Huayu Entertainment 1995 started with hijacking.

Chapter 118 Challenging the Weakness
"Frequency" is supposed to have two male leads, a son and a father. Tomorrow's audition will be for the son, a police officer, preferably with a tough-guy image.

The actor for the son's role was required to be between 25 and 35 years old. This age range does include suitable A-list stars, such as Tom Cruise (34), Nicolas Cage (33, who just won an Oscar last year), and Brad Pitt (33, whose films *Seven* and *12 Monkeys* were huge hits). However, none of these actors responded to the invitations.

Wu Yuchen and Jeff looked at the list compiled by the casting director.

Before Wu Yuchen could speak, Jeff said directly:

"Charlie Sheen won't do, cross him out!"

Charlie Sheen is a name that appears near the top of the list. Wu Yuchen naturally knows him. He rose to fame in the 80s with "Platoon" and later received high praise for "Wall Street" and "The Three Musketeers".

Jeff, fearing Wu Yuchen might not know, explained to him:
“Charlie Sheen has a very bad reputation now. His promiscuity and drugs have become an important part of his life, and it’s known all over the United States. We can’t use him.”

Wu Yuchen nodded to indicate that he understood, and then pointed to a familiar name and said:
"In that case, Robert Downey Jr. won't work either."

Last year, this guy was pulled over by the police while driving a sports car naked, and they found illegal items in the car. A month later, he was taken to the hospital by his neighbors because he was in a coma due to an overdose.

His father smoothed things over, so it didn't cause too much of a stir in America. But Wu Yuchen knew that this guy would keep causing trouble in the next few years and would go to jail three times in a row. He would be infamous throughout the United States. How could he possibly use him?

Although he made a comeback ten years later with Iron Man, you absolutely cannot associate with Robert Downey Jr. now, or he'll ruin your life.

Jeff hesitated for a moment upon hearing this. After all, Robert's scandal hadn't gotten too big yet, and his reputation hadn't been ruined. Besides, his father had connections. But after thinking about it, he nodded and said, "Cross him out too."

Then Wu Yuchen continued looking down and spotted a few familiar names.

For example, Edward Norton, 27, is also ranked high. He won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor last year for his debut film, *Primal Fear*, and received an Oscar nomination. He has also starred in several excellent films, including *Sex and the Beast*, and is currently experiencing a rapid rise in popularity. Next year he'll be starring in *Fight Club*, truly a smooth career path!
Wu Yuchen now understands the audition process in Hollywood. Tomorrow's second round of auditions mainly focuses on screening candidates' image and temperament. Some candidates with enough star power don't even need to come and can skip directly to the third round.

As for those minor actors who have no works or whose image does not fit the role, they are directly filtered out by the casting director, and only one or two out of the original applicants remain on the list.

……

That evening, Wu Yuchen arrived at a restaurant. His agent, Carl Murphy, had arranged to meet him, saying he was bringing an actor to see him. Wu Yuchen wasn't surprised; it was perfectly normal in Hollywood.

However, the other party did not contact them during the first round of auditions, but only brought them to the second round of auditions immediately after the auditions. This meant that the actor had passed the casting director's test, which made Wu Yuchen feel that Karl, as an agent, was quite sensible.

After Wu Yuchen walked over, Karl immediately stood up with the male actor next to him:

"Good evening, Wu. Let me introduce you to this man, who is under my command..."

Wu Yuchen was genuinely surprised when he saw the man next to Karl. Wasn't that Wolverine?

Hugh Jackman!

Hugh Jackman greeted Wu Yuchen respectfully:

"Director Wu, hello, I'm Hugh Jackman."

Wu Yuchen had actually seen Hugh Jackman's name on the list today, but he was surprised to find that he shared the same agent as him.

Wu Yuchen shook hands with him, then sat down and chatted with the two of them, during which he also asked about some of Hugh Jackman's acting experience.

Hugh Jackman is 28 years old this year. He came to Hollywood from Australia a few years ago. His main job is as a stage actor, but he can't support himself at all. For the first two years, he had to make a living by playing a clown at birthday parties, working at gas stations or restaurants.

It wasn't until 95 that he started getting some opportunities to act in TV dramas. In the past few years, he has also played some minor roles as an extra, but he hasn't had any great opportunities. However, he has been doing better and better in stage plays.

However, this time his agent actually managed to get him a leading role and even took him to meet the director, which gave him hope.

The main point was that Carl was saying to Wu Yuchen, "Wu, I can guarantee that Hugh Jackman's acting skills are excellent, and his age and image are also very suitable for the role..."

Looking at the handsome and rugged man in front of him, Wu Yuchen noticed that his smile occasionally exuded a charm that could captivate young girls, and his image was indeed very suitable.

As for his acting skills, wow, he's like Wolverine!

Actually, Hugh Jackman's acting skills are quite good. He has also acted in art films and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor.

Wu Yuchen said with a smile, "Xiu, I'm quite satisfied with your appearance and temperament. You should have no problem with the second round of auditions tomorrow."

Hugh Jackman's face lit up with joy upon hearing this, but Wu Yuchen's tone shifted the next moment:
"But your resume is too weak, and some of the people auditioning this time are far more famous than you. I can't guarantee that you can get the male lead."

Carl immediately said:

"Wu, with you here, Xiu's chances have greatly increased. Thank you so much! If Xiu can join the crew, I will definitely stand by your side the whole time!"

Upon hearing this, Wu Yuchen's heart skipped a beat. That made sense; the main characters in the production team did indeed have more say if they were on his side. Going to Hollywood really required careful planning!
Wu Yuchen chuckled and said to Hugh Jackman, "Prepare well for the audition, and try to leave a good impression on the other interviewers as well!"

"Thank you, Director Wu!"

After that, Wu Yuchen gave Hugh Jackman a brief explanation of the role and the scenes he would have to audition for, which was also a way of doing Carl a favor.

……

"Gretchen, good news! You passed your second round audition!"

"Really? That's amazing!"

Gretchen Moore was overjoyed to hear what her agent was saying on the other end of the phone.

Gretchen was also a theater actress. After realizing that there was no future in stage plays, she worked as a model for a short time in 95 and then quickly devoted herself to acting full-time. In the past two years, she has played many low-level extras and minor roles. It wasn't until Spike Lee's minor role in "Number 6" that she gained some attention.

Now that she's been shortlisted for the final audition for the lead role in a big-budget production worth 20 to 30 million, how could she not be happy?
However, her agent's next words poured cold water on her enthusiasm:
“Gretchen, don’t be too happy yet. From what I’ve heard, the most competitive candidate for the lead role right now is Diane Lane. And you’re said to be a bit too young and too pretty, barely making it to the next round.”

"Too beautiful?! What kind of ridiculous reason is that!"

Gretchen cursed, "Aren't Hollywood movie actresses just pretty enough to be decorative figures?"
“Honey, you’ll have to ask the director about that. But Gretchen, if you don’t do something, there’s a 99% chance you’ll just be a runner-up, understand?” Gretchen took a deep breath to calm herself down. She understood what her agent meant. Now that she was in Hollywood, she knew all the unspoken rules of the industry, the trade-offs for roles.

Take Julia Roberts, for example, who is now famous all over the United States. It's not true that she slept with most of the cast and crew to get ahead, but she definitely got one or two key figures involved.

Gretchen hadn't worked on any of the low-quality film crews she'd been on for the past two years, so there was no reason for her to dedicate herself to any of them. But this time it was different; it was a mainstream film from Columbia Pictures, worth twenty or thirty million dollars, and she was the female lead!

This is the best opportunity Gretchen has ever had since her debut, and it has made her keenly aware that this is a great opportunity to enter the mainstream and change her destiny!

“George, who is the key figure?” Gretchen asked calmly.

Agent George smiled and then explained to him:

"There are two of them. One is producer Jeff, and the other is director and screenwriter Yu Chenwu. You should have met them during the second round of auditions."

Gretchen quickly recalled two people in her mind: a white man in his forties or fifties and a very young Asian man who was quite good-looking.

Gretchen asked, "Yu Chen Wu... oh, his name is such a mouthful! I mean, he looks so young, is he really capable of making decisions?"

"Of course! Gretchen, maybe you don't usually pay attention to things outside of America, but he is the best director at the Berlin Film Festival, and his film 'Run Lola Run' has already grossed fifty million at the European box office."

"It's precisely because of his achievements that Sony invited him to Hollywood. As both director and screenwriter, he's the soul of this film. And while your role is the female lead, it's really just a decorative part with some weight; if he wants to help you, he can easily handle it!"

Gretchen had a plan in mind after hearing this. Given the choice between a young and handsome one, who would choose an older one?

……

In the elevator, Wu Yuchen rubbed his temples, closed his eyes, and focused his mind on all aspects of the film crew's preparations. In Hollywood, everything is governed by rules and regulations, which slows down the preparation process. In China, he could finish in half a month, but here, a month is considered fast; some projects take two or three months to prepare before filming officially begins.

However, once you're here, you have to follow the local pace. The third round of interviews for important roles will begin in a couple of days. With his support, Hugh Jackman has successfully made it to the third round, but whether or not he will be selected in the end depends on the situation.

He now realizes that every important role involves a power struggle, and Jeff definitely has people he supports, though he doesn't know who they are yet.

Thinking about all this made him feel a little irritable. There were too many constraints while filming here, and it didn't have the same decisive and straightforward feeling he had when filming movies in China.

"Ding."

The sound of the elevator stopping interrupted Wu Yuchen's thoughts. As the elevator doors opened, he took a step out and felt something bump into him. The force was not great, and he swayed slightly before regaining his balance.

Wu Yuchen looked closely and saw a stunning blonde woman with blue eyes, wearing a black bodycon dress that accentuated her curvaceous figure. She was covering her mouth with an apologetic expression.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!"

Then, upon seeing Wu Yuchen's face, she wore an expression of utter surprise:

"Director Wu, it's you! I'm so sorry, I was so careless!"

Wu Yuchen also recognized the other party; it was Gretchen Moore, one of the candidates for the female lead.

This girl will be working with Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio in the next couple of years, and she was even rumored to be DiCaprio's girlfriend for a while. She's a typical American blonde sweetheart, and she also has some qualities of a virtuous wife and loving mother, which is why she made it to the third round. It's just that she's not very famous yet.

Whether it was an accident or intentional, Wu Yuchen naturally knew, since they had already run all the way to the elevator entrance of his hotel floor!
However, Wu Yuchen still smiled politely at her and said, "It's okay~"

Seeing her bag fall to the ground, Wu Yuchen knelt down to pick it up for her. But when he looked inside, he discovered that what was spilling out of the bag were women's underwear, specifically a sexy style. Looking further inside, he saw a white nurse's uniform!
The female lead is actually the mother in the movie, but she is the mother when she was young, around 30 years old, and her profession is a nurse.

Just then, a somewhat sexy voice came from beside him: "Director Wu, you're such a gentleman~"

Wu Yuchen couldn't help but turn his head to look at Gretchen, only to see that she was bending over towards him, her dress hanging down, exposing the view inside to his eyes.

"Damn it, this vixen!" Wu Yuchen cursed inwardly, admitting that he too had been aroused by her.

It wasn't that no other agents had contacted him during this period, but he had rejected them all, focusing all his energy on the preparation of the film crew. He never expected to be cornered at the door again.

Wu Yuchen didn't say anything. He took a deep breath, stood up, and handed the bag in his hand to the other person.

Gretchen smiled affectionately at Wu Yuchen, reached out and gently brushed her hand across the back of his before picking up the bag and saying:

"Director Wu, I prepared all of this for the female lead audition. I wonder if it suits me?"

Wu Yuchen said casually, "There were no nurse scenes in the audition."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards his room.

Gretchen's expression changed upon hearing this, realizing it was a polite refusal. However, watching Wu Yuchen's departing figure, she was reluctant to give up and gritted her teeth to follow him. Since he hadn't explicitly rejected her, there was still hope.

Wu Yuchen had just swiped his card to open the door when he felt his arm being gently tugged. Seeing Gretchen looking at him tentatively, he said:

"This role requires you to be a virtuous mother, do you understand?"

Gretchen immediately dropped her frivolous demeanor, revealing her harmless side, and looked at Wu Yuchen with her big, watery eyes:
"Director Wu, if you're willing to give me a chance... I'll even play the daughter!"

Seeing Gretchen's expression—a mix of innocence, lust, and sultryness—Wu Yuchen's anger surged.

Wu Yuchen, who was still not quite used to life in America these past few days, was already feeling a bit annoyed, and then someone came along who kept trying to provoke him.

Damn it, now that he's in America, why is he holding back? He's going to challenge his weaknesses!

Gretchen watched as the other person entered the room first, but the door was not closed. She instantly showed a happy expression, and after entering the room, she gently hooked the door with her high heels and slammed it shut.

Even uploading a picture requires approval. Ugh.

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(End of this chapter)