Birth of an actor

In May 1991, Andrew Nicholl, who was still a Hollywood film screenwriter, completed a very creative script called "The Malcolm Show" (The Malcolm Show), which told the story of a company named Omnicom 5 years ago. A television production company adopted a baby and named it Malcolm, and they raised the baby in a gigantic soundstage the size of a small town, filling the town with actors to play Malcolm's parents, relatives, neighbors, Classmates, playmates, and 30 cameras were set up in the town to live broadcast Malcolm's life 360 hours a day, 24 days a year, turning Malcolm's life into a reality show.

30 years later, "The Malcolm Show" has become the most famous TV show in the world, and Malcolm has also become the most famous reality show star in the world. Countless people are staring at him through thousands of cameras every second But Malcolm himself didn't know about it. He didn't know that everything around him was fake. His colleagues, friends, even his parents and wife were all actors arranged by the Omnicom TV production company. Until one day, due to the negligence of the TV production company, Malcolm's long-dead "father" suddenly appeared in front of him, and everything in his life finally aroused Malcolm's suspicion...

In 1993, Andrew Nicoll sold the script to producer Scott Rudin's independent film production company for $100 million, the same year Paramount agreed to distribute the film, after a series of After the revision of the script, "The Malcolm Show" was changed to "The Truman Show" (The World of Truman), because Truman sounds very similar to the pronunciation of Trueman, the latter has both the meaning of a man and can be interpreted as a real man, so The title would be extremely ironic.

When Andrew Nicholl sold the script, he had agreed with Paramount to be the director of the film, but later Paramount estimated that the production cost of the film would be more than 5000 million US dollars. "The World" is very optimistic, but Andrew Nicol has no previous director experience, Paramount is not at ease to hand over the film to Andrew Nicol to direct, and decides to find another director, but in order to compensate Andrew Nicol, another The other party paid part of the film and agreed to Andrew Nicole's request to be a producer.

All in all, "The Truman Show" actually started preparations at the end of 1993. In 1995, all the preliminary preparations had been completed and it could be launched at any time, and Jim Carrey was signed as the leading role. However, until the middle of 1997, the film was not Having never filmed a single scene, producer Andrew Nicole even ran out halfway to write another "Gait Shot" script and completed his first big screen directing.

Maybe it was when I wanted to find someone to talk to and met William who liked him (William and Nicole were really happy to work together when filming "Gait Shot"), or it was Amon Goffman who helped him call Dirty The alcohol in the martini played a role, and Andrew Nicole, as soon as he was guided by Amon Goffman, spouted:

"Peter and I really had a big disagreement on "The Truman Show," and it was more than a little bit." Andrew Nicholl said: "I have also been a director and know how frustrating it is to be dictated by the producer. I hate it, so when Peter was going to change the original sci-fi thriller style in the script to a style that combines black humor and sci-fi surrealism, I had no objection. After all, he is the director, but, in the lead role Above, why does it have to be Jim Carrey? Look at the bad movies he made in the past two years! What's more, he still refuses to join the group with various reasons!"

The Peter mentioned by Andrew Nicholl is Peter Weir, the director of "The Truman Show" and a very famous first-class director in Hollywood. His masterpieces are "Garibaldi", "The Witness" and "Dead Poets Society". The three films also made Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford and Robin Williams popular respectively, which can be regarded as a model of star-making directors.

Not to mention Jim Carrey. Although he has made many films with poor reputation since his debut, the 1994 "Grandmaid" made Jim Carrey popular all over the world, and his comedy talent has also gained unprecedented popularity. At present, he has become the most popular actor with the most comedy performance ability in the United States.

In fact, not only from the original script (sci-fi thriller style), but also from the choice of director (Peter Weir is not a commercial film director), it can be seen that "The Truman Show" is a literary film (although the production cost is high. ), and Jim Carrey's commercial attributes are well known, so, what kind of reasons prompted Paramount and director Peter Weir to choose Jim Carrey to play Truman?

——In fact, this is another compromise on business.

Andrew Nicholl's script is very good, otherwise Paramount would not have taken a look at it, but the first draft of the script is too dark, if no changes are made, the film will be very disappointing, maybe the judges of the award ceremony Will favor such a movie, but no film company makes movies for the sake of losing money, so with the strong support of Paramount, director Peter Weir made a major revision to the script, not only making the character of the protagonist Truman become Optimistic and slightly humorous, it even adds a lot of ironic jokes to the story, so the film’s requirements for the protagonist Truman’s acting skills are also increased—it is required that the protagonist can perform the kind of little character who is manipulated by fate without knowing it, and completely deprived of it. Follow the tragedy of freedom, privacy, and dignity, and become a victim of mass entertainment, but also perform an optimistic and humorous side that can make the audience laugh, and also have a desperate spirit of resistance.

Simply put, what "The Truman Show" needs is an actor who can make the audience laugh and cry.

The great success of "The Masquerade" in 1994 brought Jim Carrey into the attention of all studios. It happened that Peter Weir had just successfully revised the script at that time, and Paramount had taken a fancy to Jim Carrey. His humorous traits, and his high box office potential ("Grandmaid in Masquerade" grossed 1800 million US dollars at a low cost of 3.5 million US dollars, which is a miracle at the box office), so he pushed Kim Kay successfully. Rui and "The Truman Show" cooperation.

In the autumn of 1995, Jim Carrey had already signed a contract with the crew, and was planning to join the crew after the filming of "Aeroplane 2", but at this time, a Columbia was interposed--Columbia Films created a historical record in 2000 $[-] pay, invited Jim Carrey to play a cable TV repairman in "Kingsman"!

The temptation to become the first person in film history to break $2000 million is too great!Jim Carrey couldn't refuse at all, so he unilaterally postponed the agreement with the crew of "The Truman Show" and took over the filming of "Ace Special Agent" with a documentary fee of 2000 million yuan-which also triggered other A in Hollywood. The upsurge of salary increases for -list actors has attracted the hate value of the other six major studios except Columbia.

However, when the filming of "Ace Agent" is over, the crew of "The Truman Show", which is eagerly looking forward to the actors joining the team, still has not waited for Jim Carrey to come - the other party has joined the crew of "Little Liar" who also promises a high salary , Jim Carrey's agent told Paramount and director Peter Weir that because the contract signed at the beginning did not stipulate a mandatory time for joining the group, so either they waited for Jim Carrey to finish filming "Liar" into the group, or they can substitute.

"It's all about money!" After two glasses of Dirty Martinis, although he was still not drunk, his slightly drunk state made Andrew Nicole speak more freely: "Jim Carrey's agent thinks what they wanted at the beginning The pay is too low, especially compared to his current worth of 2000 million, that's why he has been reluctant to join the group. Either increase the pay, or continue to wait, that's what they mean, hateful bastard!"

"It's been a long time since I didn't join the group for two years." Amon Goffman agreed, "But there must be something special about Jim Carrey that makes Paramount willing to wait for him to fulfill his contract. Right?"

"One is a commercial reason. Paramount believes that Jim Carrey can bring "The Truman Show" a high box office—"

"Jim Carrey equals high box office?" Amon Goffman smacked his lips while shaking his head: "You can't say that now, Andrew, think about the tragedy of "Ace Agent."

In 1996, "The Kingsman" was filmed and released, but the word-of-mouth box office of this film was completely inversely proportional to the huge salary of Jim Carrey. With an investment of 700 million, Jim Carrey's salary accounted for almost half of it. , but the final North American box office of the film just exceeded 6000 million U.S. dollars, and the global box office barely exceeded 2 million. Columbia regretted it.In addition, Jim Carrey's other two films "Batman Forever" and "Aero Detective 1994" also failed to meet expectations at the box office and word of mouth. After Agua, it has been a long time since Jim Carrey contributed a win-win work of word of mouth and box office.

Andrew Nicole said depressedly: "I know, this is why I proposed to Peter Weir to change the leading role, but Peter was hesitant, and so was Paramount."

"why?"

"Because we can't find an actor who can perfectly replace Jim Carrey." Andrew Nicholl said helplessly, "He must be ordinary, able to perform the sadness of a small person who is manipulated by fate, and special. Yes, he has the courage to desperately pursue the truth, and at the same time, he has to play the optimist-like cheerfulness of Truman when he was kept in the dark, and he also has to play the hesitation and nervousness when he doubts the whole world-humorous and gloomy Both? Such an actor is too hard to find."

Amon Goffman's face suddenly became subtle.

Seeing his expression, Andrew Nickel gradually stopped talking, and followed Amon Goffman's line of sight——

On the other half of the table, Leonardo DiCaprio and William sat next to each other, and Danny Byrne sat opposite them, and the three were talking about how to avoid the paparazzi cameras when they went out.

"Isn't that how movie stars hide from the paparazzi?" Danny Byrne put on his sunglasses, lowered the brim of his baseball cap so that only his nose was visible, and turned his collar up, looking up at William and Leonardo Dee. Caprio said.

"It's too high-profile." Leonardo DiCaprio: "People who dress like this on the streets of LA, I usually call this series 'I'm afraid others won't know I'm a big star' series. If you don’t get recognized by passers-by, you can order it casually.”

While talking, Leonardo DiCaprio motioned for Danny Bourne to put down his collar and sunglasses, and then stretched out his hand to pull Danny Bourne's hat brim so fast Covering it, and pressing the other person's head to prevent the other person from looking up: "If you walk on the road like this, you don't look much different from others, and the paparazzi will naturally not notice you."

Danny Bourne, who was forced to bow his head and hunched over his chest, was almost completely covered from his sight: "..." Although it really feels like he won't be recognized by others, it feels weird to walk on the street in such a posture, okay?Which normal people will walk with their heads down all the way!

Danny Bourne thought that William must have the same idea as himself, until he heard the other party say, "It looks good."

"Actually, there is an easier way." William looked at the shirt he was wearing, then at the dark green hoodie Leonardo DiCaprio was wearing, and directly attacked the opponent.

William first asked Leonardo DiCaprio to put the hood on the hoodie, then pinched the middle point and pulled it down until the brim of the hood fell down to cover the bridge of the nose, and then patted Leonardo DiCaprio's back made the other party stop the spine: "Look, you don't need sunglasses or masks, so the paparazzi on the street can't see your face when you wear clothes. If you raise your chin a bit more and your attitude is more arrogant, it will be with you. There is no difference to street kids now."

"Cool." Leonardo DiCaprio looked down at his reflection in the silver platter. "I look like Arrow."

William sneered: "The Green Arrow in the mirror? Hahahaha!"

Are you serious?Danny Bourne almost asked this question. In his opinion, the proposals of the two big Hollywood stars in front of him are more unreliable than the other. Are they called pretending?One looks like a manga otaku ran off from SDCC, and the other is worse, like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle with his head in his shell...

"Wouldn't it be a pity not to develop a secondary function on a dinner plate so polished? James Bond even used the reflection of a woman's lipstick case to observe his opponents." Leonardo DiCaprio Pulling the hat lower, it almost covered the lips: "Maybe I can get myself a blindfold to look more like Oliver Queen."

"Then when you walk on the street, people will at most think you are a fanatic of comics or a performer, but not a big Hollywood star."

"Sounds great, right? All Hollywood stars only wear sunglasses when they go out on the street. It's so boring." Leonardo DiCaprio said seriously: "I once had a Ideas, like going out with a mask that covers your face or something, but my manager wouldn’t let me do that, he said no normal person would do that.”

"Superheroes do that, Batman, Green Lantern, Flash, Spiderman, Ironman... Most heroes have masks." William also replied solemnly: "Although you dress up like Green Arrow, you Can't really play a superhero."

"Why?" Leonardo DiCaprio asked dissatisfiedly: "Although I don't really want to play a superhero, what's wrong with me?"

"Your face is too round." William pointed out unceremoniously: "It's round and short, once you get fat, it's a disaster, and superheroes have to have a long and square jaw, and they have to have beautiful muscles. "

"Women love my face, okay?!" Leonardo DiCaprio didn't believe William at all.

"Women love you and you are not suitable for superheroes. There is no conflict. Round faces are only suitable for superheroes' assistants, such as Batman's Robin or Captain America's Bucky-wait, or you You can choose a superhero that covers not just the upper half of the face, but the entire face, such as Spider-Man."

Leonardo DiCaprio throws William a wide eye: "You mean I can't, but you can do most superhero roles?"

William stretched out his right hand to cover the upper half of his face: "Admit it, I just have a superhero's jaw."

Leonardo DiCaprio glared at William, with the urge to single out who is more handsome in the eyes of women, but even if he was extremely upset, he had to admit heartily: to cover up that After a pair of mysterious green eyes and a high nose bridge, the rest is also very eye-catching.It even attracts more attention because of the mystery that the upper half of the face is covered.

The jaw line is extremely graceful, although not the masculine square jaw that is now mainstream in Hollywood-such as Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt-but it is also very remarkably masculine, Leonardo DiCap Leo Fei talked about his own feelings, that is, "Even if he covers his face, he looks like a son of a lot of girls".

There are also those two lips, which are rich in shape and bright red in color. When the corners of the mouth are raised, they have a predator-like elegant posture.

'Holding his face and still being so aura, Will is really suitable to play a superhero. ’ The thought flashed through Leonardo DiCaprio’s mind and disappeared quickly.

"Well, I admit you're more of a superhero than I am," Leonardo DiCaprio said with a shrug. Eh."

The reason why Leonardo DiCaprio said this is because the current Hollywood superhero film market is really sluggish. After "Batman Forever" in 95, no company has dared to invest in large-scale superheroes. It's a movie, and the only hero who is still active now is Superman, but the small screen performance is better than the big screen.

"Not now, but in the future, who knows?" William's words were ambiguous.

The second decade of the 21st century is a decade when Hollywood is dominated by superhero movies. Whether as an actor or a filmmaker, William doesn't want to let a lot of good opportunities slip away from him.

When the topic of William and Leonardo DiCaprio moved from the movie to the San Diego Comic-Con, Danny Bourne, Amon Goffman, and Andrew Nicole, who were watching the entire scene: "... "

"Wow." Andrew Nicole sighed again: "Oh." Looking at Amon Goffman: "I think I understand what you mean."

Armon Goffman said to Andrew Nicole confidently: "You can try it, but trust me, he can do it."

"I know this better than you." Andrew Nicole looked annoyed: "But I'm really a little angry with myself, why didn't I think of Will sooner!"

"What do you think of me?" William was attracted by Andrew Nicole's words.

"Will, here's the thing, about that movie I was just talking about, The Truman Show, I wanted to ask if you had—"

"Are you interested? Oh my god, of course I have!" William looked at Andrew Nicole with the kind of eyes that Amon Goffman called "No one can refuse Sweetheart Light Wave": "When can I see to the script?"

"I'll send it to you by express tomorrow." These words were swallowed by Andrew Nicole with difficulty. God, it's only been a few months, and William even looks more shiny!Andrew Nicholl changed the words to: "I'll send over the script right away."