Birth of an actor

William asked Ang Lee to have dinner at Mr. Chow restaurant in Beverly Hills.

This is a well-known high-end Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles and even in North America. It advocates Chinese food and Western cuisine. The founder is Chinese. It was first opened in London. This branch in Los Angeles has been open for 30 years. Because of its superior location, celebrities love to patronize. Familiar faces from entertainment magazines appear almost every night.

William had a few business dinners at Mr. Chow with executives from Universal and Fox, and discussed scripts with some directors here, but he didn’t come here with friends a few times, because most of the dishes in this restaurant are After improvement, the taste has been westernized. It is better to go to Chengdu to eat old-school Sichuan cuisine or go to Din Tai Fung to eat steamed buns. But because the things to be discussed tonight are more important, and there is a need for media reports, Mr. Chow has become the most important one. Suitable place.

As the most famous Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles, there is a long queue at the entrance of the restaurant during the peak dining hours. The receptionist checks the reservation list and invites the customers in one by one, and politely rejects a few of them who are excited after seeing the recommendation of the magazine Running over, but without pre-booked tourists.

William didn't make an appointment either, but he was a regular customer in this restaurant. When he was about to line up at the door, the waiter had already opened the door to invite him in. After the receptionist smiled and gestured, he held the headset and said, "Will is here. "

The owner of the restaurant, Zhou, was a little puzzled when he received the notification. There are many Wills in Hollywood, but there are only two who will notify the kitchen in advance when they enter the door, William Bradley and Will Smith.The receptionist said Will but didn't say which one it was, so the boss had to come out and have a look by himself.

After seeing the last Oscar winner, the mustache on Boss Zhou’s smiling lips trembled unconsciously. He knew that nothing unexpected would happen, and his restaurant would be published in the newspaper tomorrow, and it would be a prominent page——Mr. Chow’s reason In addition to being the first high-end Chinese restaurant in the western world, it is also because the restaurant has been very good at managing contacts and reputation since its opening.Boss Zhou has always opened the restaurant according to the idea of ​​running a salon. At the beginning, he invited a large number of young artists with little pockets to eat for free by leaving their works. The gathering of artists made the restaurant famous and attracted tourists. With stars and celebrities and a large number of reporters squatting around, the boss will even manage the media and ask them to choose the most charming photo when they report on the celebrities who come to eat.

Over time, a routine has also been formed. When entertainment reporters suffer from lack of material to hand over to the editor-in-chief, they will hold the camera and wait outside Mr. Chow's door. Will come to Mr. Chow for dinner.

However, when the restaurant is famous, there are troubles, especially in Los Angeles, a place that is far more flashy than London. More and more small stars come here to gain fame, and the frequency of superstars plummets, especially in Boss Zhou's artists and restaurants. After the movie star friends gradually retired in old age, the restaurant's regular celebrity clientele became less and less.Now it is impossible to reproduce the star-studded house in the 80s and [-]s, and the big-name stars have to be positioned in advance. Jackson Madonna is a frequent visitor, and Mrs. Kennedy, Jacqueline, came here to taste the grand occasion.

William greeted Boss Zhou and told him that he had an appointment with Li An. Boss Zhou understood and arranged a remote table for them, while avoiding the curious stares of other diners.

When the violinist started to play the second piece, Li Ang arrived in a hurry. He was wearing a slightly wrinkled casual suit, and he stroked the wrinkled fabric several times without smoothing it out. The first sentence is an apology: "Sorry, I just rushed over from Universal Studios, so I didn't have time to change my clothes."

"It's okay, this restaurant doesn't have a strict dress code." William explained, and then raised his hand to beckon the waiter to bring the menu, before asking, "How's the audition going?"

Because there are too many actors who are interested in movies, the audition location for "Brokeback Mountain" was arranged in the nearest Universal Studios. Recently, Ang Lee has been going to Universal Studios almost every day. Almost lost count.

When it came to the audition, Ang Lee's tired face immediately glowed. He randomly scratched the menu and focused on the new topic: "I met Anne Heather today. Wei, to be honest, when she walked in wearing exaggerated skirts and heavy makeup, it didn't give people a good impression, but later I heard that she happened to be filming "Princess Diaries 2" on Universal's studio, and it was specially drawn I auditioned during lunch time. Her performance was a bit over the top, but it gave me a special inspiration, and I thought she was very suitable to play Rowling."

"Jack's wife?" William also closed the menu and handed it to the waiter. "What about Ennis' wife?"

"There were forty or fifty actresses who auditioned back and forth, and Michelle Williams performed the best."

"It's up to you to decide about the actor."

William and Ang Lee chatted for a while about the audition work that had come to an end. After the formal casting process, and the unanimous agreement of Ang Lee and the producer, two important female characters, Alma and Rowling, basically Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway could be cast.

Then, Ang Lee hesitated for a moment, and asked when William was going to sign the contract—he, the earliest confirmed lead actor, had not officially signed a contract, although Willlot also participated in the film production, and William was named as the producer. I was anxious to talk about the reason for the actor's appointment, but to be honest, it also made many people feel uneasy.

Take today's audition for example. After the audition, Anne Hathaway went back to the crew next door to continue filming, and her agent came over to explain her dress today——The crew of "Princess Diaries 2" gave The lunch time was not long, and Anne Hathaway had no time to remove her makeup and change her clothes, so she could only come to the audition in costumes—by the way, she inquired about the results of the audition and the crew's next plan, and asked carefully whether William signed the contract. question.

Listening to that tone, if William has already signed the contract, Anne Hathaway will sign the contract as soon as possible and join the group early, and even is willing to charge only a symbolic salary to play in friendship, but if William has not signed the contract, Anne Hathaway's agent will also It is necessary to properly discuss the remuneration, it does not have to be on par with commercial films, it must always be equal to the remuneration of general art films.

Ang Lee wants to know when William will be able to sign the contract, not because of Anne Hathaway-well, in fact, she also accounts for part of the reason, after all, "Brokeback Mountain" is still strictly an independent film with sensitive themes. In order to make money, it is natural to spend as little as possible.Ang Lee is not a director like James Cameron who can spend 1000 million if you give him 2000 million. He is very good at saving money and is used to saving money. If a movie can be made for more than [-] million US dollars, it will never cost [-] million. Choose actors Naturally, the higher the cost performance, the better - the main reason is that Ang Lee, as a director, hopes that William can devote all his energy to the film as soon as possible.

Although recently, "Brokeback Mountain" has become a book that Hollywood film actors are flocking to. Its popularity is not five stars but four stars. Strictly speaking, most of the truly brave and hardworking actresses are actresses. , There are not many male actors—many well-known male stars were very interested at first, but retreated after reading the script, thinking that it would hinder their commercial image, and art films are destined to be niche, even if they are with William · Bradley cooperation is not cost-effective.

Fortunately, Hollywood still has a lot of actors who are not well-known, but have no pursuit of commercial value, like to make independent movies, and even prefer non-mainstream movies with excellent acting skills.Ang Lee is satisfied with the results of the current audition, but there are more than one actor he is looking for that makes him a little hesitant. He hopes that William can try out with them separately to see which actor has a stronger chemical reaction with him. For "Brokeback Mountain" For a movie with such a simple character relationship, if there is no spark between the two male actors who are the absolute protagonists, it will definitely become a disaster. The movie might as well declare failure in advance.

Facing Li Ang's question, William rarely hesitated.

If it was half a month ago, he would have told Ang Lee without hesitation that he had no requirements for remuneration and dividends, as long as the contract was ready, he could sign it at any time.But now, because of some considerations, William wants to talk to Ang Lee about the creative concept of the film before signing the contract, so as to avoid disagreements after the contract is signed, and the two parties will be very unhappy.

"Creative idea?" Hearing William's question, Li An was a little confused. William, who had read the original work and the script, logically shouldn't ask this question, but no matter why the other party wanted to know, he answered according to his own ideas: "It's just I want to make a touching love story."

"Do you also support that homosexuals have the same right to love and be loved as heterosexuals?"

"What? No, I didn't think about the pursuit of equal rights. What I want to tell is a very simple love story." Ang Lee said seriously: "This love has nothing to do with gender, it just happens to be the protagonist of "Brokeback Mountain" It's just two men. If it's a man and a woman, it doesn't make any difference between two men or two women."

"In your opinion, does Brokeback Mountain count as an LGBT movie?"

"Actually, I don't have the category of LGBT movies in my heart." Ang Lee frowned and said, "Just like the "Wedding Banquet" I made before, the protagonists are also a couple of gays, but the theme of that story is actually a Chinese family. And the concept of marriage, as for "Brokeback Mountain", I think this is a love story in a broad sense, a scene of embarrassing love tragedy, and the theme should be simple and pure."

William took a deep breath and had to admit that Ang Lee's creative philosophy was somewhat different from what he was looking for.

To put it simply, what Ang Lee wants to make is a pure film that transcends gender and has no labels, while William wants to emphasize gender and add an LGBT label to the film.

At first glance, this difference is not too big. After all, "Brokeback Mountain" is also about a same-sex love story, which has a natural connection with LGBT. However, William, who is familiar with Ang Lee's style, knows that the other party pays great attention to the details of the movie. He thinks it is not big. Ang Lee may not think so.

After Li An answered William's question, he thought about it and felt that the question was a bit strange: "Will, why do you ask these questions?"

"I have encountered some things recently, and I have some new ideas..." So William confessed his thoughts frankly. He told Ang Lee what happened to Jonathan Bates, and directly asked the other party if he could Some content related to the history of homosexuality was added to the movie, because he wanted to use the power of the movie to improve some extreme anti-gay sentiments in the current society.

Movies often reflect social reality and public opinion, and can also guide society and public opinion. This is nothing new in Hollywood.It is well known that during World War II, the rate of American people joining the army was very high, but few people know that the reason why the people have great enthusiasm for joining the army originally came from an experiment conducted by social psychologist Hovland - in the 40s, Hovland Fran conducted an experiment in the U.S. Army. He used specific film clips to effectively improve the obedience and patriotic enthusiasm of soldiers, which proved the persuasive effect of film communication.The results of this research also prompted the U.S. military to actively cooperate with Hollywood. During the war, a large number of patriotic movies and conscription propaganda films were screened in every movie theater, which set off waves of enthusiasm for joining the army among the people.

During World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union, which were both in the anti-fascist alliance, actually had a honeymoon period. Hollywood also made some movies that praised the Soviet Union, such as "Moscow Mission" and "Glorious Days", but after the end of World War II , the Truman Doctrine was prevalent, and McCarthyism persecuted too many film workers in the 50s. Hollywood studios have started to create the theme of "Soviet Threat Theory" for decades, and it is true that generation after generation The seeds of hostility to the Soviet Union were planted in the hearts of American audiences.

After the failure of the Vietnam War, anti-war sentiment in the United States once rose, and Hollywood made a large number of anti-war movies. As a result, the rate of joining the army plummeted from the late 70s to the early 80s, causing dissatisfaction among the military.The U.S. Navy gritted its teeth and directly invested a large amount of money, and pulled Paramount to shoot the most expensive recruiting advertisement in history, "Top Gun"-the title of the movie Top Gun is actually the nickname of the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School-the film caused a sensation after it was released. The number of people who signed up to join the army in the United States increased by one-third that year, which shows the power of movies to influence society.

Regarding William's request, Ang Lee felt in a dilemma.

In fact, such a request is not too much. The timeline of "Brokeback Mountain" spans from the 60s to the 80s. It was an era when the affirmative movement was surging. There are too many materials that can be added to the movie without too many traces. It can also have a subtle effect on the audience.Moreover, in addition to starring, William also has the identity of a producer, and he could have made many suggestions for the film.

However, if you just add some social background to certain movie scenes, this kind of small details that the audience may not notice after watching the movie once or twice, William will not ask himself so seriously.After reviewing the plot of the entire script, Ang Lee was almost [-]% sure: "Will, do you want to revise the script and exaggerate Jack's death more?"

William did not deny: "This will be more shocking."

Li An was silent.In fact, after listening to William's confession, he can fully understand William's original intention and ideas, but this is somewhat contrary to his original intention of making a movie.

"Brokeback Mountain" tells the story of two cowboys, Ennis and Jack, who have been entangled for 20 years. The end is that Jack dies unexpectedly. Ennis lives alone in the trailer with the shirt that Jack kept when they first met. I miss my lover for the rest of my life.

In the script, regarding the cause of Jack's death, Jack's wife Rowling said it was a tire accident, Ennis subconsciously thought of the scene he had witnessed when he was a child, a gay man in his hometown was brutally beaten to death by several people.That cast a shadow over Ennis' life, and it was also the biggest reason for his homophobia and reluctance to come out.

But in fact, the author Anne Proulx gave an almost clear answer in the book "Jack was killed by someone".Jack's fate confirms Ennis' deepest fear, which is both tragic and ironic, and further enhances the artistry of the original novel.

However, in Ang Lee's conception of the movie, he set Jack's death as a puzzle, that is to say, he did not plan to shoot specific pictures related to Jack's death, avoiding the death of Jack as described in the book. so straightforward.

why?

One reason is that Ang Lee's oriental aesthetics make him inclined to express implicitly and implicitly, and he is also good at leaving blank spaces in movies to create a long-lasting aesthetic feeling.Another reason is to directly shoot the scene of Jack's death. After the film is released, it will inevitably arouse a lot of discussions outside the film. Although this is William's goal, Ang Lee's Asian identity makes him very reluctant to use his own film. It is linked to socially sensitive topics and tinged with political color.

So although Ang Lee can understand William, he is not prepared to agree to William, no matter for personal reasons or for the movie.

"Sorry, Will, I don't want to do this." Ang Lee shook his head and refused, "I can build a bridge of understanding between homosexuals and heterosexuals, so that they understand that there is no difference between same-sex love and opposite-sex love. , maybe this can change the public's perception of homosexuality a little bit. However, I don't want to do it because of this purpose. If it changes, what the movie wants to express has changed, and it also goes against my original intention of making this movie."

"Philadelphia Story" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman" are both Oscar-winning gay films, and they both have a critical reality. The screen has a strong practical significance, while "Kiss of the Spider Woman" is full of political metaphors.

Ang Li rejected it very thoroughly, leaving no room for turning around.

William sighed inwardly, disappointed to be disappointed, and didn't feel particularly discouraged, after all, he wasn't sure that he would be able to convince Li An.

Just as he was about to say something to ease the atmosphere, the waiter happened to bring over the prepared dishes. After the dishes were served, before William could speak, Li An suddenly compared Mr. The difference between an authentic Chinese restaurant - the star wants to change the topic, and the change is a little blunt.

William saw that Ang Lee didn't want to talk about the script with him, so he followed the other party's wishes and talked about Chinese and Western food culture.However, in the second half of the dinner, whenever William mentioned "Brokeback Mountain", even if he just mentioned other things unintentionally, Ang Lee would show a somewhat nervous expression, as if he had already begun to guard against William in his heart.

This made William a little helpless. He really wanted to tell Ang Lee that he had never talked about revising the script, and just treated today as an ordinary dinner, but the more he said that, the more he would not believe it. .

In fact, Ang Lee was really worried.

Ang Lee is not a person who speaks harshly, but he must speak harshly this time, because he is very worried that if he backs down, the initiative of the movie will be lost.Although he is a director, he is far from the level of Steven Spielberg and James Cameron. His status in the crew is really inferior to that of a producer and a superstar, and William just happens to have both identities. .

If William uses his power and influence to achieve his goal, can he really stop it?Ang Lee was a little worried. He was worried that there would be an unhappiness with William after the filming started, and he was also worried that the final editing rights he wanted would have an accident.He felt that he had to find an old friend who had worked with him for many years, that is, James Shams, the CEO of Focus Pictures, who first discovered "Brokeback Mountain" and worked for it for several years.

In the end, Ang Lee and William ended the dinner peacefully, but in fact, both parties had some shadows about their future cooperation.

Later, William and Lance talk about the meeting with Ang Lee, somewhat discouraged: "I have a disagreement with Ang Lee, and, it seems, my proposal may have offended him."

Lance was very calm: "As long as you insist, Li's objection will not be a problem."

William understood what Lance meant, which meant that Li Ang could be squeezed out of the game. "No need, "Brokeback Mountain" was originally Ang Lee's project, and we joined later." He shook his head and rejected the proposal: "Besides, Ang Lee is the most suitable director, and there will be no other director besides him. People pay more attention to this movie."

Regardless of the fact that "Brokeback Mountain" is considered a popular project in Hollywood now, but if Ang Lee is really to be eliminated, it is very likely that no suitable successor director will be found at all-why the script of "Brokeback Mountain" has been lost for many years? Will the studio take over?Because gay movies in Hollywood have always been limited and always revolved around violent erotic rock promiscuity crimes, there is no movie that only tells the simple life and love of two gay people, and the story of "Brokeback Mountain" is neither funny , and has nothing to do with violent pornographic crimes. On the contrary, it is depressing and unpopular. There are also two gay characters who may arouse the disgust of feminist organizations. It is difficult to shoot successfully.

"Just like "The Wedding Banquet", Ang Lee is very good at using delicate and unique style language to downplay the moral dilemma in the movie, so that people only pay attention to what he wants to express, which is why he is the most suitable for "Brokeback Mountain". It’s really not easy to shoot. However, if the movie can be made exactly according to his ideas, a gay version of "Titanic" may really change many people’s views on homosexuality.”

"So, Li An can't move?"

"You can change the leading role, but you can't change the director." William joked.

On the other side, after Ang Lee returned to the hotel where he was temporarily staying, he also talked on the phone with his partner and old friend James Shams.

"You know me, Jim, I don't care about anything else. Losing my creative freedom or not being able to participate in the final editing of the movie is what worries me the most." After briefly describing the conversation at the dinner, Ang Lee told his story Worry.

"Must we cooperate with Willot and William Bradley?" James Shams asked rhetorically.

Li An was stunned for a moment: "Jim, what do you mean by these words...?"

"Actually, we don't lack investment at all. Recently, many companies and investors approached me to express their interest in "Brokeback Mountain". Cooperating with Willot, it is also very easy to find an investment of at least 500 million U.S. dollars."

Focus Pictures was called "Universal's Miramax" when it was first acquired by Universal, but the two are completely incomparable. First of all, Disney's attitude towards Miramax is better than that of Universal Focus, and secondly, Harvey Wayne Stan is in charge of the wind and rain in Hollywood, and he can turn over hundreds of millions of dollars to make several movies at the same time. James Shams, who is also the CEO, had a hard time finding $2000 million in investment for "Brokeback Mountain".

However, this situation should be able to improve in the future. The Universal executive who called James Shams has promised that although Universal will rely on Steven Spielberg's blockbuster to secure the top six positions in Hollywood Yes, it has always been only inclined to the production of commercial films, but Universal does not lack the ambition to hit the Oscars. In the future, Universal will also focus on the field of independent films, and will give Focus Pictures a lot of support in terms of investment, distribution, and promotion. , will build Focus Pictures into a global art film factory.

After thinking about it, James Shams added: "Isn't the actor's audition over yet? Harvey Weinstein said that he has several very good actors who he would like to recommend to you, and he is even willing to The kind where you don’t get paid for a friendship role.”

Ang Lee hesitated.He doesn’t need the actors recommended by Harvey Weinstein, because in the previous auditions, actors who are suitable for Jack and Ennis did appear, and if they can’t continue to cooperate with William, they can fill the vacancy immediately , there will be no starring vacuum.

"I'd better talk to William again." Ang Lee finally made a decision: "Whether it is to continue to cooperate, stop cooperation, or introduce other investors, the most basic thing is to be honest with each other. In the past, William and I also had I have had a very pleasant cooperation experience, even if we fail to reach a consensus, we should not turn against each other.”

James Shams tried a few words of persuasion, but after failing to change Ang Li's mind, he stopped.Ang Lee has always adhered to the character that the Chinese call a gentleman, which sometimes gives him a headache, but most of the time he still admires it, because Ang Lee's character determines that he will be loyal to his partners, film companies and even investors , of course the most loyal to the film, and with such a director, you never have to worry about not being able to produce a good work.