Hollywood: The Greatest Showman

Chapter 24: Hardships

"The Pacific" officially began filming, and the entire crew operated like a finely tuned instrument.

However, after the first week of shooting, Renly found himself with some free time. Because Eugene's role didn't appear in the second and third episodes after his debut in the first, and he only made a brief appearance in the fourth. It's not until the fifth episode that Eugene will join the intense Pacific War as a recruit, entering into the long and arduous trench warfare.

For nearly a month and a half, Renly had no work to do, just moving around with the crew. This allowed Renly to experience the essence of filming for the first time: "Filming is waiting." This was said by James Badge Dale, who portrayed Robert Leckie.

In fact, most of the time during filming was spent waiting, even for the main actors. Not only because setting up each scene and preparation took a lot of time, but also because each scene required multiple shots from different angles and distances. Without any mistakes, it still took seven or eight takes to complete a scene.

So, waiting is a compulsory course for every actor, which is far from what Renly imagined about life on the set.

In fact, during this time, Renly had no work. He could have taken a vacation, although the whole crew was in Australia, he could have gone for a stroll along the Gold Coast and come back. However, after considering it—Renly had indeed considered this option—he decided to stay. The reason was simple: "The Pacific."

This series was very special, spanning over two years, vividly depicting the struggles of the US military against the Japanese in the Pacific, experiencing countless life and death battles, each night, each encounter having immeasurable effects on the soldiers.

Renly could choose to take a vacation, but he would disconnect from the reality of the entire battlefield, and the discontinuity of time would also affect his performance. He had always lived in peacetime, with his understanding of war solely coming from images and texts, unable to truly feel the indelible impact of war on soldiers. If he were to slack off now, then being an actor would be meaningless, wouldn't it?

Not only did Renly choose to stay with the crew, but he also went through the hardships of filming with other actors, experiencing every battle's test through wind and rain.

For example, two weeks ago, Renly and actors like John Seda and James Badge Dale lay in the muddy downpour for a full forty-nine hours, sleepless. As for bathing, that was even more of a luxury. The test of struggling within physical limits couldn't be understood just by imagining it; the fear of facing imminent danger even in exhaustion couldn't be comprehended just by listening to others' descriptions.

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An additional gain was that Renly truly made a lot of friends in the crew. The shared hardships made them easily resonate with each other. This was indeed the quickest and most effective way for Renly, as a newcomer, to integrate into the crew. It also prevented the isolation and exclusion of Richard's group.

As September approached its end, Renly finally geared up again, because Eugene officially landed on the battlefield, which meant he was no longer a supporting character. He gradually took over Robert Leckie's position from the first half of the series and grew into the lead role of the entire series, carrying the main burden.

In the blink of an eye, the "The Pacific" crew had been filming for over four months. When they first arrived in Australia, it was still winter, and now it was already summer. Without any accidents, they would spend their first summer Christmas.

"Everyone find cover, the explosion range has just been marked, do not exceed the range line, I repeat, do not exceed the range line! Find cover in advance, then proceed according to the route!"

The head of the special effects team shouted loudly with a megaphone. In the past four months, they had experienced explosions of various sizes, numbering in the double digits, so the actors were not unfamiliar with them.

However, today's scene was quite special because it was set on an open playground. Although there were many ruins nearby for cover, the content of the scene was that the army was caught halfway, encountering explosions in a completely open situation—a friendly air raid due to a timing error in intelligence, turning into a disaster.

Because it was an open space, controlling the explosions was even more difficult, especially since the actors had to cross the square during the explosions. The special effects team was also on high alert. For this scene, they had rehearsed and calculated for five days.

"Rookie, rookie." James's teasing voice came over. Since the first day, this nickname had followed Renly, even though all the actors praised Renly's acting skills. However, the nickname itself represented Renly's true acceptance.

Renly was adjusting his straps. He was a mortar gunner, and the mortar on his back was his weapon. However, today he also had a rifle in his hands, so he needed to adjust his posture. Without turning his head, Renly replied, "Don Juan, cut the crap." "Don Juan" was James's nickname, self-proclaimed as a romantic.

"I bet with you, Big Eyes will fall down later." James's words immediately provoked Rami's dissatisfaction. "Hey! I'm not that clumsy! I can guarantee that I won't have any accidents today!"

Renly, holding his rifle, looked left and right, confirming the route ahead. "Don Juan, I bet with you, Big Eyes will definitely be hit by debris, right in the middle of the forehead!" Maneuvering through the explosions, although they wouldn't be injured, being affected by debris was inevitable, even for the sake of realism.

"Rookie!" Rami shouted unwillingly, but he couldn't do anything about James and Renly. He could only clench his fists in frustration. "I definitely won't!"

James and Renly ignored Rami's aspirations, discussing whether they could finish this scene in three days. Rami was left alone on the side, abandoned, which made other actors nearby chuckle. Then the assistant director's voice came over, "All departments, prepare."

Renly interrupted the conversation, slowing down his breathing rhythm, concentrating his mind, and getting back into the shooting rhythm.

After hearing the explosion, Eugene bent down and ran according to the planned route. The flying sand and dust blurred his vision, and he could occasionally feel soil hitting him. The dense gunfire sounded in his ears, and the ruins under his feet were riddled with bullet holes—apparently, there was an intensive attack from above, which forced him to look for cover to temporarily avoid the onslaught. The nearly suffocating attack made him feel as if he were dancing on the edge of a knife; any negligence could lead to death.

But he had no time to think about the threat of death. A blank mind echoed with the warning sound of alarm bells, and every cell in his body could feel the imminent danger. This made his steps more steady, emerging from cover again, crawling and scrambling forward, at this moment, the heartbeat and rhythm of breathing lost their meaning.

"Cut!"

The explosion and gunfire suddenly stopped. David's voice echoed through the loudspeaker across the empty field. "Stay in place, everyone, stay in place. We'll shoot Robert's return scene next. Change the camera angle, actors stay in place!"

Renly's shoulders relaxed slightly. Actually, relatively speaking, filming war scenes was simpler because during the chaos of gunfire, what acting required wasn't subtlety or depth but realism. Just relying on the body's instincts to coordinate with the props, special effects team, and camera crew was enough. The real difficulty lay in the scenes after the battle ended, the psychological portrayal and character exploration, which differentiated "The Pacific" from "Band of Brothers," requiring higher demands from both actors and directors.

"Ah!" A scream suddenly pierced through the noise, sharp and sliding across the sky. Everyone turned to look at the source of the sound. Renly saw, just five steps away, Rami was crawling on the ground in pain, hands covering his mouth, seeming like he was injured.

"Merriel down, Merriel down!" Renly immediately shouted, using Rami's character name in the show, then quickly ran over, "Hey, buddy, are you okay?" Although the explosions were carefully calculated, accidental injuries were inevitable, especially during war scene shoots, where everyone had some minor injuries.

Renly looked him over, at least there were no visible bloodstains, which was a good sign. Then, Renly noticed Rami continuously gesturing towards him, but he didn't understand what Rami meant. "What's wrong? Are you injured or did you accidentally fall?"

Rami's expression became more and more anxious, he released his hands, and couldn't help but emit a low groan, but still gritted his teeth and said, "I'm fine, I'm fine, don't let anyone come over, don't..."

With so little information, Renly didn't grasp Rami's meaning. "Let the medic come and check." Before he could finish his sentence, crew members and other colleague actors had already rushed over, asking about the situation with concern. Renly could only explain, "I don't know what happened. Rami suddenly fell down and groaned in pain. Let the medical staff come and check."

James squatted down beside Renly, asking with concern, "Rami, are you okay?" Usually joking around was a sign of close relationships. In situations like this, they were more worried than anyone else.

Renly frowned. Just last month, he dislocated his arm and sprained his ankle. Although it wasn't a big deal, he rested for two days because of his arm. Seeing Rami's current situation, was really bad. He had been lying on the ground all this time, these few minutes had passed, and he hadn't turned over, let alone stand up, seeming very serious.

Looking around again, Renly tried to see if there were any external injuries or what might be happening... Then, Renly noticed a peculiar detail—what was that, stuck in Rami's buttock, it looked like a branch?