Birth of an actor

"That part of the content was deleted?" Leonardo DiCaprio was stunned for a moment, acting more disappointed than William: "Then the homework you did before, isn't all wasted... What a pity. "

"It's not a complete waste, I will still act out my ideas, but the director will not deliberately lead in the direction of homosexuality." Although William also felt that it was a pity, he finally understood the choice of the producer and the director: "Actually, Mr. Glazer and Mr. Howard didn't want to delete it, but in order to avoid controversy after it was released and be used by those who want to use it to pour dirty water on the gay community, and for the love story line of Nash and Alicia, they still persuaded Mr. Goldsman. .”

Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Alva Goldsman are respectively the producers, directors and screenwriters of the film "A Beautiful Mind". They have been arguing about one thing recently, that is-whether to keep the original The plot of John Nash's homosexuality.

John Nash was not gay, but he was not that straight either. Several people who had been his classmates and colleagues all confirmed that Nash had intimate ambiguous relationships with the same sex when he was young, and Nash himself also admitted that he had been with two A male student had a "special friendship", including his first love, which was a crush on a homosexual.

However, these lace scandals with the same sex were basically concentrated before 1954. In that year, two years after the British mathematician Turing was forced to inject hormones "chemical castration" because of homosexuality, he committed suicide on his bed at home. That year, Nash was arrested for indecent crimes when he encountered police fishing law enforcement in Santa Monica, California. Fortunately for Turing, Nash was not embarrassed by the government and the police. He paid for it. The only cost was the loss of a job, but Nash's same-sex affair has largely died down since then.

In line with the idea of ​​being faithful to the original work and making the characters more plump and three-dimensional, the screenwriter Alva Goldsman and the original author Sylvia Nassar both hoped to mention Nash's absurd behavior when he was young in the movie, but the producer and director After some investigation and discussion, it was decided that this section would be best left out.

The trend of thought in Hollywood has always been the most open and avant-garde in the United States. William Hurt and Tom Hanks both played the roles of AIDS comrades in "Kiss of the Spider Woman" and "Philadelphia Story" in 1985 and 1994 respectively. And won the Oscar winner, a group of superstar actors represented by Leonardo DiCaprio and Will Smith have also had the experience of playing gays—maybe one day, gay elements will become more popular in Hollywood movies. It is becoming more and more common, and some people will even shoot the GAY version of "Pretty Woman", which means that the times have finally progressed, and people no longer regard homosexuals as heterogeneous - but at present, the most gay elements are most likely to appear in movies, or biographies Movies and art films, and homosexuals mostly play the role of marginalized people in society.

But "A Beautiful Mind" is different from other biopics. The protagonist John Nash suffered from schizophrenia in the 50s and suffered from mental illness for decades. Since the late 50s, there has been a psychological study It began to prevail in the United States and even the world, that is, "homosexuality is actually a mental illness similar to schizophrenia". This statement has no scientific basis, but it is widely spread. I refute this statement, but because it has been popular for decades, it is still very popular.

If it was filmed exactly according to the original book, would anyone still mistakenly associate homosexuality with schizophrenia after watching the movie because of John Nash?

This is very likely to happen.Because after all, movies are going to be screened all over the world, and the world will never lack conservatives. For example, in many states in the Midwest of the United States, if the movie aggravates the idea of ​​​​the conservatives that "homosexuality equals schizophrenia", it even affects people who are still alive. John Nash, it would be against the original intention of the filmmakers - plus homosexuality did not occupy a very important position in John Nash's life, and if it did not, it would not affect the story of the whole movie, so in At the insistence of the producer and director, this part of the content was deleted.

The reason why Leonardo feels pity for William is because William has probably made a lot of effort to finish filming the content of the script, which may only take more than one minute. Even Leonardo almost The experience after filming "Basketball Diary" and "Total Eclipse of Love" has been shared, not to mention William's other contributions in private.

For example, a trivial matter, since the signing of the film contract, William has visited John Nash himself several times in Princeton, and even took the initiative to ask questions about mathematics. Some media mistakenly believed that William wanted to continue his studies in Princeton. It was also reported that Leonardo, who happened to be attending a charity event in New Jersey at the time, saw the newspaper and called William, only to know that it was because of the filming, and when Leonardo asked in a suspicious and mocking tone: "Is it true?" If you play a mathematician, do you have to turn yourself into a mathematician too?" When the other party said plausibly: "Of course the main purpose is not mathematics, do you know how energetic Professor Nash is when he talks about game theory? Tsk. As for Asking questions, of course, because mathematics and economics have a lot in common, those of us who spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a second, if we don’t learn more economics, how can we guarantee that we will still be on Forbes when we are 80 years old?”

Leonardo was full of depression and a little sad at the time: "I am not on the Forbes list of the world's richest people."

William: "I know, you ranked fourth on Forbes' list of Hollywood actors' annual income last year."

Leonardo: "..."

Thinking of the last communication, Leonardo suddenly realized that William's current accent seemed a bit wrong after he hadn't contacted him for more than half a month?People also became a little quieter. Last time, the two kept making fun of each other. This time, William's words and deeds became much more "serious". He first talked about the charity dinner with the theme of environmental protection he prepared, When he wanted to invite the other party to participate, William also agreed without hesitation. Like many other stars, he did not need Leonardo to lobby and promote, or asked him if he was too curious. Into the cause of environmental protection to go.

——The "Beach" filmed two years ago was a movie that had a great influence on Leonardo DiCaprio's life. Leonardo still remembers that William suggested to himself after reading the script of "The Beach" Don’t accept it, but the film contract had already been signed at that time, and Leonardo thought that the script adapted from a well-known literary work was very in-depth. He urgently needed such a work to wash away the traces of “Jack” on his body, so he insisted on filming .

However, due to various reasons, after the release of "The Beach", not only did it suffer from box office Waterloo, but the crew was also sued by the Thai government for cutting down too many coconut trees and destroying part of the green space to create a beach area during filming on Maya Beach in Thailand. Because Leonardo is the leading actor and the most famous, he has borne more criticism and pressure than the producer and director. Many extreme Thai media even directly attacked him. There are also posters and broken pieces among Thai movie fans. DVD.

The news from Thailand was transmitted back to the United States, which caused a lot of negative impact on Leonardo.

The subsequent fermentation of "The Beach" was something Leonardo never thought of. Facing such an unwarranted disaster, he had the idea of ​​evading it at the beginning, but the storm finally made Leonardo grow up, and there were many more With a sense of social responsibility, he sincerely apologized to the Thai side, and then established an environmental protection website and charity fund named after himself, using part of his income for environmental protection and charity every year, and "convincing" more friends with sincerity join in.

For example, now, William not only promised to attend the charity dinner, but also donated one of his sports cars for auction, and the proceeds will be donated to several environmental protection organizations around the world through Leonardo’s foundation, and help poor children in Asia and Africa foundation.

——In fact, William is also doing these things, and the amount of donations is larger than that of Leonardo, but he mostly donates in the name of the company.

"I finally found out!" Leonardo snapped his fingers and said suddenly, "Why did your accent change! It's like Florida."

British accents are sometimes roughly divided into London accents and non-London accents. Because of the large size of the United States, the accent standards of different regions are not the same. Naturally, the accents in the northern part of the country are based on the Manhattan area of ​​New York, and the southern part It is Florida, and the west is mainly California. Although William has lived in Los Angeles in recent years, his accent still unconsciously has a Manhattan accent. Now it sounds a bit like a southern accent. Did Leonardo hear it? It feels strange just a few sentences, he himself has a standard Los Angeles accent.

William answered as a matter of course: "John Nash grew up in West Virginia, and of course he would speak with a southern accent."

"Can you get back to normal first, and wait until the crew speaks your southern accent? Otherwise, when I can't see you, I always think I'm chatting with a stranger, or a very poor southerner who speaks his native dialect."

"Oh, no." Seeing the constipated expression on Leonardo's face, William raised his eyebrows and deliberately spoke English with a southern accent quickly and heavily: "The dialect coach said I need to practice more."

"...You also hired a dialect coach?"

"Yep."

Leonardo fell silent suddenly.

It wasn't until William called him twice in doubt that Leonardo explained hesitantly: "I'm currently preparing for an audition for a film, like the American version of "The Godfather" in the [-]th century, and the characters are descendants of Irish immigrants. Think I'm well-prepared, but seeing you, I'm wondering if I should hire a dialect coach to learn Irish or Brooklyn accents too."

"I can teach you the Brooklyn accent." William shrugged. "Although I don't know much—wait, is the movie you're auditioning for Martin Scorsese's new film?"

"Could it be possible that you also received the script of "Gangs of New York"? Why have I never heard the agent talk about it." If William wants to compete with Leonardo for the same movie, it will definitely shock the entire circle of Hollywood agents The big news, even the gossip tabloids will explode immediately, and it will never be as calm as it is now.

"No, Martin didn't invite me. It was Amon who told me about the movie, but my schedule couldn't be staggered, so there was no follow-up."

"Okay." Leonardo breathed a sigh of relief with a feigned exaggeration: "You guys work so hard, if we audition for the same role, I really don't know if I can beat you."

William thought Leonardo was just joking, so he laughed out loud a few times.

What he didn't know was that what Leonardo said was actually true. Without William, Leonardo could be regarded as the No.1 actor among his peers. He has been recognized by the three major European film festivals. Since the year before last, he has entered the $2000 million club, and his commercial value is also immeasurable. It is so lonely to be able to sing about being invincible—but there is still William Bradley.

When William first made his mark in Hollywood, Leonardo had already starred in several movies. Now, only five or six years later, the two have not only kept pace, but even Leonardo’s achievements are not as good as William’s, because they are the same as each other. Good friend, because of the different tastes in film selection, since William became an A-lister, Leonardo has never had any sense of crisis of competition before, but just now, this sense of crisis has suddenly become stronger stand up.

Especially when Leonardo thought that if William auditioned for "Gangs of New York" and he appeared in front of Martin Scorsese speaking Brooklyn English with an Irish accent, Martin Scorsese would still Will it be like the last time we met, unmoved by other audition actors, and show that you are the most optimistic about Leonardo?

"Introduce me to your dialect coach." Leonardo made a decision almost immediately.

William simply handed over his business card.

In the midst of a strong desire to take off the title of "idol superstar" and relabel it as a "powerful actor", and stimulated by himself, Leonardo put in unimaginable efforts to It's no surprise that Martin Scorsese was in the running for a film, given the director of such classics as "Taxi Driver" and "After Hours."

William simply handed over the dialect coach's business card: "Why, are you also interested in Oscar?"

"I'll take the Best Actor before you."

"Ah."

……

September 1947, Princeton University.

"It was the mathematicians who won the world war. It was the mathematicians who broke the Japanese code."

"It was also mathematicians who invented the atomic bomb."

During the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, Professor Lefschetz of the Department of Mathematics at Princeton University gathered all the newly admitted graduate students together in the lounge, and while delivering an admission speech, he also encouraged young mathematicians to use their strength to fight for the Cold War victory.

Professor Lefschetz’s speech was impassioned, his eyes were piercing, his voice was loud, he treated the group of young people in front of him with the tone of a non-commissioned officer speaking to recruits, and pointing around the room with his fingers from time to time: “Yes Mathematicians like you and me."

The young people pointed out by Professor Lefschetz were all new graduate students this fall. They were all dressed in suits and leather shoes, wearing neat three-piece suits, and sitting around with their shiny hair. They are all the seats closest to the professor, and there are two or three young mathematicians who didn't get a good seat, and would rather stand in the front seat and listen to the lecture than sit in the back.

But there was one exception among this group of young mathematicians.

It was a graduate student with the same hairstyle as Clark Gable, wearing a black formal suit and a black bow tie. He had the face of a British aristocrat, and his black hair was carefully brushed with pomade, revealing a high and broad forehead. There is no expression on the handsome and delicate facial features, and the eyes are deep dark green.

He is very young, just turned 20 years old, but he looks younger than his real age, and he is not a skinny teenager image, with broad shoulders, developed chest muscles, thin and strong waist, but sweat every day like in "Sports Illustrated" The cover boy who forges a fit body.

Unlike other graduate students who sat closest to Professor Lefschetz and listened to the speech with great interest, this young mathematician sat in the back seat of the room, with pure dark green eyes without a trace of color Staring at the lower left direction with ecstasy, because the eyes are smart and full of wisdom, it will not be mistaken for being in a daze, but it will make people want to explore what kind of problem he is thinking about.

His fingers are very long, and his hands are folded together. He moves slowly as he thinks, slowly and methodically, making people's attention unconsciously drawn to those rather slender, soft, and elegant fingers.

"Who's the Morse of the future?"

"Who is the next Einstein?"

Professor Lefschetz walked up and down the lounge, asking questions constantly.

The black-haired mathematician, who was as handsome as an aristocrat, suddenly raised his lowered head and looked at a handsome blond man in the front right.

The blond man sensed it, and turned his head to look at the black-haired mathematician, his eyes were full of arrogance.

The dark-haired mathematician retracted his gaze, but his gaze had changed.

"Today, I place the future of America in your hands - welcome to Princeton!"

……

As the actor playing Professor Lefschetz finished his last speech monologue, director Ron Howard's heart was already full of enthusiasm.

One pass!It's really a pass!

In "A Beautiful Mind," many actors, including William Bradley and Jennifer Connelly, have to play from youth to old age, so in order to enhance the realism of the characters' emotions in the film, the crew decided to follow the time of the story. shooting in sequence.

Ron Howard predicted that some actors might not be very comfortable with this shooting method at first, but with a large amount of movie film being wasted and the shooting time prolonging, the actors' emotions will become more and more in place, and the performance will be more perfect. Get more involved.

But what Ron Howard didn't expect was that the first shooting of the first scene didn't even have a single NG!

Whether it's the older actors playing the Princeton professors or the younger actors playing the young mathematicians, the emotion and performances are spot on, and William Bradley's John Nash is a real surprise!

No, or rather, William Bradley himself is a surprise maker, and he keeps Ron Howard from being surprised and delighted all the time.

"A Beautiful Mind" is the most exciting script for Ron Howard since "Apollo 13". ——If he didn't blow it up, he might still get a few nominations for best director—so, as for who will play the soul of the film, John Nash, Ron Howard will be the first to get the script from the first day I have been paying attention since then.

Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe were once the two closest actors to John Nash, but when IAA agent Amon Bradley put a bar in the middle, all options were left One—William Bradley.

This is also the only actor who has been unanimously approved by producers, directors, screenwriters, and investors.

He is taller than Tom Cruise, younger and handsome than Russell Crowe, born with black hair and blue eyes, more like John Nash when he was young than anyone else, with superb and layered acting skills, and unparalleled commercial value , I searched all over Hollywood, and I couldn't find a more impeccable choice than William Bradley.

The only thing that worries Ron Howard is that William Bradley is similar enough in appearance, so can he interpret the weird and withdrawn character of John Nash?

When reading the script and the lines before, William Bradley's proficient and natural southern accent had already surprised Ron Howard, and he secretly praised him in his heart. After the filming began, his performance made Howard even more excited. speechless--

Isn't the lonely and alienated atmosphere lingering around the body just like a vivid John Nash?

When a professor at Princeton University gave a speech to freshmen, he was still immersed in his own world. Whether it was the seat he chose or his facial expressions, he was completely different from others. It vividly shows John Nash's withdrawn, introverted and distinctive character, but if you look closely at William's eyes, you know that he is not in a daze, and his eyes are always thoughtful, and Professor Lefschetz asked " Who is the next Einstein?" When he met another freshman who received a scholarship, John Nash was sensitive, smart, observant, seemingly aloof, but in essence he was still a young man eager to prove himself. Facts about your own youth.

"This one is over, get ready, we will shoot the next scene in half an hour. The next scene is on campus, is the scene ready?" Ron Howard ordered.

But no one responded immediately, and after two or three seconds of eerie silence, the assistant director reminded with embarrassment: "It was a rehearsal just now, and the camera was not turned on."

The camera is off!This is a preview!Reminded by the assistant director, Ron Howard suddenly remembered that he had ordered a preview before the official shooting... What a pity that such a good shot was not shot.

But after being annoyed, Ron Howard felt a little excited again—the first scene was already in place, wouldn't it get better and better later?

Thinking about it this way, after the makeup artist touched up the makeup of the actors, Ron Howard immediately urged the staff to take their positions.

"The actor is OK! The sound is OK! The camera is OK!" The assistant director wearing a headset turned around and made an OK gesture.

"The first scene of "A Beautiful Mind"!" The slate flashed in front of the camera.

"OK? Ready?" Ron Howard cleared his throat, and shouted into the loudspeaker impatiently: "Action!"

……

On October 10, local time in Los Angeles, all the stars of the crew of "Meet Your Father-in-Law" appeared at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood to participate in the film's premiere red carpet.

Today's Hollywood "Avenue of Stars" lives up to its name. There are not only superstars like William Bradley and Brad Pitt, but also veteran superstars like Robert De Niro, as well as popular stars like Jennifer Aniston. Actors, these four alone are enough to instantly kill most of the films present in the media, not to mention that most of the other supporting actors are well-known movie stars.

Some media had speculated that Gwyneth Paltrow would accompany her mother, Bryce Dana, to attend the premiere of the movie. For this reason, Brad Pitt's old love history was repeated by gossip tabloids. Once again, it is obvious that it is to add trouble to the newlyweds who are still in the honeymoon period. In fact, Gwyneth Paltrow is in the other end of love. How could she not know how to avoid suspicion?Bryce Dana appeared on the red carpet alone tonight, but because Pitt and Aniston are the most popular celebrity couples in Hollywood today, even if there is no topic, the media will hype up a topic.

When Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston appeared on the red carpet, the spirits of the reporters were immediately lifted, and the flashing lights one after another almost turned into a light.

Two of the three key figures tonight have appeared. William Bradley, who has not yet appeared on the red carpet, has aroused much anticipation. How many reporters are still pressing the shutter to take pictures of Pete and Aniston, there's eyes on the red carpet entrance every few seconds to see when William Bradley appears.

I don't know when, the Hollywood media gradually discovered that William Bradley's exposure rate is gradually decreasing regularly, except for attending public events, it is getting harder and harder to get news at other times.Reporters used to know that he lived in a mansion in Beverly Hills, studied English literature at Harvard, and saw a street photo or two every week, but now, even the most powerful paparazzi can't touch him. Knowing the whereabouts of William Bradley, there is no scandal or street shooting, and top Hollywood actors have always refused to accept endorsement traditions. What the media can get and fans can see is only News related to the work.

This has made the media's attention to William has risen to the level of "hungry".

Movie fans complained that there was less and less news about William, and veteran reporters could smell the rise of another Hollywood superstar.

In terms of exposure rate, William and others are always inferior to reality TV stars, talk show hosts, idol actors, and singers, but no one calls these people superstars, because the difference between stars and superstars, celebrities and superstars Probably wider than the Colorado Canyon.

Having enough representative works, so that people will immediately think of a series of movies when they mention the actor's name, is just one of the necessary conditions for becoming a superstar, and it is a necessary condition for movie fans to enter the cinema for him The second-celebrities or stars can increase the popularity of a movie, but superstars can be the reason for the audience to buy tickets and enter the movie theater.

There is another condition, which is indispensable to becoming a superstar, and that is mystery.

The superstars of the golden age of Hollywood, Greta Garbo, Gregory Peck, Marlon Brando, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe, etc., all of them were shrouded in private life. A layer of fog, people can not guess, especially Greta Garbo, if she is not like an invisible person off the screen, she quit Hollywood at the age of 36, and has been living a reclusive life for 50 years. If she has guessed like a puzzle for more than half a century, I am afraid that she will not be elected as the greatest Hollywood actress in the eyes of Americans.

Another example is the current movie superstars Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, etc., who also pay attention to protecting their privacy. The last time you saw them in the newspaper, they were shooting a movie. Wait until the next time you see them. They may already be in the promotional period of the movie, so whenever the superstar's private life changes a bit and is discovered by the media, the reaction is always earth-shattering.

The last time William Bradley appeared in newspapers and magazines was last month. He was rushed to the hospital with a bruise on his forehead while filming "A Beautiful Mind". However, half an hour later, the media picked up on the news and sent a private person in Princeton to the hospital. The hospital was surrounded by water, and there was even a helicopter aerial photo of the structure of the hospital building to guess which ward William lived in.

In less than half a day, the news of "William Bradley was injured and taken to Princeton City Hospital" has been continuously broadcast on CNN, NBC and other TV news channels, and has even been reprinted by TV stations in Canada, Australia and Mexico. The truth is unknown Many movie fans saw the news and thought that William was involved in some serious accident, which once caused panic among some movie fans.

Later, the publicist Barbara Wilson clarified the whole thing in time-William had a scene where he lost control of his emotions in the dormitory. , a large piece of skin was broken and bleeding immediately, but William still insisted on filming the scene with the wound, and was sent to the hospital because the bleeding continued and the wound looked a bit oozing, and the crew did not dare to deal with it privately ——Although Barbara Wilson has repeatedly stated that William is only a superficial injury, the wound only needs to be bandaged and does not require hospital treatment, and will not delay filming and other activities, but the media has always maintained a high degree of public attention to this matter.

The premiere of "Meet the Father-in-Law" was the first time William attended a public event after he was injured in filming. Compared with the previous paparazzi's painstaking and painstaking candid shots on the campus of Princeton University, they could only change their hairstyle to heal the wound. The blurred distant view of William covered, this premiere will undoubtedly allow people to get closer to William, and by the way, look for the boiling speculations on the gossip tabloids about "the specific location of the wound? Area? Depth? Are there any scars left?" to the truth.

I don't know who exclaimed first: "Look at that Lincoln!"

It was as if another fire was added to the hot oil pan, and the crowd boiled instantly. Countless people turned their necks, stood on tiptoes, and looked towards both sides of the road. Leaving the movie fans behind, by the way, the black counterparts took half the body, occupying the most favorable positions on both sides of the red carpet.

For a while, from the beginning to the end of the red carpet, both sides were full of media with cameras in hand and shoulders. Immediately after the people above get off the car, they will be baptized by flashing lights.

The lengthened Lincoln really brought William Bradley, a dark gray suit with a black gentleman's top hat, the angle of the top hat just covered the forehead that was rumored to be injured, and a double-sided silk printed scarf of the same color as the suit Instead of a tie, tie it loosely around the neck, eliminating the dull feeling brought by the dark three-piece suit, and at the same time bringing a strong British style to the whole look.

However, William did not come to the premiere alone—nor did any popular actress accompany him. The one who walked the red carpet with him was an important animal actor in the movie, and at the moment, he was lazily lying on William In his arms, only a small head wearing a black top hat and two front paws of the Himalayan cat Coxie were exposed.

As soon as the man with the Himalayan cat in his arms appeared on the red carpet, he immediately caused a phenomenon-level sensation. If the flashlights when the Pitts appeared before were like two light strips, now, the flashlights have already reflected the surroundings like daylight.