Birth of an actor

Two months ago.

On Christmas morning, William didn’t wake up until ten o’clock in the morning. After taking a shower, he casually put on a T-shirt and walked into the kitchen with his hair still messing up—the late night in Los Angeles is like the night in London. In the morning, last night he endured sleepiness and waited for Los Angeles time to enter Christmas, and then calculated that after Lance in London woke up, he called the other party to say Merry Christmas, but he forgot the time as soon as he chatted, until Lance reminded him to keep I only remembered to hang up the phone to sleep after yawning.

In the past few days during the Christmas holidays, William returned to Madeleine’s house to live in. Madeleine would naturally take care of the three meals, so he would no longer have to live in Beverly Hills. He not only had to do everything but also take care of Danny. Bourne, Amon Goffman and those who occasionally rubbed against the stomachs of those who lived there, so he consciously went to the kitchen to get coffee and breakfast when he woke up.

A slightly quaint box sits on the center island of the kitchen, which looks a bit large and double-walled.

"Good morning, Mom." William poured himself a cup of coffee and looked at the box while drinking: "Is that my Christmas present?"

"Good morning, son." Madeleine, who was frying eggs, turned her head and smiled at William: "Yes, your gift. By the way, Will, thank you for the necklace. I really didn't expect it. Is it the 'Heart of the Ocean'?" Madeleine touched the heavy gemstone on her chest, this heart-shaped gemstone will appear blue, purple, green and other different colors when viewed from different angles. The color changes, the beauty is thrilling.

"That's right, it's the string of 'Heart of the Ocean' in the movie, it suits you very well."

The famous "Heart of the Sea" that appeared in the movie "Titanic" is hanging around Madeleine Brandley's neck at this moment - the filming of "Titanic" has ended for a few months Finally, in order to get back part of the funds, 80th Century Fox auctioned various props that had spent a lot of time, energy and money, except for some props that were extremely expensive and valuable for collection (such as the portrait of Ruth). , Most of the other clothing and furniture went into the photography city for recycling. As for the string of "Heart of the Ocean", William bought it back at a price of [-] US dollars and gave it to Madeleine as a Christmas gift.

Of course, there is a huge difference between the "Heart of the Ocean" and its historical prototype "Diamond of Hope". The "Diamond of Hope" worn by Louis XIV is a natural and pure blue diamond. When "Heart of the Ocean" was released, James Cameron originally wanted to borrow the legendary blue diamond from the museum that collects the "Diamond of Hope", but the museum did not agree, so the crew approached the British royal family Jewelry brand Asprey&Garrard made a set of "Tanzanite Blue" heart-shaped gemstone necklaces with Tanzanite, a new gem material developed by Tiffany in 1969, which is the real origin of "Heart of the Ocean".

In fact, the studio doesn't really want to sell "Heart of the Ocean". Even if the production cost is not mentioned, this necklace is too commemorative. For example, the classic white Dior suit she wore when she appeared on the Southampton Pier and the red evening dress dress she wore when she first met Jack were preserved and sent to museums or participated in charity auctions in the future, but William and Twentieth Century Fox CEO Bill Mocanick has a good relationship, and he gave an excellent price-Tanzanite is a gemstone that has just been commercialized for less than 30 years. Although the color is beautiful, the price is still relatively cheap. "Heart of the Ocean" cost only $10,000+ to make.The price William gave was almost five times the cost. Even if it was an auction, unless it was an auction held after the release of "Titanic", the price of 80 US dollars was almost the sky-high.

——Tanzanite, as a kind of high-end gemstone, is gradually becoming popular in the world jewelry market. Tanzanite over five carats is rare, not to mention such a large one, coupled with cultural added value, once had rich people Offered $300 million to William to buy this "Tanzanite" gemstone necklace, but William never thought of selling the necklace even after the bid rose to nearly $500 million, because this is not only the largest necklace in the world The "Tanzanite" necklace is the unique heart of the ocean in "Titanic", which has special meaning for him and the whole world.

"Thank you, Will." Madeleine came over and kissed William on the cheek, then stood beside him, patted his back and said, "Come and open your present."

William opened the smaller of the two boxes. On the black velvet lining, there was a diamond bird lying quietly.

The white diamond bird is in the shape of flying and is about the size of a thumbnail. It is not made of a whole diamond, but is composed of countless broken diamonds. The shape is exquisite and small, and it is extremely dazzling.

Although the size fits, there is only one that cannot be a cuff button, and this size does not look like an ordinary brooch. William picked up the diamond bird and looked at it, and found that it was a diamond brooch, which was inserted into a suit. Decoration on the lapel collar of the jacket.There are pairs of pins with long pins and short chains, and there is also a small one. The former is mostly inserted into the collar of the shirt to keep the collar straight, while the latter is mostly used for decoration. This diamond bird is obviously just an ornament .

"It's very chic, not too exaggerated, and can be worn every day." William smiled and told Madeleine that he liked her gift very much.

Madeleine just smiled and urged him to continue opening the second box.

The second box contains a formal suit, a three-piece suit ranging from bow tie to suspenders. The design and texture look like high-end customization, but the style of the jacket is a bit preppy and a bit old-fashioned. There are actually a few white birds embroidered on the bow tie.

No matter how dull William is, he also knows that the diamond bird and this three-piece suit have their origins and stories: "Is this what Dad used to wear?"

"Yes." Madeleine picked up the diamond collar pin and looked at it with some nostalgia: "Although you may not know what this pattern represents, you must know the phoenix, one of Harvard's ultimate clubs. This little white bird is It is the logo of the Phoenix Club, this three-piece suit and the diamond collar pin were given by your grandparents on the day your father became the president of the Phoenix Club, and it is also because of this diamond collar pin that I met Edwin."

In the autumn of 1970, Harvard and Yale, the two rivals of the two famous American schools, held an annual rugby match. This year, the game was held at Harvard, and Yale had lost the game for four consecutive years. In order to avenge its shame, Yale Organized a large number of alumni to go to Harvard to watch and cheer. As the president of the Women's Student Union, Madeleine was naturally duty-bound. Unfortunately, Yale still lost the away game that year, and players from the two prestigious schools almost fought on the court. , Thanks to the members of Harvard's eight major clubs responsible for maintaining the order of the game to stop them in time, it did not trigger a larger-scale brawl.

After all the riots were over, some guilty Yale students stayed to clean up the messy court. Madeleine picked up a diamond tie pin on the lawn in the center of the court, which was still in the pattern of a bird. She asked the alumni first, and got Knowing that Yale students lost it, I asked Harvard students again, and was told that the white bird was the logo of the Phoenix Club, and because Harvard won the game, the eight ultimate clubs were holding a large party on the other side of the campus to celebrate.

When Edwin found that his tie pin was missing, Edwin, who was leaving the party in a hurry, met Madeleine, who was holding a diamond bird to find the owner, and an encounter began.

"It's very, very romantic. It's almost time to make a romantic comedy movie." William commented sincerely, "You should have told me this story earlier, Mom, so I would have tried to find out about it at the Phoenix Club." .I didn't know Dad was even president, maybe they still have a picture of him now?"

"Actually, it's not too late, Will, I remember Harvard, Yale, the best clubs in the Ivy League don't recruit first-year freshmen. The first-year is a probationary period for all freshmen to see how they adapt to college In the second grade, some students with great potential will receive invitation letters." Madeleine stroked the "Heart of the Ocean" on her chest and said, "If you hadn't given me this necklace, I wouldn't have Think of this tie pin, if you have the chance, you must go to the Phoenix Club collection room to see your father's old photos, ever since I met Edwin, he has been bragging to me that he has won trophies that can fill the Phoenix A whole collection! Sports competitions, Go competitions, music competitions, and even a bragging contest winner! Oh my God, I don’t know if what he said is true or not, if you have the chance to see those trophies Or photos, be sure to tell me."

"I will, Mom." William hugged Madeleine and let go.

After wearing the "Heart of the Ocean" for a while, Madeleine felt that it was too heavy, so she took it off. William took it out of the jewelry box and put it in the palm of his hand to examine it carefully. Suddenly, he remembered to buy the "Heart of the Ocean" what happened that day.

The "heart of the ocean" is very similar to Lance's eyes, which is an idea that William has always had during the filming of "Titanic".

Although Lance's eyes are very, very blue, William doesn't like to use adjectives like sapphire to describe his friend's eyes, because he intuitively knows that the two are subtly different, although he has never been able to understand the two difference between.It wasn't until he saw this "Tanzanite" gemstone necklace for the first time in the crew that he suddenly realized it.

The color of most sapphires is actually not pure blue, but grayish or blackish, with dichroism and even a little impurity, while "Tanzanian blue", which is only found in the northern part of Tanzania in East Africa near Arusha The rare gemstones produced in the region are much brighter in color than ordinary sapphires. The "Tanzanite" with good texture presents a very pure azure blue, and when viewed from different directions, there will be three changes of green, blue and purple, which are both deep and clear. , It's not as beautiful as a natural gemstone.

Rather than saying that Lance's eyes are sapphires, it is better to say that it is a large and deep "Tanzanite", yes, just like "Heart of the Ocean".

Because of this resemblance, William played the card of friendship with Bill Morcanick, and bought the "Heart of the Ocean" softly, but when he was about to give this necklace to Lance as a Christmas gift, he suddenly thought about it. Get up - wait, this is a women's necklace!

Although the colors match very well, it is too weird to give Lance the "Heart of the Ocean" worn by Ruth in "Titanic". Lance is not a girl. It’s better to give it to Madeleine than plan it away. As for Lance’s Christmas gift, I have to choose again—this is the story behind "Heart of the Ocean".

……

half a month ago.

William found a letter addressed to himself from the door of the dormitory. He thought it was written by Christopher Evans, because the only acquaintance who still kept in touch with him with pen and paper letters was Chris—this was also forced A helpless choice. When Christopher Evans called William, his sisters would always try to eavesdrop. It is safer and more convenient to write a letter.

However, when he opened the letter, William discovered that it was an invitation letter from the Harvard Phoenix Club: "Dear William Brandley, congratulations on passing the initial selection of new members of the Phoenix Club and passing the one-year inspection. , we think you are qualified to become one of the members of the Phoenix Club, please go to the end of this month... to attend the first Pang Qi party of the school year... what is this?"

"Phoenix sent you an invitation letter? Ha, I knew you would definitely pass the first step of the identity test!" said roommate Christopher Dixon excitedly, and then became depressed again: "As expected, I was also accepted Brushed off."

William shook the invitation letter in his hand, and narrowed his eyes at Christopher Dixon: "My intuition tells me that you have something to hide from me."

"Well, it's like this. Not long after the start of this school year, I found out that the Phoenix Club started accepting new membership applications after the autumn league, so I secretly filled in the application materials of the two of us. Now the invitation letter you received , should be the invitation to the Phoenix Club’s first Pange party.” Christopher Dixon said frankly: “Sorry, Will, I did this without telling you. Because I know that if I apply, I will definitely not have a chance to pass the first step. The vast majority of Harvard students have their eyes above the top, and the people in the Ultimate Club are the best among them. They will definitely discriminate against my first degree. Although Columbia is also a good university, I know that in the eyes of Harvard undergraduates , probably only Harvard is the number one school in the world, maybe Cambridge and Oxford are added. I just want to wait for you to pass, just take me to a party, I just want to see it."

"Fatty Party? What a weird name."

"It's the party for those ultimate clubs of the Phoenix Flying Owls in Persleng to select new members. Of all the Harvard students who sent their application letters, the Phoenix will select 200 people to participate in the first Punch, and observe every one of them at the party. Freshmen, talk to them, and after the party is over, hold a meeting to discuss who will be eliminated and who will stay. After about three to four parties? There are 20 candidates left for the final review. These 20 people are not sure to join the club. They still have to go through a series of tests before they can be truly recognized. I heard that last year Phoenix only recruited fifteen new members, and Persleng had even fewer, only seven."

"Oops. The ultimate clubs really know how to play."

"So, are you going to attend the first Pan Qi party? The invitation says that you can bring a companion." Christopher Dixon rubbed his hands and asked anxiously, "If you don't even attend the first time, It is tantamount to giving up membership automatically."

"Was the party held at Phoenix's base camp, which claims to be privately owned fraternity property, where even a drinking school with underage boys staying up all night can't handle it?"

"Of course, and it's a seventeenth-century building! Maybe the members now use the silver tableware handed down from that time."

"Okay, I'll take you there," William muttered. "At least I have to see if there's really a trophy room there."

……

just now.

Phoenix Club House, 323 Auburn Hills Ave.

Unlike Posleng, the highest club that pays special attention to their background, Phoenix has less picky tastes. They prefer those who will achieve something in society after graduation. Therefore, at the Fat Qi party in Phoenix, there are sons of politicians and others. The son of a banker, some athletes, and some outstanding students who received invitations from several major Wall Street investment banks before graduation.

Even Christopher Dixon, who has very few friends, met a few like-minded geeks here-the Silicon Valley industry is booming now, even if Phoenix doesn't like the personalities and styles of these geeks, a fool would not Trying to win them over, who knows if the next Bill Gates will appear in this group of geeks?

William saw that Christopher Dixon was chatting enthusiastically, so he didn't disturb them. He walked slowly up the stairs along the corner of the hall, exploring the interior of this Baroque-style building, and then he was easily beside the corridor on the second floor Found the room with the sign "Collection Room".

William turned the doorknob, but it was unlocked. He hesitated for a moment, but chose to push the door in—since Phoenix didn't lock the room when the party was held, it should mean that there were no overly valuable items in this room. Not afraid of people stealing.

The collection room is indeed a room that carries the past honors of the Phoenix Club, and it is far larger than William imagined. The walls are covered with photos of various important activities and honor moments of the Phoenix Club from the birth of the camera in the 30th century to the present. The table is full of trophies. Of course, the older trophies have been put away properly. The ones in the room have about [-] years of honor, such as championship trophies for various intra-school and inter-school competitions. There are even replicas of Olympic medals.

William walked to the "1970-1980" honor platform and searched back and forth. There was no trophy with the name "Edwin Brandley" engraved on it, but there were many photos of celebration parties on the wall. And Edwin's figure.

Where did those trophies go?William thought very puzzled: Edwin has never won a gold medal in the Olympic Games or the Pan American Games, so he needs to put away the trophies and medals. Who would hide his things on purpose?

"Aha! Look who I found?" A drawn-out voice suddenly sounded behind William.

The voice was so weird that William turned around suddenly, and saw a man in a black suit, white shirt and tie, about six feet tall, handsome but with an inexplicable expression that made people feel uncomfortable. His hair was combed. The smooth and slippery flies beat their feet when they stood on it.

Moreover, this person made William feel very, very familiar.

And when the other party spoke slowly again with a slightly malicious tone, William immediately remembered the other party's identity.

"Long time no see, Scarlett."