Chapter 10: The Second Half of the Show Begins
In Britain, it's very difficult for a formally trained actor not to perform in plays.
Maggie Smith was no exception; born in 1934, she graced the stage at 19.
Her first play was 'Twelfth Night' at the Oxford Playhouse, where she played the lead, Olivia, and became famous with her debut.
Of course, her ability to play the lead as an unknown was also related to her father, a professor at Oxford University, and her first workplace was the Oxford University Drama Society, which sponsored 'Twelfth Night'.
Parental love is great, and Maggie Smith didn't disappoint her father. She had an extremely high talent for acting, and not long after becoming famous, she went on a Broadway tour. When the time came, Olivier even invited her to join the soon-to-be-established National Theatre. She accepted, and from then on, Maggie Smith became one of the founding members of the Royal Theatre.
So, when she said she was taking Isabella to the theatre she founded, it could only be the Royal Theatre.
When Isabella first heard the destination, she was a little confused, not understanding what the old lady was up to. But when she arrived at the national cultural landmark of Great Britain, and the practice room opened and the sparring partner appeared, she immediately understood the other party's intention.
So-called acting is about showing and performing.
Analyzing a role with words and writing is indeed showing, but it's also theoretical; only practical experience can lead to improvement.
Since that's the case, just practice!
To be honest, Isabella had never seen this kind of teaching method from the old lady before. You know, when she learned music in her previous life, whether it was erhu or piano, she always learned the basics first, then practiced the techniques.
But now?
The old lady didn't teach anything, just let her go straight to it?
How was this any different from letting her solve discrete mathematics after she learned 1+1=2?
Oh, no, that's not right!
She didn't even know 1+1=2 in acting yet!
To be honest, after entering the practice room, Isabella started to panic.
Maggie Smith, however, smiled and pulled out a page from the script she had organized overnight. The scene described the Hogwarts new student welcoming feast, where the children were heartily enjoying dinner, and then, the ghosts of Hogwarts appeared.
Nearly Headless Nick emerged from under the dining table, startling many People.
Hermione, curious about his nickname, asked him about its origin.
Then, Sir Nicholas pulled at his head, showing her his neck, which had been hacked forty-four times with a blunt axe and was still connected to his head by a bit of skin. This act thoroughly disgusted the little girl.
After reading the content on the paper, Maggie Smith pointed to the mustachioed theatre actor in front of Isabella and said, “He is Nicholas now. How do you think this scene should be performed?”
“Hmm…”
Isabella thought for a moment and said, “I think this scene needs to be performed in three parts to be effective.”
“Why?”
“Because this is an interactive dialogue. The camera should be on Hermione when she asks a question, on Nicholas when he answers, and then back on Hermione when she is startled.”
Isabella replied, “According to my understanding of movies, these back-and-forth shots should be filmed separately?”
“Yeah~ Your answer is very good~”
The old lady nodded and said, “From a filmmaking perspective, your answer is perfect, and this scene involves visual effects production. So, when filming on set, you actually need to perform without props. But now, you have a real person in front of you, so I need you to perform it continuously. How do you think you should do it?”
“I ask him with curiosity? Then he scares me? Then I get scared?”
“Here, have a try.”
The old lady gestured for her to begin.
The lack of demonstration made the queen of verbal sparring even more nervous.
As if sensing her panic, the uncle the old lady had called to be a sparring partner immediately smiled and said, “It’s okay, you can act however you want. We all started from scratch.”
The uncle was very kind.
Isabella wanted to thank him.
But before she could even open her mouth, the old lady's reprimand came.
“Who told you to talk to her like that?”
“You are Nick now, Nicholas Pompinton.”
Although it was a reprimand, the old lady’s voice did not rise.
But the clear pronunciation and calm, punctuated tone were actually the most terrifying.
Isabella instinctively turned her head.
At this moment, the old lady stood there with her hands clasped in front, like a pine tree.
Not only that, her head was slightly raised and her gaze lowered, giving Isabella an uncomfortable feeling of being looked down upon.
What made her even more—
“Professor McGonagall?”
She pursed her lips and bravely said, “Please stop impersonating Professor Snape, okay?”
“Hmm?”
The old lady didn't understand what the little girl meant.
Isabella continued, “Minerva McGonagall is a good teacher who appears strict but is kind-hearted. While she is indeed very strict in many matters, this doesn’t mean she is unreasonable.”
“In 'chamber of secrets', after the Ginny incident, to celebrate her safe return, Professor McGonagall proactively canceled the annual exams. This act alone proves that she is understanding of human nature; her strict emphasis on school rules is only because she is a Hogwarts professor.”
“In 'Prisoner of azkaban', after the Quidditch match, she even cried with excitement, which also shows that she is a person with personal preferences and complex emotions, don’t you agree?”
“So, such a good professor would not speak to children with her head held high.”
“Only someone like Snape, who needs to maintain his identity as the Head of Slytherin at all times, would scare People like that.”
“…”
The world fell silent.
At this moment, there were seven People in the practice room.
Aside from Maggie Smith and Isabella, the other five were sparring partners the old lady had brought.
At this moment, everyone looked at Isabella with surprise, not only because Maggie Smith was their honorary dean, but also because everyone had a consensus that only a handful of People in the entire entertainment industry could say that Maggie Smith didn't act well, and in Britain, the only one who dared to teach her acting without giving face was the late Laurence Olivier.
So?
“Very good.”
The old lady’s expression didn't change at all, but her slightly raised head returned to normal. “Miss Granger, since you know I am a good person and all my strictness is for your own good, then I have no more reservations about the upcoming teaching.”
“Now, please begin.”
Still a calm tone.
Still punctuated pronunciation.
But at this moment, Isabella felt that she was no longer nervous.
She smiled at the old lady, thanked the uncle who had actively comforted her, closed her eyes to sort out her thoughts, and when she reopened them, a surge of curiosity immediately burst forth in her eyes as she looked at the uncle.
“Nearly Headless, how are you nearly headless?”
“Like this.”
The uncle had read the script and immediately grabbed his hair, tilting his head to the side.
Without special effects, he just looked like he was bending his neck.
But in Isabella’s eyes, his head and body were almost separating.
And because he didn't receive the treatment of Louis XVI, the connection between his head and neck was still bloody and gruesome.
The dog-chewed cross-section made Isabella instinctively furrow her brows, her features tightening, a look of disgust on her face.
If one looked closely, one could even notice her right eye twitching.
“How was that, Professor McGonagall? Can I get full marks for my acting class?”
After maintaining her expression for a full five seconds, Isabella finally turned around.
Although the other party was still composed, but…
“Next scene.”
Maggie Smith pulled out another page of the script.
… … … …
Before starting, Isabella did feel that the old lady’s teaching methods were a bit baffling.
After starting, she found that the old lady’s class was truly comfortable.
She certainly didn't teach techniques, but she would point out your problems in every rehearsal, or rather, once the tape recorder was set up in the practice room, you only needed to simply review to find your own flaws.
Furthermore, after identifying a problem, she wouldn't spoon-feed you the solution but rather guide you by asking how you wanted to improve.
If you thought an idea was okay, you could try again.
In just a few seconds, you could understand whether the new solution was correct or not.
This guided practical teaching made the imaginative Isabella feel like she was a genius.
Extremely talented in acting.
Although the old lady didn't praise her with words, her composed act of pulling out the script had already proven everything.
Started practicing at eleven.
Lunch break at twelve.
Continued at one.
When it was two o'clock, the bell for class dismissal rang.
In the old lady's opinion, two hours of practical teaching a day was already a lot. Continuing to practice could be done, but that would no longer be acting naturally; it would be grinding into a craftsman, which was a waste of an actor's spiritual energy and meaningless.
Of course, the end of the acting class didn't mean Isabella could slack off. She could rest for a while backstage at the theater, digest her experiences from class, and wait until the clock hands reached three or four o'clock for new lessons to begin.
She needed to perform on stage at the National Theatre.
Anyone who has seen a play should know that plays have intermissions.
Because a full play typically lasts at least two hours, and many are three hours long, anyone who can sit still for one hundred or two hundred minutes straight is a legendary 'iron butt king.' Most People can't endure it.
And during the fifteen-minute intermission, the theater also provides performances. Among these, the super short plays used for transitions are called intermezzi, or intermedio, but more often it's music, song, and dance, so...
At half past four in the afternoon.
As soon as the Royal Theatre's Dorfman Auditorium entered intermission, Isabella, dressed in a white gown, took to the stage.
She bowed to the audience, sat down at the piano that had just been brought on stage, and a piano piece perfectly suited to the play drifted out.
Perhaps it was the striking sight of a ten-year-old figure;
But it could also be that Isabella played beautifully;
In any case, after her appearance, quite a bit of discussion erupted in the venue.
Yes, during filming, there are indeed many People on set, and the scene is indeed chaotic, but no matter how chaotic the set is, it won't be as chaotic as a theater.
Because a film crew has a boss, that's the director, and he can keep everyone in line and provide as much quiet as possible. But a theater?
Every audience member who buys a ticket can scrutinize you and comment on you.
If you can 'pass' here, then you'll easily handle all the distractions on set when filming.
In Maggie Smith's eyes, this might have been the biggest problem Isabella needed to face, because even outgoing People get nervous on stage for the first time. But unfortunately, Isabella disappointed her; she had performed in her previous life, and this was what she was best at.
On July 15th, Isabella officially began her specialized training.
After that, she lost all sense of time.
She only knew that Maggie Smith had taken her through all of Hermione Granger's scenes in the script, recording them with a VCR. From somewhat awkward to smoothly transitioning, it only took three or four tapes in total.
At the same time, she also had to do some extra exercises every evening.
It was 'spot the difference.'
She would organize all the named characters appearing in the script and see what was different from their descriptions in the book.
She would compare the script's story with the novel to see where the screenwriter had made deletions or changes.
Although this kind of life was tiring, Isabella felt very fulfilled.
And everything she did came to J.K. Rowling's attention on August 5th.
"You made her do these?"
"I only asked her to organize Hermione's plot; everything else she did on her own."
"Oh~ wonderful~"
Rowling smiled and shook her head, closing Isabella's manuscript.
She looked at the practice session in the video, and the little adult's demeanor made her nod.
After a brief chat, they went to the main hall.
She was indeed at the Royal Theatre today to watch a play, but she wasn't watching the main performance provided by the theater; she was watching the intermission performance recommended by her friend. Sitting on the third floor, she looked down at the girl in the arena, a figure both small and grand.
"She plays quite well."
"That means she's been practicing the piano diligently all this time."
"So you like her?" Rowling looked at Maggie Smith.
The old lady raised an eyebrow, "No one can refuse a talented and hardworking child, can they?"
"Indeed." Rowling crossed her arms and sighed.
After a while, she added, "I thought fast-paced learning would cause her trouble, but I didn't expect her abilities to be so strong."
The old lady heard the subtext, "The actors have pretty much been confirmed?"
"Mhm."
"How did you handle Chris's side?"
The old lady also knew about the problems the crew was encountering.
So, when she saw that Rowling was in a good mood, she wanted to know how Rowling was controlling the crew.
Rowling paused for a moment, then sighed, "Because I chose Daniel."
The old lady was startled, but then quickly smiled, "Oh~ so that's it~"
The Daniel Rowling referred to was Dan Niu Daniel Radcliffe.
Just as all future media reports would state, he was the top choice for Harry Potter from the very beginning.
Because he was British, had acting experience, and was cute, and then...
His father was in the publishing world, working as a publishing agent and representative for traditional literature. His reputation in the UK... how should I put it? It was similar to J.K. Rowling's mentor, the driving force behind the 'Harry Potter' series, and the first producer of the film project, David Heyman. And they had known each other for many years.
To put it bluntly, shortly after the 'Harry Potter' film project was approved, Dan Niu entered David Heyman's radar. They did hold open auditions, and they weren't just for show, but unless they could find someone who looked exactly like the book's description, no one could compete with Dan Niu for the role of Harry Potter.
Hmm, not even if Haley Joel Osment came along.
Because Dan Niu was not only British, but also Jewish.
His mother was of Jewish descent, born in South Africa, and according to matrilineal descent, he was even a pure-blooded Jew.
The power of this identity in the European and American entertainment industry is well understood, so when J.K. Rowling decided to have him play Harry Potter, let alone Chris Columbus, even if Steven Spielberg directed, he couldn't say no.
Maggie Smith knew all of the above information, so after Dan Niu appeared, she had no more doubts.
But at the same time, she had other curiosities, "What about the others? What about Ron?"
"Most likely Rupert Grint. You've seen this child's information; he's very good."
"Oh~ I remember him~"
Maggie Smith nodded, "Then what about Hermione Granger?"
At the mention of Hermione, Rowling suddenly fell silent.
After a full ten seconds, she finally said, "When I told Chris that I wanted Daniel and Rupert to play Harry and Ron, he didn't have much objection, but for the role of Hermione, he showed me a new candidate. She was a British girl born in France, also a beautiful little girl, on par with Isa."
"And her parents are also divorced."
The complex information made Maggie Smith narrow her eyes.
After a moment of thought, she understood Rowling's meaning.
"According to the rules of the industry, you should respect Chris Columbus's casting choice, right?"
A society made up of People is definitely a society of human relations.
So, even if Rowling and Columbus had a conflict, and the latter was the first to 'provoke,' she couldn't really be dictatorial.
When she chose two of the trio, and one of them was the absolute protagonist, the remaining protagonist role had to go to the director, Chris Columbus. After all, he was also a person of some standing, and a student of Steven Spielberg. You couldn't make him a mere tool who only shouted 'cut' on the project.
He also needed to save face!
But—
"Oh~ Maggie~ you're right."
The old lady had seen more storms than Rowling had eaten salt, and since she had stated the essence of the matter, Rowling no longer hesitated, "If I hadn't talked with Isa, I probably would have given the decision for Hermione to Chris."
"But I did talk to her, so..."
"I can only say sorry to Chris."
Although Rowling had been chatting with Maggie Smith, her attention never left the stage.
When she noticed that Isabella had finished her performance and began to thank the audience, she also joined the applause. The rush of claps made her eyes sparkle, and the little one, waving happily and exiting the stage with a smile, made her speak again—
"Maggie, do you know why I like Isa?"
"Because she's only ten, but she told me she has to support her family."
"I'm a mother; I can't hear words like that."
The moment her words fell, the entire theater also dimmed.
With a 'clang,' a beam of white light descended from above, landing in the center of the stage.
The second half of the performance had begun.