Refuse the female lead role?
Gavin Yu looked at Serena Tong: "That can't be right, Serena. I wrote this role based on you as the prototype."
"Won't you reconsider?"
Gavin Yu looked genuinely upset.
"Why should my sister refuse the female lead?"
Queenie Tong frowned and looked at Victor Wu: "What gives you the right to make such decisions here?"
"Who do you think you are?"
"And you actually want my sister to play second fiddle to someone else?"
Queenie Tong was indignant.
Serena Tong was also momentarily stunned, glancing at Yara Song and Victor Wu.
Yvette Locke had already finished her ice cream, and now she looked fierce.
If there weren't so many people around, Yvette probably would have rushed over and given Victor Wu a real beating.
That guy's mouth really deserved a slap.
"How could Serena Tong possibly agree to play the second female lead?"
"Yeah, even though Yara Song's popularity has shot up lately, she's still not on Serena's level."
"But, come to think of it, didn't Serena debut as the second female lead and then suddenly become a star?"
People nearby watched the commotion, their eyes full of curiosity.
On one side stood Serena Tong, her agent, and a young guy who seemed to have a close relationship with her, though nobody knew where he came from.
On the other side were Yara Song, whose popularity was soaring and seemed ready to surpass Serena, and her agent Victor Wu.
Victor Wu was no small name in the industry either.
The key point was that Victor Wu had broad connections and was especially close with the Lee Family from Hong Kong.
The Lee Family's film company was now heavily promoting Yara Song.
Yara Song and Serena Tong had never been in the same company.
Serena used to be the top star at Divine Radiance Entertainment.
But later, for reasons outsiders couldn't figure out, Serena stopped taking roles from Divine Radiance.
Aside from acting as Angel Epoch's spokesperson and attending one major event, Serena had been semi-retired for a long time.
Meanwhile, Yara Song, now the Lee Family's main focus, kept pushing herself through event after event, trying to chase Serena's former glory and now seemed poised to surpass her at any moment.
Still, up to now, Serena Tong remained the undisputed leader in popularity and status.
Yet, unexpectedly, no one thought the showdown between Yara Song and Serena Tong would happen in Gavin Yu's movie.
If Serena really played second fiddle to Yara in the film, then from now on, whenever people talked about Yara, they'd add, "She's the one who made Serena willing to play the second female lead, right?"
If that happened, it would be a crushing blow for Serena, while for Yara it would mark her true transformation—her first step stepping over Serena's status.
"If the second female lead role really suited me, I might actually consider it."
Serena looked at Victor Wu and spoke calmly: "But I've already read the script, and I don't really like the second female lead's character."
"So, I can't grant your wish this time."
Serena never got angry or flustered; she simply explained her thoughts quietly.
Gavin Yu felt a bit relieved. What he feared most was Serena agreeing not to play the female lead, though that was always unlikely.
Seeing that Yara and Victor were already challenging Serena over the lead roles before even joining the cast, Gavin Yu weighed it all and then coughed softly.
He turned and looked at Yara Song standing nearby.
"Yara, sorry about this."
Gavin Yu spoke up, and everyone looked at him, waiting for the director's verdict: "Earlier I said we could work together, and I do believe in your potential and ability."
"But for this film, the person I feel is most suitable is still Serena Tong."
"Just now, when I suggested you play opposite Serena as the second female lead to support her, that was inconsiderate of me."
At this point, Gavin Yu paused slightly.
"What does that mean?" Someone picked up on the resignation in Gavin Yu's tone.
"Sounds like Director Gavin Yu is planning to drop Yara Song?" someone guessed.
"I think that's likely. Everyone knows Director Gavin Yu has wanted to work with Serena for ages, but it never happened until now."
"He finally got his chance this time. No way he'd let it slip by."
"Even though Yara's popularity is exploding, her temperament and image are still just a bit below Serena's."
Everyone around was an industry insider.
They spoke in low voices, each glancing over at the group.
Their voices weren't loud.
But whenever Gavin Yu spoke, everyone else fell silent.
So even though people spoke quietly, you could still faintly hear them.
Queenie Tong listened, feeling proud as she raised her chin—especially hearing that most people sided with her sister, Serena, which made Queenie secretly happy.
Yvette Locke was still glaring.
Evan Lin didn't say a word, just took a sip of the drink Leon Yuan had brought over earlier.
Leon Yuan and Mia Miao both felt tense.
They wanted to speak up for Serena, but in this setting, neither of them had much say.
Even if they did, it wouldn't matter.
Serena stood there, looking at Yara Song.
Yara Song's heart skipped a beat; she felt a bit dissatisfied.
Gavin Yu hadn't spoken further because he was waiting for Yara to speak up and withdraw on her own.
Two tigers can't share one mountain.
Now that Yara had shown she wanted the lead role, Gavin Yu decisively made his choice.
He gave up on Yara and picked Serena.
But if Yara admitted defeat here, it would mean she'd backed down.
Once she backed down in front of Serena today, it would be hard to stand up again later.
No matter how successful Yara became in the future, people would always remember the day she had to step aside for Serena.
It wouldn't sound good if word got out.
Gavin Yu waited a while, but Yara still said nothing.
The atmosphere was tense.
He sighed, deciding to play the villain himself.
"What I mean is, Yara, maybe we can work together next time?"