Sensitive (+18)

Chapter 1

21 July 2019

Gulf sat in the actor's training boarding house slurping a cup of noodles to calm his growling stomach. He was standing next to the kitchen sink ready to dunk the bowl in the sink if someone suspicious comes in. He had missed lunch because he had something scheduled during that time. His manager had driven him to the set where he was acting as an extra. It was not much to others. He was just an addition but acting even as a cameo in a small role was a big deal to Gulf.

They lived in a house their agency rented them. It was a three bedroom two bathroom house and four actors and a manager shared the space. Gulf shared a room with Erl, then there was Nate and Jun who shared a room then their manager, Ben, used one room. All the trainees had about a year of training as actors and they were still getting small roles on the screen.

"Enough for me?" Erl came in the open kitchen wearing some shorts, his abs showing proof of gym presence. He came in and stood right behind Gulf embracing him from behind.

"Get Off," Gulf said pushing his ass back. Erl only pushed his hips forward and they looked like they were humping.

"Should I take off your pants?"

"Why are you always like this?" Gulf asked not bothered by Erl's actions.

"I never know when you'll say yes," Erl replied hands on Gulf's hips.

"Like I'm going to suddenly turn gay."

"Don't knock it till you try it."

"For the umpteenth time I'm not gay phi."

Erl came off Gulf and reached out for the cup of ramen, "If p'Ben comes in and sees us we'll be dead."

"That's why I'm standing next to the sink." Gulf said trapping some noodles between the two wooden utensils. "Be careful of a swollen face or else p'Ben will have your throat." He warned licking the side of his mouth handing over the cup of noodles.

"Nong, Can I do that for you?" Erl distractedly asked Gulf, biting the tip of his chopsticks with a playful face.

"Do what?"

"Lick the juice off your lips."Gulf rolled his eyes in dismissal. It was not something new.  Erl flirted with Gulf every chance he got. To say it was joking or he was serious no one knew but Gulf brushed it away every time. Gulf did not identify as gay man. He was never attracted to a man before but he did admire some male actors on the screen, he admired their talent and their beauty. To put it bluntly, he envied them.

Gulf pushed Erl away with a disgusted silly face, "get away from me p'Perv."

Erl laughed it off and went away to their room with a wink. "I'm going to head out later."

"Phi got a role?"Gulf shouted from the kitchen.

Erl peeked his head out of the room, "I have a role as a secretary." He couldn't control his smile. It was his first big role.

Gulf opened his eyes wide open with surprise. "Congratulations phi'." He screeched excited. He couldn't help but hug Erl and Erl took it far and kissed Gulf right on the lips.

Gulf came out of the kiss calmly taken aback, "what was that for you phi?" He wiped his lips.

"With words only?" Erl was at it again.

"Why are you always weird?"

"You're the weird one for ignoring me after a year of trying Nong."

"Pssh," Gulf ignored Erl and kept on eating.

"P'Ben is coming in soon to make sure I'm prepared. You better put that away and freshen the room."

Luckily Gulf was done. He went outside to put away the bowl not to leave any traces in the house. Ben was so strict about their diet and sleep etc. he wanted them to become slim, tall and pretty; something that was close to impossible considering Gulf was chubby and weighed a little more than the standard. They just graduated from their teens and acne was something that was still haunting Gulf. He was 21 turning 22 end of year and Erl was 23,  Nate was 21 whilst Jun was 20.

Gulf had classes in the afternoon so he got ready and left after cleaning up the kitchen and spraying air freshener to chase away the smell of noodles.

An hour later, Gulf was seated in class his book open and a pen in between his fingers, scribbling down important notes. The projector light came on and the assistant set up a video ready to be play.

"An actor should merge with his character. Not 100%." The lecturer started.

That had every student looking up. Why shouldn't they give 100%. Weren't they suppose to give more than that? About 200 maybe?

"I would say 80% to make it look believable."

The lecturer paused for dramatic effect. He gave them time to digest and ponder some more.

As far as they knew, an actor/es needed to give their all so they were quite confused about what the lecturer was saying.

The lecturer pressed play and a short clip of the late Heath Ledger from The Dark Knight 2008, an actor famously known as Joker came on. The lecturer introduced the late man on screen.

"This actor is an example of the reason why you shouldn't give more than you should when acting. Before he started acting as the Joker, Ledger became obsessed with his role and wanted to give his all to make it as real and unique as possible which is a good thought. But because he didn't leave a certain percentage to remind him that it's not real, that it's a made up world that it's only acting, he took it far.

It is said that Ledger spent 43 days in isolation prior to his filming because he wanted to get in character. Commendable right? But it ruined his real life interactions. He wanted to look like a real joker so he made scars on the both sides of his mouth to create a creepy smile for his  role. Why couldn't he have just used makeup?

He kept a journal throughout his filming and before the movie could premier he is believed to have overdosed on some medication. Some say it was because he was depressed after filming and some say it was a simple drug overdose. It is controversial but what I'm trying to put across is as an actor should know when to draw the line. Just as you wear clothes as a result of weather that's how you should wear your characters. Weather changes. So does your characters too, you don't need to stay there forever.

Actors and Actress lately have started to get mistaken about the chemistry they feel on the set as real. It is a confusion that emerges when you are so into your character. You get an illusion that you're perfect for each other but again that's just acting. You're meant to delude the viewers not yourself. So the lesson for today is know your limit as an actor and give your character justice only with enough effort. Do your character justice and understand the assignment."

Gulf nodded as he circled the words enough effort.

"Here's something I want to show you. A short compilation of an actor who puts enough effort in his character."

Gulf smirked. Of course they would use Mew Suppasit Jongcheveevat. The actor of the moment. He was just reaching his peek as an actor. He started becoming famous about five years years ago in 2015 and ever since then he was trending. His fame was not dying down and every drama or movie he was acting became a hit. His commercials were popular and he was always on tv.

"Here is a man who knows how to play his character neatly." He played an edited video of about 2mins with about 5 different roles of Mew in different movies. Gulf got goosebumps, he was in awe, he was taken taken aback and he smiled. It really looked neat. He felt four different emotions throughout the video but got lost in the last one. The last clip was a kiss scene and Gulf couldn't feel anything.

It looked weird.

He frowned.

He had felt the four emotions from the four clips but this one was disturbing to see. The camera angles and movements, the kissing rhythm between actor and actress was not balanced. Something was amiss and throughout the rest of the lesson he was wondering what it was? Maybe he shouldn't have wondered. He should've stuck to his character as a student and not get too immersed in the video clips.