Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

During his month back in training, in addition to physical and technical training, He Xu also gradually got involved in other aspects of preparation.

The scripts will be prepared in Tuesday and Friday afternoons.

John Carter liked to have the actors sit around a table and go through the script scene by scene, starting from the first page.

He Xu sat in the corner of the long table, with the well-worn script spread out in front of him, listening to Carter and Jonathan discuss the emotional direction of a certain scene, and occasionally being called on.

When Carter asked him, "Why did Langdon pause here?" he would think for a moment and then give his own interpretation.

Most of the time, what he said was the same as what Carter thought, and Carter would nod and then continue.

Jonathan insisted on doing dialogue and acting together.

Every afternoon at five o'clock, after training, he and He Xu would sit in the lounge and slowly go over their lines.

Jonathan would read his lines first, and then let He Xu continue.

After he finishes reading, he will stop and say, "You can slow down a bit here" or "Don't put so much effort into this sentence, hold back a little."

He Xu would read it again according to his instructions, and sometimes he would even suggest a different way of handling it.

After listening, Jonathan would say, "Give it a try," and then He Xu would try it.

Occasionally, Jonathan would teach him some accents and slang, and He Xu would make a note of it in his script after listening.

Behind-the-scenes footage was shot throughout the month.

Sometimes the photographer would suddenly call me over and ask me to say a few words to the camera, and sometimes it was during a training break when they would film a clip of me practicing.

He Xu gradually got used to those moments captured by the camera.

His answers to questions were much less stiff compared to when he first participated in the interview for "Absolute Debut".

He Xu gradually adapted to his identity as an actor, and various jobs began to come together, entering the final stage to prepare for filming.

The makeup and costume fitting was completed five days before filming began.

He Xu stood in the center of the photography studio, surrounded by softboxes and reflectors, while the stylist made final adjustments to his collar.

Langdon Waugh's full image had been finalized three weeks ago, but John Carter insisted on doing one last final confirmation shot before filming began.

"We need to ensure that the texture of every outfit looks completely consistent on camera."

The dark gray tactical jacket has clean and crisp shoulder lines, and the inner layer is a matte black turtleneck, with the neckline just below the Adam's apple.

The belt has a hidden buckle design, with a gun holster hanging on the left and a dagger clipped to the right—the hilt facing down for easy backhand draw.

The pants are made of a stiff material, with double reinforcement at the knees, and the boots make almost no sound when stepping on the concrete.

He Xu stood in front of the camera, turned slightly to the side as requested by the photographer, and focused his gaze on the left side of the lens.

He had practiced that look many times: cold, calm, and non-aggressive, but with a sense of alertness that could react at any moment.

"Good." John Carter peeked out from behind the monitor, a cup of coffee in his hand. "Keep this position, one more set—right hand on the holster, don't grip it."

He Xu did as instructed.

"Lift your chin a little higher—good—shift your gaze slightly to the right, don't look directly at the camera—"

The shutter sound lasted for nearly twenty minutes.

After the last set of shots was completed, He Xu put down his hands, walked to the monitor, and looked down at the frozen image on the screen.

The person on the screen looked silent and focused, like a sword that hadn't been fully drawn.

"How are you feeling?" Carter asked, leaning back in his chair.

"..." He Xu stared at the screen for two seconds. "He doesn't look like a good person."

Carter chuckled. "He was never a good person to begin with."

He Xu looked away and didn't reply.

The final review of the action sequences is scheduled for three days before filming begins.

John Carter himself arrived and sat on a folding chair at the edge of the training field, with a laptop in front of him, the screen lit up, and the recording function already turned on.

Mike stood in the center of the field and went through the training process from beginning to end.

Combat sparring, parkour vaulting, dagger maneuvers, shooting and movement—each of these has corresponding segments that need to be demonstrated.

When He Xu stood on the soft mat, Jonathan was already waiting in the opposite position.

The two looked at each other from less than two meters apart, exchanged no further words, and immediately began their sparring.

The first group is engaged in close combat.

Jonathan made the first move, feinting with his left hand to draw He Xu's defensive attention, while simultaneously cutting into the paint with his right leg—a move that He Xu had repeated no less than fifty times in training, and had developed muscle memory for it.

He lowered his center of gravity in advance, sidestepped Jonathan's entry angle, and used his arm to block the other's elbow joint, making a reverse push.

Jonathan took two steps back, his center of gravity swayed slightly, and then he regained his balance.

He didn't continue his attack, but instead glanced in Carter's direction.

Carter didn't call a halt; he simply typed a line on his notebook.

The second group is parkour vaulting.

A set of simulated obstacles was set up on one side of the training field, including a two-meter-high platform, ramps, and narrow walls.

He Xu started from the starting point, stepped onto the ramp, used one hand to support himself on the edge of the platform and flipped up, and immediately followed up with a forward roll after landing.

Then, he slid sideways along the narrow wall for a distance before finally cutting in from behind the imagined cover in a low posture.

The entire routine takes less than fifteen seconds, and is continuous, smooth, and without any unnecessary pauses.

The third group consists of daggers.

He Xu stood in the center of the field, his movements as he drew his sword were clean and swift, his thumb and forefinger gripping the handle tightly, the tip of the blade pointing forward.

He performed a standard wrist-switching and hand-changing motion—the blade rotated around the web of his hand, he caught it in his other hand, gripped it in reverse, and then brought it back to his waist.

Throughout the entire process, his gaze remained fixed on an imaginary opponent in front of him, without looking down at his knife.

"You've really never practiced this before?" Carter's voice came from the side, filled with an almost incomprehensible confusion.

"No," He Xu said.

Mike chimed in from the side, "He practiced for a month and a half."

Carter glanced at He Xu, remained silent for a few seconds, and then closed his laptop: "That's enough, just shoot it like this."

Weapon safety assessments are conducted two days before the start of operation.

The firearms instructor led He Xu through all the prop guns that would be used—real guns, blanks, and a few replica guns needed for certain scenes.

Each one was disassembled and inspected; the inside of the barrel was cleaned with a cleaning rod, and the tension of the trigger spring was recalibrated.

He Xu sat at the worktable, holding a Glock 19 in his hand, and fired five blank shots as instructed by the firearms instructor.

The trigger travel was slightly shorter than the training gun he was used to, and the feel was different, but he got used to it by the third shot.

"Write down the serial number of this gun," the firearms instructor said. "You don't need to memorize the number, but you do need to remember the feel of the grip and how the magazine unlocks—if your training gun is different from the gun you use for filming, it will affect your rhythm when you draw the gun."

He Xu checked the gun again to make sure it was locked in place, and then handed it back.

"I remember."

Finally, there was the target test, with a full magazine and a 25-meter humanoid target.

He Xu stood at the firing position, wearing goggles and earmuffs, and fired ten rounds in succession, with the spread not exceeding two inches.

After the firearms instructor looked at the target paper, he signed the assessment form and then handed the paper to Mike.

"He's fine."

On the last day before filming began, He Xu took some time to go to the ENT department for a follow-up examination.

Dr. Chen was still wearing those silver-rimmed glasses, flipping through the latest version of the laryngoscopy images, comparing them with the previous data, and then looking up at him.

"The recovery is going very well," he said. "It's even better than expected. The scar tissue has completely softened, and my vocal cords are almost back to normal. As long as you don't do prolonged, excessive shouting, there won't be any problems with everyday filming."

He Xu nodded and put the re-examination report into his pocket.

As he walked out of the consultation room, the light from the corridor fell on his shoulders, carrying the dry, clear light of a California afternoon.

The handover of personal affairs was completed after dinner the day before filming began.

Rachel has already gone back, leaving He Xu a sealed box before she left.

Inside was a box of homemade almond cookies with a note that read, "Eat well, darling."

He Xu took a bite and sent her a thank-you message.

He Xu transferred all work-related contacts from his phone's address book to Jen—the contact person for the talent agency, the production company, and the publicity team.

Everyone was assigned a specific area of ​​responsibility, and Jen only needed to glance at it to know which type of task to forward to whom.

"You've organized this very clearly," Jen said.

"I don't want to get random phone calls on set."

"After you join the team, I will give you a daily summary of the news, and I will mark the important things in red."

"OK."

He Xu put his phone on the bedside table and looked down at the script on the table, which was worn and frayed from being read so many times.

The bottom right corner of the first page reads Langdon Waugh, along with his name, He Xu.

He stared at the line of text for a while, then closed the script and put it into his backpack.

Starting tomorrow, he will no longer be just He Xu.

He becomes a different person on set.