Birth of an actor

In the United States, not everyone will receive a college education, but almost everyone has to go through 12 years of compulsory education, and then graduate from high school. In addition, it is generally regarded as a person who can take full responsibility for his own life and take on family responsibilities. It’s even the age when you don’t have to hide from your parents, and you can start to enjoy sex openly. Therefore, in terms of the relaxed atmosphere and the degree of emphasis, American high school graduation ceremonies are bigger than college graduation ceremonies.

American high school students who have just entered the twelfth grade as early as the 12th grade, and as late as March and April of the second year, will receive the admission letter from the university. The symbolic study test before graduation will not bring too much pressure and trouble to the students, so Whether they are continuing to go to college or looking for a job after graduation, they have already made tentative plans for the future at this time, and the high school prom and ceremony will become their most anticipated and most opportunity to celebrate.College students are different. The graduation season of American universities is very heavy, especially prestigious schools, which have higher requirements for graduation projects. It is not that you can graduate easily by just messing around. Coupled with the pressure of renting a house to find a job and repaying college loans, you can graduate from college. The ceremony is far heavier than a high school graduation ceremony.

It can be said that graduating from high school in the United States is a turning point between minors and adults, so the students are excited and carnival, and graduating from college is a turning point when they step out of the ivory tower and face the real world, so they are under heavy pressure.

Because William stayed with the crew for a long time after he got the admission letter from Harvard, except for resending materials to Harvard and preparing for the AP (Advanced Placement) exam, he was basically completely out of school life, so when he returned to San Monie Kaka High School, he is about to face the prom tomorrow, but he has neither the evening dress nor the dance partner-you know, basically every high school graduate attaches great importance to their prom, not only because it is For the first time in 18 years, they can not go home for the night, and because most schools make the graduation prom very formal, high-end hotel banquet halls, exquisite evening dresses, stretched limousines, and couples attending the prom Boys and girls, the life of a Hollywood movie has completely become a reality, even if it is only for one day, how can it not make people crazy?

Most of the graduates will prepare the car costume and hairstyle for the prom one or two months in advance, and many girls even start preparing for this day half a year in advance, and then one month before the prom, the campus will be filled with the smell of hormones, Unless it is a freak who is rejected by the whole school, or the ratio of men and women in this school is seriously disproportionate (it doesn't matter if it is not equal, graduates can also invite juniors from lower grades to be their dance partners), otherwise, in the prom God, everyone has a partner.

After the first class, William tried to invite the girls he was in class with, but all he got were sad rejections: "No, thanks, Will, but I promised Jimmy/Jordy/Hank /Charlie."

In the restaurant at noon, William asked Danny Bourne for advice distressedly: "I have a set of Armani for dresses, which is only for auditions. It can be used for emergencies. As for the car, drive the Bugatti Veyron, or rent a stretched Lincoln. But what about the dance partner? If I don’t even have a dance partner at the prom, people who know about it will definitely laugh at me for a whole year, no, maybe this will be a good story that lasts for ten or even decades, and Well, Madeleine was really looking forward to me being the prom king--the prom king and queen, the old Bradley tradition--to think she'd have to use that 'Oh no son Girls like you The glorious tradition of the Bradley family is going to end in your hands' This kind of look at me makes me feel a little bit stuffed."

"You, William Bradley, no one loves you?" Danny Byrne rolled his eyes, "God, didn't you see the regretful eyes of those girls after they rejected you? That's definitely I am regretting that I agreed to others too early, probably because you are a bit unlucky, and the invited girls are all good girls. If you are willing to try those bad girls who change boyfriends every week and tattoo holes on their bodies, they will definitely be willing. Release my dancing partner pigeons, and promise you without hesitation!"

William actually thought about Danny Byrne's proposal seriously, then shook his head and said, "Forget it, it's too miserable to be released the pigeons on the eve of the dance, I can't be so cruel to others."

Danny Bourne rolled his eyes again: "Well, if you don't have the heart to be cruel to others, you can be cruel to yourself... Wait!" Danny Bourne's eyes lit up: "Yesterday I chatted with Hannah At that time, I heard her say that a friend named Lily or Leah is an Asian girl, she is too shy so she doesn’t have a partner, do you need me to ask for you?”

"Thank you so much, Danny, you'd be a great help to me if it worked out."

That night, William successfully invited this Chinese girl named Lily in English as his prom partner—yes, a Chinese girl.As a new immigrant who moved to Los Angeles for just three years because her parents worked in the United States, when William tried to greet each other in his stale Mandarin, the surprised look on Lily's face made him very happy - and William also understood Why tomorrow is the prom, and Lily, who is considered beautiful even in American aesthetics, has no dance partner until now, because it is too difficult to invite her.

Lily can't say yes to the invitation for herself, the boy has to go to her house to pass her parents' inspection, Lily can only go to the prom, and can't participate in the school's all-night party after the prom, the boy has to promise to send her home by midnight , Only these two items can scare away [-]% of the boys who are interested in Lily, and even if the remaining [-]% are fully prepared, they may not be able to pass the test of Lily's parents.

Fortunately, William did it. This probably has something to do with his fluent Mandarin and his identity as an actor. It may also be because Lily's parents have seen the movie he acted in - "Sense and Sensibility". Yes, Lily's parents are Taiwanese , they, like other Taiwanese immigrants, are proud of Ang Lee's achievements in Hollywood.

"Thank you very much for inviting me to the prom, William, my parents really don't want me to participate in such activities, especially going out with white boys." On the day of the prom, when William drove a Bugatti Veyron EB110 to Lily's When she was, the Taiwanese girl said with her babbling pronunciation.

William glanced at her amusedly: "Are your parents also racist? You can't understand white people." Seeing Lily's expression suddenly became very embarrassed, he immediately apologized and said: "Sorry, I was joking, It doesn't look like the joke is funny though, forget it please?"

Lily breathed a sigh of relief and nodded quickly.

Although William thinks he is humorous and has been using Mandarin to adjust the atmosphere, Lily is probably too introverted, or he is a little too nervous facing his impactful standard white face. In short, William has tried a few times After finding that the atmosphere was still awkward, he had no choice but to give up.

Santa Monica High School has produced many well-known alumni, and the school receives a lot of donations from alumni every year, so every year the ball for graduates is held at a high-end hotel, and this year is no exception. When William drove his sports car at the end of the carpet ——The hotel even laid out a red carpet for this group of boys and girls who are about to graduate, which is so considerate——Then when he got out of the car and opened the door for Lily, he could feel the eyes glued to him.Oh, and one of the fiercest glances came from Claire.

Thanks to the strict training during the filming of "Titanic", William's etiquette and dancing are extremely standard. In Danny Byrne's words, it is "second-kill level". When he danced, he almost stuck three points in the hall. Two's eyes were on him, and there were whistling whistles directed at him, boys'.It's hard to say whether the purpose of these whistles was to ridicule sympathy or to praise, given that William's partner would nervously step on his foot every three minutes no matter which partner he changed at the time.

In the end, William continued the glorious tradition of the Bradley family: the high school prom king.The queen is Claire.

Perhaps it also made a whole new history of Santa Monica's prom: The prom king and queen weren't a couple, they didn't even have a dance together from beginning to end.

After the dance, according to the agreement, William did not go to school with others to continue the carnival, but drove Lily home and delivered her safely to her parents.

After parking the car in front of Lily's house, William was about to say goodnight politely, but the Taiwanese girl suddenly mustered up the courage to give him a "boo" on his right cheek, then got out of the car and ran away immediately.

William: "..."

The girl's father stared wide-eyed on the front steps.

Before Lily's father was furious, William drove away in a hurry, and then he was thinking wildly along the way: It's weird, he didn't feel moved when Claire kissed him, and he didn't feel moved when Lily kissed him, maybe next time he should find a chocolate-skinned beauty to try try?

After a short ride along the road, William returned home around two o'clock in the morning. Madeleine was already asleep. William didn't disturb her, washed himself lightly and went to bed.

The next morning, William woke up naturally in the aroma of coffee. He stretched and got up, went to the kitchen and took a piece of freshly baked bread, and evenly spread butter on it.

"I thought you would sleep until twelve o'clock." Madeleine picked up the pan and began to scramble eggs and bacon for William, while sending meaningful glances: "Have you had a good night?"

William shrugged with the bread in his mouth, but did not answer.

Madeleine was born in the generation before and after the start of the Vietnam War. When she grew up, the entire Western society was experiencing a vigorous sexual liberation movement, so Madeleine’s thinking was very open-minded, and it could even be said that she was a bit too open-minded. A few days ago, I hinted that it is okay for William not to go home to spend the night on the day of the prom. Although he did not say so, he often expects William to bring his girlfriend home to have a meal with her. Regarding this, William either smiles helplessly, Either promise her: "When I establish a relationship with someone, I will definitely introduce her to you, I promise."

Maybe it was too lonely, or maybe William’s life was a model of monotony compared with her high school life. Sometimes Madeleine stared at William suspiciously: “You don’t think you’re interested in it. Who, then she doesn't want you, does she?"

"No, Mom, you think too much."

Relieved, Madeleine smiled and said, "I think so, honey, you've always been the prettiest in the family."

"Can you not call me baby, that's too nasty." William often replied with a red face.

Not long after the prom, Santa Monica Middle School held a graduation ceremony for this year's graduates. On the school football field, the mayor, councilors and parents of all students will come to participate.

The mayors and councilors and the parents and relatives of the graduates sat on folding chairs. The graduates entered the arena from both sides in red graduation gowns (from the color of the school badge) while the national anthem was played. Two regular square matrices.

The mayor’s speech, the famous alumni’s speech, the graduate’s speech, and the principal’s speech blah blah blah blah.

At the end of the ceremony, after all the graduates lined up on the stage to receive their certificates, when the name of each graduate was heard on the radio, there would be warm cheers and applause from the audience. From today onwards, the high school life of the graduates is completely over, and they will Step into society as an adult.

When William received the graduation certificate from the headmaster, the bushy-haired, young-looking headmaster took several photos while holding his hand, and then said affectionately: "I have a hunch that you will be ours in the future." Another well-known alumnus, I will keep this group photo, maybe I can hang it in the office in the future."

"Thank you for your kind words." William said with a smile.

Every student who received a graduation certificate is very happy, and the parents have mixed feelings, because today is not only a graduate, but also a turning point in the life of the parents-young people have grown up, grown up, and flapped their mature wings Flying into the sky is about to take place, and parents must accept the reality that their children will leave the nest.

"Boys and girls, now you can throw your hats in the air!" the principal yelled into the microphone.

Accompanied by the joyous cheers, a piece of bright red flew into the air.

After throwing their hats, the graduates ran to their parents, hugged and kissed, then turned around to pick up their hats, took photos with their classmates, and said goodbye.

Like every popular person, William received so many flowers from his classmates that he placed all the bouquets on the ground, which looked like a mini flower garden.

"What are your plans for the summer vacation? Would you like to take a road trip with me?" Danny Byrne asked William after taking photos together.

There are usually more than three months of vacation between graduating from high school and starting college. Most American youths will not allow themselves to spend this long vacation with nothing to do. They choose to go to the city where the university is located in advance, renting a house and working while adapting to life and making friends. There are many, many who choose to go abroad for study tours or road trips or even internships.

"Road trip? No thanks, I have a new movie starting tomorrow."

"What's the name of the new movie?"

William shrugged. "Scream."