Chapter 392: Familiar Actors

Chapter 392: Chapter 392: Familiar Actors

Inside the conference room of Echo Pictures, sunlight filtered through the blinds, cutting into a pattern of light and shadow.

The table was spread with actor profile booklets for Twilight, the process schedule for the public voting event, and sample contracts.

Robert was standing in front of the projector screen, giving the final proposal report to the project team members seated around him.

When Irene pushed the door open and entered, she happened to hear him mentioning the technical support details for the public voting event.

"The voting system on Facebook has completed stress testing and can support up to 10 million concurrent users voting online. We will set up a real-time vote update module, synchronizing the popularity data of the top two candidates every hour. At the same time, we will open a fan comment section, allowing users to campaign for the actors they support, further increasing the buzz," Robert said, his voice steady and powerful.

It was clear he was confident in the preparations for the plan.

Seeing Irene enter, he immediately stopped the report and signaled the staff to pause the projector.

"Irene, you have come just in time. All the details for the public voting plan have been confirmed; we are just waiting for your final decision."

Irene walked to the head of the conference table and sat down.

She picked up the list of actor candidates from the table, her fingertips tracing over the familiar names.

On the candidate list for the male lead, Edward, the profiles of Ben Barnes, Robert Pattinson, Ryan Gosling, and James Franco were arranged in alphabetical order.

Each included a detailed resume, representative works, headshots, and links to audition clips.

On the candidate list for the lead actress, Bella, the profiles for Lily Collins, Kristen Stewart, Michelle Trachtenberg, and Emily Browning were equally detailed, even noting their respective fan bases and engagement rates on social media.

"How were these candidates screened?" Irene asked while flipping through the materials.

"We first screened actors whose appearance, age, and temperament initially matched the character settings from the original work, then invited them to submit audition clips. The casting director and the literary planning team conducted the first round of assessments, and finally, we selected these eight to enter the candidate list. Of course, it is not that there are not other options, but these are the few who can meet all the conditions for now,"

Robert explained. "Their acting skills have been preliminarily verified; they will have no problem handling a teen idol drama like Twilight. Plus, they all have a certain degree of market potential—they are either newcomers with spark but lacking representative works, or actors who have some fame in the independent film circle and are in urgent need of a breakthrough."

Irene nodded, her gaze lingering on Ryan Gosling’s profile.

This actor had worked with her once briefly.

When Irene was filming her first work, Legally Blonde, he had played a small role, but they had no further connection afterward.

Later, in 2001, he made a name for himself with his role as a Jewish neo-Nazi in The Believer, and his acting skills were indeed worthy of affirmation.

However, his profile listed his birth year as 1980, making him 24 years old this year.

While Edward in the original work was over a hundred years old, he appeared as a 17-year-old boy.

"Ryan Gosling’s acting is good, but he is a bit too old. Playing a 17-year-old boy would feel a bit jarring," she said softly, setting his profile booklet aside.

Next, she turned to Ben Barnes’s page.

The actor in the photo had handsome features, but his temperament leaned towards being sunny and cheerful, which was far from the aloof, melancholic, and aristocratic mystery that Edward possessed.

"Ben Barnes looks too ’upright.’ He lacks the contradictory sense of brokenness that Edward has. He does not meet my expectations for this character," Irene shook her head and moved his profile booklet to a secondary position.

After eliminating two candidates, her eyes fell on Robert Pattinson and James Franco.

Robert Pattinson was currently a complete newcomer in Hollywood with no released works.

In the headshots in his profile, he had pale skin, deep eyes, and slightly messy brown hair, which was quite fitting for Edward’s appearance.

Of course, he was the actor who played Edward in her previous life, so Irene was a bit biased and found it difficult to evaluate him objectively.

As for James Franco, he was another actor Irene had worked with, also on Legally Blonde.

After several years of development, his acting skills were now more mature.

The cynical yet deeply affectionate temperament he carried could also interpret Edward’s complex personality.

"Let us focus on these two for the male lead," Irene said, placing their profile booklets at the corner of the table. "Robert Pattinson’s appearance fits the imagination of the original fans better, while James Franco’s acting is more guaranteed. They can complement each other perfectly, giving fans more room for choice."

After discussing the male lead, everyone’s attention turned to the candidate list for the lead actress.

Irene first picked up Emily Browning’s profile.

This Australian actress had just worked with Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep on Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Although the film was still in post-production, she had already gained considerable attention through some interviews.

She had a sweet and cute look with above-average acting skills, but her face shape was a bit round, and her temperament leaned towards innocence, which did not quite match the preference for a "cool and aloof" lead actress in American mass aesthetics.

"Emily’s look is very distinctive, but it might not meet the mainstream audience’s expectations for Bella. Her temperament is too soft; she lacks the stubbornness in Bella’s bones."

Subsequently, she turned to Michelle Trachtenberg’s page.

This actor was currently gaining widespread attention for her role as Dawn Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but her appearance formed a sharp contrast with the introverted, silent, and naturally aloof character of Bella Swan.

"Michelle’s acting is fine, but her temperament is too poorly matched with Bella. Forcing her to play the role would only take the audience out of the experience," Irene said, setting her profile booklet aside as well.

The remaining two, Lily Collins and Kristen Stewart, immediately became the focus.

Lily Collins was known as the "Little Hepburn."

Her features were exquisite and three-dimensional, her temperament elegant and vintage, and her smile carried a faint sense of aloofness.

She not only fit Bella’s cool and aloof traits but also had enough beauty to satisfy the fans’ fantasies about the "Twilight Girl."

As for Kristen Stewart, she had a typical "cool and aloof" look, with a natural melancholic temperament in her brows and eyes.

At the time, she had just shown impressive acting skills in works like Panic Room and Cold Creek Manor.

The sense of rebellious yet fragile contradiction in her perfectly matched Bella’s inner struggles.

Likewise, Irene did not want to give Kristen too much attention just because she was the lead actress in her previous life, lest Robert and the others think she had already decided on the lead actress internally, so she did not give her too much focus.

"Lily Collins’s elegant temperament is very suitable for Bella’s ’outsider’ setting in the town of Forks, while Kristen Stewart’s aloofness is closer to the character’s inner world," Irene mused. "These two have their own advantages. Let us include both as key candidates and let the fans vote to decide the final choice."