Birth of an actor

"It's really surprising." William raised his eyebrows: "You are still on the phone at 02:30 in the morning? Aren't you afraid that the female companion lying next to you will protest?"

"You also know it's 02:30 in the morning? Calling your agent late at night, don't you feel a little sorry, sweetheart?" Amon Goffman said: "Besides, I don't have a girlfriend, so no one will be angry .”

"No night life? Poor Ami...can my comfort make you feel better."

"Huh, that's consolation? And, don't make it sound like someone can find a beautiful date at Harvard every day!"

Both William and Amon stopped talking at the same time.After a while of silence, they began to change the subject by coincidence: "How's the weather in Los Angeles?"

"It's still the same. What about Harvard?"

"The air is full of aloofness, and it is indeed the university with the most proud, selfish and selfish students in the United States." William replied, then changed the subject and began to talk about his entanglement: "Those scripts, it is difficult for me to choose , Amon."

Amon Goffman replied without surprise: "I guessed it."

"Boogie Nights, Dangerous Liaisons, and Gattaca, which one should I choose?" William scratched his hair and said, "They all look great, but I also know that all three are impossible to follow, not only Scheduling conflicts, and I don't have the time."

"Perhaps you can choose "Gait Shot" directly."

"Why do you answer so curtly, my friend?"

"Because I'm a shrewd broker who always helps my clients make the right choice, dear Will."

"Then why not Boogie Nights and Dangerous Liaisons?"

"Leaving aside what's the difference between a $300 million movie and a $3000 million movie, Will, you're not really going to make a cult movie for the rest of your life, are you?"

"Cult movie" is also a term born in Hollywood, because most of Cult movies are low-cost, unique shooting techniques, controversial themes, and contradicting mainstream Hollywood styles, so many people tend to confuse Cult movies with B-level movies. The two definitions are imaginary, but they are partly different. The most typical difference is that a B-level production can easily be recognized by the mainstream society after it has been filmed, but Cult movies specifically refer to movies that are difficult to be accepted by the general public, but are influenced by ideology. The film sought after by the avant-garde young group, the other is that B-level films have no believers, and the status of Cult films is established precisely because of the continuous pursuit and worship of fanatical fans.

Just like Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction", because of the low cost and special subject matter (the rating is NC-17, the word FucK appears 37 times in 271 different tones in the film), at the beginning it was It was released as a B-level movie. Unexpectedly, after the release, not only did the box office explode, but director Quentin Tarantino also became popular because of his unique directing style. Director Quentin and the film began to have a group of fanatical admirers. Over time, "Pulp Fiction" has also been enshrined in the temple of classic violent Cult movies.

In the mouth of Amon Goffman, "Gait Shot" with an investment of up to 600 million US dollars is certainly not a Cult movie, while "Boogie Nights" and "Dangerous Liaisons" both belong to the category of Cult.

William bit his lip and said: "I have seen some short films made by Paul Thomas Anderson before. His use of the camera is too wonderful, a bit Scorsese, and the script of "Boogie Nights" is very unique. I thought it would be a big test of my acting skills—maybe it could also be a new opportunity to break through."

"The lens is unique? Do you mean those psychedelic picture tones and the camera that shakes back and forth?" From Amon Goffman's tone, anyone can tell that he must be rolling his eyes: "That's because Anderson likes to knock He played with the video camera after taking drugs, and he has been addicted to pornographic movies since he was 12 years old. Otherwise, how do you think the script of "Boogie Nights" was born? I don't have a deep enough understanding of the adult film industry in the 80s and [-]s, and With enough footage, can he write a story that is so reminiscent of John Holmes and Veronica Hart?"

"Boogie Nights" is set in the 70s. It tells the story of a 17-year-old boy named Eddie, who was spotted by the porn director Jack because of his long penis. "Dirk Diggler" (Dirk Diggler) started filming, and Eddie, who is extremely talented, became popular and became a big star who was making money every day, and then he became addicted to drugs, and his life became more and more dissolute...

In the 70s and 80s, it was the time when extreme liberalism in the United States was the most popular. Liberalism magnified people’s liberation of individuality and personal rights, such as sexual rights, so the Western world ushered in the era of sexual liberation, which in turn gave birth to pornography. The prosperity of the film industry, "Boogie Nights" is a story about the porn film industry from development to prosperity, and then all the glitz and [-]s rational thought return, and the story is shattered.

The John Holmes and Veronica Hart mentioned by Amon Goffman were both famous adult movie stars in the 70s.

"After reading the script once, you will be familiar with the plot and allusions to the characters. You must have watched these kinds of movies when you were young, Ami?"

"...Shut up, Will." Amon Goffman changed the subject stiffly: "Although "Boogie Nights" has a great possibility to bring you a breakthrough, the reason why I don't recommend you to take this movie is first Rather than using cult movies to improve your acting skills, I think what you need more is commercial movies with multiple contacts to increase your popularity and box office appeal. The second is that the scale of this movie is too large, although the frontal full-effect lens will be installed on your lower body. Prosthetics (the male protagonist really has a big penis), but what about those shots with a full back? The identity of the protagonist's A-movie star is too sensitive, let alone the director Paul Thomas Anderson. There are some real porn actresses playing roles, like that Nina Hartley, and Veronica Hart herself! If you have any affair with them, Will, we can It's troublesome."

After listening to the agent's analysis, William admitted that he thought it was a little simple. At first, he was only impressed by the talent of director Paul Thomas Anderson. He believed that he used one script and one story to almost summarize the entire society in the 70s and [-]s. The intense fusion and rejection of personal desires and social morality, and I feel that if I can interpret this story, it will definitely bring me growth.

But William forgot for a while. Since the extreme liberation in the 70s and 80s, the 90s and the [-]s now, the whole society is still conservative and rational. A blockbuster, and it is likely to be detrimental to his future development for a period of time-for example, after the filming of "Sense and Sensibility", Amon Goffman once appeared in seven or eight period dramas. The script, William was able to get the role of Carl in "Titanic", and it was also inseparable from the help of this movie, but if "Boogie Nights" was released and caused a sensation, William may have a long time, You can't get high-society roles like Edward and Carl.This is how the film and the character itself characterize the actor.

"Reject "Boogie Nights." William sincerely thanked: "Also, your suggestion is very pertinent, thank you, Amon."

"This is exactly the meaning of the existence of an agent, Will, and I am the best in this industry-maybe I am not now, but I will definitely be in the future." Amon Goffman said with a little pride: " As for Dangerous Liaisons—"

"I love Quentin Tarantino."

"Of course I know you like him, Will. If the schedule allows, I would suggest that you follow both films. One commercial film and one cult film. Both art and box office are considered. It would be the best."

"Go on, Amon, I knew you still had a but."

"However, this is a multiple-choice question. It is too difficult for Cult movies to become popular. Hollywood produces at least hundreds of such movies every year. The win-win at the box office and word of mouth like "Pulp Fiction" is almost only a few years. Yu, your ambition is not limited to being an acting actor, Will, we have talked about this a long time ago, if you want to continue to go up, if you want to be promoted, you must have a commercial film with yourself as the protagonist and a big hit. Movies, and the ones you made before, "Sense and Sensibility" art film, "Scream" B-movie, "Titanic" is a commercial blockbuster but it is still far away from release, and in "Titan In "The Nick", Leonardo DiCaprio is the leading actor—since DiCaprio is mentioned, everyone knows that he likes the role of marginal people, otherwise he would not take "All "Eclipse Mad Love" and "Border Diary", but he loves movies with higher artistic quality, which didn't prevent him from getting the lead role in "Titanic"."

Both art and business?William thought quietly: Yes, maybe this is the smart way, and the way he should go.

After all, if an actor only focuses on artistic films, he will have a reputation, but it is difficult to gather a fan base. Without popularity, it will be difficult to receive olive branches from the eight major film companies for big-budget films. In the end, he can only invest endlessly in independent films. During the filming of the film, it fell into the embarrassing situation that the film became more and more niche, and no one knew except the Academy Awards judges who preferred art films.

And if the actors pay too much attention to the commercial aspects of the film and ignore the artistic aspects, the ending is also easy to predict: vase actors.

Neither "Sense and Sensibility" and "Scream" that William starred in before can be regarded as mainstream Hollywood movies at present, but "Gatta" is. Since "ET" and "Star Wars", science fiction films have always been a popular theme in Hollywood.

Taking a deep breath, William said into the microphone, "Let's talk about Gattaca."

"No problem." Amon Goffman said with a smile: "Columbia directly offered a salary of 500 million U.S. dollars—"

……

The producer of Gattaca is Amy Pascal, the executive director of Columbia, a lady who likes to wear medium-length hair and light-colored skirts. One of the highest-ranking female executives in Hollywood is her strength. Pushing, Columbia did not hesitate to choose William as the leading actor of "Gatta", after all, the two parties have had a happy cooperative relationship before - "Sense and Sensibility" with an investment of 600 million not only has a global box office bonus of 6000 million US dollars, It also won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and several important nominations. It also performed very well in the DVD rental market. It is a well-performing film in all aspects.

The filming location of the film is in California. Because it is a sci-fi film, the scene is set up in a solar farm in a small suburban town. Some scenes even use the Los Angeles City Hall and Caltech. William prepared by Amon Goffman After signing my name on the contract, I sent it back to let the agent take care of all the next matters, and then waited until the day before the shooting, and then asked the school for a long vacation and flew back to Los Angeles.

On the first day of joining the group, the shooting did not start directly, but an internal meeting of the main creative staff was held first. It was also on this day that William met the co-actors for the first time.

There were no familiar faces at the scene, not even Amy Pascal—although Amy Pascal would appear as a producer in the film, she was in an important position in Columbia because of her work. She is only responsible for grasping the general direction of filming, and other filming matters are naturally watched by other producers, such as production director, consulting producer, assistant producer, co-producer, online producer people wait.

Judging from the fact that a single producer can subdivide so many positions in one line of work, the degree of industrialization of Hollywood films is indeed beyond the reach of other countries' film industries.

"Those three people sitting across from you are Uma Thurman, Lawn Dean, and Xander Berkley, who are Vincent's girlfriend, brother, and doctor, respectively."

After William walked into the studio, Danny Bourne quickly reported the names of the people who had been seated at the table—the long conference table was set up in the middle of the studio—and their roles in the film. The name and the appearance corresponded one by one in the heart, put on a decent smile, and said hello as they walked towards the long table: "Good morning, Uma, Lawn and Sander."

The three of them also smiled at William: "Good morning, Will."

The long table of the meeting was not full yet, and people kept coming in from outside. When the director Andrew Nicol came in, Danny Byrne quickly said in William's ear: "This is the director Andrew——"

"I know this." William said softly to Danny, then put on his smile again, and took the initiative to greet him: "Andrew, good morning."

Although William and the rest of the crew met for the first time, it was the second time with Andrew Nicole.Andrew Nicol lives in New York, so before the official signing, William went to New York to find a coffee shop with Andrew Nicoll, who is also the screenwriter and director, to have a coffee and chat. That is not an audition, but the nature of the audition It's almost the same, just to see whether they are speculative or not, and whether they can reach a consensus on the script and performance method.

Of course everyone was happy, if not, William would not have appeared here—at this time, William didn’t know that Andrew Nicole would become the director of "The Truman Show" and "The End of Happiness" in the future, otherwise he would More enthusiasm for the 32-year-old New Zealand director.

The director of "Gait Shot" Andrew Nicole gave William a warm hug: "Good morning, Will, you look in great spirits, can we try to shoot a set of shots this afternoon?"

"No problem." William readily agreed.

Amidst the relaxed greetings, William and Andrew Nicole were sitting next to each other. Danny Byrne deliberately moved a stool and sat behind William on the left. Andrew Nicole looked at the sideways Danny, asked William: "This is?"

"My intern assistant, Danny Byrne." William introduced.

Danny Byrne, who was not planning to go to college, listened to William’s advice before graduation, went to Santa Monica Community College, and worked as an intern on several film sets during the summer vacation, knowing that William would be filming in California for three months In the end, he offered to be an assistant, even if he didn't get paid. His former classmates and friends were so active in wanting to work hard in Hollywood, there was no reason for William not to help.

And in fact, agent Amon Goffman has also suggested to William that he needs an assistant to help him take care of his daily life-William, who has to take care of his career as an actor and his studies, will become very, very busy while filming, shopping, etc. , Mailing letters and papers, three meals and even socializing, it will be much easier to have an assistant by your side to help.

Danny Byrne took the opportunity to introduce himself to everyone: "Hi guys, I'm Will's assistant, my middle school classmate, buddy, assistant, babysitter, sometimes part-time cook, bodyguard and footman - not that Follower, everyone understands—if you have anything to ask Will, but you don’t have his personal phone number, you can call me and I will pass it on.”

"That kind of follower" refers to the "star follower" that is very common in Hollywood. They can be friends, classmates, relatives, brothers, or complete strangers of the star; they follow the star to attend various informal events. Occasions, casinos, bars, parties, nightclubs, they serve as drivers, thugs, gardeners, and errand runners for stars. They don’t need to work without salary, all they want is to follow A-list and B-list and attend various large parties for free , see the beautiful scenery that ordinary people can't see, enjoy the privileges of stars and the colorful and luxurious life.

In Hollywood, star attendants and star assistants are completely different. Followers can range from a few days to a few years, and leave when they get tired of playing enough, while star assistants are a legitimate profession with room for advancement. Many star assistants ended up being the managers of the stars.

Danny Byrne’s humor got a lot of responses, and some people whistled at him—he should be an assistant to an actor based on his attire: “An assistant who doesn’t want to be a manager is not a good assistant, come on, buddy! "

The long conference table was almost full, but there was still a vacant seat opposite William: "Who else is not here?" He asked Danny Byrne, and without waiting for the other party to answer, he filtered the list in his mind and said : "Jude Law who plays Jerome hasn't arrived yet?"

Almost as soon as William finished speaking, a tall young man walked in.

This young man has light brown and blond hair, olive eyes with dark edges and light center, Omega chin (ω-shaped chin), M-shaped lips suitable for kissing, slightly pale skin, as if missing many days But his facial features and figure are very outstanding, like Georges Duroy described in Maurice de Mauritius's "Beautiful Friend", "remarkably handsome, although ordinary, but genuine."

Director Andrew Nichol sat and waved, "Hi, Jude!"

Jude Law smiled apologetically at the people around the conference table, and said in a soft and charming, very British voice: "Sorry, I'm late."