Birth of an actor

Chapter 126 "Shakespeare in Love"

He was forcibly dragged away from the set by his agent, Amon Goffman, and Hollywood gold-medal Jewish producer Harvey Weinstein. William, who was taller than the two, was dragged along almost gliding below his ankles. William, whose arms were very uncomfortable, felt that it was a bit shameful to walk like this in public, so he struggled a little bit. The combined strength of Amon Goffman and Harvey Weinstein was about the same as him, but they were dead. Unwilling to let go, the three had no choice but to walk all the way into the lounge under the strange eyes of the entire studio.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they entered the lounge, Harvey Weinstein and Amon Goffman locked the door behind them, and William, who heard the "click", trembled in his heart, wondering what his agent was going through: " Was WMA bought or did you get promoted to CEO, ARMY?"

"Neither." Amon Goffman said: "But we have very important things to talk about next, it's better not to let any daredevil break in."

"Do me a favor, Will." Harvey Weinstein walked up to William and held his hand: "I need you."

William was aroused by the other party's enthusiasm, goosebumps all over his body, he pulled his hand out, resisting the urge to rub against his clothes, looking at Harvey Weinstein's photo, which probably few people except his parents would love With a serious and concerned face, he asked, "Harvey, what happened?"

"A new film I'm preparing has encountered a leading actor crisis." Harvey Weinstein said: "I can't find another suitable actor for a while except you. Amon said that you currently only have "" The movie "Blood to Love" is being filmed, so please, save me from the fire and water!"

"Saving you from fire and water? Is it really that exaggerated Harvey?"

Harvey Weinstein's expression changed, and he coughed twice in embarrassment: "Uh, of course it's not such an exaggeration, but it's impossible to describe my desire for you, Will."

——Actually, it’s just that exaggerated. Miramax has obtained the script for this film since 1996, but the original copyright has always been with Universal. It took them two full years to purchase the copyright from Universal and operate the film. Now, the filming has finally reached the final stage. Miramax has already set this movie as this year's Olympic production. Now except for the leading actor, the crew has signed contracts with all the actors and arranged a schedule, and The venue is also a rented studio in London, which is time-limited. According to the contract, the film will officially start shooting in one and a half weeks!If there is no actor before the filming starts, in addition to paying a large amount of delay fees, it will not be able to catch up with the production and release within this year. At that time, money will still be a trivial matter, and Miramax will not have important impact on Oscars this year. , It will affect the company's development and expansion process, this is the big deal, and Harvey Weinstein just denied the urgency of finding a leading actor, because he doesn't want to be in a too passive position.

Will William and Amon Goffman believe Harvey Goffman?It's strange to believe it all.

Amon Goffman and William exchanged glances silently, and the tacit understanding they had cultivated for a long time had made them understand what the other party wanted to say.

As a result, William's attitude became more relaxed, with a bit of indifference: ""Blood Together" has just entered the official shooting process, and this is the first film I plan to make, and I am also an actor and producer. Not an easy job, Harvey, and I don't think I'll be able to juggle two films in that time frame."

"We can re-adjust the shooting schedule so that your parts in the two films are concentrated, so that when you are filming with this crew, the London side will shoot other actors' scenes first, and when you go to London, this crew will also be filming. How about adjusting the content of the shooting accordingly?" Harvey Weinstein believes that it is not absolutely difficult for actors to start shooting two movies at the same time. You must know that in the most prosperous golden age of Hollywood, those who were restricted by studios and audiences Some of the favorite superstars even entered two sets in a week.

"Sounds good, but I still have to read the script first." William opened the script that Harvey Weinstein put in front of him as soon as he entered the door, "Shakespeare in Love" ("Shakespeare in Love") The name made him raise his eyebrows: "A film about Shakespeare?"

"It tells how Shakespeare was inspired by love when he was young, and created the story of "Romeo and Juliet". A shot of how the dialogue and the scene was born, believe me Will, this is the best script I've ever read!"

William looked at the script and licked his lips: "I play Shakespeare?"

"Of course, Shakespeare, the one and only hero! Shakespeare, the young Elizabethan playwright!"

"...do I look like him?" William asked with raised eyebrows.

There is no doubt that William Shakespeare was one of the most talented poets and playwrights in the world, but all the portraits of him that have survived show him with a long face, round eyes, a high nose, and an emphasis on a bald forehead , it's really not handsome. If you want to say that the biggest similarity between him and William is that they both have dark hair?

William hasn't read the script yet, so he doesn't know what kind of story this is, but if he is to play Shakespeare, shouldn't the similarity in appearance be the first requirement for an actor?

"Of course you are much more handsome than Shakespeare, Will, but we all know that the portraits handed down by Shakespeare are all after he was middle-aged, especially after he applied for the title of 'Gentleman' before he hired a painter to paint. Shakespeare after 40 years old, and our story takes place in the young Shakespeare. When you read the script, you will know that this is not a biopic, but a conjecture about history.”

William looked at his agent, and Amon Goffman immediately shook his head and said, "I haven't read the script yet, Will, I was forcibly dragged out of the church by this guy during church." Looking at Harvey Weinstein: "When you said in church that you had something very, very important to see Will, I thought you needed him to save the world, and it turns out—"

"As long as Will takes over Shakespeare in Love, it will save my world!" Harvey Weinstein argued: "And the cast of this play is very strong. We invited Gwyneth Paltrow, Spielberg's goddaughter, beautiful blonde, Judi Dench as the Queen of England, Geoffrey Rush as a theater actor, and your rival in love is Colin Firth. And do you know Will, in 92, Julia Roberts liked this script so much that she wanted to act in it herself, and even went to the UK to persuade Daniel Day Lewis to play Shakespeare, but Daniel Day Lewis because It was in conflict with the schedule of "In the Name of the Father" so she rejected it. Seeing that she couldn't cooperate with Daniel Day Lewis, Julia Roberts simply stayed and had a relationship with him. Later, the two broke up, and the script became Shelved indefinitely at Universal until I found out—"

"Before you keep putting money on your scripts, Harvey, we want to know which actors you've been looking for and why they were rejected?" Amon Goffman asked.

Harvey Weinstein laughed dryly: "We once considered Kenneth Branagh, but he was a bit too old for being born in 60, and he was a dozen years behind Gwyneth Paltrow. I'm sure I can't do it with some of the West End actors, but—"

"But you want the lead actor to be a movie star instead of a no-name theater actor."

"Part of the reason is that this is true, but what prompted me to choose Will, in addition to him being handsome and charming, with outstanding acting talent and very artistic appeal-don't look at me Amon with such strange eyes, I am not flattering on purpose , I'm telling the truth. Also, Will your paper in Shakespeare Studies called "Shakespeare's Marriage and Dramatic Writing" struck a chord with me and others, and we think what you describe in your paper The point of view is very similar to the Shakespeare we want to express in the script. Although you have not performed a play in London's West End or Broadway, as long as you can understand Shakespeare's passionate pursuit of art and the influence of love on his play creation , that is better than any other actor who can memorize Shakespeare's works backwards."

William raised his eyebrows again in surprise: "But, how do you know that I wrote such a paper? As far as I know, "Shakespeare Studies" is an academic journal, and it seems to have nothing to do with Hollywood."

"But that's one of the twenty A&HCI drama journals in the world. You really don't know how rare it is to have actors with excellent performances and studies in Hollywood, right?"

The full name of A&HCI is "Arts and Humanities Citation Index". Simply put, all important academic journals in the field of arts and humanities are included in it. Among them, there are about [-] academic journals on drama, and all important dramas in the world Academic papers are published in these journals, and if university students can publish professional academic papers in A&HCI journals, whether they can graduate smoothly, get a letter of recommendation from a professor, or even graduate with the title of outstanding graduate All very helpful.

Last year, William had two papers published by A&HCI journals, one was about William Shakespeare's "Shakespeare's Marriage and Dramatic Creation", which was published in the British magazine "Shakespeare Studies", and the other was about Jane Austen's "Extending from Jane Austen to Discuss Women's Consciousness and Marriage in Europe in the Eighteenth Century" was published in the American magazine "Literary Review".

Without waiting for William to answer, Harvey Weinstein shrugged and said, "Last year, you had two movies released. Gattaca and Titanic both achieved good reputation and box office. It is already a great achievement, but as a student of the prestigious Harvard, you did not relax after entering the university. Instead, you published academic papers that are commendable in the professional field in both the first and second grades. But like your Golden Globe trophy, it is an achievement that does not contain water at all. The reporters of the "Boston Post" have already reported on your two papers, and they even interviewed Harvard professors. After that, The media in other places also reprinted the news, maybe you didn't see it in school at the time-let's say Will, now Hollywood and Harvard like you to death, Hollywood is because you help clean up some movie stars All of you have a bad reputation for being uneducated, and Harvard is because you perform well and study well, and you are a typical example of a good alumni."

Harvey Weinstein said so much in one breath, his face flushed red, William quickly smiled and patted him on the back: "Take a breath, Harvey, I will read the script carefully, you know I You have to read the script carefully before accepting any play, right? But I promise to reply to you as soon as possible.”

Judging from William's expression, Harvey Weinstein believed that his work should not fail. He finally got up to leave, but when he went out, he grabbed the door frame and yelled the last sentence: "Tonight, no, immediately after reading the script Call me! By the way Will, the last one you have to say yes to - William Shakespeare, his name is William too!"

……

"Older Weinstein is a demagogue." William said after Harvey Weinstein left: "If my ears were a little softer, I might have agreed to whatever he asked. Sly Jew, Sorry, Ami, I didn't mean to offend."

Amon Jew Goffman shrugged indifferently and said: "Cunning is still a compliment to me. I will go to find out if what Harvey said is true. If so, then this opportunity is really good. I have already I heard that Miramax wants to use a costume drama to compete for this year's Oscars, and the old white judges in the Academy love this one the most."

"Shakespeare, young, in love, does sound interesting."

"Will, do you really want to play this role?"

"If the script doesn't disappoint me." William shrugged and said that he was indeed interested in playing the most famous writer in the history of English literature.To tell the truth, every person who studies English literature, who doesn't want to be Shakespeare himself?

"Okay, then I'll try not to open my mouth during the negotiation. Miramax is not Fox or Warner, and this is not a commercial script. It is impossible for your salary to reach 1000 million dollars, but I I will ask for a share of the box office for you."

"Thank you for your hard work, Ami. If there is an Oscar for the Best Model Agent Award, you must be the winner."

"Who made a certain boy when he received the first important award in his life, the acceptance speech he said moved his agent to death, and he cried and wet three tissues in front of the TV." Ya Mon Goffman spread his hands in resignation and said, "Since then he has sworn to be a cow and a horse for his boy."

"You wet three tissues?" William heard this for the first time.

Amon Goffman blushed in a rare way, and his entire head had turned bright pink.

William stepped forward and hugged his agent fiercely: "We have to work together until the day I can no longer act."

Amon Goffman's shyness could not resist his instinctive desire for money, he quickly protested: "If you stop filming, you will have a lot of things that need professional agents to deal with, such as selling memoirs , autobiography, the occasional cameo in a few movies, even selling the rights to a personal biography, I will keep doing this until you or I shut your eyes completely. I am a Jew, and we will keep making money until the end of our lives”