Birth of an actor

The time agreed with "Vanity Fair" arrived as scheduled.

After the Cannes Film Festival, interview invitations from magazines, talk shows and other media poured in, including "Empire", "Premiere", "The New Yorker", "Vanity Fair" and other publications that are also influential in the world. Amon · Goffman accepted two exclusive interviews for William, one was "Premiere" in France, and the other was "Vanity Fair" in the United States.

"Vanity Fair" has one of the best positions among the mainstream journals in North America, similar to "Vogue" in the fashion industry. For one part, the readers are mostly college-educated elites, which partially overlap with the audience of The New Yorker.

But in Hollywood, when it comes to "Vanity Fair", the most famous is the two events hosted by the magazine during the award season. One is the eve of the annual Oscars. "Vanity Fair" will invite more than a dozen Hollywood actors and actresses to shoot a three-page folded The large-scale centerfold posters, all invited stars who have been in the limelight in the past year, and the other is held after the Oscars ceremony sponsored by the magazine, inviting all the nominated actors that night to the "Oscar Night" party.

William has been on the cover of Hollywood albums with many Oscar-nominated actors, and has also participated in the "Oscar Night" party after the award ceremony, but it is the first time that William has accepted an exclusive interview with "Vanity Fair" and shot the cover of the magazine alone.

Originally, he had just flown back from Europe and was jet-lagged and wanted to postpone the interview, but the editor-in-chief of "Vanity Fair" heard about it and strongly requested that the interview be arranged at his home in Beverly Hills. It would be better to take a few photos. They have long wanted to visit and report on this villa that was once curious by countless gossip tabloids, and even used a helicopter to secretly take panoramic pictures.

The time was set at nine o'clock in the morning. The reporter sent by Vanity Fair was very punctual, and they rang the doorbell five minutes later. After the phone confirmed that the other party had arrived outside the gate, William opened the gate through the remote control, but along the greenery He couldn't help raising his eyebrows as the vehicles coming in from the trail—he thought that at most two or three reporters would be enough for an exclusive interview, but it turned out that there were three full vehicles driving through the gate, two of which were medium-sized. SUV.

It turned out that the editor-in-chief of "Vanity Fair" sent a whole team, from leading reporters to text reporters, from photographers to lighting engineers, from makeup artists to stylists, set designers, seventeen or eighteen people.

William was amazed by the size of the team.

As a result, Anne said: "We have streamlined the team, Will, if you were shooting in a studio in New York, there would be two floors of people surrounding you."

Annie's full name is Annie Leibovitz, a contracted photographer for Vanity Fair who took the last photo of John Lennon during his lifetime.It’s the one where Lennon curled up naked and hugged Yoko Ono—in fact, from Annie leading the team, you can see how much Vanity Fair attaches importance to this interview, because she is not only famous for taking portraits of celebrities, Also one of the best and highest paid photographers in the world.

William stood in the main hall and welcomed a group of people in. Some people went to find the room with the best view in the whole house and installed various lighting equipment for photography. Under the strong request of the remaining reporters, he took them to visit the whole house. house.

Annie Leibovitz has shaggy ginger hair, black-rimmed glasses and no makeup. She never stopped her camera during the tour, and even snapped several photos of William in casual clothes—a T-shirt The head of Darth Vader from "Star Wars" is also printed on it, which is obviously a peripheral product of the movie-a photo of walking and stopping in the house.

"I like to take photos of celebrities at home, without too much modification, it is their most natural state, the details of life can often reflect a more delicate character, and people also want to know more about the appearance of celebrities outside the camera .” Click.click.click."But I haven't met a few celebrities who like to be photographed without make-up, haircut or fancy clothes," she said, as she photographed the details of the house.

"'We want photographers to be fearless and defiant. We want our subjects to be non-ostentatious, non-artificial.' Is that what you mean?"

Annie Leibovitz paused, her eyes peeking out from behind the camera, looking at William in amazement.

Standing in front of the window, William smiled at her sideways: ""Photograph is not a point of view, or a point of view". I have read this book, and it is very well written."

click.click.click.Annie Leibovitz fiddled with the camera in her hand, and her smile became extraordinarily enthusiastic: "Knowing your evaluation, Susan will definitely be very happy."

——Susan Sontag is not only a famous contemporary artist and writer in the United States, but also a close friend of Annie Leibovitz. She despised photography in the 70s and thought it was not art. Later, I changed my mind and wrote the book "A Photograph Is Not a View, or a View" in 98 for the art of photography, or for Annie Leibovitz.Susan Sontag is bisexual. Although Annie Leibovitz has never announced her sexual orientation, it has been circulated in the New York art circle because the two have lived together since 1988 and attended all activities together. An accepted version of the story is that they were a same-sex couple.

"Is this your 'Honor Corner'?" Anne asked, pointing to a glass window on one side as they passed the corridor.

It displays the trophies that William has won in recent years, important ones such as Golden Globe Award for Best Actor, Supporting Actor, Venice Film Festival Best Actor, Cannes Film Festival Best Actor, Screen Actors Guild Award, Teen Choice Awards, MTV Awards, Saturn Awards, etc., there are more than a dozen trophies, large and small.

"Yes." William was a little shy: "Is it too eye-catching?"

It was originally Amon Goffman's proposal to transform the empty corridor on the second floor into a trophy display window. After reading the designer's drawings, William also thought it was very good. It not only saves the space in the study or other rooms, but also utilizes the It's a tasteless space, and after all the trophies are neatly arranged, every time I pass by here, there are always some complicated but positive emotions in my heart.

"No, I want to ask who came up with this idea. It's a great design. And, compared to remodeling an entire room or even building a small building, you're definitely more low-key."

In the shining glass display case, one is placed in a blue leather trophy box, and the golden leaf-shaped trophy is the most conspicuous.

The shape of the leaf comes from the symbol of Cannes - the tall and straight palm leaves all over the delicate beach - each palm leaf with stretched lines is made of 24K gold and fixed on the cut crystal base, which is engraved with representative The letters and numbers of the year and the number of film festivals held are beautiful, delicate and unique.

"This is the trophy you brought back from Cannes, isn't it?" Anne pressed the shutter on the window: "It's like a work of art."

It is no exaggeration to say that the Cannes Palme d'Or trophy, designed by Caroline Fisher, the president and design director of Chopard, the top Swiss watch and jewelry brand, is a work of art.

Annie Leibovitz seemed to be fascinated by the window, and asked William to change into the clothes he received the award in Cannes and take pictures with the trophy again.

……

Although it was just an exclusive interview, everyone in "Vanity Fair" showed their enthusiasm for making a documentary or a reality show, and the filming started from the moment they walked into the gate of the courtyard.

Exotic bushes and tall palm trees, lush lemon groves and fragrant and sweet rose fields make people think that they have stepped into the Los Angeles Botanical Garden. The swimming pool is designed in the style of a lake. Intoxicated, the sun is shining brightly, if you can spend a while soaking in the cool swimming pool in the hot afternoon, your soul must be happy to fly to heaven.

When William went to change clothes in the cloakroom, Annie Leibovitz and the cameraman followed closely. I don’t know if it was William’s illusion. When he saw the camera facing him, he simply turned around and turned his back to everyone. When the shorts were changed into western trousers, I heard a sigh of disappointment.

"I heard how many times you were injured while filming "A Beautiful Mind"?" While three or four makeup artists and stylists were tidying up William, Annie Leibovitz was standing in front of the window and fiddling with the camera. While chatting with him: "I remember that there was a period of time when the newspapers were overwhelmingly reporting on this matter, and there was a photo of blood flowing to your shirt collar, which looked really scary, especially knowing that it was not a still photo. when."

Her lens scanned several corners of the cloakroom—in terms of size, it’s not wrong to call it a walk-in cloakroom—spotless shirts and coats are hung neatly according to the color progression, and shoes are arranged according to the nature of the occasion There are different types of clothes that fill one wall. Ties, socks, and handkerchiefs have their own storage cabinets, which are also divided according to the advanced color and texture. The underwear is probably hidden in the built-in drawer, and there are two full rows of drawers. Bow ties and cufflinks of various styles.Moreover, there is no LOGO on all the clothes, and some are just the low-key William Bradley signature on the shirt and square scarf.

This is the cloakroom that every man, no, every woman dreams of.Among the cloakrooms of all the celebrities that Annie Leibovitz has visited, the standards and tidiness, the low-key but extravagant degree are definitely among the best. She has a hunch that when the photos are published in magazines, it is very likely that they will become popular in the next few years. A reference model for rich people to decorate their houses, and an object of envy and desire for the middle class.

"The most serious one is here. Look, I left a souvenir for me." William reached out and brushed the hair on the left side of his forehead. Near the hairline, there was a piece of skin the size of a fingernail that was slightly lighter in color than the surrounding area. .

The makeup artist wanted to apply some concealer there, but Annie stopped her, and quickly snapped a picture, and then let out an exaggerated breath: "It would be unimaginable if the original injury was moved a little further... Fortunately The hair can cover it, and the wound has healed well, so fans all over the world can rest assured."

William doesn't quite understand what's worth photographing about his unremarkable scar, which isn't lightning-like.He shrugged: "The doctor told me that my skin's healing ability is not bad, as long as I get a few more sun exposures, I shouldn't be able to see it."

"Then you'll be able to do it back again. I love how you look when you do it back. You're so confident and charming."

"Uh... that's right. Also, thanks for the compliment."

"So, how did you get hurt?"

"There is a scene about me, John Nash, who suffered a setback and couldn't bear the blow and lost control of my emotions. It may be that I was a little too emotional when I was filming this scene. I took the initiative to hit my head on the glass window, and It hit a little hard - there was a layer of iron bars outside the window, unfortunately I didn't pay attention at the time."

click.click.click.Annie Leibovitz's expression was surprised with a bit of admiration: "This is not the first time I have heard actors talk about their injuries, but it is definitely the one that impressed me the most, because other actors were injured because of accidents. , accidentally slipped and fell when climbing a mountain, or failed to take safety precautions when performing stunts, and you, you actually beat yourself to the ground..."

"I know what you're trying to say, so stupid."

"No, I want to say it's great. Although it will take half a year until it's released in North America, it must be a good movie that makes you so invested in it. I can't wait to see it."

"I just did what the characters in the script would do."

"The Cannes best actor trophy is well deserved, really. Is this the worst filming injury you've ever suffered?"

"Uh. Probably not." William said while thinking: "The most serious injury... Probably when we were filming "Fight Club" in Germany. At one point, Brad Pitt and I thought we would shoot the whole movie in the hospital. , In fact, the crew really called an ambulance for us, and even provoked the Berlin police, they thought we were robbed by bandits and beaten, otherwise they couldn’t explain the injuries on our bodies.”

"Sounds like Stallone and Lange from Rocky 4, Lange punched Stallone until he had a heart attack and was in the hospital for weeks - so, you know what I'm thinking now ?” Annie Leibovitz said in awe: “Acting is really an extremely dangerous job.”

……

Being an actor is not only a dangerous job, but also requires great perseverance and endurance-William, who has been at the mercy of the photographer for most of the day, agrees with this sentence like never before.

Now, he wears the full tuxedo he wore at Cannes to accept the award, with a white square scarf embroidered with his name (perfect three folds) tucked into the left breast pocket, platinum cufflinks in the shape of palm leaves, and a Only Chopard's LUC series watch, standing in front of the crystal clear swimming pool, has a weird expression.

Facing the pool, he turned his head again to confirm: "Really? You want me to jump from here?"

"That's right, honey."

"But I'm still wearing a full suit..."

"That's why you take off your clothes and dance." Annie Leibovitz said cheerfully, "Move faster, honey."

In fact, William's struggle was superfluous. The tripod, reflector and other shooting equipment set up by the swimming pool early on showed the photographer's determination to make him jump.

Sighing helplessly, William first took off his watch and put it in his coat pocket, and then took off his coat. The heavy tuxedo hung on his left hand for a second and then fell to the ground. The anger caused him to glance behind him, which only made the noise louder.

click.click.click.The camera in Annie Leibovitz's hand recorded the moment when William turned around and the clothes in his hands slipped to the ground at the same time. The composition was so beautiful that she couldn't help ordering: "This is the rhythm, Will, take off the clothes slowly, Give me another look—"

"..." Isn't he Dita Von Teese?

click.click.click.The camera stops at the moment when the tie of the bow tie crosses the Adam's apple, the crisp movement when the girdle is pulled off, and the pair of eyes that are greener and more beautiful than the lush bushes in the distance when turning slightly.click.click.click.Of course, he did not let go of the slender fingers that unbuttoned the cufflinks, the broad shoulders, and the full, firm, round and upright curves wrapped in the ironed trousers.

Annie Leibovitz asked William to jump into the pool in a face-up position.

She said there would be a sacrificial aesthetic.

William only questioned for a moment and obediently obeyed the arrangement.

But Anne would not tell William that the reason why everyone voted for this proposal was because everyone wanted to be a crotch-staring cat.

……

When the westward sunlight dyed the water in the pool golden, the interview finally came to an end.

After swimming comfortably in the pool for half an hour, climbing out of the water and changing into clean clothes, William sat on a chair with a video camera and reflector next to him, accepting the final interview.

"Tell me about Willot."

"About which aspect?"

"Official release dates for the three movies in the works - "Blood: Eternal Life", "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" and "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"?"

William smiled: "Isn't it a bit too greedy to ask for all three parts?"

Annie Leibovitz shrugged: "I'm asking out on behalf of fans all over the world."

"The "Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter" will be released within this year, and "Blood Together" will be released around Valentine's Day next year."

"Valentine's Day schedule, I know, one is a new schedule created after "Blood Together"." The conversation changed, and she asked suddenly: "And, what about "Spider-Man"?"

"...Let me keep some secrets."

"Please tell us—" The videographer who has been in charge of the video suddenly sticks out his head from behind the machine: "I'm a big fan of Spider-Man!"

"And I!"

"Me too!"

Shockingly, there were seven or eight voices echoing from nearby.

But it’s no wonder, although Spider-Man is not the earliest and most well-known comic superhero, but it is definitely one of the most fans. If you look at the age of the staff here, you can find that in their teenage stage, they happen to be It was the period when DC’s Superman and Batman comics fell into a trough, and at the same time, Spiderman comics were booming. It was easy for people to fall in love with one or two superheroes during adolescence.

William couldn't harden his heart to be looked at expectantly by so many eyes.

"Okay, I can tell you some less confidential news." William amplified the volume a little amidst the cheers and said, ""Spiderman" will not be released this year-hey guys, don't get excited Listen to me—the movie hasn’t been finalized yet, and as we all know, the most important thing about superhero movies is special effects. Some movies have a whole year of post-production, and Industrial Light and Magic started a few months ago. I have been busy working on this movie, and I have already signed a contract for theatrical distribution, I assure you that although the movie will not be released this year, it will not be delayed until the next year, okay?"

The response was not very enthusiastic, and the cameraman looked hopeless.

"I think everyone should be happy to be the audience of the first trial screening of the film?"

Enthusiastic cheers and excited applause immediately sounded, and the cameraman jumped up excitedly.

"In the next two years, Willot will release five to ten films, including big productions such as "Spiderman" and "Lord of the Rings", as well as "My Greek Wedding" with a cost of only a few million dollars. It can be said that the movie is on the right track, and it’s not far behind Miramax, Lionsgate and other established Hollywood production companies, so will Willot make any big moves in terms of TV?”

"Willott's TV department has just been established." Moreover, a new department has only been established internally. It has not been announced to the public, and no new plans will be announced for the time being. How could even "Vanity Fair" start to pay attention?

"Any news always circulates quickly in Hollywood." The writer said meaningfully: "Given Willot's achievements in the film industry, it is really normal for people to look forward to its performance after it enters the TV industry. But one more thing."

William estimated that when the company was negotiating cooperation with Netflix and Blockbuster, which party leaked the news-now all the well-known TV stations in North America have been in operation for more than decades, such as the five major public stations and the three major cable TV stations. Taiwan, the traditional TV market is almost saturated, and Willot wants to get a piece of the cake in the TV field. In addition to taking shortcuts to catch the Internet express in the era of change, he also has to accumulate film libraries.

And Netflix and Blockbuster are good choices. The former is an emerging online DVD rental company, while the latter is an established offline DVD rental giant. The former has been in a loss state since its establishment, but the Internet represents the future. With more than 7000 chain stores and extremely rich film and television resources, if one of these two companies can be acquired or a cooperation can be reached, it will be very beneficial to Willlot's future development.

However, the business has not been negotiated yet, and William will not publicize it, let alone publish it in black and white in magazines. He chatted with reporters about his views on the current North American TV market, but for how Willot will develop It didn't mention half a sentence.

The text reporter was derailed for a long time before he came back to his senses, and finally added a sentence without giving up: "Then, Willot's first TV work will definitely open the eyes of the public."

——Willott, has Hollywood never encountered such a fast-rising production company before? A "Blood Together" directly entered the top five box office in film history, which ignited the Valentine's Day schedule, "Fan Movie" The concept of "Harry Potter" has become deeply rooted in the hearts of the people; William Bradley is even more far-sighted and bought the film and television copyright of "Harry Potter" long before JK Rowling became famous, and now it has not only become a global The best-selling book will probably be another film series since "Star Wars" that will sell well and deeply affect generations; and "Lord of the Rings" has not yet been released, but the media brought it back from Cannes According to the news, this movie is likely to set off a visual revolution and a wave of magic in the world. Willlot's masterpieces are all these guys who lay golden eggs. At this time, even the pets in Hollywood probably can't believe that this company produced it. The first TV series will be mediocre.

"I hope so." William hesitated to speak: "I can only say that it is a movie about prisons."

"Meow-"

Kinkosi, who had disappeared for a long time after grabbing a piece of pizza from the table at lunch, finally reappeared. First, he stood and observed the crowd from a distance, as if he had confirmed that the group of two-legged beasts that suddenly appeared at home were safe and harmless. After that, he ran all the way avoiding the swimming pool, meowing around William's calf.

"Is this the Himalayan cat you adopted from the crew of "Meet Your Father-in-Law"?"

"Yes, it's called Kim Cosey."

The appearance of Kim Kexi melted everyone's hearts. "So cute."

"Thank you."

As a cat who's been through big scenes (films and premieres) Kim Cosey doesn't respond to anyone calling her name except William, she just sits next to William's calf for a while , jumped on his knees, and tried to climb to a higher place.

Annie Leibovitz had already stopped filming, she had enough material today, but at this moment she picked up the camera again.

Kim Cosey's four paws were on William's shoulders, and William had to use his arms in a wraparound motion to keep it from falling off, especially when Kim Cosey lifted a furry pad, round blue eyes focused When William brushed his hair back.

click.click.click.

Good God.Such a picture must not be let go.

……

"I don't know when this magazine became so sensational." Lance Roderick slammed a thick magazine with a very stylish color scheme on the desk: "Or do they do everything for sales Come out."

The magazine was still on the table and was still an eyesore because it was the cover facing up, so a few seconds later, it was rolled up by Lance and thrown into the trash can.

From the first time he came into the office and saw the magazine, Mr. Roderick Jr. has been unhappy for 10 minutes. He has never seen any report that can make him so upset. 'The vice president, who has always followed the principle of "don't listen, don't look, don't know" about the private life of his immediate boss, finally couldn't control his curiosity, and cast a cautious glance at the trash can.

The truth made him very disappointed, and at the same time very puzzled.

The vice president thought it was a financial magazine, which published the news that the stock of the company under the boss's name had dropped by a few percent, but it was just a "Vanity Fair".

It’s still a new issue released this month, and the vice president’s home has exactly the same copy—the cover photo shows William Brandley standing in the water with his shirt soaked, the lake water and tall green plants behind him have the color and texture of an oil painting, but Nothing compares to that man with dark green eyes.

Black hair, green eyes, fair skin, and a translucent white shirt make up an extremely dazzling picture.

The inside pages also include William Bradley's cat, a photo of his home in Beverly Hills, and an interview of more than 2000 words.

The vice president knows this because his wife bought the magazine and was obsessed with it, and he looked through it while fighting back jealousy at breakfast today.

Although the vice president doesn't know much about photography, he knows Annie Leibovitz and has a good appreciation taste. He can see that although the photos in this issue of "Vanity Fair" are somewhat wet, they are not vulgar. On the contrary, The artistic standard is still quite high, so he doesn't quite understand why Mr. Roderick is angry-but this does not prevent him from saying something to please the boss.

"Business magazines are like this. They will do everything for the sake of sales. Readers will publish whatever they like." He joked as he said, "If you want them not to publish something they don't like, there is probably only one Method--"

"Acquire them?"

"Very correct." The vice president said: "Anyway, you already own the shares of the British Trinity Mirror and the United Newspaper Group, but the industry in the American news media industry is still relatively blank."

"I tried it." Lance said, turning the ring on his right little finger, "but "Vanity Fair" brings Condé Nash Group more than [-] million dollars in advertising revenue every year, and Shi Yi Newhouse refuses to sell it."

Shi Yi Newhouse is a New York media tycoon. The Condé Nash Group he owns not only Vanity Fair, but also well-known magazines such as The New Yorker, Vogue, and GQ. These magazines are not only ranked among the top 100 magazines in the world They are also very profitable. Unless they encounter a bankruptcy crisis due to investment failure, Newhouse will not easily sell its properties.

"..." The vice president thought they were just joking, but never expected that the boss really had such a plan.

Lance looked at his watch: "I have an appointment with someone for a while, do you have anything else to say?"

The vice president reported the company's recent transactions with a bit of a blank mind. Lance signed the contract, and he quickly bid farewell.

"and many more."

"What's the matter? Mr. Roderick Jr." The vice president stopped.

"Please take the trash can away and empty it out."

"No problem." The vice president shrugged. When he walked out of the office with the trash can in his arms, he passed William Bradley.

William Bradley also cast a surprised glance at the magazines in the trash can.

Oops.

……

William pushed the door and entered, raising his eyebrows, a little upset: "Did you throw away my magazine just now, and have someone clean it up to destroy the corpse?"

"I was discovered by you." Having said that, Lance didn't feel guilty about being caught at all. On the contrary, he looked more unhappy than William when he lay on his back on the wide seat with his eyes closed.Most of Manhattan was behind him, but he didn't bother to appreciate it.

"Why, the picture is so ugly?"

"Yes."

"It's a lie. Amon told me that the magazine is going crazy. If it's really ugly, it can't be so popular."

"Maybe everyone wants to collect your ugly photos."

"Aha!" William shrugged and said in a disdainful tone, "As if I would believe that Annie Leibovitz's photography skills would fall far short of standards."

"It's too grandstanding." Lance opened his eyes a little and looked at William, and finally told the truth: "Vanity Fair is not an entertainment magazine, and you are not a third-rate model, but you want to auction off photos of your figure to attract gimmicks."

"Just so useless?" William looked around, a little embarrassed.

"The one for home clothes is not bad."

William knew which one it was, because Annie Leibovitz snapped plenty of photos of him in a T-shirt and shorts, but that was the only non-dress photo that ended up in the magazine. "Because that photo is the dumbest?"

William forgot what joke the others told at the time. He was amused and stood by the window laughing, without even looking at the camera. His already tight T-shirt was stretched on his stomach, his hair was messed up, showing a bit of this Foolishness due to age.

"No, because it's the most real." What Lance likes is not the abdominal muscle lines drawn by the tight top, but what he likes is that the camera captures the perfect outline outlined by light and shadow under the reddish daylight, as if locking the sun of light.

"...That's why I'm still stupid." William muttered.

Lance listened to William complaining about his "unique" aesthetic vision for a few minutes, and how bad the new Starbucks's new product downstairs in the building was. While listening with a smile, he called his secretary to ask her to reject all his meetings and calls this morning. , and gave her half a day off, then took out a two-inch black box with an antenna and put it on the table, turned on the switch, and the red dot on the top immediately began to flash.

"An electromagnetic jammer, just in case we're bugged."

William glanced back and found that the entire floor was empty, his face became serious, and his posture sat up straight from slack: "What happened?"

"Last night, I got a call from Rice."

"Which Rice?"

"National Security Advisor."