Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 455 The Difficult Helen

"I think, for Ali's choice, we must first look at the popularity of the actor. An actress with average acting skills but high popularity is our best choice." Weintraub chatted with Ronald again in the office When it comes to the choice of the heroine, he seems to have changed his mind again.

"Actually, I agree with you. Ali doesn't have too many roles. Of course, it would be best if she is well-known and has some acting skills." Ronald took out his notebook and turned to the page recorded that day. Who?" Next to the handwriting, a circle was heavily drawn.

"So, do you have any candidates?" Ronald asked.

"What do you think of Brooke Shields? She's the dream girl of every boy in America."

"This?" Ronald hesitated. Of course, Brooke's appearance is very suitable for the dream lover, but it doesn't match the overall story of the movie.A girl of her level of beauty is unlikely to fall in love with Johnny, a middle-class family who likes to ride motorcycles and practice karate.

And after that, it's impossible to see a skinny monkey like Ralph Mazio..., it's unlikely.The American people will not accept it, if it is similar to a handsome guy like myself... Hey, where did you think.

"It's a good choice," Ronald replied while thinking about the reason, "but Brooke has been admitted to Princeton, I know this is her wish, she just entered college when we filmed, it is unlikely to ask for leave."

"Is that so? I'll formally contact her mother, Terry, through my agent. You know Brooke, right? I'll also call her privately, how about it?"

"Okay, I will." Ronald's doubts deepened in his heart, why every time Weintraub went back to rest, he would have some whimsical ideas the next day, but they sounded reasonable.

"Also, we can't just bet on Brooke Shields. Diane Lane, the heroine of 'The Outer World' is also very well-known among teenage audiences. She's shooting 'Streets of Fire' right now, can you Can't ask her to come and talk? I know you worked with her on a Coppola movie."

"This? I'll ask her agent, I don't know how the shooting is going." Ronald added two more question marks next to the question mark, and then folded the page of the notebook.

Ronald felt a little conflicted about Diane Lane.Ever since I accidentally said the wrong line last time, I have been avoiding her, and I have never contacted this little girl who can be regarded as growing up.

I don't know what will happen when we meet?Ronald was a little worried, but also a little looking forward to it.

It just so happened that Donna was going to Los Angeles to inspect universities during the summer vacation.She is graduating from high school next year and is choosing which university she wants to go to.The ivy on the east coast has gone to several houses, and this time I came to the west coast.It just so happened that I could go to visit the class with her.

It was Helen Slater who arrived in Los Angeles earlier than Donna.

Warner Bros. pressed very hard. The director of "Supergirl" quickly finished the 1308-minute first-cut version. He wanted to do a test screening for the audience. Helen also came to join him. This was the first time she saw herself on the big screen. performance.

Ronald took a break from his busy work with the crew and took one night to watch the trial screening with Helen.

Warner Bros. has high hopes for "Superman", and the unfavorable box office of "Superman 3" made Warner doubt this series of films. This test screening is the key to whether the entire "Superman" series can continue.

Although Ronald had only been separated from Helen Slater for less than two weeks, he found that Helen had lost a lot of weight.He was a little worried, but he didn't say it in person, but decided to call Gerald later to find out the situation.

Helen was a little nervous. She entered the screening room, sat on the seat of the chief creator, and firmly held Ronald's hand, her fingers turned white.

The name of the producer Alexander Salkind appeared directly at the beginning of the film, and the subtitles were made into three-dimensional characters, surrounded by clouds, and Salkind's name also emitted a burst of blue light, full of mystery.

Then there is the name of the actor listed separately. This list of processing means that the actor is the main creator and will also have the position above the title of the movie on the movie poster.

The first thing that flew over was Faye Dunaway's name, also exuding a mysterious blue light.Generally speaking, the first actor's name is usually the leading actor, but in this movie, Dunaway's salary is much higher than Helen's.

Helen muttered a few words, and Ronald quickly comforted her.

After that, the name of Helen Slater flew in. The blue light on the name flew halfway and turned red. After it faded, it was the official title of "Supergirl (SuperGirl)".

"The name of the actor closest to the title is the most important. Congratulations, Helen." Ronald whispered in Helen's ear.

"Giggle," Helen's nervous expression finally smiled, "You don't know, this subtitle cost more than 100 million dollars to make."

"Oh", Ronald thought it was too expensive. This subtitle was very shocking when the first "Superman" first came out in [-].But in the past five years, Superman has been filmed three times, and Supergirl still has this kind of subtitles, and the audience doesn't think it's very good.

Ronald looked around. Sure enough, the audience didn't react excitedly. Instead, some people yawned, hoping that the boring subtitles would pass quickly.

The slow subtitles finally end, and Helen Slater's Supergirl, in a spaceship, discusses some Kryptonian technology with Peter O'Toole's scientist.

Helen is still lovely in a dress.Soon the superwoman broke the spaceship, she sat in a small escape pod, and went to the earth to find her cousin superman to find out what the solution was.

"I feel so strange, it doesn't look like me." Helen said quietly to Ronald.

"The left and right sides of the people in the movie are reversed, which is different from what you see in the mirror. But it is the same as what you see in other people's eyes. I think you are beautiful."

"Really?" Helen let go of her worries for a while.

Ronald watched intently, especially those shots of Helen.The director made Helen very beautiful. Compared with Supergirl, Ronald prefers the shots of her disguised as Linda Lee, an ordinary high school student.Helen put on a wig and restored her original brown hair, looking very demure.

But the audience didn't buy it, they didn't come to see his girlfriend like Ronald did.Some viewers even booed when it came time for Supergirl to fly into the sky to save the forklift driver hero.

No one wants to come to the movies to see Supergirl fight a forklift, at least in the movie, Superman stops an ICBM.

Helen heard the booing, and her palms began to sweat.Being strongly dissatisfied by the audience in public was a blow to Helen who had just made her debut.

Ronald put his arms around Helen and gently comforted her with one hand.I have also experienced this feeling of tension. Fortunately, my luck is good, and I have made two films, both of which are considered successful.

After watching the test screening and returning home, Helen was always in a bad mood.Ronald persuaded her a few words, the reaction of the test screening is not necessarily the reaction of the final movie.

"Really? Is that the Brooke Shields movie?"

"Yes, when I helped director Zeffirelli back then, the response to "Endless Love" was not good during the test screening, but the final box office sold well." Ronald said.

"Oh", Helen's mood was not improved by Ronald's few words, but she sat there feeling a little sentimental.Ronald wanted to comfort him in the past.

"I want to be alone," said Helen.

At this time the phone rang, it was Helen's manager calling. "Your agent is calling," Ronald handed over the receiver.

"Well, okay, I see." After hearing the call, Helen lowered her head, looking even more uncomfortable.

"What's the matter? What did you say on the phone?" Ronald felt that Helen was not as optimistic as before when she came back this time, but rather depressed.

"Warner is not satisfied with the movie. It needs to be cut from 1308 minutes to 120 minutes. Many of my shots have to be cut."

"It's okay, it's all normal, now the video tape..." Ronald tried to comfort.

"No, you don't know the struggles of actors. I spent so much time, trying to fit into the role of Supergirl, and I also did the stunt scene with the steel wire under the pylon. I... I didn't want those scenes to just be cut. "Helen interrupted Ronald, looking back and feeling sad.

Helen, who was in a bad mood, went to bed first.Ronald secretly calls Helen's father, Gerald.

It was already midnight in New York where Gerald was, and he was a little relieved to be woken up by Ronald's phone call. Ronald still cared about his daughter very much.

Speaking of Helen's weight loss, Gerrard admitted that Helen started dieting and losing weight again.

"Is she anorexic relapse? I'm worried, do I need to see a doctor?"

"No, there are two kinds of anorexia. One is not eating, and it's a dangerous, potentially life-threatening form of anorexia, which you probably know about Karen Carpenter.

Helen had another kind, and she would overeat and get rid of it with vomiting or laxatives.I made two appointments with a psychiatrist in New York, and when she comes back, she will gradually recover. "

"Oh, okay." Ronald was slightly relieved.

"Who are you calling?" Helen found a lot of Ronald's snacks from the room, ate them all, and then went to the bathroom to spit them out.When she came out of the room, she found Ronald on the phone.

"Oh, it's Gerald."

"Oh, my God," Helen covered her face, ran into the bathroom, scratched her throat with her hands, and vomited out everything she ate.

Ronald knew that the problem was not serious, so he waited outside for her to come out and handed her a glass of warm water.

Helen took the water glass, lowered her head, then sat cross-legged on the sofa, lowered her head and said nothing.

Her psychological problems reappeared, and she seemed to feel that her performance and body shape problems were the main reasons for the failure of the film's test screening.Then Helen failed from the movie again, thinking that her relationship with Ronald might also fail.

"The movie will definitely fail. Do you think my performance is too naive?" Finally Helen raised her head and asked.

"It doesn't matter, you don't necessarily fail, and even if you fail, your career may not be affected. I think your performance is good." Ronald knew that Helen's performance was a bit childish, and this was probably due to the actors Influenced by Peter O'Toole, Helen's lines have a Shakespearean accent, which is not very suitable for this kind of movie.

"I'm definitely done. No one will ask me to act in a movie in the future."

"Don't say that, I will ask you to play the heroine, or you can play my 'Dragon Boy', and I will talk to Weintraub."

"You see how stupid I am, I'm sure you won't be asked to act."

"No problem, I think your acting is pretty good, mainly because the script is not good."

"You are comforting me. If you use me as the heroine, the movie will definitely lose money."

"You don't believe me that much?"

"I believe you are a very good director, but I am not a very good actor. I will make your movie disliked by the audience. Then you will like me. You will feel bored watching me. When you see it, you will think of me. I caused you to fail at the box office, alas." Helen began to cry softly.

"Where did you think of all this? Didn't I ask you to act? Why don't you take a rest this time, 'Longwei Boy', and I'll find you to play the leading role in the next part." Ronald pushed aside for Helen. The hair in the front is combed behind her ears.

"You really despise me..." Helen turned her head and ignored him.

"Nothing, this matter is completely up to you to decide. I always think that you are a good candidate to play Ali."

"Actually, I don't have to act in your movie. I'm afraid that if I don't act well, you will dislike me." Helen turned around again.

"No, Helen, I like you, not the character you play."

"Um...um...um..." Helen wriggled and talked to Ronald for a long time.

The two of them repeated these words back and forth many times. It has been an hour and it is late at night.

"I'm fine, I'm like this sometimes. Did it scare you." Helen's mood finally got better.

"It's okay. Do you want to eat something? I'm hungry. There's a Japanese restaurant here, which opens very late."

"Hee hee..." Helen was very happy, she had been arguing with Ronald for so long, and Ronald was not bored, but cared about herself instead.

"Okay, don't eat too much this time."

"Um……"

The two went to the Dongying restaurant downstairs to eat some sushi, and finally the situation was calm.

"Sometimes Helen is really hard to coax..." Ronald wiped his sweat.

(End of this chapter)