Contract Marriage: Let's Make It Real, Mrs. Sterling!-Chapter 351 - 350: Scene-Stealing

Mia Sutton stared steadily at the person opposite her, casually asking.

Annabelle Hughes was momentarily surprised, she hadn’t expected Mia Sutton to be able to catch her act so fluidly.

It’s not only the scenes with intense conflict that can overpower, any scene during filming can do that.

Just like Annabelle Hughes now, although surprised that Mia Sutton could catch her act.

It seemed she really had underestimated her.

But that’s okay.

Soon, Mia Sutton felt that oppressive acting even more, as if she wouldn’t rest until she had completely overwhelmed her.

Mia Sutton didn’t show it on her face, but she tutted a few times inside; if it weren’t for regularly acting across from Mr. Sterling, she might not have been able to manage it.

But now...

She was used to acting smoothly with Jensen Sterling, so she didn’t find Annabelle Hughes difficult at all.

She lifted her gaze, fearlessly looking back at the person opposite, continuing with her lines, unaffected by Annabelle Hughes, instead delivering an even better performance.

The set was very quiet, filming continued, and Director Lawson was watching from the camera, slowly furrowing his brow.

His expression was not good, his lips tightly pressed together, for a long time.

Director Lawson: "Cut!"

With that word, the set instantly quieted, many crew members instinctively turned to look at Ian Lee, holding their breaths.

Only one thought in their minds, Ian Lee was about to scold someone.

Whenever his expression was like this, everyone knew what was about to happen.

However... the performances just now were fine, so... what happened?

Annabelle Hughes also looked up surprised, glancing at Ian Lee, saying, "Director Lawson, what’s wrong, did Mia make a mistake?"

"It’s nothing, after all, she’s a newcomer, making some mistakes is normal, should we shoot another take?"

Ian Lee frowned, his voice a bit cold: "It has nothing to do with Mia Sutton, the problem is with you." 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Annabelle Hughes seemed to not have expected to be the one criticized, her smile immediately froze.

But she still tried to maintain her smile: "I’m not sure where the issue is?"

Ian Lee: "You’re also from a respectable family; even though you’ve been in the mundane world for so long, where’s your upbringing? What’s with the disdain in your eyes!"

Annabelle Hughes’ fingers paused; she couldn’t admit that her disdain was directed at Mia Sutton, not having controlled her emotions, it accidentally showed.

Filming for so long, she naturally knew it was unprofessional to let personal emotions show during shooting.

Ian Lee waved his hand: "Alright, let’s shoot another take."

Then he glanced at Annabelle Hughes, looking at her indifferently, his voice a bit chilly: "Annabelle Hughes, do it properly."

"And Mia Sutton, adjust your performance, try to pass in one take."

Ian Lee had been filming for so many years, how could he not understand these little tricks, conflicts between actors he couldn’t control, but bringing emotions into the performance, that wouldn’t work for him.

Annabelle Hughes naturally understood the implication of Ian Lee’s words, biting her lip, then turned back, looking at Mia Sutton.

Mia Sutton wasn’t bothered by her gaze, generously returning a radiant smile.

"Let’s begin, Annabelle."

Annabelle Hughes suddenly felt a breath catch; because of her own reasons, they didn’t pass that take, and seeing Mia Sutton’s smile felt like being mocked.

Already unstable, Annabelle Hughes’ mood worsened.

This led to several retakes of the scene, with each NG, Annabelle’s mind became more chaotic.

The more they filmed, the worse it got, the more oppressive the atmosphere became; Annabelle, already unsettled, became more extreme with each mistaken take, even mangling her lines in the end.

The moment she misspoke, Annabelle felt a chill inside.

Director Lawson immediately threw his walkie-talkie to the side, his face turning terrifyingly cold: "Annabelle Hughes, what are you doing, acting like a zombie? Where are the expressions?"

"You can even get lines wrong, how did you graduate from school."

"What did the teachers teach you, did you pass your professional courses!"

"Is this the level of a leading actress, you should just quit acting sooner rather than later."

Annabelle Hughes had never been scolded like this by a director; since her status had risen in the industry, directors had always spoken to her politely. It had been a long time since she faced such a situation.

With so many people watching, she felt as if everyone’s eyes were on her, Annabelle’s face turned red then pale, genuinely unable to handle it.

But no matter how aggrieved she was, she didn’t dare to put on airs in front of Ian Lee, only suppressing her temper.

"Director Lawson, it’s my fault, shall we shoot another take."

Ian Lee scoffed coolly: "No more filming, change the scene, you should carefully reflect on this scene, we’ll shoot tomorrow."

With that, they wrapped up there, moving on to the next scene.

Though the next scene was shot quickly, Annabelle Hughes’ delay caused the entire crew to work overtime, continuing until all the day’s scenes were completed.

They wrapped up two hours later than usual.

Although no one’s expressions showed anything, inside everyone blamed Annabelle Hughes; if not for her, how could they have worked overtime for so long.

Annabelle Hughes also sensed the staff’s attitude toward her, but she couldn’t say anything, it was indeed her fault.

However, her expression remained quite poor.

On the way back that night, in the car, Jensen Sterling reached out to tidy Mia Sutton’s slightly messy hair.

His voice carried a smile as he said, "I heard you NG’d several times during a scene this afternoon?"

Mia Sutton looked up from her phone, "Hmm~ You knew?"

Jensen Sterling: "What happened?"

Mia Sutton said casually: "Nothing much, just Annabelle tried to overpower me, but instead she collapsed herself."

Mia spoke truthfully; she wasn’t suppressed by Annabelle’s acting, nor could she suppress her in return, it was Annabelle’s own mental breakdown that led to her deteriorating performance.

Jensen Sterling: "Couldn’t overpower you?"

Mia Sutton looked at him, blinked twice, then said brightly: "Well, what can I say, I have an incredible teacher?"

Jensen Sterling: "Teacher?"

Mia Sutton lowered her gaze, hmm’d, and said: "Or... boyfriend?"

"With such an impressive boyfriend, it makes others seem less noteworthy."

Jensen Sterling chuckled softly, a rich, magnetic sound.

Quite adept at giving compliments.

Jensen Sterling: "Want me to help you get even?"

Mia Sutton didn’t understand what he meant, looked at him with confusion, and exclaimed ah.

Looking adorably clueless.

"Help you overpower her in return."

Mia blinked a few times, help her overpower, was he referring to acting?

Obviously so, if Jensen wished, Mia knew he certainly could do it, even to the extent of making the other person doubt their talent.