Reset Life with Infinite Talents - Chapter 245

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Infinite Talent Reset Life Episode 245

“What did ceramics mean in Europe?”

UCLA Art Department ceramics lecture.

Everyone immediately senses what’s coming from the professor’s words thrown out just before the lecture ends. Their faces darken.

“One of the symbols of wealth…”

“A means of showing off.”

‘Correct.’

“Correct! Then you know what I’m going to say now, right?”

“Ahhh!”

“By two weeks from now, research the influence Eastern ceramics had on Europe and what reasons caused that influence! Lecture over! See you next week!”

At the sight of the professor cheerfully waving and leaving, everyone attending the ceramics lecture either bangs their forehead on their desk or runs their hands through their hair.

“Fuck. Another report?”

“Ha, how many hours did I sleep this week?”

“Wow. The professors must think we only take their classes.”

“Hehe. So last fall semester was just a taste? Is this the real college life starting now?”

There are already 5 reports submitted this month, and more to submit.

Everyone makes long faces, realizing that last fall semester when they entered as freshmen, laughing and running around campus, was heaven they can never return to.

The same goes for Johann.

‘I’m busy. I’m incredibly busy…’

“Johann! Want to research together?”

Male and female classmates approaching Johann. Johann smacks his lips at their bright-eyed appearance.

“I’m going to be pretty busy for a while. Sorry. Let’s do it together next time.”

At those words, not only the approaching classmates but also the people around packing up their things brighten up. They stop walking and look at Johann.

“What is it? What is it this time?”

Afternoon Chase, evaluated as the renaissance reborn, and the photo exhibition “Path to Starburst’s Altar,” evaluated as opening new horizons in photography exhibitions.

Because of this, a boom in photo exhibitions incorporating installation art is currently happening not only in LA and California but throughout America.

Is that all?

This time when Johann applied for painting major and drawing major practicum courses, the professors were practically shouting “just take my money.”

“Painting exhibition? Installation art exhibition? Gasp! Going to sculpt again?”

“Sculpture?! Me! Please use me as an assistant, Johann!”

“I can even be used as a doormat!”

“You’re not doing photography again?”

“Secret.”

“…Ah, why not!”

“That’s too much between classmates!”

“You want me to tell you guys who post my every move on SNS?”

“…Hehe. Thanks to that, followers and views are rising nicely, classmate.”

“I love you, classmate!”

“Please all get lost.”

The students burst into laughter at Johann’s casual demeanor despite being a huge star and celebrity, then left the classroom with regret, and Johann shook his head and drove to Wolf Pictures.

“Where should we put the chairs!”

“Over here!”

Wolf Pictures staff moving skillfully and efficiently even in the chaotic situation.

They have to.

With slight exaggeration, Wolf Pictures makes so many movies that they hold casting auditions 365 days a year, so everyone is well-practiced.

At Wolf Pictures, the top floor of Rocky Management’s old building.

Baz Luhrmann narrows his eyes looking at the casting director dispatched from HBO and Wolf Pictures’ casting director.

“If we don’t get proper results today, then I’ll have to proceed as I originally demanded.”

Today’s private audition for the drama Casanova.

Recommended by casting directors, actors whose acting skills had already been proven were scheduled to participate in the audition.

However, from the day the private audition was discussed until today when the audition is being held, Baz Luhrmann hasn’t hidden his displeasure.

This was because he wanted to hold an open audition where any actor could freely participate, not a private audition with only specific actors.

Of course, because of this, Baz Luhrmann himself also put actors recommended by acquaintances on the list, but his displeasure remained the same.

However, for HBO and Wolf Pictures investing massive amounts of money, they needed to cast actors with star power who could guarantee box office success to some degree, not simply actors with excellent acting skills who pleased the director, so they had no choice but to insist on a private audition.

“…Sigh. Understood.”

The casting directors from both companies clicked their tongues, picked up the applicant profiles for this casting audition, and headed to a corner, while Baz Luhrmann looked at the location scouting team.

“Which of these should we use for Michele Grimani’s mansion?”

Michele Grimani’s mansion, an important location where Casanova must stay until his youth.

The Grimani Palace that he and the Grimani family used at the time is currently being used as a museum. They had no choice but to find a mansion that looked as similar as possible.

Looking at hundreds of photos and videos presented by the location scouting team, Baz Luhrmann and Matthew Payton fall into contemplation.

“Hmm.”

“Ah, decide quickly. Here we go again!”

The director needs to decide quickly so they can negotiate with the owner, sign contracts, and set it up as a filming location.

In that sense, Baz Luhrmann was the type of director who drained the blood of staff including the location scouting team.

Still, since he contemplates this much to capture it in perfect footage, there’s nothing more to say.

“Got it! You’re going to eat me alive! Let’s make these ten places candidates for now!”

I think I’ll need to go check out the rest in person. Along with the writer.

“…Okay. Then next, for the cathedral…”

“Huh? Next is our turn!”

“Props that don’t even follow historical accuracy should get out!”

“What did you say?!”

The Props and Costume Design Team bristles.

“Do you think we would have achieved that visual beauty in The Great Gatsby without the costumes and props we made?!”

“What? Grabbing collars? This bastard! Does someone think they don’t have hands!”

At the sight of the two teams fighting again, Baz Luhrmann rubs the back of his neck.

He’d like to kick them all out, but since they’re all exceptionally skilled, he can’t, so only his blood pressure rises.

“Hehe. Senior’s staff are overflowing with passion.”

“Your side doesn’t seem… to be like that. I’m envious.”

“Ah, they’re just being coy.”

The staff who only worked on C-grade movies and other low-budget films until filming Fire Always Targets Us, or rather, Matthew Payton’s team members.

With specialists who made A-grade movies like Romeo+Juliet, Moulin Rouge, and The Great Gatsby successful appearing before them, they don’t know what to do and feel awkward.

But his team members will soon adapt and be flying around again.

But what’s concerning here is HBO’s production team standing in one corner.

“So!”

“Huh?”

Baz Luhrmann and Matthew Payton look at the staff member who suddenly shouted.

“Who is the crazy person, I mean writer, who wrote this scenario?”

Flinch!

At the question asked while slamming down the script written up to the last episode of season 2, everyone who had been making the conference room noisy shuts their mouths and looks at Baz and Matthew.

The anonymous scenario writer that only the two of them know so far.

The writer who said they’d participate in today’s audition.

The writer Baz Luhrmann wants to go location scouting with.

“Honestly, tell me. You wrote this, didn’t you, Director?”

“No?”

“What do you mean no. The sentence style is exactly you!”

“Really? Really me? I don’t think so?”

“…That’s true.”

Honestly, it’s more concise and more sensual than Baz Luhrmann. Enough to feel the fragrance of the old Romeo+Juliet days.

And what about the words and knowledge used in Italy and France at the time, and the artworks and music appearing in the stage directions that made goosebumps rise.

It’s a writing style so deep, broad, sensual and refined that it can’t be captured with shallow experience, that only a veteran writer who has written several masterpieces could write.

But among the countless masterpieces he had seen, there was no work with this kind of writing style. That’s what was driving him crazy.

Knock knock!

“He’s here.”

Creak!

The staff members’ eyes widened at the entrance of the person who opened the door and came in—Johann’s appearance.

* * *

“This place is….”

Hayden Christensen, who had been looking at the Wolf Pictures building, lets out a long sigh and heads inside.

“I’m here to participate in the Casanova private audition.”

“What’s your name?”

“Hayden Christensen. Hayden Christensen.”

“H, H… Ah, here it is. Please wear this and go to Room 13 on the 3rd floor. Please don’t remove your mask until you take the test. And this is the part you’ll be acting today.”

“Thank you.”

He pins the number tag given by the information desk employee to his chest, flips through the script, and gets on the elevator.

(While kissing an angry woman) You are a flower, a pearl. How can you not know this heart that dare not touch you with these dirty hands.

“…Good Lord.”

Cheesy lines that make his hair stand on end.

But very familiar lines.

‘These are lines from the novel Casanova!’

The bestselling novel Casanova, which not only caused a huge sensation on the internet but also sold millions of copies in reality.

Hayden’s lips twitch as he had looked into everything about Casanova. Because he knows all the context and situations before and after the given script.

That’s a huge merit when it comes to acting.

Ding!

Hayden’s expression hardens as he gets off the elevator in high spirits and heads to Room 13.

Glance! Flinch!

Because of three people who deliberately look away despite recognizing each other while walking down the corridor with drinks and coffee.

‘Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire, Tom Hardy from Mad Max, Oscar Isaac from Star Wars?’

Faces recognizable even with masks and hats on.

‘Is this the power of HBO and Director Baz Luhrmann?’

Those who, like himself, were drawn to participate solely by those names even without seeing the script. All of them formidable actors.

‘Ian must be somewhere in those rooms too, right?’

He can’t lose.

Biting his lips under the mask, he entered Room 13.

A small room of about 2 pyeong with temporary walls set up.

Sitting on a chair, he stares intently at the script and stands up. Then, unlike the stage directions, he kneels before an imaginary partner.

“You are a flower….”

His practice began.

* * *

The darkly decorated space on the 4th floor.

Johann, sitting at a table in the space set up for internal screenings, ignores the HBO and Wolf Pictures casting directors who are still rubbing their eyes in disbelief and recalls what just happened.

‘Amazing.’

Baz Luhrmann and Matthew Payton, all the HBO staff.

Especially Matthew Payton’s staff impressed him anew.

‘How did people who didn’t even live in that era….’

They had prepared mansions and costumes of that era, makeup and hairstyles of that era, accessories, paintings and other furnishings almost identically.

Of course, there were some errors, but when they showed the fashions popular at that time, the historical accuracy was so good he thought he might faint.

‘Is this what a specialist is….’

But what’s truly amazing are Baz Luhrmann and Matthew Payton who coordinate all of that.

‘Is this what a director is.’

Aspects that weren’t clearly visible during “Fire Always Targets Us.”

Johann had to receive many shocks from the aspects that only began to show after absorbing and reading Baz Luhrmann.

“This is data that Hollywood has accumulated over a long time. And it’s the power of money.”

Startled!

“The power of money?”

Johann looks at Baz Luhrmann as if he had read his mind.

He could understand the data part.

“Enthusiasts.”

“Ah.”

He understands immediately.

There are people in the world who really fanatically dig into one specific field. Enthusiasts who are literally crazy about that field sometimes have knowledge beyond that of experts.

It seems they paid money to such people and sought their advice.

“It’s somewhat ironic.”

Usually in these period dramas, those who nitpick about historical accuracy and create public opinion are mostly such enthusiasts or people with deep related knowledge.

But they request knowledge from such people to correct errors in historical accuracy.

It felt somewhat ironic.

“Hehe. Isn’t all of life like this? If the writer also lends us the materials you referenced, it will become even more perfect.”

“…That’s reassuring.”

Johann, who was concerned about everything for the first time in his life, especially since it was about adapting his own novel into a visual medium.

With this level of skill and mindset, it seems he won’t need to worry about sets and props anymore except for correcting occasional errors.

“Actor number 1 is coming in!”

At the staff’s shout, Johann, Baz Luhrmann, Matthew Payton, and the casting directors from HBO and Wolf Pictures compose their expressions.

‘Didn’t they say not to show emotions easily?’

That’s the basic rule of audition judging.

Judges should have gravitas, and they shouldn’t give false hope or despair to those who came for auditions.

‘I’m confident about this.’

An expressionless face was his usual appearance and daily life.

‘My first time as a judge….’

What kind of acting will the actors who participated in today’s private audition show? And how did they interpret Casanova?

As Johann calms his pounding heart and stares intently at the door, a handsome man with brown skin—Dev Patel from Slumdog Millionaire—walks in confidently yet lightly and arrogantly.

Already seeming ready, the scent of Casanova emanates from his entire body, and the shadow of Casanova who stirred up the Venetian Republic is visible.

‘Eliminated.’

Giacomo Casanova was a white man born between white parents.

Johann marked an X on the evaluation sheet before he even performed his acting.

* * *

“Whew.”

“Phew. Everyone’s level is high, isn’t it?”

When Tom Hardy said “take care of your health,” it gave them goosebumps, and when Joseph Gordon-Levitt played violin while looking at an imaginary partner in his free acting, they thought he was going crazy.

Acting worthy of recommended actors indeed.

That’s why it’s more troublesome.

“Hmm. What did our writer think?”

At Baz Luhrmann’s words, everyone’s gaze turns to Johann.

“…There were definitely wrong interpretations, and there were plausible interpretations too.”

Someone acted as Casanova being stubborn about money issues, and someone acted as Casanova who didn’t care about anything except women.

Actors who acted as if they hadn’t read materials about Casanova, as if they had read quite a bit about Casanova, and as if they had or hadn’t read the novel he wrote.

“All of them… were Casanova.”

Having them act out the script he wrote tickled his heart.

It could be interpreted this way, it could be interpreted that way.

There was Casanova he didn’t know, and there was Casanova he knew.

It seemed like Casanova from every multiverse was alive and breathing.

It was a wonderful moment and an honor that he wondered if would come again.

“And at the same time, he wasn’t Casanova.”

“…I think I understand what you mean.”

The casting directors who had thoroughly read Johann’s novel also nod their heads.

Certainly, everyone acted so well that it was hard to know who to choose.

Yet at the same time, in everyone’s acting, there was something lacking – one thing, or perhaps two or three things.

Until just now, they thought it was simply inadequacy caused by insufficient time to study the character since they had received the script pages only an hour ago, but hearing Johann’s words, it seems that wasn’t the case.

‘What could it be…? Why did I feel something was lacking?’

It was a moment when they, who had seen countless actors over the years, began analyzing the actors’ performances again.

“Actor number 13 will come in now!”

‘Tsk.’

‘That actor is the last one for the morning session, right?’

They should quickly watch the performance and then continue their analysis.

As their expressions became indifferent, Hayden’s eyes wavered upon spotting Johann.

‘…Ah, he must be attending as the CEO of Rocky Management.’

Rocky Management, rumored to hold 100 percent of Wolf Pictures’ shares. Johann was the son of that Rocky Management CEO. It wasn’t strange for him to be here.

‘Still, what kind of coincidence is this…’

As Hayden inwardly clicked his tongue, Johann also smiled inwardly, finding this coincidence amusing.

“Start when you’re ready.”

“Yes.”

‘…Oh?’

Hayden’s temperament changed as he lowered his head.

His entire body, which had seemed to have a faint presence as if he’d never thrown a punch, relaxed and began emanating a rough and dangerous aura.

Though they had seen actors immerse themselves in characters countless times, it was always a wondrous sight to behold.

That’s when it happened.

Thud!

‘Huh?’

Hayden knelt down, grabbed someone’s hand and pulled them close for a kiss. He raised his eyes filled with excessive love, sadness, and longing to look into his partner’s eyes.

“You are a flower, a pearl. How can you not understand this heart that dare not touch you with these filthy hands… Why don’t you know?”

Lines that were slightly different from the script he was given.

Johann’s eyes wavered.

It was the same for the others.

“That’s enough.”

“…”

A brief silence descended upon the audition room.

The judges, who normally shouldn’t show their emotions, stared at the sweating Hayden with shaken eyes.

It was such a shocking performance.

Johann spoke up.

“Why did you act that way?”

“…Casanova was the eldest son.”

One who had to take care of his younger siblings after losing both parents and guardians.

“Although he was entrusted to the nobleman Michele Grimani, who had connections with his deceased grandmother, Casanova must have been anxious.”

Not knowing when he might be kicked out.

If kicked out, his younger siblings could suffer.

“Therefore, the Casanova of this time would have needed someone who could help him even if he fell out of Grimani’s favor and was expelled.”

The person Casanova sought out was none other than Michele Grimani’s most cherished mistress.

“To Casanova, this mistress was a means for such self-preservation.”

“So you’re saying he seduced the mistress not because of her beauty and his playboy nature, but as a means of self-preservation?”

“To be precise, I think his playboy nature and adolescent hormone excess were the first reason, her beauty was the second, and self-preservation was the third reason. Since he was still young.”

That’s why he confessed to the mistress with excessive emotion.

‘This is my Casanova!’

The Casanova he analyzed, before becoming a true playboy.

Hayden raised his head stiffly, and Johann’s eyes sparkled as his hair stood on end.

‘Found him. The real Casanova.’

It was a fragment of sincerity that Johann had only hinted at very subtly in his novel, something even Casanova himself didn’t know at the time.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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