System in Hollywood

To be honest, no one really knew why Amanda, who had a face that seemed sharp and clever, could play the role of a fool so convincingly that it felt like she wasn't even acting.

Even Nancy was a little amazed at how well Amanda pulled off the "dumb" act—so naturally and flawlessly.

This left Amanda herself unsure if she should feel flattered or frustrated by the compliment. But after the audition, seeing Wayne's handsome face, she gathered up her courage and asked, "Mr. Anderson, could I treat you to a meal after the auditions? I don't mean anything else by it, I just want to thank you."

Even though Amanda said she had no other intentions, her flushed and nervous expression told a different story.

Everyone noticed, and their reactions varied.

Especially Hannah, who didn't bother to hide her displeasure. Her face tightened, and she let out an irritated huff.

Wayne, on the other hand, was momentarily stunned, then quickly offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry, today's auditions will probably go into the afternoon, and I've got a party tonight. How about another time?"

He wasn't lying.

Although Wayne rarely attended parties, tonight's was hosted by Harvey. After recalling how fruitful the last party was, he couldn't possibly refuse this one.

Meanwhile, Amanda was a little disappointed at being turned down, but as a true American girl, she wasn't about to give up so easily.

After leaving the audition room, Amanda quickly tracked down Mike and sneakily got hold of Wayne's personal business card.

Next up was Megan, auditioning for the fifth female role, the somewhat loud-mouthed and cowardly "Gretchen." Her audition went smoothly enough, but just as she was preparing to thank Wayne and leave, he handed her the script for the role of "Janice."

"What?!"

"This is the script for the third female lead?!"

"Do I actually have a shot at the third female lead?!"

Megan froze for a moment as she looked at the script in her hands. Her pupils then contracted in excitement.

Being one of Mike's clients, Megan knew full well that "Janice" was the third female lead in this movie.

Although the role didn't have significantly more scenes than "Gretchen," moving up the ranking was still a huge step forward for her, wasn't it?

Without wasting time, Megan quickly calmed herself and flipped through the script.

Wayne had given her a solid ten minutes to prepare, but even that felt tight.

However, compared to Martina's earlier audition, Megan's performance was noticeably better. Her appearance naturally exuded more confidence, and after months of acting lessons and experience in several films, her skills far surpassed Martina's, making her a better fit for the role of "Janice."

"Tina, do you think we could tweak the script a bit, maybe adjust Janice's character to fit Megan's style more?"

Wayne asked, this time turning to the screenwriter, Tina Fey, instead of Nancy Meyers.

Tina seemed caught off guard by his question and paused for a moment.

"Um, I think it could work. At least, the dramatic tension wouldn't be any weaker than the original version. Plus, it wouldn't overlap with the character arcs of 'Cady' or 'Regina,'" Tina replied after a moment's thought, still sounding a bit unsure.

Wayne then turned to Nancy Meyers for her opinion.

"What do you think, Nancy?"

Nancy Meyers replied confidently, "I haven't seen the revised version yet, so I can't judge accurately. But from the audition just now, Megan's performance was definitely better than Miss Garcia's."

"Alright then, Megan will play 'Janice'! Tina, go ahead and modify the character's script based on what we just discussed. If it works, we'll keep it; if not, we'll revert to the original."

With that decision made, no one objected.

Megan, on the other hand, was already so thrilled that she clenched her fists in excitement. If it weren't for the setting, she might have thrown herself onto Wayne in celebration.

"One more year! Just one more year, and I'll be 16!"

Barely containing her excitement, Megan politely thanked them and quickly left the audition room.

She couldn't wait to share the good news with her "bestie," Liu, who was across the ocean, still stuck filming commercials.

"Sisi, it's me! Guess what! I just auditioned and bumped Martina out of the way. I got the third female lead! Wayne's even rewriting the script for me!"

". . . What?!"

On the other end of the phone, Liu Tianxian shot up from her bed, suddenly unable to remain calm.

Thanks to Megan's frequent updates, Liu knew that Martina was Wayne's new girlfriend and had just landed a lead role in a mid-budget film with a $14 million production cost.

"How did you pull that off?"

Megan's lips curled into a smirk, and she proudly bragged to Liu about her success.

Half an hour later, Liu, now burning with jealousy, angrily hung up and threw her phone onto the bed.

"No, I need to get back there soon!"

Liu quickly jumped out of bed, slipped on her shoes, and rushed to find her agent, Liu Xiaoli, to start discussing her return to the States.

Honestly, if she hadn't boasted so much in the past, she probably would have gone back to the U.S. by now. After all, she still had one more year of high school to finish there.

Meanwhile, the auditions for *Mean Girls* continued.

After the role of "Gretchen," next up was the audition for the second male lead, "Damian."

Watching one chubby guy after another walk into the room, Wayne quickly lost interest and handed control of the auditions to Nancy Meyers.

Even though he had seen Jonah Hill's name on the list and recognized him from his photo, Wayne had no intention of intervening.

As far as he was concerned, Jonah Hill wouldn't have made it far if he hadn't cozied up to Dustin Hoffman. His talent was average, at best.

"So, how are you planning to explain this to your little girlfriend?" Bored, Hannah leaned over and whispered into Wayne's ear, her voice full of curiosity.

"Explain what?" Wayne replied indifferently. "This is how Hollywood works. I've already given her an opportunity that countless people would kill for. If she couldn't seize it, that's on her. If anything, she should be the one apologizing to me."

(End of Chapter)