Birth of an actor

"Ms. Rowling?" After a pause of 1 minute, Lance greeted again: "Ma'am?"

"Ah, I'm sorry!" Joanna Rowling came back to her senses and immediately felt her cheeks burning. She quickly apologized: "I, I think things are lost, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Lancelot Roderick, you can call me Lance."

"Joanna Rowling, just call me Joe."

After shaking hands with Rowling, Lance motioned for the other party to sit down, then unbuttoned the last button of his vest, and sat opposite Rowling: "Tea? Coffee?" Lance asked, looking at the empty cup in front of Rowling.

"Coffee." Joanna Rowling replied, and looked at Lance opposite him without any trace.

Lance pressed the internal line number of the phone at hand: "Two cups of coffee will be delivered to the conference room, and one cup will be free of milk and sugar, thank you."

'This little Roderick finally saw his true face today. Joanna Rowling thought: 'Taylor Roderick is occasionally on the cover of magazines, his only heir, this little Roderick seems to have never had a frontal photo since his kidnapping as a child newspaper. "News of the World" published a news last fall saying that Roderick's heir is now studying in Cambridge. They thought it was another fake news, but they didn't expect it to be true. '

After the secretary brought the coffee, Lance got to the point: "I heard that you have some questions, about what?"

"Film and television copyright." Joanna Rowling took a sip of coffee, sorted out the thoughts in her mind, and said, "I originally thought that as long as "Sorcerer's Stone" could be published, I never thought about the film and television adaptation this time." Thing. I mean, it would be great if it could be made into a movie, but the magic stuff, you know, it's not about finding a vintage house and getting some actors to play it, although I don't know anything about filmmaking , but I have watched a lot of movies, and I know that it will probably cost a lot of money to completely restore the magical world in the movie-if the film company just sets up a studio, it will be called Hogwarts, like a stage play If it seems like that, then I would rather not sell film and television rights.”

In the final analysis, Joanna Rowling still has only one intention: if the copyright of the film and television is sold, it will be made into a small-scale movie at a low cost by the film company, completely losing or even destroying the charm of the original work, then she would rather not sell it.

Lance leaned back in his chair, scanning the expression of Joanna Rowling: "Ms. Rowling, what is the magical world in your mind? Or, do you hope that after the filming of "Harry Potter" , to what extent should the level be achieved?"

"I don't know, maybe it's like the "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" series? It completely captures the appearance of another world." Seeing Lance's expression, Joanna Rowling said with some embarrassment: "I You know I'm a little whimsical."

"Although your words are bold, they are not too much, Ms. Rowling." Lance showed the first real smile when he entered the door: "Actually, I have the same idea as you, either don't shoot, or if you want to shoot, put all your energy into it. Produce the best work. Now that film technology is so advanced, the liquid robot in "Terminator" could be made a few years ago, and it will not be far from restoring the whole magic world."

Thinking of the surname Roderick, Joanna Rowling didn't think the young man in front of her was exaggerating. After all, British newspapers were saying "There is nothing Roderick can't do in the United States", right?

—— Out of trust in Hao, Joanna Rowling continued to ask questions about film production costs, so she will probably never know that Waddington Press belongs not to the Roderick Group, but to Lance Rowling Derek himself will never know that the current Lance Roderick doesn't even own a movie company.Although it is already looking for acquisitions or preparations for establishment.

"I can agree to sign the contract, but there is one last condition." Joanna Rowling said: "If "Harry Potter" is made into a film, it must be shot in a British panorama, and the actors must also be British."

Lance smiled and shook his head and retorted: "There is no suitable environment for filming the wizarding world in the United States. Out of respect for the original, panorama shooting in the UK is of course possible, but all the actors are British? I think this is too narrow, Joanna Rowe Ms. Lin, I think that as long as the characters in the book can be reproduced, it doesn’t matter whether the actor is British or American.”

Joanna Rowling was about to raise her own doubts about whether an American actor could play a good Englishman, but she suddenly remembered that the young man in front of her was an American—Little Roderick's authentic Cockney accent made her almost forget This matter - so silently closed his mouth.

However, Lance saw that Joanna Rowling was hesitant to speak, so he added: "Of course, for the sake of film considerations, no matter what country the actors are in, they must have a fluent London accent."

"I agree." Joanna Rowling thought for a moment and agreed immediately.

As an Englishman, Joanna Rowling once went to Portugal to work as an English teacher. Joanna Rowling has a Welsh accent that cannot be shaken off. "Probably only professional actors from the UK can speak London fluently." Cavity. ’ She thought: ‘In this case, there is nothing wrong with agreeing to this condition. '

But after thinking about it, Joanna Rowling still added: "The film must be shot in a panoramic view of the UK, and more than [-]% of the cast and crew must be of British nationality. This is my bottom line."

The cultural background and atmosphere created by the gathering of local actors is something that Joanna Rowling really wants to present in her works, even if the actors from other countries have superb acting skills. If "Harry Potter" "When it was filmed, more than half of the crew were Americans. Americans are optimistic by nature and only know how to laugh and party every day. What kind of British heritage can be presented in such a crew atmosphere?Movies will definitely be shot badly, Joanna Rowling firmly believes that - but as long as the majority of the staff are British, it doesn't matter if there are occasionally a few staff from other countries. Although Joanna Rowling loves her own Nation and country, but not narrow-minded nationalists.

"No problem, these can be written into the contract." Lance nodded simply: "However, I also want to add that Waddington Publishing needs to purchase the US copyright of the "Harry Potter" series, and I am going to let this book The book was launched simultaneously in the UK and the US.”

"What?!" The shocked Joanna Rowling even stopped breathing for three seconds.From being rejected 12 times in a row to the publishing house, which almost wiped away her confidence in her novel; to Bloomsbury Press and Waddington Press all of a sudden favoring "Sorcerer's Stone"; Lost the film and television copyright of the "Harry Potter" series; now suddenly the United Kingdom and the United States are required to publish simultaneously... Waddington, no, why does this young man in front of him have so much confidence in her?Even Joanna Rowling herself dare not draw conclusions casually and say that "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" will be loved by readers.

"Why are you so optimistic about me?" Unknowingly, Joanna Rowling asked her question.

Lance didn't answer but instead asked, "Do you know William Bradley?"

Joanna Rowling, though puzzled by the question, replied: "The American actor who played Edward in Sense and Sensibility? Yes, I know him and I love his portrayal of Edward." —Although compared to the original book, Bradley's Edward is a bit too handsome."

Joanna Rowling is a loyal Jane Austen fan, and even she and her ex-husband George Arantes got married because of this, when Joanna Rowling was teaching English in Porto, Portugal's second largest city, in a bar There, he met George, a journalist, and the two chatted about Jane Austen.But now this marriage is a gloomy and painful past for Joanna Rowling, and she doesn't want to mention it very much.

"I mean, do you know him?"

"I don't know." Joanna Rowling shook her head in a strange way, and her flexible brain quickly came up with a reasonable explanation for Lance's question—is Lance Roderick the same as me? Like Bradley so much that you want him in Harry Potter?

Speaking of it, the reason why Joanna Rowling insisted on filming "Harry Potter" with a British panorama and an all-British cast was not because she was so patriotic—of course there was a little patriotism at play— — but Joanna Rowling believes that "Harry Potter" is a British magical story written by a British writer (herself). Without a purely British background, it may be difficult to restore what Joanna Rowling had in mind wizarding world.

Joanna Rowling really can't accept a group of actors with American accents, playing British wizards in a Hollywood studio, and occasionally exaggerating body movements that British actors would never make, which makes her feel like her novel are all destroyed.

But William Bradley's words, although his London accent is not particularly authentic, but his pronunciation and intonation are very standard, one can tell that he must have received professional training since he was a child, and he has that old-fashioned temperament, such as Speaking of Edward in "Sense and Sensibility"-Joanna Rowling really loves William Bradley's Edward, loves his forbearing and turbulent emotional scenes with Emma Thompson, not to mention the emotional scene in AI Len Rickman's acting skills are not inferior in comparison.

"If you are asking whether William Bradley is suitable for "Harry Potter", my answer is that it should be fine." Joanna Rowling considered her words carefully and said: " "Sorcerer's Stone" is not good, there are no suitable characters for him, but in the second and subsequent ideas I am planning to write, there are several characters that are suitable for him."

Lance took a sip of his coffee and didn't speak.

Ms. Joanna Rowling completely misunderstood what he meant, but misunderstandings are misunderstandings, at least he already knows now, Will is like being protected by an angel, and he has to be unscientific from time to time—otherwise how to explain Joanna Rowling doesn't know William Bradley (in the real world) and William Bradley knows the magic of a single mother writing a book in London, England, more than 5000 miles away occurring?

While drinking coffee, Lance and Joanna Rowling reached an agreement on the details of the simultaneous publication and listing of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" in the UK and the US, and then people from the contract department of Waddington Press will draw up The contract was sent over, and Joanna Rowling signed her name on it without any hesitation.

——Joanna Rowling finally chose the name J.K. Joanna Rowling instead of her real name as a pseudonym. J stands for Joanna, and K is Joanna Rowling's grandma Kathleen. The first name is the second acronym of the pseudonym.In her own words: "Novels written by male authors are better sold than female authors, aren't they? Anyway, whether it's JK Rowling or Joanna Rowling, I'm , if the novel doesn’t receive much attention just because the pseudonym is too feminine, then it’s my fault.”

"Happy cooperation, Ms. JK Rowling." Lance stood up, fastened the last button of his vest, and stretched out his right hand.

"Happy cooperation, Mr. Roderick." Joanna Rowling smiled and shook hands with Lance.

Although his face was calm and even with a confident smile, Lance actually had a lot of mental activities: "Finally completed what Will explained, and it looks really profitable, "Harry Potter" It's a good novel. Lance thought, "But it doesn't matter if you lose money. The cost of purchasing the copyright is only tens of thousands of pounds. In a big deal, the film project will be shelved for the time being." '

And Joanna Rowling could hardly restrain her inner excitement: 'Twenty thousand pounds!Biggest money ever made!Time to rent a bigger apartment and buy Jessica a sturdier stroller! '

At this moment, Lance Roderick and Joanna Rowling would never have imagined that their handshake this time has reached one of the most important decisions in the history of world business, which will not only directly affect Hollywood for decades to come. No, the pattern of the world film industry has also had a huge impact on the global financial market.

Many years later, when Joanna Rowling accepted an exclusive interview with the British BBC TV station, she also talked about all the mistakes:

"It wasn't until "The Chamber of Secrets" was about to be published and the casting of "The Sorcerer's Stone" had reached the last minute that I accidentally discovered that when Lance bought the film and television rights of the "Harry Potter" series from me, he and Will's film company It's not even established yet!"

"Thought at the time? Of course 'I got scammed!' (Laughs)"

"Tricked by the last name Roderick, and Lance's look, which is so deceptive and fits my idea of ​​the perfect adult version of Draco Malfoy (laughs again)."

"No, I'm not implying anything. Tom Felton is very good. There are a thousand Hamlets in the eyes of a thousand people. Tom's interpretation of Draco is another feeling. Although the movie is adapted from the novel, the novel and The movie is different, Tom Felton's Draco is closer to the setting of the Malfoy family when I wrote "Sorcerer's Stone", and Lance, Lance directly took the setting of the next few books. The creation of the book, because he is so beautiful, so beautiful that I can't help but revise the outline since "Azkaban". Hahahaha."

"Of course, Lance is not like Draco now, even Draco in the seventh grade will not have his current aura, and in my setting, the adult Draco will not have Too beautiful. Of course Lucius is not, because Lucius (laughs) You know. But when I first met Lance, he really gave me a very strong feeling of the Malfoy family, Maybe it's because he's the first upper-class gentleman I've ever met."

"Now I'm very lucky. Fortunately, when I found out the truth, I couldn't go back on my word. Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't have everything I have today."

"Resentment? No, how could I resent Lance and Will! (blaming the host's tone) I'm actually very glad now that I sold the rights to Will and Lance instead of Warner Disney Universal or something The company, it's not that they are not good, but..."

"As you know, big companies pay more attention to box office and profit when making movies. When they make a series of movies, the first one is often a low-cost test. If it succeeds, the series will continue. If it hits the street, this series will It's over. And big companies often make series of movies very commercial, such as the "007" series and superhero series. In fact, many superhero comics are also very connotative. The satire of society and human nature is not as good as many literary works. How much lower, like "V for Vendetta", "Batman The Dark Knight", "Watchmen", especially "Watchmen", this is a movie that makes people forget even after reading it, and just focus on being silly Thinking in a daze comic, too great a work - sorry I can't give more examples, because I only read these few, it was recommended by Will, I was not interested in comics before, especially superheroes Comics, but I like his recommendations. If you need more, go to his facebook page and harass him."

"In these comics, the world is gray and the dark side of humanity has no limit, but because the judges at the major awards ceremonies don't award awards to comic-book adaptations-at least for now-the studios are When shooting comics, they always only focus on whether the scenes are hot enough and the special effects are not enough. In short, they only focus on commerciality. However, Lance and Will are still from the "Harry Potter" series. When there is no dawn, they shoot everything. They did not simply regard "Harry Potter" as a fairy tale novel. I was moved by their restoration of the original work and their pursuit of the artistry of the film. And , They also respect my opinion very much, you know, almost all the actors in this movie were selected by the three of us."

Joanna Rowling looked directly at the camera and showed a very happy smile: "Thank you Will and Lance, you took the "Harry Potter" series very well, and even made the kind of film I wanted, but The epic sense that has never been pursued due to the limitation of the level-maybe this is the advantage of having a male partner, they can make up for your shortcomings. (laugh again)”