Hollywood's powerful women

Chapter 3

In her previous life, Chen Zhen could be described as aimless and idle, spending much of her free time reading web novels. She was, of course, very familiar with the concept of "cheat abilities" in these stories. As a reader, she often found herself criticizing authors for giving their protagonists overly powerful cheat abilities, making them too strong and detracting from the story's enjoyment.

Now, she certainly wouldn't mind having an overpowered cheat ability herself. Ideally, she'd want something like unlimited wealth. If this mysterious power were bold enough to grant her the ability to trade across time and space, she wouldn't think it too much. And if there were a system with gradually unlocking features as she progressed, that would be perfect...

Unfortunately, compared to many fictional characters, her cheat ability was extremely humble, with essentially just one function.

The condition to activate it was simple—she just needed to close her eyes and concentrate. Chen Zhen named it the "Performance Space." As long as she thought about entering it, the next moment, she would find herself in a pitch-black space with countless DVD discs floating around her, which she could select at will with a mere thought.

These discs were not all-encompassing; Chen Zhen didn't have access to a global library of films from the next ten or twenty years. Most of the discs were from movies, TV shows, and stage plays she had seen before, and a few were from works she had heard about but never watched. In any case, the collection was primarily based on her memory—there were no films or shows she hadn't seen or had no impression of.

The first function of her cheat ability: rewatching old movies.

After randomly swiping around, Chen Zhen casually selected the classic 1998 blockbuster Titanic. Immediately, an IMAX-sized screen appeared before her, and the space skipped the production company logos, starting the film from the beginning.

The space's time flow was about 3:1 compared to the outside world, meaning Chen Zhen had 4-5 hours to leisurely enjoy the movie. But she didn't watch it from the start; instead, she skipped to the scene where Rose and Jack are floating in the water, rewatching the heart-wrenching confession.

Afterward, she muttered, "Start the simulation."

With a splash, Chen Zhen found herself in the water.

The heavy Edwardian-era dress became even more cumbersome after soaking in the water. Though the water wasn't cold, the large studio required fans for air circulation, and a gust of wind made her shiver, leaving her too weak to climb onto the wooden plank.

"Cold, isn't it?" A young Leonardo DiCaprio—young Leo—lay at the edge of the plank, talking to her. His extraordinarily handsome face was just inches away from Chen Zhen. "Damn, I'm freezing too. Good thing James ultimately decided to shoot this in warm water, or we'd be catching pneumonia for sure."

Around them was a large group of actors, all floating in the warm water, with seven or eight cameras of various sizes trained on the large pool. The sliding track on the pool's edge, the underwater cameras, and the crew moving around created a vivid— or as Chen Zhen suspected, a 100% accurate—recreation of the Titanic filming set. In the distance, she could even see the "King of the World" James Cameron and another man discussing something with solemn expressions.

This was the second function of her cheat ability: recreating the filming set.

Chen Zhen was, of course, in the position of Kate Winslet. She gave Leo a quick smile but said nothing as she began preparing herself. After all, no matter how many times she repeated the simulation, Leo only had a few lines in response.

This time, when she heard the familiar "Action!" Chen Zhen muttered, "Inject memories."

With a loud roar, a flood of vague and complex memories suddenly filled her mind, as if she were instantly reliving Rose's entire life in a dream—her troubled childhood, the oppressive and tense environment in which she grew up, her mother's obsession with wealth and power, and the intense, fireworks-like love between her and Jack...

She was so cold; she couldn't stop trembling, both from the cold and from fear. She used all her strength to gaze at her lover, "Oh, Jack, Jack, I'm so cold..."

"Listen to me, Rose." Leo held her hand, his eyes still sparkling, "You must survive..."

The third function of the cheat ability: simulate character memory and emotion—a function Chen Zhen considered the most core aspect of the ability.

Acting styles can be roughly divided into "Method" and "Technique." There's no definitive answer as to which is superior—whether a black cat or a white cat, as long as it catches mice, it's a good cat. Most acting schools teach technique because Method acting requires a high degree of talent and isn't something that can be easily taught. However, this cheat ability could fully and completely immerse her in the character, allowing her to naturally express the character's emotions in any scene. In other words, it could turn Chen Zhen into the most authentic, most capable Method actor in the world—though in the Performance Space, she was the only one in the world.

She had tried invoking the cheat ability in reality but couldn't. Chen Zhen couldn't, for instance, read a script and simultaneously simulate the character's memory and emotions. However, this ability wasn't entirely useless in the real world. If she simulated in the Performance Space and then returned to reality, traces of the emotions would remain, gradually fading over time. In other words, by selecting certain films—especially ones she'd seen in her past life—she could use Method acting to perform most scenes. This was Chen Zhen's strongest card in her attempt to "conquer Hollywood." Otherwise, she wouldn't even bother trying in this direction; she'd instead focus on making herself more beautiful, find a way to save some money, pursue a college degree, and during her studies, work hard to catch a future lawyer husband. If that didn't work out, she could always find another job.

So far, she had only discovered these four functions of the Performance Space, all revolving around one point—helping her act well. To Chen Zhen, her cheat ability was only activated in the area of acting, with many limitations.

After rewatching the scene with the emotions injected, she was still not satisfied with her performance—even though she wasn't the director, she could tell that with the emotions added, the performance was a bit too "over the top." It didn't quite mesh with Leo's performance. If the previous issue was being too restrained and unable to convey emotion, this time, the problem was that the emotions were too overwhelming, causing a misalignment with Leo's rhythm.

So, while this fourth function was core, it still couldn't instantly turn Chen Zhen into a master of Method acting. Being authentic is one thing; being outstanding is another.

After four more attempts, Chen Zhen was finally satisfied with her performance in this crucial scene. She waved her hand, activating a combination of functions three and one, saying, "Play the comparison."

Two frames appeared on the screen, one showing Kate Winslet in the original film and the other showing Chen Zhen's character, Jenny Jane. Both were delivering the same lines: "Oh, Jack..."

Although Titanic is a timeless classic, it doesn't demand outstanding acting from its leads. In other words, the film's success doesn't rely on acting alone—being slightly above average suffices. Chen Zhen believed that Jenny Jane's performance could now match Winslet's. Despite being an Oscar-winning actress, Winslet's performance in Titanic was, at most, at this level because the film didn't provide much space to showcase her acting skills.

However, Chen Zhen still felt a subtle sense of discord in Jenny's version—a slight but noticeable lack of naturalness that made her feel the original was still superior.

What was the problem?

After repeatedly watching the comparison three or four times, Chen Zhen finally came to a conclusion: the issue lay in their bloodline and aura.

Jenny Jane was a German beauty, while Kate Winslet was an English rose. Winslet naturally had a higher compatibility with the character of Rose, an English aristocrat. Her flawless aristocratic English and her inherent classical charm added significant allure to Rose's character. On the other hand, although Jenny Jane had excellent makeup, she was American, with a unique urban aura typical of American girls, fundamentally out of sync with Rose's character.

Even with a cheat ability, one can't transcend one's inherent limitations... Chen Zhen couldn't help but sigh: How difficult it is to make a name for oneself in the entertainment industry!

Chen Zhen could hear external sounds in the Performance Space, like phone and alarm rings. After reviewing her performance a few more times and hearing the alarm go off, she exited the Performance Space, downed last night's iced coffee, tidied up, and rode her bike to work.