novellhall Chapter 375 Street Performances
Chapter 375 Street Performances
Chapter 374 Street Performances
Christine pulled out Max's apron from 2 Broke Girls, tied it around her neck, and, mimicking Kate's tone, sarcastically retorted, "Mr. Li, the cakes in your restaurant are practically moldy, and you're still writing your lousy diary here?"
Chen Xun followed Han Li's persona and replied, "Max, the divination says you'll lose money today, like having all your salary deducted this month."
The two then reenacted a classic scene from the sitcom "2 Broke Girls".
They burst into laughter while acting!
The chemistry they had when they acted together remains as strong as ever, even after all these years.
Later, Christine found Spider-Man's suit and headgear, put it on Chen Xun's head, and then put on a loose men's suit herself. She imitated him as Peter Parker, clumsily shooting spider webs and making "whoosh" sound effects, which made Chen Xun laugh so hard he couldn't stand up straight.
They made a scene like that for the entire afternoon, from Gotham's Joker and Harley Quinn to Queens' Spider-Man and MJ, to Brooklyn's restaurant owners and waiters, and even Sebastian and Mia from La La Land.
Chen Xun completely forgot about Arthur Fleck's gloom.
The heaviness weighing on my heart was completely washed away by playing around with Christine.
His cheeks ached from laughing.
Looking at Christine, whose face was flushed red from the commotion, he felt a deep sense of gratitude.
He always believed that method acting required completely immersing oneself in the role in order to bring out the soul of the character.
But he forgot that even the most profound role needs someone who can pull him out of the play.
And Christine is the one who can always pull him back to reality in her unique way when he gets caught up in something.
The disturbance lasted until evening.
The New York City outside the window was already shrouded in night, with its lights just coming on.
The two ordered takeout, snuggled up on the sofa in the living room, watched an old movie, and chatted idly.
Christine leaned against Chen Xun's chest, her fingers gently tracing his jawline. She looked up at him, her eyes misty with tears, and gently placed her lips on his.
Chen Xun lowered his head to kiss her back, then reached out and picked her up in his arms, striding into the bedroom.
As night deepened, the warm light in the bedroom was blocked by the curtains, leaving only a few sparse shadows mixed with the sound of the two breathing.
The next morning, Chen Xun was awakened by the sunlight streaming through the window.
He opened his eyes and looked at Christine, who was fast asleep beside him.
Her hair was spread out on the pillow, her face still had a faint blush, and her breathing was even.
He gently reached out and tucked the stray hairs from her forehead behind her ear, his movements so light he was afraid of disturbing her dream.
He can still recall the deep-seated despair he felt while writing in his diary.
He then realized just how much psychological impact the Joker character had on people.
After Joaquin Phoenix finished playing this role in his previous life, it took him a whole year to fully recover, and he even suffered from depression.
He thought he could easily control the character because he had the character card, but he didn't expect that even with the character card, when he truly entered Arthur's world and felt his pain and despair, those negative emotions would still silently seep into his heart.
If it weren't for Christine's outburst yesterday, he might still be immersed in Arthur's world, gradually being consumed by the character's emotions.
Even if he manages to deliver a god-like performance when filming begins, he will be just like Joaquin in his previous life, completely drained by the role.
"woke up?"
Christine rolled over beside him, groggily opened her eyes, saw him staring blankly, reached out and hugged his waist, burying her face in his chest: "What are you thinking about? Staring blankly first thing in the morning."
Chen Xun lowered his head and kissed the top of her head, then tightened his arms around her, whispering, "Thank goodness I have you."
"Um?"
Christine looked up at him, her eyes filled with confusion.
"If it weren't for you yesterday, I might still be stuck in Arthur's emotions."
Chen Xun said earnestly, "I used to think that to play a role well, I had to completely become that character. But now I realize that the most important thing is to be able to step out of the role."
Christine looked at the seriousness in his eyes and couldn't help but laugh. She reached out and pinched his cheek, teasingly asking, "Now you know how good I am?"
"I told you a long time ago not to push yourself so hard. It's just a role. You can't ruin yourself with it. Even if you become the greatest Joker in film history, you'll still be Chen Xun who lives in my second bedroom and makes me scrambled eggs with tomatoes."
She paused, then added, "If you get too caught up in the role again, just call me. I can scold you to wake you up anytime. If that doesn't work, I'll put on Harley Quinn's clothes and knock you back to reality with a stick."
Chen Xun was amused by her and lowered his head to kiss her chattering lips.
Sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, falling on the two figures embracing.
In early winter in Los Angeles, the sun is just the right warmth, without the hustle and bustle of Hollywood Boulevard or the sophisticated extravagance of Beverly Hills.
Chen Xun and Christine didn't drive; they simply strolled slowly along the old streets on the east side of the city center.
This is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
The old building with its mottled walls is covered with withered vines, and faded neon signs hang crookedly on the eaves.
Retro record stores, decades-old hot dog stands, and dusty old bookstores stand side by side on the street.
It has both the lively atmosphere of everyday life and a sense of decay that has been forgotten by time.
The two were holding hot dogs they had just bought.
Christine took a bite, pointed to the record store window next door, and her eyes lit up: "I used to come to this store often when I was in school. It has a lot of first edition vinyl records of The Ramones. I didn't expect it to still be open."
"Shall we go in and take a look?"
Chen Xun smiled and nodded, then followed her through the door.
The shop was filled with the scent of old records and ink. The owner, an old man with a beard, glanced at them before continuing to wipe the records.
I didn't recognize these two actors who are currently very popular in Hollywood.
Christine was squatting in front of the shelf flipping through vinyl records, humming the tune of "Blitzkrieg Bop." Chen Xun didn't go over; he just leaned against the doorway, his gaze fixed on the street outside the store.
The afternoon sun slanted down, filtering through the old sycamore branches and casting dappled shadows on the road.
A homeless man wrapped in a blanket sat in a corner on the street, basking in the sun and eating bread. Several students in school uniforms rode by on bicycles, their laughter carrying far. The clerk at the convenience store leaned against the door frame, smoking, his eyes vacant, lost in thought.
Despite the bustling and vibrant streets, Chen Xun felt out of place.
It's like standing on the streets of Gotham in the 80s, looking at this bizarre city and the ordinary people struggling at the bottom.
They try hard to live, wanting to be seen, but most of the time they are just swallowed up by the crowd.
He had always felt that Arthur Fleck's soul was one of despair, of madness born from being abandoned by the world time and time again.
Standing on this unfamiliar old street, he didn't use the character card, yet it felt as if he had touched the very core of Arthur.
He was never born a madman.
He was just an ordinary person who wanted to be seen and wanted to bring a little bit of happiness to this cold world.
His madness never stemmed from hatred, but from unrequited love.
Just like the homeless man basking in the sun on the street right now, or the old man guarding a room full of old records in a record store, and the millions of people who are struggling to live in the city but are ignored by everyone.
Arthur's story is never a one-man show by a madman, but rather the cry hidden in the hearts of every ordinary person unseen by the world.
It all happened in that one thought.
Several attribute orbs suddenly fell from his body:
[Joker character's core empathy +35]
[Method Performance "Soul-Piercing" Mastery +30]
[Character portrayal precision of lower-class characters +28]
[Perception of the boundary between character and the real world +22]
[Ability to develop the humanistic arc of villainous characters +25]
Absorb it all!
Chen Xun silently recited in his heart.
The powerful performance experience instantly seeped into my very being.
He finally realized that he had only been playing Arthur before, and only now did he truly understand the character.
"What are you looking at? Your soul has flown away."
Christine walked over carrying a stack of vinyl records, waved it in front of his eyes, and followed his gaze to the street outside: "This street is a bit old, but it's not like it's going to leave you speechless, is it?"
Chen Xun snapped out of his daze, smiled, took the vinyl record from her hand, and paid for it for her.
The two left the record store and continued walking down the street.
Just as I turned the corner, I heard scattered applause and comical background music coming from the street corner.
In the open space at the street corner, a man dressed in a tattered clown costume was clumsily performing acrobatics while holding up a large arrow that read "Used Cars GG".
His red nose, painted with clown makeup, was crooked to one side, and the large arrow in his hand was constantly waving around.
Only a few passersby glanced at him briefly; no one stopped, and no one applauded.
He performed with great effort, but his movements were clumsy, and his expression carried a forced smile. After finishing a set of acrobatics, he bowed to the empty street, his eyes revealing a deep sense of loneliness.
The Joker put down the GG arrow in his hand, leaned against the wall, took out a hamburger from his pocket and took small bites, just like Arthur Fleck who had been forgotten by the world.
Chen Xun stopped and stood by the roadside, quietly watching him for a long time.
Christine followed his gaze and instantly understood what he was thinking. She reached out and touched his arm, lowering her voice to ask, "Want to try?"
Chen Xun turned his head, a hint of eagerness in his eyes, and asked her with a smile, "If I dressed up as a clown and performed on the street right now, would anyone watch?"
"I don't know about others, but I'll definitely be the first to see it."
Christine raised an eyebrow and pointed to the Halloween supplies store across the street: "Here, all the props are ready for you. Go play if you want. I've never seen you act as a clown on the street before."
Without further hesitation, Chen Xun pulled her into the Halloween store.
The shop was filled with all sorts of outlandish costumes and makeup props.
The owner was a friendly Mexican auntie who smiled and asked what they needed when the two of them came in.
Chen Xun chose the simplest gray clown costume, not the flashy sequined kind, but closer to the one Arthur wore in the movie. He also took white greasepaint, red and blue makeup cream, and a soft, droopy red nose.
Instead of going to the store's dressing room, he sat on a chair by the window, facing a small mirror, and applied his makeup little by little.
There was no exaggerated, laughing red lipstick.
She simply used red paint to draw two slightly drooping lines at the corners of her mouth, making them look like she was smiling, but also like she was crying.
The white greasepaint was applied very thinly, not completely covering the texture of the skin. A bluish-gray cream was lightly swept under the eyes to create a slight shadow, and finally a red nose was added.
The person in the mirror instantly resembled Arthur Fleck.
Chen Xun simply sat there quietly, exuding an aura unique to clowns.
Christine, wearing a baseball cap and a mask, leaned against the table and looked at him with amazement in her eyes.
"alright!"
Chen Xun put down his makeup brush, stood up, adjusted his clown costume in front of the mirror, and turned to Christine: "How is it? Does it look like me?"
"It's more than just similar!"
Christine laughed and gave a thumbs up: "If you walk out now, Todd will think Arthur stepped out of the script."
Chen Xun pushed open the door and walked out of the store.
The clown holding the GG arrow was still at the street corner, but hardly anyone was watching him. He was kicking the pebbles on the ground, looking dejected.
Chen Xun walked over, stopped in front of him, and bowed slightly.
The clown paused for a moment, looked up at him, his eyes full of confusion.
Chen Xun didn't say anything, but simply raised his hand and took out three coins from his pocket.
This is something he carried with him when he played Han Li.
With a slight flick of his fingers, three coins flew through his hand, as if they had come to life, jumping back and forth between his fingertips, palm, and back of hand without the slightest hesitation.
Sunlight fell on the coin, reflecting a shimmering light that made passersby stop in their tracks.
Immediately afterwards, Chen Xun put away the coins and began his performance.
He imitated Chaplin's gait, taking a clumsy and comical duck-like step, tripped and fell, then scrambled to his feet, smiling sheepishly at the audience with a smile that was both embarrassed and genuinely ingratiating, much like Arthur trying to make everyone laugh.
He played a passerby whose hat was blown away by the wind. He chased after the hat, fell countless times, and finally caught it, only to have it blown away again, making the children around him laugh.
He plays a gardener who tries to water the flowers but ends up pouring water on his own head.
Chen Xun didn't have a single line of dialogue; he drew everyone into his performance solely through his body language and facial expressions.
At first, only a few children were watching, but then passersby stopped and gathered around, and the crowd grew larger and larger, forming layers upon layers that completely blocked the street corner.
Applause and laughter followed one after another.
Someone took out their phone and started recording a video.
Chen Xun spotted the forlorn clown in the crowd, waved to him, and pulled him into the performance.
He taught the clown simple coin tricks, led him in funny antics, and shared half of all the applause with this complete stranger.
The clown was very hesitant at first, but he gradually opened up!
The sadness on his face was replaced by a smile.
The clown performed alongside Chen Xun.
The applause around them grew even louder.
At the end of the performance, Chen Xun stood in the middle of the crowd and bowed deeply to all the onlookers.
His clown makeup was smudged a little by sweat, and the red mark at the corner of his mouth spread out, like a shallow scar.
The people around him burst into thunderous applause.