Chapter 173

Xu Can filming Spider-Man action scenes was thrilling enough, but even a musical could be this exciting?

……

The male lead Seb and female lead Mia's first meeting follows the classic lovers-become-enemies-then-lovers trope.

Roger Ebert immediately thought of Audrey Hepburn's "Roman Holiday," one of the hallmarks of Hollywood's Golden Age.

Combined with the protagonist's vehicle, the musical style, and the Easter eggs in the film,

He could tell—Xu Can was using every kind of detail to prove that he truly understands Hollywood.

Even better than many film critics!

Like a powerful heavy punch, slamming hard into the nose of those doubters!

Just look at William beside them—his face had even turned a little green.

"How about it? Still not convinced?"

"Hmph, keep watching, I still don't believe it." William still talked tough.

As the film progressed, the second musical number arrived.

This was the song between female lead Mia and her best friend—four beauties in long dresses of different colors dancing under the night sky.

The color-contrasting visuals and the pleasant melody were simply a delight!

The first song "Another Day of Sun" was stunning enough,

The second song "Someone In The Crowd" was even more addictive!

"Wait!"

Roger Ebert suddenly thought of something!

Media reports claimed that the entire film's music was composed independently by Xu Can!

He can write songs too?

Holy Shit! No wonder he's Hollywood's "Devi1," what a freak!

Not only are the film's musical segments brilliant, the dramatic scenes are equally outstanding!

Stone Sister, who plays female lead Mia, has acting skills that simply crush her peers, and even among all Hollywood actresses she leads by a wide margin!

Her portrayal of a struggling extra is truly vivid and lifelike.

Perhaps she really experienced those setbacks to have such a deep understanding.

Female lead Mia is down on her luck, and male lead Seb is also at a low point in life.

Even the restaurant boss can push him around however he wants,

For meager part-time wages, the musically gifted Seb has no choice but to humble himself and play those boring melodies.

Xu Can's piano skills were also revealed to the world for the first time.

Normally, there aren't many actors who can truly master the piano.

To reach a sufficient level requires years, even decades, of practice.

So most actors filming piano shots just give a close-up of the face, then use a hand double for the close-up shots,

Directors don't dare film full-body shots from multiple angles.

But with Xu Can, he boldly showed off his piano skills to the audience.

At first it was just a simple Silent Night, but as he played on, the entire audience couldn't close their mouths.

"Huh?"

"Wait, he's really playing?"

"This level is on par with a professional pianist, right?"

The theater audience's reaction was exactly like that of the crew on set back then.

Xu Can had never revealed to the outside world that he could play piano, and his debut was an instant sensation!

"Seb Mia Theme" begins with soft, low singing, gradually building with full emotion,

At this moment Seb has entered a state of self-forgetfulness—the restaurant has become his exclusive stage!

And the only audience member is Mia at the door!

When the piece ended, there was no applause.

Seb returned from his fantasy stage to reality, greeted only by the restaurant boss's cold face.

"You're fired."

Mia was moved by the music and wanted to step forward to chat, but Seb had no time for her and brushed past her.

Their second meeting ended awkwardly again.

At this point the audience hadn't yet realized what kind of impact this scene would create at the film's ending!

Meanwhile, Emma beside Xu Can watched herself on the screen with a blissful expression.

In the film Xu Can ignored her, but in reality she gently held Xu Can's hand.

Xu Can suddenly felt Emma squeeze his hand and thought she wanted to say something to him.

He had just leaned his ear over when his face suddenly felt cool. 【】

It turned out Emma had given him a light, dragonfly-touch kiss on his cheek.

So Xu Can pulled the same trick, and Emma leaned over too.

He kissed Stone Sister directly on the lips—Emma was startled and tried to push him away.

But Xu Can was somewhat unrestrained, making Emma both nervous and thrilled with a different kind of excitement.

In front of the film's main creators, the film critics, and so many audience members—wasn't this too risky?

But just as she was about to lose herself in it, Xu Can suddenly pulled away, stopping abruptly.

Emma Stone was immediately left hanging by him.

"Dammit!"

Emma grabbed Xu Can's hand and bit down on it.

"Hiss—are you a vampire?"

"Hmph!"

The assistant director of their little play, Damien, happened to glance over and immediately felt terribly awkward.

Please, can't you two play at home? This is a movie theater…

But thinking about it carefully, their scandal rumors had long been flying everywhere, and in the media's mouth they already had three kids.

Getting intimate in public counts as normal.

……

After the male and female leads targeted each other at a party, to dodge the blind date partners, Mia deliberately pulled the male lead away.

The two came to the nearby Mount Wilson and walked all the way to the vicinity of the Griffith Observatory.

Los Santos's blue-purple night scenery looked especially hazy and dreamlike.

The film's third musical number rendered yet another layer of different color.

The most crucial part was Xu Can's tap dance, which practically made the girls on site want to scream!

"Ahhhhhhh! So handsome!"

"I want him to roughly me*……"

"Sis, me too, together."

After going through "Handsomest Spider-Man," "Handsomest Hitman," and "Handsomest Villain," Xu Can would once again earn a new title: "Handsomest Tap Dancer."

The harmonious beauty of Seb and Mia dancing together under the Los Santos night left Luo Jie Ebert dazzled.

He was well aware of the difficulty of this kind of long-take dance; it must have taken countless NG takes, right?

Even William, who had always wanted to nitpick, was now immersed in the musical, temporarily forgetting everything else.

The male and female leads, through one dance, quietly developed feelings, and just like that became friends who could talk about anything, chatting freely about each other's dreams.

The film critic William finally pulled himself out of the musical, scoffing and curling his lip.

"Cliché plot—it's just breaking up because of dreams and then getting back together, right? Boring."

"How do you know? What if there's some other development later?"

"Impossible. He's just an Asian—what kind of miracle development could there be?"

"See? And you still say you're not a racist?"

"Hmph, we'll see."

In the film, Seb and Mia chatted more and more agreeably, admiring each other's dreams.

They agreed to meet next time, and Seb came to the Los Santos docks familiar to every GTA 5 player, softly singing that classic song under the purple night sky.