Chapter 369 - 367: Well, Good Luck with That

Lily Sterling rattled off a stream of advice, but Hannah Warner just nodded woodenly, "Oh, okay!"

Seeing this reaction, Lily Sterling grew anxious and patted Hannah’s cheeks. "Hannah, snap out of it! An actor needs to be imaginative with their character. Our teachers taught us this!"

Hannah Warner took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down, but it had little effect. "Lily, I—I can’t... my mind’s a total blank. I can’t think anymore..."

"Don’t be scared. Just follow my lead. I told you I’d help you. Let me guide you, okay?"

Hannah Warner nodded quickly, staring into Lily Sterling’s eyes to try and focus. Lily softened her tone, not wanting to add any more pressure, but time was short. She had to help Hannah quickly build the character and establish the necessary details for the given scenario.

"The flashpoint of the conflict is homework. You didn’t do it. When you don’t do your homework, what kind of excuses do you normally make?"

Lily Sterling gently tossed the question to Hannah Warner, guiding her to imagine the scene for herself.

Hannah Warner blinked, and inspiration struck. "I forgot to bring it!"

"Exactly!" Lily Sterling smiled. "Next. Let’s assume you and the class monitor don’t get along. You need to establish an emotional anchor for your relationship—in other words, why do you hate her?"

"I..."

Hannah Warner still felt a sense of urgency and got stuck again.

Lily remained calm and continued to guide her. "Picture the class monitor as a classmate you absolutely despise. Then, substitute that person for the character. The class monitor in front of you *is* that person."

"Then, think about why you hate that person. That’s your reason for hating the class monitor. You must have someone you despise like that, right?"

Hannah Warner nodded. Her mind flashed to a certain classmate from high school. The two of them couldn’t stand each other and were always bickering over trivial things.

At the height of their fiercest argument, they had even come to blows!

Recalling that scene now, it was still vivid in her mind, and the emotions in Hannah Warner’s heart suddenly found a real anchor.

"Lily, I think I’m starting to feel it..."

"Good. Don’t rush, take it slow. Channel the character’s personality traits: reckless, impulsive, hot-tempered, and a troublemaker. Think hard. If you, with a personality like that, were facing someone you despise, what would your expression be? What would your attitude be?"

Hannah Warner’s entire expression changed. "I want to slap her!"

"Then do it! Don’t suppress your natural instincts. When you’re fully immersed in the character, all of your reactions are the right ones! Remember what I just told you: believe that you can do a great job. You *are* Mona Underwood, and no one can play her better than you!"

The look in Hannah Warner’s eyes was completely different now. Lily Sterling’s step-by-step guidance had managed to rebuild the actor’s conviction in Hannah, who had developed a deep-seated fear of auditions due to repeated failures.

Lily Sterling immediately raised her hand and clapped lightly in front of Hannah’s face, pulling her out of the emotion. "Okay, that’s enough. Don’t burn through your emotions now. Save it and release it when you’re on stage!"

Pulled from that emotional state, Hannah Warner’s initial timidity was gone. In its place, a firework-like energy was building inside her, creating an impulse to give her all and conquer this role.

"Lily, I don’t think I’m scared anymore. You’re amazing! How do you know how to do all this?"

Hannah Warner had seen Lily Sterling’s ability to get into character in a single second during photoshoots, so she already knew Lily was a good actress.

But she never expected Lily to be so good at helping *others* get into character!

Lily Sterling smiled. "Because I’ve seen directors on set ’coach’ actors who couldn’t get into character, and I’ve picked up tips from some of the veterans. But really, it all boils down to what our professor taught us in our very first acting class: ’Truly listen, truly see, truly feel.’ You have to believe in the character. After all, the most important thing for an actor is...?"

Hannah Warner grinned and replied, "Conviction!"

And everything Lily Sterling had done today was to help her rebuild that conviction as an actor.

"Lily Sterling!"

Just then, Suzanne Sawyer suddenly took the initiative to walk over and greet her.

Lily Sterling hadn’t noticed Suzanne Sawyer, but in fact, Suzanne had witnessed the entire process of her helping Hannah. She only spoke up once it seemed they were finished.

"Hi."

Lily Sterling was a little surprised by Suzanne Sawyer’s initiative, but she responded naturally. The two hadn’t seen each other in the several months since *Heavenly Destiny as Phoenix* had wrapped.

Hannah Warner’s expression grew wary. As Lily Sterling’s friend, she was naturally not going to look kindly upon Suzanne Sawyer.

Lily Sterling hadn’t told anyone about Suzanne Sawyer being harassed on the set. She knew that even though Suzanne was the victim, if word got out, it would inevitably lead to negative press for her, so she hadn’t said a word to anyone.

Lily Sterling noticed the phone in Suzanne Sawyer’s hand and guessed she must be here to audition as well. She took the initiative to ask, "Have you picked a role yet? Who are you auditioning for?"

Her tone was friendly, as if she were speaking to a friend.

Suzanne Sawyer, however, just looked at her, raised an eyebrow, and asked back, "Which role are you planning to audition for?"

"Me?"

"Yes." Suzanne Sawyer nodded, her expression impassive. "Whichever role you audition for, I’ll audition for that same one."

The words carried an undeniable hint of provocation, and Lily Sterling’s expression couldn’t help but shift slightly.

She had assumed that Suzanne approaching her first meant her hostility had faded, but now it seemed that wasn’t the case at all.

Seeing this, Hannah Warner couldn’t help but interject, "What is it now? Are you going to have your daddy invest to steal Lily’s role again? If so, you’ve completely miscalculated. Lily isn’t even auditioning today. She’s signed with Connie. Do you really think she’s going to be hurting for roles?"

Suzanne Sawyer automatically ignored the rest of what Hannah Warner said, simply frowning as she looked at Lily and asked, "You’re not auditioning?"

Lily Sterling nodded gently. "I’m here with Hannah."

Suzanne Sawyer felt a pang at her words, and only then did she begin to properly consider what Hannah had said.

’That’s right, Lily signed with Connie. She might not even need to audition anymore...’

’So who was she supposed to compete against?’

’How was she supposed to prove she was better than Lily?’

"I’ve never wanted to compete with you. You don’t need to treat me as your rival. I don’t want to be anyone’s rival," Lily Sterling said calmly, having seen right through her thoughts.

Suzanne Sawyer looked at her and suddenly let out a cold laugh. "You don’t want to, or you think you’re too good for it?"

"You..." Lily Sterling looked baffled, her tone one of astonishment. "Why would you think I look down on you? We didn’t even know each other. You were the one who decided to make things difficult for me from the very beginning. I never once thought about competing with you!"

"Competition is the law of this industry. It’s not something you can avoid just by wanting to. Lily Sterling, I will not lose to you!"

Lily Sterling just found Suzanne Sawyer even more baffling than before. She let out a weary sigh, losing all desire to communicate with her. "Well, good luck with that."