Chapter 257: An Unexpected Actor

The most impressive aspect of the film *Memories of Murder* is the two police officers in it.

One of the leads is Song Kang-ho.

In this film, the town police officer he portrays fully expresses that sense of helplessness and panic in being unable to find the killer.

Such a transcendent performance also deeply captivated the audience, allowing them to experience a feeling where tension and terror coexist.

Song Kang-ho himself also relied on this film to become the Best Actor at the 40th Grand Bell Awards in South Korea, and went on to star in blockbuster hits like *The Host* and *Parasite*.

Therefore, in Akiwara Yuto's view, the success of *Memories of Murder* was half due to its closeness to reality, and the other half due to the performances of Song Kang-ho and the other actors.

But in these auditions, he hadn't found a single person who could reach the same level as Song Kang-ho; even the closest one had a considerable gap.

Fortunately, however, he didn't need to step in and reject them himself.

Utsumi Takuto, acting as both producer and director, had also been shaking his head the whole time; it was clear he was also very dissatisfied.

After half a day of auditions, Utsumi Takuto called for a break, then turned his head and said to Akiwara Yuto, "Akiwara-sensei, do you have any suitable candidates to recommend?"

Utsumi Takuto had originally thought that with so many actors coming, there would surely be one who was suitable.

But he hadn't expected that more than half of the people who auditioned couldn't perform the feeling he wanted.

Akiwara Yuto shook his head, indicating that he didn't have any suitable candidates either.

After all, his own circle was still a bit far from the entertainment industry, and he had no mood to get to know any entertainers or actors.

Just as the two were considering whether to hold another audition, the room's door was suddenly pushed open, and a 40-year-old man with a slightly chubby face burst in, panting, "Sorry, I'm late."

Because he couldn't find anyone, Utsumi Takuto was already in a bad mood and scolded, "We don't need actors who can't even keep time."

But upon hearing this reprimand, the middle-aged man immediately knelt down and used a "dogeza" to plead, "I hope you can give me a chance! I had unavoidable reasons for being late!"

Seeing his actions, all five people sitting in the judge's seats were surprised.

The "dogeza" posture is usually not performed unless absolutely necessary, and is typically considered a supreme humiliation.

But they hadn't expected this unknown actor to actually perform this action here.

One had to know that even if they agreed to let him audition, it didn't mean they would hire him.

Utsumi Takuto also calmed down, turned his head, and asked for Akiwara Yuto's opinion, "Akiwara-sensei, what do you think?"

Akiwara Yuto saw his intention to agree, so he very compliantly said, "Let's go with your intention, Director Utsumi."

As a director, one must maintain the highest authority on set.

Therefore, even if he was a major investor, it was best to give the other party this face; otherwise, it might affect his prestige within the crew.

But doing this would cause many disadvantages for the filming work!

And it would indirectly mean losing his own investment!

Utsumi Takuto accepted Akiwara Yuto's favor, then turned his head to look at the middle-aged man and said, "Don't waste our time, stand up quickly and start performing."

The middle-aged man understood the meaning in the words, revealed a grateful look, and immediately crawled up from the ground.

Immediately after, he politely bowed and introduced himself, "Good day, five teachers, I am Hiraoka Kotaro, please treat me well."

"Please begin," Akiwara Yuto waved his hand.

Hiraoka Kotaro lowered his head, and after a moment of silence, he suddenly raised his head; his entire temperament had changed, becoming a "town police officer" exuding a lazy air.

He said in a tone containing a hint of conviction, "Let's talk like man to man. You saw that pretty girl, you wanted her; when I was your age, I would go out with friends, I understand."

He leaned his body forward, as if there were really someone sitting opposite him receiving his interrogation.

"At first, you never wanted to kill her, you just wanted to touch her body, so that's why you killed her? Kill her, and you can touch her."

The staff member acting as the scene partner said, "No, I didn't."

Hiraoka Kotaro made a "tsk" sound, as if he didn't believe his words, and then changed the subject, "That guy who walked down also had a hard life like you..."

Time passed bit by bit, and soon he finished performing this segment, and then, at Utsumi Takuto's request, performed several other important scenes.

While he was performing, whether it was his eyes or his expressions, they were all very on point; on that seemingly ordinary face, one could fully see his emotional changes.

Among these changes, a town police officer exhausted by running around was brought to life by him.

After the performance ended, both Utsumi Takuto and Akiwara Yuto were surprised.

After all, they had already prepared for the next audition, and hadn't expected another quite good backup candidate to pop up.

This person's performance was very infectious and had a lot of depth, as if it really made people feel like they were on the scene.

After a period of silence, everyone looked at each other, having almost already made a decision.

At this time, Hiraoka Kotaro, who had finished his performance, returned to his timid self, standing to the side waiting for the result.

Utsumi Takuto coughed, "Please wait outside for a moment, we will discuss it here."

Hearing this notification, although Hiraoka Kotaro was still nervous, he still politely bowed and walked out of the room.

After he left, Utsumi Takuto "put on a show" and asked a few questions, but Akiwara Yuto had already seen through his thoughts and naturally couldn't express opposition in such a matter.

In fact, he was also very satisfied in his heart; although this person's performance was slightly different from the Song Kang-ho of his past life, it undoubtedly met his requirements.

After confirming the lead, the progress for the other lead and other main characters also went very smoothly, and a cast list was soon drawn up.

As for the signing, that was the responsibility of the production team, who would coordinate the schedules.

In fact, there was no need to put much thought into it; after all, most of the people inside were only third or fourth-tier actors who didn't have many performance opportunities, so they cherished this opportunity very much.

However, Akiwara Yuto was a bit puzzled: why were they all third or fourth-tier? Why hadn't a single second-tier or higher actor come?

Could it be that someone at Toei Eiga was causing trouble? Or was his work not interesting to anyone?

But he hadn't expected that when facing this question, Utsumi Takuto instead revealed an awkward smile, "Akiwara-sensei, the reason for this is mainly as follows."

Through his explanation, Akiwara Yuto learned the deeper reasons.

The first and second-tier male actors suitable for filming mostly cherished their own feathers and hoped that their films would be big hits after filming.

And the work *Memories of Murder* was produced by independent producers raising funds; there was no large or medium-sized film company behind it, and it couldn't even guarantee the number of screens in theater channels.

Besides that, Utsumi Takuto himself wasn't a well-known director in the industry, and the films he had shot were only 18+ films.

With such considerations, these first and second-tier male actors didn't look favorably on the future of this film and naturally refused the corresponding invitations.

And Utsumi Takuto could only look for a needle in a haystack, digging out suitable candidates from third and fourth-tier actors.

Akiwara Yuto heard the "apology" in Utsumi Takuto's words, but he had no intention of blaming Utsumi Takuto.

After all, if it weren't for Utsumi Takuto, he estimated he would still be haggling with those large film companies now.

The worst-case scenario would be having to sell the film rights cheaply.

Akiwara Yuto thought for a moment, then patted Utsumi Takuto's shoulder, "Director Utsumi, shoot this work well, I believe in you!"

After a pause, he added another promise, "If needed, I can add more investment on my end!"

Anyway, money was overflowing now, and there wasn't much interest in the bank, so it was better to make good use of it to let money make money.

But after hearing his "comfort" and "encouragement," the sense of gratitude in Utsumi Takuto's eyes became even heavier...

While they were working, Akiwara Yuto's piece *Rashomon* was submitted directly to the *Yuno* editorial department of Keihansha through the method of manuscript submission by an acquaintance... ===== CHAPTER 258 =====