215: actor

Donnie had been sending his resume to various film and television companies lately. At night, he sat at home, constantly checking his computer for reply emails.

Donnie was born into a family of performers. He started acting from a very young age and was highly talented in the craft.

Given his fame and acting skills, he should have been someone major companies fought to hire, but now, not a single film company wanted to use him.

This was because Donnie had done too many reckless and foolish things a year ago.

He was an unrestrained and impulsive person who, relying on his acting talent, often disregarded directors.

Moreover, he was someone who habitually arrived late and left early. Although the box office and reception for the movies he starred in were excellent, not a single director who had worked with him had a good word to say about him.

The most significant incident occurred a year ago when he got a girlfriend. At that time, he received a film offer from a famous Hollywood director to shoot a masterpiece. However, to celebrate his girlfriend's birthday, he snuck away from the set to play with her for a week. The crew couldn't find him, leading to losses of millions every day. The director was infuriated; he not only replaced the lead actor but also issued a blacklist order.

He hadn't expected this incident to have such severe consequences for his career. The director replaced him as the lead, posted a public reprimand within the industry, and claimed that Donnie would never be allowed in any of his future works.

At a young age, he was labeled as unreliable and of poor character. Since then, he could no longer get any good scripts. Even though he had reformed, no one believed him.

Without exception, all the requests he sent out today to participate in movies were rejected.

The public had a crisis of trust in him, and his career had hit rock bottom. Donnie didn't know what to do to salvage the situation.

Acting was the work he loved; he couldn't give it up.

Donnie sat before his computer in deep thought. He hadn't filmed for a year and missed the feeling of working too much. Acting was his life; he couldn't give up.

The next day, Donnie began contacting former friends, attempting to get them to help him out.

The first person he contacted was Ronaldo, whom he considered his best friend.

Back when Donnie was doing well, he often introduced resources to Ronaldo. He had even lent Ronaldo five million dollars, which Ronaldo had yet to pay back.

Now that Ronaldo was doing quite well, Donnie believed that if he spoke up, Ronaldo would surely give him a hand.

Ten seconds later, the call went through. But before he could even speak, Ronaldo on the other end spoke first. Donnie listened carefully to his good friend's words, but the more he heard, the colder his heart felt.

Ronaldo frowned when he received Donnie's call. He expected Donnie wanted to use his connections, but since Donnie's reputation was so bad now, he didn't want to be associated with such a person.

So, Ronaldo directly made up an excuse to brush Donnie off. Fearing Donnie might ask for the money back, he even preemptively claimed he had no money.

Donnie was no fool. He knew exactly how much money actors made. The news said Ronaldo had just gifted his girlfriend a new car worth three million, yet he claimed to have not a single cent when it came to Donnie.

He never expected the brother he treated with total sincerity would treat him this way.

Back when Ronaldo had no good resources, Donnie would rather lower his own salary just to bundle Ronaldo into the movies he was in. It was precisely because of those roles Donnie recommended that Ronaldo became famous.

Donnie suddenly began to doubt the first half of his life. What exactly had he been doing? What kind of friends had he been making?

After hanging up, Donnie thought for a moment that perhaps Ronaldo was an exception, so he called another friend.

This other friend had also borrowed money from him. At first, Donnie still held some hope, but once the call connected, the rhetoric was not much different from Ronaldo's. In that instant, Donnie felt completely clear-headed.

Donnie called over a dozen of his former friends—all of whom he had made during his most glorious days—and was rejected more than ten times.

Donnie felt a bit hopeless. Looking at his contact list and reflecting on his past, there wasn't a single reliable friend.

As he scrolled through, he suddenly came across a name at the very bottom: Luna.

Luna was his high school classmate and his first partner when he entered this industry. They had a great relationship back then, but at some point, it seemed he had lost contact with her.

Luna was currently a project manager at a film company and had many good resources. Before he became famous, many of his resources had been introduced by Luna.

He hesitated before making this call because the things he had done back then had also affected Luna.

But before he could reflect further or feel more guilty, the phone was already ringing. Donnie could only brace himself and say, "Hi, Luna, how have you been lately?"

Luna was in the parking lot on her way to the office. She hadn't been in touch with Donnie for a long time, and his sudden call caught her by surprise.

She had heard about Donnie's recent situation; it seemed he hadn't landed a film project in a long time.

Luna could vaguely sense what Donnie wanted by calling this time.

"Hello, Donnie. Have you been doing well lately?"

"I saw Lilith yesterday, but I was too busy to say hello. We should have dinner with you and Lilith some other day."

Hearing this, Donnie felt slightly awkward. "Uh, Lilith and I have already broken up."

Luna was slightly surprised. She thought Donnie really loved Lilith, after all, he had skipped work for a week to go on a date with her. Lilith also bore some responsibility for Donnie ending up like this, yet they had actually broken up.

Donnie was embarrassed to tell Luna that Lilith had left him because his career development was no longer good.

He had been too much of a bastard when he was young, always failing to see who was truly good to him and who approached him only for the benefits around him.

Luna comforted Donnie, "It's okay. You're so talented; you'll definitely find someone even better."

Hearing this, Donnie gave a self-deprecating laugh. Only Luna would still think he was talented.

Donnie spoke somewhat hesitantly:

"Luna, actually, the reason I'm calling you this time is to ask, uh, do you have any film projects on hand lately? If there's a suitable role, could you introduce me?"

"I'm not picky about the role, as long as I can perform."

Luna suddenly stopped her pace toward the stairs. To be honest, she had introduced many good projects to Donnie before, but he had stood her up because of Lilith. Luna still had lingering fears about that.

Furthermore, given Donnie's current reputation, even if she were willing to give him work, the company might not necessarily agree.

Donnie waited anxiously for Luna's reply. However, after a few seconds of silence on the other end, Donnie already knew the result.

He didn't want to make things difficult for Luna, so he immediately said, "It's okay if there isn't anything. I was just asking."

Luna said apologetically, "I can help you keep an eye on whether other companies have any film projects suitable for you."

Donnie said, "Thank you, Luna."

The two chatted for a few more moments and then hung up.

After Luna reached the company, she did indeed ask around about a few projects. There were many film projects with unassigned roles, but everyone immediately refused upon hearing Donnie's name.

One Producer who had a good relationship with Luna said:

"Donnie is indeed very talented in acting, but he's too difficult to control. If we choose him for a movie, there's a high probability that he'll just disappear mid-shoot. Every day the crew works is burning money; no one can tolerate behavior like Donnie's."

Luna said, "I think Donnie has matured a lot. He wouldn't do that now."

The Producer replied, "Who can guarantee that? We can't joke with the entire film project, and we certainly can't take such a huge risk for just one person."

Luna didn't say anything more because it was indeed true.

Even though she was friends with Donnie, she had no way to guarantee he would behave during filming; after all, she had already paid the price once before.

Luna looked troubled. Seeing this, the Producer comforted her, "Luna, there's a film gala tonight. I have two invitations. You can give one to Donnie and let him try his luck there."

Luna thanked the Producer and then mailed the invitation to Donnie.

The film gala was at 8:00 PM. When Donnie received the invitation, it was already 6:00. He hurriedly changed clothes and headed to the gala.

This film gala was hosted by the famous Hollywood director Fernando. It invited over half of the industry's film company directors and Producers, as well as more than fifty actors.

This opportunity was very rare for Donnie. He was determined to secure a resource.

Lu Qingyu and Su Jixing were also invited to the film gala, but their purpose for attending was to scout talent. Lu Qingyu had too many projects and not enough directors, so they came today to see if they could sign any directors to their company.

After Lu Qingyu and Su Jixing entered, their eyes constantly scanned the surroundings.

Meanwhile, from the moment Donnie entered the venue, he constantly observed the people there. He knew most of them. After scanning the room, he set his sights on Antonio, who was not far away.

Antonio was a well-known film Producer in the industry. The quality of the TV series and movies his company produced was above average. If he could collaborate with Antonio, perhaps he could make a comeback and return to the entertainment circle.

Donnie picked up a glass of wine and walked over to Antonio. He suddenly chimed in while Antonio was chatting with someone else.

"Mr. Antonio, your company's movie is about to be released, right?"

Hearing the inquiry, Antonio turned his gaze toward Donnie. He recognized Donnie; having navigated the entertainment industry for so many years, he could see the purpose of Donnie's visit at a glance.

Antonio politely raised his glass. "That's right. It will be released on the 15th of this month."

Donnie deliberately tried to build rapport. "That's wonderful. This movie is a biographical film based on the director's own experiences. I'm very much looking forward to it and believe it will certainly achieve great results."