Divorced, But Queen - Chapter 387: Chapter 387

The crew handed Vanessa a bag of roasted chestnuts just as the director called cut on the scene.
Vanessa took the opportunity to pull out her phone and send Aria a heart emoji.
Vanessa found herself with three bags of roasted chestnuts. It's more than she could eat. Pulling one out, she offered it to Lorelai with a grin. "Ms. Parrish, this one's for you. My bestie Aria bought them."
Lorelai, the female lead of this production, was a veteran actress in her forties who maintained a remarkably youthful appearance.
She is the person from whom Vanessa learned the most.
Lorelai took it and smiled. "After watching me for so long, did you learn anything?"
Vanessa chuckled sheepishly and admitted, "Ms. Parrish, your acting is so natural. I don't know how many years it'll take me to be even half as good as you."
"Feel free to ask me anything. I have already given you the apprenticeship gift."
Lorelai raised the bag of chestnuts in a playful salute and walked away.
"Thanks a bunch, Ms. Parrish!" Vanessa said cheerfully.
Lorelai's assistant wiped the sweat from her forehead and whispered, "Ms. Parrish, Vanessa has quite a few haters. Being close to her could hurt your reputation."
Lorelai replied, "This industry judges actresses harshly. Vanessa's a good-hearted girl. She genuinely wants to learn, so I don't mind showing her the ropes."
The assistant said nothing more.
Vanessa bounced over to the director. "Mr. Morin, Aria got these roasted chestnuts from that famous shop at the far end of town."
Cason grabbed a generous handful, his eyes crinkling with delight. "It's quite a long way to run. Aria is really thoughtful."
"You should spend more time practicing your acting. Perform in front of Aria. If you break character again next time, I'll have to scold you."
Vanessa nodded and cheerfully replied, "Got it! You can count on me."
This was Vanessa's third time on a film set.
It was her first time acting, before studying abroad. By a stroke of luck, she was temporarily cast as the second female lead in a major high-profile TV series, but her performance was harshly criticized.
Despite her newfound popularity bringing a flood of acting offers from directors, Vanessa politely turned down every single one.
Back then, Vanessa was completely immersed in her music, and with events and variety shows keeping her busy, she simply had no time for acting lessons, so she turned down every offer.
After returning from studying abroad, Vanessa stepped back into showbiz and landed another role as the second female lead.
Then came this film.
She pretty much landed the role through connections.
Luckily, the director was always gentle with Vanessa and often praised her natural flair for acting.
Actually, while studying abroad, Vanessa had secretly enrolled in acting classes and put in tremendous effort to improve her craft.
Now, Vanessa's acting had shown remarkable improvement. However, she still lacked ease and naturalness in her performances, and her emotions were easily affected by external factors.
Whenever someone she knew well stared at her, she broke character.
She muttered to herself that Russell was unreasonable, keeping actors around even without scenes, but before this rule existed, she'd always hung around the crew.
The director got a call and sent someone to fetch Lorelai and Vanessa.
The director said, "There's a slow-paced variety show called 'Cozy Screening Room' in late June. Mr. Nicholson wants you two to be guest stars."
Vanessa knew this variety show well—a slow-paced program where Tina and a well-known comedy variety show regular served as permanent hosts, with two guest stars featured each episode.
The show was primarily filmed in homes.
The previous shoot was at the guest star's home, while the next would be at a friend's place.
Lorelai agreed.
Vanessa gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Mr. Morin, do I even look like someone with showbiz friends? Besides, Tina and I don't get along. What if we end up arguing on camera?"