Chapter 44: Name Value
Geonwoo looked at Han Eunchae again.
[Compatibility: 94 points]
The highest score among all the Princess candidates.
But the performance he had just seen didn’t fully explain that difference.
His gaze went to the remaining lines.
[Tendency to predetermine a scene’s emotion and reactions]
[Limited experience responding to unexpected choices from scene partners]
Geonwoo thought back to her performance.
The moment she lowered her gaze after the deposed Crown Prince criticized the King.
The timing of her breath.
The moment she looked back at him.
It was a well-prepared performance.
Because it was so prepared, Geonwoo had something else he wanted to check.
“Actress Han Eunchae.”
“Yes?”
“Let’s see one more scene besides the assigned one.”
Eunchae looked at him.
“A different scene?”
“Yes.”
Eunchae thought briefly, then nodded.
“Sure. Which one?”
Geonwoo flipped through the open screenplay.
Then his hand stopped.
“Let’s use the scene you mentioned earlier.”
“The one where she goes to get the young Prince?”
“Yes.”
Eunchae opened her script.
“Give me a moment.”
“I haven’t memorized that scene.”
“You don’t need to.”
“You can read from the script.”
“Okay.”
“Still, give me a little time.”
Eunchae continued,
“I want to check what happens before and after it and organize the overall flow.”
“Of course.”
She returned to her seat and picked up the screenplay.
Her fingers moved quickly through the pages.
It was the scene where Yeonhwi entered the inner palace and took the young Prince with her.
She checked the dialogue before and after the selected section.
The casting director also found the scene and gave a copy to the reading actor.
After reviewing the script, Eunchae raised her head.
This time, she kept the screenplay in her hand.
“I’m ready.”
She returned to the filming position with the reading actor.
“We’ll begin.”
The camera rolled.
The reading actor spoke first.
“Your Highness. You cannot enter right now.”
Eunchae’s gaze dropped to the script.
“Whose order is that?”
Her response came slightly late.
It wasn’t as smooth as her prepared scene.
“Her Majesty the Queen ordered that no one be allowed inside.”
Eunchae looked at the other actor.
“I will see the Prince.”
The reading actor stepped forward.
“Please return.”
He came closer than expected.
Eunchae’s shoulders stiffened for an instant.
Then she immediately corrected her posture.
“I’ll speak to Her Majesty myself.”
Geonwoo raised a hand.
“Hold on.”
The camera stopped.
Eunchae looked at him.
“Yes?”
Geonwoo asked,
“Does Yeonhwi need that person’s permission to enter?”
Eunchae didn’t immediately answer.
She checked the line she had just said.
Then she turned back a little farther and shook her head.
“No.”
“But just now, you were trying to get permission.”
Eunchae looked down at the script.
“You’re right.”
“Yeonhwi has already decided to take the Prince and leave.”
Geonwoo continued,
“Show me that.”
“Yes.”
Eunchae read the section again.
“Let’s continue from where we stopped.”
At Geonwoo’s words, Eunchae and the reading actor returned to their previous positions.
The camera rolled again.
“Please return.”
This time, Eunchae didn’t immediately answer.
She looked at the other actor first.
Unlike before, there was no expression suggesting she was deciding how to persuade him.
Eunchae took one step forward.
“I’ll speak to Her Majesty myself.”
The line was exactly the same.
But now, it no longer sounded like she was asking permission.
It sounded like a declaration.
She was going inside.
If that caused a problem, she would personally speak to the Queen.
The reading actor’s eyes shifted briefly.
Eunchae continued the performance while checking the script.
Because she hadn’t prepared the scene, some lines arrived a beat late.
When the reading actor moved differently from what she expected, her reaction was sometimes delayed too.
Even so, something had changed.
Geonwoo raised his hand.
“Cut.”
The camera stopped.
Eunchae lowered the script and breathed out.
“Was it really obvious I hadn’t prepared?”
“Yes.”
The producer glanced sideways at Geonwoo in surprise.
The casting director’s eyes widened too.
Even Eunchae briefly looked startled.
Geonwoo immediately continued.
“But that was better.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Dialogue can be practiced.”
“In the first scene, you were already preparing your next reaction before your partner finished speaking.”
“And just now?”
“You watched your partner before moving.”
“That means the acting rhythm connected between the two of you.”
Eunchae remained silent for a moment.
She seemed to be replaying the performance in her head.
Then she nodded.
“I need to fix that.”
“We can work on it together during readings later.”
At those words, Eunchae looked up.
Geonwoo paused, then added,
“If you’re cast.”
Eunchae chuckled.
“Yes.”
“If I’m cast.”
A faint smile appeared on Geonwoo’s face too.
Her second performance hadn’t been as smooth as the first.
Checking the script interrupted her rhythm.
When her scene partner moved unexpectedly, her response sometimes came a beat late.
Yet strangely, she felt more like Yeonhwi.
Even without forcing her presence, your eyes went toward her.
Only then did Geonwoo understand the score of ninety-four.
It wasn’t because Han Eunchae’s acting was overwhelmingly superior to the other candidates.
Her historical-drama experience and improvisational responses still needed work.
But she already possessed the attitude and presence Yeonhwi needed.
The weak points could be built up later.
Geonwoo looked away from the monitor.
“That’s enough for today.”
“Okay.”
Eunchae closed the script.
“Thank you.”
“Thank you for coming.”
She also greeted the producer and casting director.
Then Eunchae left with the screenplay.
The door closed.
The casting director immediately asked,
“Director, what did you think?”
“She was good.”
The producer laughed.
“You’ve said ‘good’ a lot today.”
“There are a lot of good actresses.”
The producer looked at Eunchae’s evaluation sheet.
“Still, Han Eunchae seemed a little different to you.”
Geonwoo checked the remaining audition schedule.
There were still actresses left to see.
“Let’s finish seeing everyone before we discuss it.”
“Understood.”
The remaining auditions for the Princess continued for another two days.
Good actresses kept appearing.
Geonwoo watched every scheduled candidate.
After the final actress left, the casting director closed the door.
“Whew. Finally finished.”
The producer looked at the pile of evaluation sheets.
“Why is choosing one Princess this difficult?”
The casting director laughed.
“Because we’re not choosing the best out of bad actresses.”
The producer nodded with a laugh.
“Let’s narrow down the people we want to reconsider first.”
The casting director opened the evaluations.
Names of actresses who had received high marks over the past several days had been marked.
“I think we should keep this actress.”
The producer pointed at one name.
“Agreed.”
“She was definitely the most stable in the historical-drama aspect.”
The casting director pointed at another.
“She’s difficult to remove too.”
“She looked the most natural opposite the deposed Crown Prince.”
One actress had been good but felt too strong compared with Geonwoo’s Yeonhwi.
Another showed the family relationship well, but her performance felt farther from Yeonhwi’s decisive nature later in the story.
The casting director separated those two profiles.
“Let’s keep these two for now.”
The producer nodded.
“Yes. Agreed.”
Geonwoo nodded too.
The casting director turned another evaluation page.
“What about this actress?”
Geonwoo checked the name.
“She was good.”
“But she felt slightly stronger than Yeonhwi.”
“I thought something similar.”
The producer moved the profile aside.
The next name came up.
This time, opinions differed.
The casting director wanted to keep her.
The producer didn’t think she had a distinctive enough advantage over the previous candidates.
Geonwoo briefly replayed her audition footage.
“Let’s remove her.”
One by one, the list shrank.
Some actresses were easy decisions.
Others required watching the footage again.
Evaluations and profiles moved back and forth for quite some time.
Then the casting director stopped on one page.
“What about Han Eunchae?”
