Raising Dragons in Hollywood

Hollywood has always been a land of lies.

The bosses of film companies are willing to attract people's attention with well-crafted stories, and many stars also like lies that can improve their reputation, so many things that are obviously lies will be spread more widely. In the end, it is difficult to distinguish between true and false.

As a director, Sami has always considered himself just an insignificant behind-the-scenes staff.

He had no interest in walking up to the stage and standing under flashing lights.

But the experience of being almost regarded as a serial murderer this time is really ridiculous.

Even if the rumors have been refuted, many people who don't pay attention to entertainment news, after seeing news with similar headlines, can't help but go in curiously, wanting to see what's going on.

However, those scribbled news in the past cannot be completely deleted, and they still appear on some not-so-regular webpages from time to time.

As a result, director Sami and serial killer became a pair of popular combination phrases, which were constantly linked together and searched repeatedly.

Although Sammy is in a stable state, he even thinks it's cool.

But the vast majority of people around are dissatisfied with this, thinking that it is too detrimental to their personal image.

Especially Sammy's older brothers (Dunbar, the culprit recently, has completely disappeared and dare not speak up).

They called to comfort their younger brother one after another: "I have a reliable team of lawyers here, don't be afraid, whoever dares to speak nonsense, we will sue him!"

Sammy didn't want to go to court, and he didn't want to worry about his family. When he was struggling...

Disney's seasoned press officer had a win-win proposition for him -- make a connection to "The Exorcist."

In fact, Sammy has done this before but not quite as thoroughly.

So, the advice of the press officer is - don't try to justify, people don't like to hear the truth, you can try to make up a lie that is even more absurd than 'serial killer', use this new lie to cover the old lie, because people like to have Gimmick stuff.

After thinking about it for a while, Sami ran to a well-known entertainment reporter and said, "Of course I didn't kill anyone, but I have a good habit of practicing dragon slaying from time to time, which may make people feel a little Misunderstanding. What, you don’t understand what I mean? It’s very simple. This is like the hero in “The Exorcist”. Occasionally, he encounters demons and ghosts in his daily life. He needs to kill demons. I met them before. A terrifying black dragon whose skin can't be cut even with a sword, I'm currently researching how to kill him..."

Disney's press officer: Hey, I told you to tell a lie, but I didn't ask you to tell such an unreliable lie.

Sammy: Actually, I'm partly telling the truth.

Interestingly, however, it is a world where truths are passed as lies and lies are passed as truths.

The conversion relationship between truth and lies is often extremely confusing. Lies that sound too unreliable make people completely unbelieve, but in order to clarify their thinking, they have another relatively reliable association—now The nonsense and the previous serial killer incident are all hype for "The Exorcist".

This conclusion is wonderful!

However, everyone's attention has been shifted to the hype of the movie, and they think that the hype is too much!

Public opinion was uproar.

Unlike any previous movie, the movie "The Exorcist" is hot before it is shot.

During this period, it didn't even have a prototype or even a crew...

But there are already hundreds of fans waiting to see it.

Because of this situation, Disney is a little bit uneasy, worrying that fans' expectations will be raised too high, and when the film is actually screened, it will not reach such a high level.

But they quickly thought about it, because even if the word-of-mouth was poor, these expectations can be converted into box office, that is, money and income.So, since you don't lose money, what does it matter if fans are not satisfied after watching it?Actors, directors, producers, feel free to scold them.

In such a situation, an ordinary director would have already worried: "How can I shoot in the future?"

But Sammy was still calm and not bothered by it.

He started busy filming while he was not in the crew, and went to the detention center again to visit the juvenile delinquent Huolong who "showed his face to prove that he was not dead, and went back to jail again".

Michelon was super happy to see him.

The two confided how much they missed each other, and talked about what happened around them.

Sammy, of course, inevitably mentioned the movie "The Exorcist".

Michelon couldn't hold back and asked, "Who is the leading actor? If no one plays it, I'll do it."

Yes.

The film currently has no leading actor.

Mikey has long been eager to recommend himself.

But he was embarrassed to say that now he pretended to mention it as a joke, but in fact he hoped that Sammy would immediately get on the topic and leave the actor's seat to himself.

But Sammy is super principled.

He resolutely refused: "You are not the hero I imagined."

Mikey was upset again.

But this time, perhaps because of the change from friend to fiancé, he was no longer willing to stay alone and sulking like before. Instead, he confessed his thoughts and protested softly in a voice that had not yet changed his voice. : "Why am I not your hero, have you grown tired of the old?"

However, Sami, who was accused of "loving the new and dislike the old", had no guilt, but laughed.

He thought Mikey was joking, and coaxed him with a smile: "Don't be angry, baby. How about I bring you a happy children's meal tomorrow? Although you are not the leading actor in the movie, you will always be the hero in my heart Protagonist."

Mai Qilong was coaxed to be happy, but he was still a little bit dissatisfied.

Because no matter in reality or in movies, he wants to be Sami's leading actor.

But the happy kids meal thing.

It is still acceptable.

He has wanted to eat it for a long time, but he has always been too embarrassed to compete with the human cubs.

He was planning in his mind, and while emphasizing, he made a request and said: "I'm still very angry! If, I mean, if, you don't have time to visit me the day after tomorrow, that... tomorrow's happy children's meal, I want two One copy. But even if I asked for two copies, I'm still angry!!"

at the same time,

Behrman was lucky enough to receive an invitation to audition for the leading role in The Exorcist.

This well-known actor happened to be a fan of Sami.

At the premiere of "Say Hello to the World", he specially asked his friend Mick Lee to introduce him to Sami.

Coincidentally, Sammy admired him too.

This appreciation comes from a film he once starred in, "Fruitcake on Glummer Street", which is a niche film.

In this movie, Behrman played a down-to-earth nerdy college student.

But this college student was unlucky. He met the fate of his life at the entrance of the cake shop.From then on, a beautiful girl named Anna suddenly broke into his peaceful life.The girl who claimed to have a miserable life experience used the excuse of 'I want to eat a fruitcake before I die' at the first meeting, and cheated the nerd's money to buy drugs, and then even worse to deceive Bellman. , and pulled him into the world of substance abuse.

So, in the second half of the film...

These two characters are almost completely in a state of psychedelia, unable to distinguish reality from fantasy.

A bunch of messy life scenes were filmed in the middle, such as eating together, singing like crazy on the street together.

During the period, the director's shooting techniques were also very fascinating, the camera was shaky, and the two of them also acted crazy.

The final ending is inexplicably open, probably because the heroine Anna died suddenly and mysteriously in the bathroom. After discovering the body, the nerdy college student was at a loss for a while, and then called the police in a daze.

But under the strict questioning of the police, even he himself couldn't explain how the girl named Anna died.

When this movie was broadcast, many critics gave the evaluation: I don't know what to say.

In their view, the whole movie has no theme.

If this reflects the current situation of contemporary young people, the plot only involves two young people, the male and female protagonists;

If it is against the abuse of drugs and drugs, many scenes are beautifully shot, which does not seem to be a completely critical attitude (also because of this, the film has become a restricted rating);

If it is a tribute to love, it seems to be particularly unclear.Because when the two met at the beginning, there didn't seem to be any sparks. The main reason was that the male protagonist was too honest, and directly entered the stage of "being deceived, deceived, and repeatedly deceived", and then they were magically together.

For these reasons, the movie kind of fails.

It seemed that it had only been in theaters for less than two weeks before it was pulled because it was too low at the box office.

But Sammy liked the movie.

In his view, there is no need to analyze the film into one, two, three, but to find out the ideological connotation.

The director may just be telling a story that happened in another world.

A story that belongs to two people, the hero and the heroine.

Just appreciate it silently.

For example, there was a section that was beautifully shot.

When the two met for the first time, the heroine Anna lightly put a cigarette on the corner of the college student's lips, amidst the smoke, she asked softly with a half-smile, "Are you coming?"

Then, their eyes met, and everything began simply.

As long as you don't care about the too fragmented and messy plot, you can feel the invisible and charming tension and ambiguity between the two characters through the excellent performance of the actors.

In the looming background music, it seems that the threads of fate are slowly extending and extending towards each other...

Then, they are densely intertwined and woven together, and finally, a big love net is formed, binding the two people together firmly.

Sammy appreciates Behrman's form and acting skills in this film.

He is not the handsome and ostentatious actor like Mai Qi. On the contrary, he looks very ordinary and ordinary at first glance, but it may be due to his superb acting skills or his distinctive personality, so he will be particularly attractive in the camera. The type of 'ignoring at first sight, becoming more pleasing to the eye'.

In this film, compared to the heroine's exaggerated and wanton performance...

His performances are always reserved and restrained, his eyes have always maintained that kind of forbearance and restraint, but with the development of the film, he gradually became crazy a little bit, but in the madness, he kept as much as possible. Described, but the strong control that runs through the overall situation, trying to make himself not completely collapse, like walking a tightrope, dangerous and sexy, it can be said that his expression of emotions is almost perfect.

Therefore, a chance to cooperate.

He immediately sent an invitation to Behrman.

Bellman was originally a fan of Sami, and was surprised and delighted when he received this invitation.

But when he saw the script, he was a little hesitant.

Before that, just like the male protagonist in "Fruitcake on Glummer Street", he has always played the role of gentle, reticent, good-looking, good-tempered, and maybe a little literary type;

But in the movie "The Exorcist", the hero is a character who is both good and evil.

In other words, this role, no matter it is compared with the roles he has played in the past, or compared with his real personality in reality, will be very different, which makes him not so confident that he can play this role well .

Sammy kept trying to persuade him to take the role.

For this reason, I even made a phone call to challenge the general: "Don't you want to play a certain type of role until you get old? What's wrong with challenging new things while you are young?"

These words indirectly prompted Behrman to make up his mind and take over the role.

He also really wants to broaden his play and improve his image.

But what I didn't expect was...

When the news that he was about to play the leading role in "The Exorcist" came out, it caused panic.

As mentioned earlier, The Exorcist was a best-selling novel.

Therefore, even though it has passed the hot sale period, there are still some diehard book fans.

These book fans usually have no sense of existence at all, and are almost ignored by everyone.

But it may be because the honest and gentle image of Behrman in the past is too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.

So, when it was announced that he was the male lead of the movie, it was a bit of an exaggeration to say that it might feel like a sheep ran to play the Lion King...

Book fans are all fried!

A total of [-] protest emails rushed into Disney's mailbox for accepting opinions like a tide.

No exaggeration!

A book fan who was shocked and angry also publicly wrote on Twitter:

[A goofy nerdy exorcist?go fuck it!Can he exorcise demons?I think it is a small dessert specially delivered to the door of devils and monsters obediently. ]

Someone also left a dissatisfied message under Sammy’s Twitter:

[Why not just let Mikey do it?Although it doesn't quite fit the image in the book, at least I can still see the face. ]

Even Behrman's own fans aren't very supportive of him.

They said on Twitter: [About reading the original book of "The Exorcist", the protagonist is not bad, he is very charming, but it really feels different from our Behrman, do you have to play it?Or don't act, give up! ]

The negative effect seems to be a bit too big indeed.

Ms. Selena, the original author who is writing the script for the movie, can't sit still for a minute.

She made a call to Sammy to ask about the casting.

Sammy was very upset, but had to promise again and again: "Trust me, trust me, that's my movie too, I won't mess around."

Ms. Selena was dubious.

But I can't get to this point, and make a fuss about changing directors.

She had no choice but to request that within the next few days, she must see Bellman's male protagonist's appearance. If the temperament is too different and the image is too different, even if she is found to be picky, she will still firmly oppose it to the end.

In addition, the producer sent by the company also had doubts about it.

Backed by Disney, he simply pulled out a long list for Sammy, with the names of several top Hollywood actors on it, and then reminded him tactfully and richly: "Director, our budget is very sufficient. Save money, you can hire a bigger actor."

Director Sami was very helpless: "I really didn't want to save money..."

Producers are also dubious,.

But ignoring the image problem, Bellman is not an unknown actor, and his salary is not low.

Therefore, with the idea of ​​"look back at the styling, and watch him perform a few more episodes", he endured it for the time being just like Ms. Selena.

All obstacles seem to have finally been removed.

However, this calm did not last long.

This "The Exorcist" is probably destined to be a movie full of disasters.

After the surrounding voices subsided a little, Sami started to set up his own crew.

He put his new assistant in touch with the familiar crew he had worked with a few times before, and at the same time, with the advice of the producers and casting directors, he checked the other roles that were gradually confirmed one by one.

But while everything is moving forward in an orderly manner...

A larger rally has emerged.

The die-hard book fans of "The Exorcist" once again come up with a new operation.

Holding the novel and a sign reading 'No Sammy, and No Behrman', they showed up at the gates of Disney's headquarters to show their boycott of the film.Moreover, these people have repeatedly expressed the opinion that "Sami and Behrman must have ruined the work" in some public places.

At this point, Disney is very suspicious that this is a competitor or a hostile company secretly provoking trouble.

Otherwise, why haven't these book fans been so extreme a few years ago?

Things gradually went from bad to worse.

After all, no film company would be under such great pressure to shoot a movie.

That kind of behavior against the whole world usually only appears in novels, movies and cartoons...

In real life, who would want to go against the majority group regardless of everything?

In this case, Mr. Norris, the former boss, called Sammy privately.

He quietly hinted at the seriousness of the current situation: "I'm sorry to tell you what's next, but if you still have any hole cards in your hand, you'd better take them out now, otherwise, the pressure on the company will big..."

Sammy was very upset.

He just wants to make movies seriously, and he doesn't want to get involved in messy things at all. Now it's a disaster, and he doesn't stop making movies.

But maybe it's the constant persecution of the crisis...

A door in his mind was opened like this, and countless magical and bold ideas spewed out from this door: "Since there are real dragons? Why can't there be real demons and monsters?"

"What, invite me to make a movie?"

Teacher Baimao looked at the human companion who was said to be the little charmander in astonishment, and asked in surprise: "What can I play? The heroine?"

Sami blinked his eyes, looked at the white cat who opened his mouth and said he wanted to be the heroine in surprise, and thought: "I'm so confident!"

But after thinking about it seriously for a few seconds, he couldn't help but snapped his fingers and happily agreed: "Good idea."

Teacher Baimao couldn't help but immediately become reserved.

It puts on the very charming pose of the cat tribe: "You have a good eye, young man!"

During this period of time, Bellman's life was not easy.

When book fans are protesting, actors will always bear much more attacks than directors.

Fortunately, his agent is very capable, and he has been strictly guarded, so that he has been under the strictest protection, so that he can safely distance himself from those who oppose the book fans, and avoid a lot of trouble.

However, the attitude of book fans and the disapproval of some movie fans still hurt this actor who has always been kind to others.

At that time, Behrman maintained a precious silence and never made any inappropriate remarks, so as not to cause greater misunderstandings, conflicts and contradictions.

It was not until a long time later that he euphemistically expressed his feelings at the time: "An actor with real development potential should try various roles. Even if countless people are against it, I don't think what I did It was wrong. I needed a chance, and I am very grateful to director Sammy for giving me this opportunity."

Some people withdraw when they are stressed.

But some people just like to face difficulties.

There is no doubt that Sammy and Behrman are of the same kind.

Thus, amidst the voices of opposition and protest, the two successfully converged.

Behrman, who was not confident at first, had firm eyes.

He said every word very seriously: "Director, I'm ready, I want to play the exorcist Albioni."

"Great!" Sammy said happily.

He did not know where to take out a white cat and handed it to Behrman: "Hold it well, hold it well, be gentle."

Wait, what's going on here?

Next, shouldn't we discuss the characters, the plot, and the styling?

Bellman took the white cat in a daze, and hugged it gently according to Sammy's request.

Then, Sammy told him excitedly: "Come on, let's get to know each other! This lady will play the heroine in the play, which is your lover Katie."

The white cat meowed cooperatively, and naturally leaned its body softly into the arms of the male protagonist.

However, the male protagonist Bellman was in a trance for a moment, and almost thought he was hallucinating.

Looking at the fluffy white cat in his arms, he almost knelt down to Director Sami for a moment.

The actor who felt that he was on a thief ship finally shed tears of kelp in his heart: "I was wrong, I was wrong! Book fans and movie fans are right, I am not suitable to play the leading role , not suitable."

Director Sami happily ran over, stood behind the hero and heroine, stood on tiptoe, compared a pair of scissors, held up his mobile phone, and took a photo of the two of them and the cat.

Then, he looked at himself and the male and female protagonists he had chosen with satisfaction in the photo, and thought: "This shooting will definitely be fun!"