Birth of an actor

The audition scene for "Romeo and Juliet in Modern Times" was packed with male creatures and not a single beautiful damsel in sight.

William was disappointed, he thought he could see all kinds of Juliet today.

"Has the heroine of the movie already been chosen?" he asked Amon.

"Yes, Director Luhrmann decided to let Natalie Portman play Juliet. Shakespeare's Juliet is 14 years old, and Portman is also 14 years old this year. Isn't it a coincidence?" Amon said as he walked : "You should know Natalie Portman, right? Last year, she collaborated with Jean Reno in "The Killer Is Not So Cold" directed by Luc Besson. It's really hot, but you won't see Portman today, she will fly over to audition directly after Romeo is cast."

Perhaps because the age is too long and the film is not commercialized enough, Baz Luhrmann's "Romeo and Juliet Modern Edition" is not very famous in later generations of China, at least not as much as Luhrmann later filmed. "Moulin Rouge" and "The Great Gatsby" are well-known, and William, who did not have a deep study of European and American films in his previous life, couldn't remember whether Juliet was played by Natalie Portman. He only knew that Natalie Portman would be very popular later on, and her global popularity would reach a peak after she won the Oscar. It would be great if Natalie played the leading role in Juliet. William was determined to win over Paris. role, because it must have been a fun experience working with a future Oscar winner.

William was trying to think of information about Natalie Portman in his mind, until a name from Amon's mouth regained his attention: "DiCaprio? That Leonardo DiCaprio Leo, is he Romeo?"

Amon was surprised by William's astonishment, and the Jewish agent raised his eyebrows suspiciously: "Do you know DiCaprio? Or do you admire him?"

"No, I don't know him." William subconsciously concealed: "It's not his fanboy either, but yes, I know him, his performance in "In a Different Sky" is wonderful, and I've heard of him I want to play the French poet Rimbaud in the new film directed by Holland, so I didn't expect him to play Romeo."

"I got the news that the filming of "Total Eclipse of Love" is almost finished, so DiCaprio is free to compete for the new role." Amon replied: "But you are wrong about one thing, the actor of Romeo It is not yet fully confirmed that DiCaprio will play the role. It is said that Christian Bale also intends to compete for the role of Romeo. They are both child stars. DiCaprio's works have exploded in the past two years, but Bell starred in it when he was 13 years old. Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun", so it's really hard to say who Luhrmann will choose in the end."

While speaking, he had reached the door of the waiting room. Amon said he would go to the producer to say hello and left. William pushed the door open by himself.

Almost at the same time, the blond young man, who was sitting on the bench at the door and was so bored that he was about to go crazy, turned around with his long legs crossed and his toes lightly tapped. He took a serious look at William and smiled instantly: "Here comes another one who is not inferior to me. Romeo, this is amusing!"

……

William immediately recognized the identity of the blond youth, Leonardo DiCaprio, the future Hollywood A-list.

Of course, DiCaprio is still just a second- and third-tier film actor on the rise at the moment. It has not been two years since he became the protagonist on the big screen, and he has not yet won the Super A movie that will be released at the annual meeting next year. Opportunity to perform in a masterpiece.

However, DiCaprio's appearance is already at its peak at the moment. In William's opinion, the 21-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio seems to be more beautiful than two years later: slim He is tall and tall, with gray-green blue eyes, slightly curved eyebrows, handsome to delicate features, delicate and smooth skin, golden half-long hair below the ears, and slight forehead wrinkles when he laughs, but His smile is extremely sunny, and he has the kind of star energy that can instantly attract other people's attention to him.

"No, I'm not Romeo, I'm the relative of Romeo's friend Mercutio, the Earl of Paris." William instantly switched to a cadenced dramatic voice, introducing himself with the role of the audition—also in order not to attract two people at the beginning. the firepower of a Romeo competitor—then winked at DiCaprio, then looked at another person in the room, and greeted politely but never overly warmly: "Good morning, DiCaprio and Mr. Bell .”

Compared with Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale has a slightly weaker sense of presence-this is not to say that Bale is not handsome or conspicuous, in fact Bale's facial features are also very deep and eye-catching Yes, and perhaps because of the British actor, he also has a strong classical temperament. Even in Hollywood, where handsome men are everywhere, Christian Bale is rare.

It's just that DiCaprio's temperament is passionate and brilliant, and he keeps releasing hormones like a little sun, while Bell is a restrained and calm type, perhaps with a touch of melancholy and deepness, just like the coexistence of light and darkness , the first thing ordinary people notice must be the light.

People with different personalities have different ways of dealing with the same thing, just like William's initiative to say hello, Bell just retracted his eyes looking down at the script, nodded politely at William, and lowered his head again, while Di Caprio, as if he couldn't stay idle, came over to chat: "You are the fifth Earl Paris that I have seen in the past few days."

William blinked: "How about the Earls of Paris?"

DiCaprio rubbed his chin with his right hand, looked William up and down and said, "They all came to audition in high-end suits like you, but they didn't look as glamorous as you, and two of them even talked to me, They, uh, can't even memorize the lines fluently, so I think if you have a good line of lines, you still have a good chance of success - friendly reminder, the lines I said are not the popular version sold in bookstores to ordinary readers , but the Old English versions you'd find in a library, and, frankly, they're quite a mouthful."

William smiled without nervousness. In fact, this is what he is most confident in: "Thanks to the strict rehearsal of the previous drama teacher, he asked us to memorize the entire original book before rehearsing "Romeo and Juliet", which is classical English It's not the modern version, thank God, those lines are still etched in my mind."

William then thanked Leonardo for his reminder.

Leonardo DiCaprio waved his hand: "You don't have to thank me, I remind every 'Count Paris.'" He winked wickedly at William.

William: "..."

The audition for the leading actor Romeo was actually over long ago. DiCaprio and Bell were just sitting in the room waiting for the result. The agents appeared at the door not long after. After whispering to the two movie stars, Christie Ann Bell left with a frown, while DiCaprio was beaming with joy. He didn't forget to say hello to William when he left: "If you succeed in the audition, I'll buy you a drink after the movie starts."

William had just had time to say "goodbye" when Leonardo DiCaprio disappeared... He hadn't said he was under 21, far from being old enough to walk in and out of bars... Is he dressed too maturely today?If so, he will need to prepare carefully for "The Adventures of New Tom Sawyer" in a few days, and the overly mature appearance will be a bit unfavorable for the audition for the next new movie.

William couldn't help touching his chin, the tentacles were smooth and clean, and he didn't touch a single stubble.

His thoughts slipped to go to the bar with DiCaprio again. To be honest, this is an excellent proposal. There are too many good places in Los Angeles, and these places are usually not open to minors and non-members. DiCaprio Caprio led and added a fake ID card, maybe he can get in touch with the more luxurious side of Hollywood in advance.

——This is definitely not what he wants to do badly, absolutely not.It's just the curiosity of young people.

……

William didn't know how many Earl Paris had been interviewed by Baz Luhrmann, but he knew that he should be the last one.

Because Luhrmann's expression seemed very satisfied: "Your lines are very solid, and you have a noble accent, Mr. Brandley, are you a professional theater actor?" William's resume, it's strange that there is no formal theater performance experience on it.

"No, I'm not a professional theater actor." William replied: "But I have been receiving professional accent training since I was a child, and I didn't stop until two years ago."

"So that's how it is." Luhrmann suddenly realized: "No wonder I see that you have no experience of living in the UK on your resume, but you have a London accent in your accent—you can read lines without American colloquialism at all. ?"

"I think it should be all right," William replied.

Baz Luhrmann nodded, did not speak again, but carefully looked through William's resume.

Although his identity is Romeo's rival in love, Earl Paris doesn't appear many times in the original book. There are only four scenes in total. One is when he proposes to her father Capulet because of his love for Juliet, and the other is when Capulet agrees to propose marriage. , the other is to show the wedding date to the priest with Juliet in the church, and the last one is to duel with Romeo and be killed by the other party in front of Juliet's tomb.

Luhrmann's adaptation of the script is completely faithful to the original, which means that Paris' role in the film will be similar to that in the original, so although the old English lines are awkward and emphatic, those who are willing to work hard can still I quickly got used to this role - William, who has no formal stage performance experience, wants to get this role. In addition to his lines, he should also highlight his resonance with Paris in appearance and temperament.

So when William was auditioning just now—the performance was the last scene of "Romeo and Juliet", Paris's confession at Juliet's grave—he tried to behave as gracefully as possible, acting like a lively young aristocrat.

Judging from Baz Luhrmann's reaction, William knew that he should have moved him, at least Luhrmann already had a good impression of him, but the other party's compliment still made him a little shy and ashamed, William thought to himself : 'Lance never went to England when he was a child, and his education was similar to mine, but that kid was even more exaggerated, his accent was completely like a native Londoner. '

Luhrmann leaned sideways and chatted in low tones with the producers sitting next to him and representatives of the Screen Actors Guild of America.

In order to put an end to shady scenes and show justice, most Hollywood film and television castings will have representatives from three parties present, namely directors or screenwriters, investors, and the Screen Actors Guild of America.The union representatives are responsible for monitoring whether there are any violations during the audition process. Occasionally, they will make some appropriate suggestions on casting, but the main opinions are the producers and directors.

Baz Luhrmann is the producer, director, and writer of Romeo and Juliet Now, so his opinion counts.

However, if all parties can reach a unified opinion, then everyone will be happier.

Another representative of the production company, a brown-haired woman in her 40s, took another look at William and said in a voice that was not deliberately lowered: "This young man is slender, elegant, and has a certain Retro literary temperament, conversation has a charming vibrato, just like when the strings are being played, I can't see anyone better suited to the role of Paris than him."

The male representative of the Screen Actors Guild of America nodded in agreement.

After William's "overhearing" the audition of the big three, he clenched his fists hard to calm down his excited heart, and tried his best to keep his facial expression calm.

"During the period from July 7th to 15st, do you have any other work arrangements?" Luhrmann finally asked him.

"No, I was free during that time." William's tone could not hide his excitement.

"Then congratulations, Paris is yours." Luhrmann smiled and held out his hand to him: "The crew will discuss the contract with your agent in the past few days, and your joining time will be around mid-July, I hope Don't be late."

"Thank you, I will be punctual." When William shook hands with Luhrmann and the other two representatives, their palms trembled a little.

Finally got it, his first movie role!