Since casting takes up a significant portion of a film's production budget, this had to be considered a major advantage.
It meant the money that would have been spent on casting actors could be redirected elsewhere.
However, from the actors' perspective, having few characters was both a struggle and a good thing.
Scenes could be concentrated on a small number of people, which meant their screen time would increase accordingly.
"Good work, Mina-ssi."
"Yes, thank you!!"
Kang Mina, who played the role of Detective Seo Gwang-il's younger sister in
Since she was still a rookie and young, she often found herself nervous in many ways.
'I must work hard without causing trouble for the agency.'
Mina's agency was Lauren Company.
It was an agency belonging to around the 3rd tier, and it had actively pushed for Mina to be cast in this film.
Although she barely landed a supporting role, since it was the role of the lead Detective Seo Gwang-il's sister, she ended up showing her face quite a lot here and there.
Compared to her three previous drama appearances as an extra, this was a massive leap forward.
'But whenever the camera points at me, I never know what kind of face I'm making.'
Still, it felt like she finished well without making many NGs.
Everyone didn't hold back their praise, saying she did well for her age.
'Talent really does exist.'
Mina glanced at the girl sitting quietly.
She was two years younger than herself.
She heard she was only seventeen, but with her makeup on, she looked around twenty.
Her posture as she sat with her eyes quietly closed was very straight.
To anyone looking, she had the appearance of a young lady from a noble family.
She had a flower-like appearance, but having seen her acting, Mina couldn't bring herself to call Seoyeon a flower.
The filming that took place today.
Scene #37.
The scene where Han Ye-hwa and Cha Seo-ah encounter each other in an alleyway.
It was a crucial scene where she chases her, knocks her out, and kidnaps her.
Cha Seo-ah, who would normally have killed Han Ye-hwa on the spot, goes out of her way not to kill her and drags her to her own house.
To the place where she was left alone after murdering her parents.
How did Mina feel watching that scene?
'Is that not actually Cha Seo-ah herself?'
Her body trembled to the point where such a question arose.
Especially her gaze.
It felt like looking at something that wasn't human, something disguised as a human.
Was it really acting?
It was enough to make her wonder.
A bizarre sense of revulsion rising from within.
She could feel that level of intensity in this scene.
As if everything up until now had simply been "showing off."
Her inferiority complex and jealousy towards Han Ye-hwa were vividly displayed on that unpleasant face.
It was acting that Mina couldn't even dare to imitate.
'Still.'
Shin Sung-mi, who played the "convenience store lady," saw Mina glancing at Seoyeon and chuckled.
"You two are around the same age, so how about getting friendly with her?"
"Huh?"
"You'll be seeing her throughout this entire shoot."
Of course, the reason Shin Sung-mi said this was because of Seoyeon's potential.
'She's definitely going to make it big.'
Especially once this movie is released, her status will change in an instant.
So from Mina's perspective, now was her only chance to get close to Seoyeon.
There was no need to say things like 'with an actor like that, it's better to build a connection.'
Having observed her so far, Mina wasn't the type of actress who liked such talk.
"Y-yeah, I guess so."
Mina nodded.
An actress two years younger than herself.
They were definitely of a similar age group.
From Mina's perspective, there were many things she wanted to ask and learn.
'What on earth is she thinking?'
Mina swallowed dryly as she looked at Seoyeon, who sat quietly with her eyes closed, maintaining her straight posture.
Honestly, she had an aura that made it hard to approach her easily.
Was she deeply contemplating today's acting?
Or had she immersed herself so deeply in Cha Seo-ah's emotions that she was still shaking it off?
"...It doesn't seem like today will work out."
She probably shouldn't disturb her at a time like this.
Mina shook her head in disappointment.
Making up her mind to try talking to her once when the time was right.
And, just as Mina thought, Seoyeon was deep in her own serious contemplation.
'What about my 400 million won?'
A truly important concern.
This role of Cha Seo-ah was a once-in-a-lifetime role for Seoyeon.
She was naturally confident, and she could clearly foresee how Cha Seo-ah would appear to the audience.
'There were no restrictions on roles in the contract, but...'
Sometimes such contracts exist.
Cases where restrictions are placed on roles or specific variety shows due to the product's image.
Fortunately, no such clause was explicitly stated in the contract.
However, if the image of the movie imprinted itself too strongly, it would inevitably lead to image damage.
In reality, hadn't there been cases where actors were dropped despite there being no such restrictions, only to express their grievances?
'If I improve my image.'
Two things immediately came to mind.
Since it was a cosmetics advertisement, it would be good to emphasize femininity.
There was one such drama and one movie.
'But since the movie
There was still time left for the movie.
Even if I auditioned, it would take time until its release.
That left the drama.
"Of all things..."
Ugh, Seoyeon crossed her arms and lowered her head.
Two things were holding her back.
First, the genre was a "youth romance" drama.
Second, ...it was a drama starring Park Jung-woo.
'Dream Future. A drama filmed by gathering actors in their late teens and early twenties.'
A truly, truly rare youth drama.
For a youth drama, the average viewership was over 15 percent.
The peak viewership was roughly 17.6 percent.
For a drama, it could be called a "quite excellent viewership," but considering it was a youth drama, it was a viewership rate that could be called a "massive hit."
The most important thing was that more than half of the teenage actors who appeared in this drama saw their status skyrocket within three years. Even for Seoyeon, it was a drama she had initially considered appearing in, but she gave up because the genre was "youth romance."
Of course, since teenage actors were the main cast, it felt a bit too fresh to be called romance, and there were no R-rated scenes, but.
Anyway, it was a bit much.
'If I were to squeeze in...'
But right now, Seoyeon was in a situation where she couldn't just brush it off as "a bit much."
For Seoyeon, who was now in a "must-save" situation, there weren't many options left.
'If it's that specific role anyway, there won't be many romance scenes, so it should be fine.'
Moreover, the male lead was Park Jung-woo.
Of course, there was a separate main heroine, so there wouldn't be much of a problem.
The role Seoyeon was trying to participate in was a somewhat cute, mascot-like role anyway.
A cute mascot that was the opposite of a "murderer."
Even if it couldn't completely erase the impact, it could offset it to some extent.
'That should be enough.'
She even remembered that the actress who took that role, despite receiving harsh criticism for her acting, had effortlessly shot a few commercials.
Of course, that was the end of it.
'Romance, a little later.'
At least, she wasn't confident yet.
She didn't know about someday, but at least for now.
***
Yeonhwa High School School Festival.
It was said to be a fairly large event, to the point where they gave out invitations to outsiders.
Depending on the results, additional rewards could be given afterward.
Because of that, there were many students who participated actively.
'...First, I need to audition. Fortunately, there's no filming today. If they overlapped, I would have had to tell them in advance.'
Of course, this had nothing to do with Seoyeon.
Today as well, Seoyeon just sat in the isolated seat given to her, having such thoughts.
'...'
Is this right?
The high school life I imagined wasn't like this.
Suddenly, she felt a little melancholy.
Seeing the class brimming with energy as they prepared for the festival, she felt a feeling hard to describe.
'...If I participate a bit more actively in the festival.'
Improving her image right now wasn't just important for the "Cha Seo-ah role."
Didn't Joo Seoyeon herself also need to improve her image right away?
"U-um, Seoyeon."
At that moment, someone spoke to Seoyeon.
A female student wearing round glasses.
She was the class president of this class.
"Yeah?"
"W-well. I don't think you've heard about our festival booth."
The class president, Gil Dahyun, swallowed dryly.
Seoyeon's eyes staring straight at her had something that overwhelmed the other person.
For Dahyun, the class president who had only studied hard, it was quite burdensome.
'I see why everyone avoided talking to her.'
She heard she was an actress.
The shock she showed in the previous
Seoyeon in the video was truly beautiful like a flower.
And that was no different now.
However, if the "Yeonhwa Princess" was a flower, Seoyeon was like a blade.
She thought this was what happened when a person was too pretty.
"U-um, our class is going to run a horror booth."
"A horror booth?"
At those words, Seoyeon tilted her head inwardly with a "hmm."
She roughly knew what it was like.
Because she had seen a class run something similar in her past life's high school.
They roughly make it dark with blackout curtains and decorate the inside somewhat scarily from the hallway to the classroom.
Students in makeup wait inside and surprise the visitors, which was all there was to it.
'Honestly, it wasn't that scary.'
It just felt like being startled by the atmosphere.
It didn't resonate much with her, who was strong against fear.
For reference, the reason she was startled in a game before was because of a jump scare.
Truly.
"The principal said we could use the abandoned building in the back, so we decided to use it."
"Huh?"
An abandoned building?
"It's not in good repair, but we'll check it with the teachers before using it, so don't worry too much."
"Ah, yeah."
Seoyeon nodded.
Using an entire abandoned building.
'...'
It's still just a high school horror booth.
Still, if it's an abandoned building, the atmosphere would be quite decent.
If it was the abandoned building at Yeonhwa High School, she had heard of it.
An empty school building used a very long time ago.
There wasn't any particular accident, but with a new building extended and the number of students decreasing, it was naturally left behind.
'The atmosphere will definitely be there.'
Rather, the idea of using the empty school building was good.
As Seoyeon was nodding absently, the class president turned back to the students and said.
"By the way, one ghost role is vacant. Anyone want to do it?"
"Ghost role? Where?"
"Ah, around the old science room on the 2nd floor."
"Ah..."
The students showed quite subtle reactions.
Pretending not to listen, Seoyeon opened a book she wasn't even reading and pricked up her ears.
"Is there really no one who wants to do it? The kid who was supposed to do it suddenly said she didn't want to."
"Well, I can see why."
"Still, it's an important part, right? We decided to make that the highlight..."
The students trailed off.
Seoyeon pondered for a moment.
It seemed one ghost role was indeed empty.
'...'
Seoyeon's mind spun quickly.
If she naturally participated here, wouldn't it be an opportunity to get closer to the other kids?
"Me."
When Seoyeon opened her mouth, everyone's gazes moved in unison.
Seeing the dismay on their faces, Seoyeon flinched for a moment.
Did I say something wrong?
No, I haven't even said anything yet.
"...If there's no one for the ghost role, is it okay if I do it?"
"Huh? Really?"
At Seoyeon's sudden words, everyone's gazes crossed.
A current female actress playing a ghost.
And, thinking of Seoyeon's appearance...
"But is it really okay? There aren't many other kids on the 2nd floor, so it could be a bit scary waiting. We'll cover everything with blackout curtains."
At the class president's words, Seoyeon nodded.
It's still just a high school horror booth operating during the day.
Honestly, there's no way it's scary.
Things like this are usually just being startled by the atmosphere.
"It's fine."
Seoyeon said confidently.
At her words, the class president slowly nodded.
If she wanted to do it herself, it didn't matter.
Above all, inwardly, she was looking forward to Seoyeon's ghost acting.
If a current female actress did ghost acting.
'This might get a better reaction than expected.'
If the results were good at this festival, good words would be written on her school records.
The class president was full of motivation.
Of course, that was not what Seoyeon intended.