

Miranda shook her head, feeling like Aiden was being a bit absurd. The truth was that he wasn't actually reading his script but looking at his system prompts.

"I'm sorry. I will try to sit straight as you go through applying makeup."

"Good." Miranda nodded, then feeling a bit curious, she asked. "What were you thinking about anyway in the script?"

"Just about Kai." Aiden lied, making an excuse.

"I don't think you should think too much into it. Just finish your last scenes, and your work will end. Zavier is already happy enough with your acting."

Aiden just smiled awkwardly at that as Miranda started putting makeup on his face.

The reason he was being overly serious about his role suddenly was because of the system notifications he had gotten a few days ago.

[Your understanding of the character 'Kai August' has been increasing. Your affinity towards him has increased. A unique opportunity has been presented to you.]

[You are one step away from unlocking a new skill.]

[You need to break the barriers of acting to get the new skills. Multiple rewards await you if you could take the final step.]

These notifications immediately made him a bit greedy to get his hands on the skill. Because of that, in the last few days, Aiden was giving a lot of value to understand the character of Kai a bit more.

It had made him think of Kai even while he's not set. Even making Wade a bit worried about him.

But Aiden was very motivated to get his hands on the new skill. Knowing full well that he was behind by a lot of levels compared to other actors, he wanted to make up for it by any means.

Getting his hands on multiple skills was his only way.

"Hey, Miranda, can I ask you a question?" Aiden suddenly asked, and Miranda gave a nod, too focused on applying makeup on his face.

The next scene they were shooting was when Kai would be captured by the police and interrogated by Charlie, which would result in a back and forth between the two about the city and its corruption in it.

In this scene, Kai needed to look like someone had beaten him up before the interrogation, so Miranda was applying some dirty makeup on his face.

"Go on."

"You have seen a lot of actors, right? Have you ever experienced one of them breaking the shackles of a character and becoming the character himself?"

Miranda thought about the question for a while before replying with a positive answer.

"I have, actually. Some ten years ago, I was working on an independent movie. There, an actor actually locked himself up in an apartment for a month because, in the movie, his character had done something similar. He said he did it to go through the same things his character did, to feel his character's pain. The actor never got famous and eventually switched careers, but that was one of the best acting performances I have seen. Why are you asking though?"

"Just wanted to know if actors really do crazy things to give a better performance."

"They do, obviously. Many take acting more seriously than their life."

Aiden nodded, her words making his mind a bit clearer. In his case, he can't really go through the life of Kai in such a short time, but maybe he had one thing that no other actor has and that was immersion.

'I guess the only thing I can do here is to try to make the scene as genuine as possible.'

After Miranda did his makeup, he was in deep thought for a while before eventually coming to a decision. Then, before the start of the filming, he silently approached Ray with a bit of a request.

***

[ Black Saints October 30-2015 Act 10 Scene 3 Take 1 ]

"Drugs, murders, extortion, kidnapping. These are the things we have on you in the record. What else have you done?"

Charlie Morgan asked, glaring down at the young criminal before him who was just smiling, even if he was in the police custody, getting interrogated.

One of his eyes was black like someone had punched him, and bruises were all over his cheeks. Still, he looked like someone who wasn't nervous at all. No trace of fear could be seen even if he sat wearing handcuffs.

"Nothing. I'm just a simple man." He said like he was mocking the officer before him.

"Don't lie. We have proof of you killing people. You don't fear the law! You killed an officer right before my eyes!"

"The law is not strong enough to make me fear them. I don't like the code they go by. As for the officer, it was self-defence."

At those words, Charlie slammed his fist on the table. He wasn't in the mood to take words silently. Before getting captured, Kai had killed the officer working under him, one of his friends.

"Just answer honestly, and it would be less painful for you," Charlie said, trying to reason with Kai.

"As you can see by my face, I can take a lot more."

Kai smirked, and a frown appeared on his face. His plan never included getting captured by the police, especially when he was giving them a sizable sum to keep them away from his business.

But it seemed like a change was suddenly happening in the city.

"Tell me one thing, officer." He suddenly said with a calmness in his voice. "Do you trust the police force you work with?"

"What type of question is that?" Charlie asked in a stoic tone.

"You know what I'm saying. Don't act like you don't. These people you work with. How much do you think they earn? Still, they live in the city's high-end suburbs, go to the most expensive strip clubs, and get the best cars in town." He took a pause. "Why do you think it's that?"

"Don't change the topic. We are talking about you here."

Charlie frowned, not in the mood to listen to Kai's bullshit anymore. Not because it was a lie but because Charlie himself struggled with it.

But Kai continued.

"You know why the city is called Night City. It's because it's fucking black, coloured in corruption." He said before staring at him. "Tell me, officer, have you taken part in something that was not morally right?"

Charlie stood silent, but Kai noticed his eyes, the fluctuation in them as the memories of the past resurfaced. He smirked, happy to see his words having the desired effect.

"It seems like you have a pretty interesting—"

"That's enough!"

Charlie said and suddenly picked up Kai by his collar, glaring down at him like he would slam him at a wall at any second. But Kai still dared to talk more.

He had finally managed to enter the mind of Charlie. There was no way he would not try to manipulate him.

"You have, right?" Then, you and I are the same. Just the difference is that you got scared and returned to a path you thought suited you. But I kept walking. Hahaha, are you regretful of the path you chose because life… your life is fucking pile of—"

"I said, stop it!!" Charlie screamed, and the people outside the room quickly tried to get into the interrogation room, scared that an accident would happen.

"No one can stop me, officer! I'm gonna destroy the city to its core with all the filth in it! That includes you and me both—"

It was then that Charlie threw Kai on the back of the wall with furious eyes. His back stuck to the wall as raging pain swept over him.

The scene was supposed to end there, but no one on the set, not even Zavier, moved for a second as the final moment of the scene was too unexpected for them.

In the original script, there was no scene of Charlie slamming Kai to the wall, but this had suddenly happened, making everyone stunned.

"C… cut! Someone go see if Aiden is okay and call a doctor."

It was only after a while that Zavier was able to open his mouth.

On the other hand, Aiden, whose immersion had just ended, was going through a lot of pain. But the system interface in front of him was making him feel like his efforts were worth it in the end.

[You have broken the boundary between an actor and a character for the first time. Congratulations on achieving such a feat.]

[You have been awarded the skill 'Character affinity'.]

[A special reward has been given.]

[You have gained a permanent boost of 20 percent in your acting skill while playing negative roles. This boost doesn't apply to 'Anti Hero' characters.]

...