Chapter 164: www.namedgod.com
"Hahaha!"
At Derek's shamelessly self-infatuated remark, everyone burst into laughter.
But the more they thought about it, the less funny it became.
[[Derek McCurdy Yu Myeong]]
Having your name permanently associated with the hottest actor of the moment...
In terms of public recognition and an actor's standing, that was an enormous intangible asset.
Perhaps even more valuable than a chance to appear in a Hollywood production.
"But Derek, the moment you said that—and the moment this airs on television—'Derek McCurdy' and 'Yu Myeong' are going to become related search terms anyway. Whether Mr. Yu Myeong chooses you or not."
Jerry grinned as he tried to needle Derek.
"Exactly. Which only proves that Derek McCurdy always follows through on what he says. Unlike those people over there, who only make grand promises, I've already given him my gift first."
"Ha... nice comeback."
"And think about it, Mr. Yu Myeong. Ask yourself whether what they're offering is really for your benefit... or for theirs."
Now Derek turned his fire on the other judges.
"What do you mean by that?!"
"Yeah, what?!"
"By the time the footage we've already shot airs, directors and screenwriters who want to meet Mr. Yu Myeong will be lining up anyway. So how is inviting him to work with you supposed to benefit him? You're just trying to reserve your place in line."
"..."
Eva and George immediately fell silent.
Even Natalie, who had offered to introduce him to any writer or director he wanted, slowly nodded.
When you thought about it...
He wasn't wrong.
"Still unmatched... that crazy..."
"What was that?"
"I mean... the magnificent Derek! It's incredible how you flattened the other judges in a single stroke! Which means..."
Jerry turned back toward Yu Myeong.
"...the only thing left now is Mr. Yu Myeong's decision."
Eight eager eyes sparkled expectantly.
Choose me.
"They're all wonderful offers..."
Yu Myeong finally gave his answer.
"But I suppose it's only right to go where I've already received a favor. I'll be joining Derek's class. Thank you all sincerely for making this so much fun."
The truth was, he had intended to choose Derek regardless of the offers.
The day before, Derek had taken the slave role Yu Myeong had performed and transformed it into something magnificent in his own style.
Yu Myeong desperately wanted to know what kind of actor Derek truly was—and what kind of chemistry they might create together.
Still, if he had chosen Derek immediately without even pretending to hesitate, the other judges would probably have felt disappointed.
One playful question, asked while channeling Bohyeong, had turned the atmosphere into something both electrifying and lighthearted.
Combined with Derek's razor-sharp wit, the conversation naturally evolved until it felt as though Yu Myeong joining Derek's team had been the inevitable conclusion all along.
As an added bonus, little hearts practically sparkled in Eva Dobransky's eyes every time she looked at him.
As expected... the President really is a professional.
Yu Myeong silently thanked So Jin.
At that very moment, So Jin was managing NamedGod.com.
Even though Yu Myeong hasn't completely exploded in popularity yet... people keep pouring in.
Unlike the Korean media, which had belittled Yu Myeong for supposedly not receiving enough praise, American viewers accepted the unfamiliar actor exactly as they saw him.
People who had watched the Truman Show assignment and instinctively fallen for his acting searched for "Casting Boat Truman Show actor."
The top search result was NamedGod.com, which had accumulated the largest collection of Yu Myeong clips, and visitors naturally found their way there.
This is the official fan site for Yu Myeong, currently appearing on Casting Boat.
"Named God" is an English translation of the meaning behind his Korean name—and, fittingly, he also possesses acting worthy of a god among the named.
We are recruiting official overseas fan club members to support this remarkable actor together with his Korean fans.
The trailer for the ten-million-ticket blockbuster Late Goryeo, Early Joseon, watched by a quarter of Korea's population.
Highlights from Actor, Yu Myeong's documentary broadcast by Korea's national network KBK.
The trailer for Ballerina High, winner of the FIPRESCI Award at the Busan International Film Festival.
Rehearsal footage from the hit stage production Peter Pan, which had swept Korea.
Both commercials for Crude starring Yu Myeong.
Thanks to the efforts of countless fans, the site was packed with clips, articles, and photographs.
First-time visitors were astonished that an actor who was still virtually unknown in America already possessed such an extensive body of work and such a meticulously organized fan site.
And as they explored it piece by piece...
They gradually found themselves falling for this mysterious actor.
The latest visitor was no exception.
Click.
After a single mouse click...
Everything went silent for a long time.
Occasionally, the sound of someone sharply inhaling and exhaling interrupted the video's audio.
Several minutes later—
Click.
As though possessed, another video began.
And another.
She watched straight through the night.
"Yu Myeong... Yu Myeong... Damn it... We lost someone like this..."
Every time another clip finished, she slammed her fist onto the desk, her bloodshot eyes growing even redder.
The woman was none other than...
Eva Dobransky.
"Ah... this is it. So this is where that expression Mr. Yu Myeong made came from."
She was watching the trailer for Entertainment Studies.
Apparently it had been a television drama broadcast in Korea.
Reading the carefully prepared English subtitles while devouring every second Bohyeong appeared on screen, she found herself unbearably desperate to watch the full series.
"If he was already good enough to star in a Korean television drama... then why wasn't he brought in as a seeded contestant? Why did he have to start from the very first round?"
Of course, she had no idea why Yu Myeong had entered the competition from the beginning instead of receiving a seed.
"Ugh... I want to know. I have to know. Isn't there any way to watch this? I want to see Entertainment Studies, Late Goryeo, Early Joseon, and Ballerina High so badly I'm going crazy..."
It was already three in the morning.
Completely forgetting that filming resumed the next day, she continued her obsessive binge—until she stumbled upon an oasis.
"Fan Talk? Is this... a chat room?"
She entered.
There was already one person online.
Evar: Hi! (Hello.)
Six: Eng? Are you American? (English? Are you American?)
Evar: Yes. You're Korean, right? (Yes. Then you're Korean?)
She ended up talking with the mysterious user, Six, about Yu Myeong for hours.
Even through a text chat, she could instantly tell they understood each other remarkably well and shared almost identical tastes.
Evar: Sigh... after finding this fan page, I've become a huge fan. It makes me so sad that I can't watch his films, dramas, or plays. T^T
Six: Ah... I'm jealous that you can watch Casting Boat live. But... do you really want to watch the drama that much?
Evar: Of course! That's the one I'm looking forward to most! Bohyeong!! He only appeared briefly, but the complexity of that character, the unexpected twist, the cuteness, the elegance... all of it completely stole my soul. Ahh... I wonder who wrote that drama.
Six: Hmm... Eva, I think you and I really do have similar tastes. What if... I sent you the files for Entertainment Studies?
Evar: Wait... are you serious? If you did that... I'd owe you for the rest of my life...
Six: I'm actually involved with the production, so I do have personal copies. But there would be serious problems if they were distributed, so you'd absolutely have to keep them to yourself...
Evar: You worked on the production?! I swear! I'll be the only one who watches them!
Six: Hmm... it's not that I don't trust you, Eva, but... would you mind if we exchanged photos and contact information? I think I'd feel more comfortable sharing them if I knew what kind of person you were.
Evar: Of course! Let's stay friends from now on!
That very night, Yuk Mi Young called her older sister.
"Unni... do you think it's possible we have a sister who was adopted overseas?"
"Has this girl finally lost it for good...? What are you talking about?"
"I think... I just met my doppelgänger."
"A doppelgänger? What's that supposed to mean?"
Yuk Mi Young stared blankly at Eva's photograph.
Derek's first class began.
Ten contestants who had survived the preliminary rounds.
Two seeded actors.
Among the other eleven people, Yu Myeong already knew four.
Kai Nunen.
Kai had received offers from both Natalie and Derek before choosing Derek.
Later, he sheepishly admitted that although Derek himself had been a major attraction, the biggest reason was that Yu Myeong had taught him so much during the previous assignment that he simply wanted to keep learning from him.
Do Hyo Joon.
Although he had received heavy criticism during the preliminary assignment, every one of the four judges had tried to recruit him.
His acting simply stood out too much to ignore.
And, just as everyone expected, he chose Derek's class.
Then there were Antoine Monnier and Jackson Foster.
The two seeded contestants.
Antoine in particular possessed such overwhelming star power that every judge had wanted him.
"Is everyone here?"
Derek McCurdy entered.
The aura surrounding him seemed powerful enough to dominate all twelve actors who had survived one-thousand-to-one odds.
"You've all introduced yourselves back at the dorms, right? Then let's skip the formalities and get straight to what matters."
They were gathered in one of the large rehearsal studios on the first floor of the Actors House.
"During the Action School stage, only three out of the twelve of you will graduate and advance to the finals."
The contestants involuntarily sucked in a breath.
Compared to reducing two hundred contestants to forty during the entry assignment, narrowing twelve elite actors down to only three felt several times more brutal.
The overall caliber had risen dramatically.
"Each class will probably use different evaluation methods. We were told to handle that however we wanted. My class will have two stages."
Gulp.
Someone audibly swallowed.
"The first comes in one week."
"There won't be a separate test."
"...?"
"During the week-long training sessions, I'll evaluate each of you. Anyone I judge to lack the necessary qualities..."
He paused.
"...I'll personally eliminate half the class."
His voice carried the unwavering certainty of someone who had absolute confidence in his own judgment.
The room instantly froze.
"Don't be relieved because there isn't a formal test. Don't panic because there isn't one, either. Every single practice session over the next week is the test. My judgment will be precise enough that none of you will have grounds to dispute it."
"..."
"On the final day, the remaining six will take one last test to determine the final three. I'll explain that test when the time comes."
With the announcements finished, Derek immediately began the day's lesson.
"Today we'll be working on characterization—specifically, specialization."
Everyone listened intently.
Especially Kai, for whom this was his first genuine professional acting lesson.
"Every actor possesses what's known as a screen character."
The word screen.
Like screening something—filtering it.
It referred to the immediate impression people instinctively formed the very first moment they saw an actor.
"For example..."
Derek motioned to Antoine.
"Let's use Antoine."
Antoine stepped forward to face the class.
"Give me a single word. What's your first impression of him?"
Answers flew in from every direction.
"Gentle."
"Sexy."
"Relaxed."
"Easygoing..."
"So, in other words..."
Derek shrugged.
"...the kind of man who looks like he'd have no trouble charming women."
Laughter rippled through the room.
"When you know nothing about someone and glance at them for the first time, the shared image that immediately comes to mind—that's their screen character."
"The stronger that image becomes, and the more productions an actor appears in, the harder it becomes to escape a very serious problem."
"Self-replication."
Yu Myeong nodded.
He was absolutely right.
That was why actors bled to reinvent themselves for every new role, stripping away their own habits and becoming someone else entirely.
Fail to do that, and audiences inevitably said things like:
"He always acts the same."
"He's not playing the character. He's just playing himself."
"The process of forcibly discarding your own traits and implanting the character's traits instead..."
Derek smiled.
"...I call specialization."
It was something Yu Myeong had practiced throughout his entire career.
"There."
Derek pointed toward a white line taped diagonally across the rehearsal floor.
"I'm going to walk this line twice."
"Once as Derek McCurdy."
"And once as a completely different character."
His gaze swept across the students before settling squarely on Yu Myeong.
The look in his eyes carried unmistakable meaning.
"Figure out exactly what traits I've planted into that character."
His expression seemed to say only one thing.
You'll recognize them... won't you?