Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 455 The Unspeakable Helen

"I think, Ali's choice, we must first look at the popularity of the actor. An actress with average acting skills but a high reputation is our best choice." Weintraub chatted with Ronald again in the office. With the choice of the heroine, he seems to have changed his mind again.

"Actually, I agree with you. Ali's role is not too much. Of course, it would be best if she has both popularity and certain acting skills." Ronald took out his notebook and turned to the page recorded that day. Who?" Next to the handwriting, another circle was drawn heavily.

   "So, do you have a candidate?" Ronald asked.

   "What do you think of Brooke Shields? She is the dream lover of all the boys in America."

  "This?" Ronald hesitated, of course Brooke's appearance is very suitable for a dream lover, but it does not match the overall story of the movie. A girl as beautiful as her is unlikely to fall in love with Johnny, a middle-class family who loves to ride motorcycles and practice karate.

   And it's not possible to see a skinny monkey like Ralph Mazio in the future... The people of America will not accept it, if it is similar to a fit and handsome guy like himself... Hey, where did you think of it?

   "It's a good choice," Ronald replied while thinking about the reason. "But Brooke has already been admitted to Princeton. I know this is her wish. When we were shooting, she had just entered college and was unlikely to take a leave of absence."

   "Is that so? I will officially contact her mother Terry through the agent. You and Brooke know each other, and ask her privately, how is it?"

   "Okay, I will." Ronald's doubts deepened, why every time Weintraub went back to rest, there would be some whimsical, but sounding new ideas the next day.

"Also, we can't just bet on Brooke Shields. Now in the teenage audience, Diane Lane, the heroine of 'The Wicked', is also very well-known. She's filming 'Streets of Fire,' and you can Can't you ask her to come and talk? I know you worked with her in a Coppola movie."

   "This? I asked her agent, I don't know how the filming is going." Ronald added two more question marks next to the question mark, and then folded the notebook.

   Ronald was a little conflicted about Diane Lane. Since I accidentally said the wrong line last time, I have been avoiding her, and I have never contacted this little girl who can be regarded as growing up.

  I wonder what will happen when we meet? Ronald was a little worried and a little looking forward to it.

   Donna just took advantage of the summer vacation to come to Los Angeles to study the university. She will graduate from high school next year and is choosing the university she wants to go to. The ivy on the east coast has gone several times, and this time I come to the west coast. It happened that I could go to the class with her.

  It was Helen Slater who arrived in Los Angeles before Donna.

Warner Bros. was very pressing. The director of "Supergirl" quickly cut the 138-minute first-cut version. He was going to do a test screening for the audience. Helen also came to join in. This was her first time on the big screen. See your own performance on.

  Ronald took a break from his busy production and took a night to watch the preview with Helen.

  Warner Bros. has high hopes for "Supergirl". The unfavorable box office of "Superman 3" made Warners doubt about this series of films. This test screening is the key to the continuation of the entire "Superman" series.

   Although Ronald had only been separated from Helen Slater for less than two weeks, he found that Helen had become thinner. He was a little worried, but he didn't say it in person, but decided to call Gerald later to find out about the situation.

  Helen was a little nervous. She entered the screening room, sat in the creator's seat, and squeezed Ronald's hand so hard that her fingers turned white.

  The name of the producer Alexander Salkind appears directly at the beginning of the film, the subtitles are made of three-dimensional characters, surrounded by clouds, and Salkind's name also emits a burst of blue light, full of mysterious colors.

   is followed by the names of the actors, which are listed separately, indicating that the actors are the main creators, and they will also have a position above the title on the movie poster.

   The first thing that flew over was Faye Dunaway's name, also exuding a mysterious blue light. Generally speaking, the first actor's name is usually the starring role, but in this movie, Donna Wei's salary is much higher than Helen's.

   Helen muttered a few words, Ronald quickly comforted.

After   , Helen Slater's name flew over. The blue light on the name flew halfway and turned red. After fading, it was the official title "SuperGirl".

   "The name of the actor closest to the title is the most important. Congratulations, Helen." Ronald whispered in Helen's ear.

   "Giggle", Helen's nervous expression finally smiled, "You don't know, this subtitle cost more than one million dollars to make."

   "Oh", Ronald thought it was too expensive, this subtitle was very shocking when the first "Superman" first came out in 1978. But in the past five years, Superman has made three films, and Supergirl still has this kind of subtitles, and the audience does not think it is very good.

  Ronald looked around, and sure enough, there was no excited reaction from the audience. Instead, someone yawned, hoping that the boring subtitles would pass soon.

   The slow subtitles finally come to an end, as Helen Slater's Supergirl, in a spaceship, discusses some Kryptonian technology with Peter O'Toole's scientist.

  Helen is still cute, wearing a dress. Soon Supergirl broke the spaceship, and she sat in a small escape compartment and went to Earth to find her cousin Superman to find out what the solution was.

   "I think it's weird that they don't look like me." Helen whispered to Ronald.

   "The people in the movie are reversed. It's not the same as what you see in the mirror. But it's the same as what others see. I think you are beautiful."

   "Really?" Helen put down her worries temporarily.

   Ronald watched intently, especially those shots of Helen. The director made Helen very beautiful. Compared with Supergirl, Ronald prefers the scenes where she disguised as an ordinary high school student Linda Lee. Helen put on a wig and regained her brown hair, looking very demure.

   But the audience didn't buy it, they didn't come to see his girlfriend like Ronald. Some viewers even booed when Supergirl took to the skies to save the male lead, the forklift driver.

  No one likes to come to the cinema to watch Supergirl fight a forklift, at least in the movie Superman is blocking ICBMs.

   Helen heard the boos and began to sweat her palms. In this way, the audience strongly expressed their dissatisfaction in public, which was a blow to Helen, who had just made her debut.

   Ronald put his arms around Helen and gently soothed her with one hand. I have also experienced this kind of nervous feeling. Fortunately, my luck is good, and I have made two films that are considered successful.

   After watching the preview and returning home, Helen was in a bad mood. Ronald persuaded her a few words that the reaction to the preview was not necessarily the reaction to the final film.

   "Really? Is that the Brooke Shields movie?"

   "Yes, when I gave the director Zeffirelli a shot, the response of "Endless Love" was not good at the test screening, but the final box office sold well." Ronald said.

  "Oh", Helen's mood was not improved by Ronald's few words, but sat there a little sentimental. Ronald wanted to comfort him in the past.

   "I want to be alone," Helen said.

   At this moment, the phone rang. It was Helen's manager. "Your agent is calling," Ronald handed over the microphone.

   "Well, okay, I see." After Helen finished listening to the phone, she lowered her head and looked even more uncomfortable.

   "What's the matter? What was said on the phone?" Ronald felt that this time Helen came back, not as optimistic as before, but rather depressed.

   "Warner is not satisfied with the film. It has to be cut from 138 minutes to 120 minutes. A lot of my shots have to be cut."

   "It's okay, it's all normal, now the tape..." Ronald tried to console.

"No, you don't know the troubles of an actor. I've spent so much time trying to fit into the role of Supergirl and doing the stunts with wire under the tower myself. I...I don't want those scenes to be cut out like that. ' Helen interrupted Ronald, looking back and feeling sad.

  Helen, who was in a bad mood, went to bed first. Ronald secretly calls Helen's father Gerald.

  It was already midnight in New York where Gerald was located. He was woken up by Ronald's phone call, but he was a little relieved. Ronald still cared about his daughter very much.

   Speaking of Helen's weight loss, Gerald admitted that Helen started dieting again.

   "Did she have a relapse of anorexia? I'm worried, do I need to see a doctor?"

   "No, there are two kinds of anorexia. One is not eating, and this kind of anorexia is dangerous and potentially life-threatening, as you probably know Karen Carpenter.

  Helen got another one. She would overeat and then use vomiting or laxatives to deal with it. I made two psychiatrist appointments for her in New York, and she'll be fine when she comes back. "

   "Oh, okay." Ronald relieved a little.

   "Who are you talking to?" Helen pulled out Ronald's snacks from the room, ate them all at once, and then went to the bathroom to spit them out. She walked out of the room to find Ronald on the phone.

   "Oh, it's Gerald."

  "Oh, my God", Helen covered her face, ran into the bathroom, picked her throat with her hands, and spit out everything she ate.

   Ronald knew that the problem was not a big deal, so he waited outside for her to come out and handed a glass of warm water.

  Helen took the water glass, lowered her head, and sat cross-legged on the sofa, her head lowered and silent.

   Her psychological problems have flared up again, and she seems to think that her performance and body shape problems are the main reasons for the failure of the movie's test screenings. Then Helen failed again from the movie, thinking that her relationship with Ronald might also fail.

   "The movie will definitely fail, do you think my performance is too childish?" Helen finally raised her head and asked.

"It doesn't matter, you won't necessarily fail, and even if you fail, your career won't necessarily be affected. I think your performance is good." Ronald knew that Helen's performance was a bit naive, and it was probably the actor who blamed it. Influenced by Peter O'Toole, Helen's lines are very Shakespearean, which is not very suitable for this kind of film.

   "I'm definitely finished, no one will ask me to act in movies in the future."

   "Don't say that, I will ask you to play the heroine, or you will play my 'Longwei Kid', and I will talk to Weintraub."

   "You see how stupid I am, you will definitely not ask me to play."

   "Nothing, I think your acting is good, mainly because the script is not good."

   "You are comforting me, if you use me as the heroine, the movie will definitely lose money."

   "You don't believe me so much?"

"I believe you are a very good director, but I am not a very good actor, I will make your movie disliked by the audience, then you will like me, you will feel bored watching me, and I will think of it as soon as I see it. I made you lose the box office, ah ah ah." Helen cried softly.

"Where did all this go? Didn't I ask you to play the role? Why don't you take a rest this time, I'm looking for you to play the leading role in the next part." Ronald opened Helen The hair that was in front of her was brushed behind her ears.

   "You really dislike me..." Helen turned her head and ignored him.

   "Nothing, this matter is entirely up to you. I have always felt that you are a good candidate to play Ali."

   "Actually, I don't have to act in your movie. I'm afraid that if I can't act well, you will dislike me." Helen turned around again.

   "No, Helen, I like you, not your character."

   "Um... um... um..." Helen twisted and talked to Ronald for a long time.

   The two of them repeated these words back and forth many times. It had been an hour and it was late at night.

   "I'm fine, I'm like this sometimes. Did I scare you?" Helen's mood finally improved.

   "It's alright, do you want to eat something? I'm hungry. There's a Dongying restaurant here. It's open late."

   "Hee hee..." Helen was very happy, and Ronald didn't get bored after arguing with Ronald for so long. Instead, he cared about himself.

   "Okay, don't eat too much this time."

"Um……"

  The two went to the Dongying restaurant downstairs to eat some sushi, and finally calmed down.

   "Sometimes Helen is really hard to coax..." Ronald wiped his sweat.

   (end of this chapter)