Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Beyond Broadway, there are also many theaters for new playwrights to show their new plays. Usually it is called Off-Broadway, and outside of Off-Broadway, there are some theaters, which are the stage for those who have not even shown a play, but have many dreams.

   Here is called the Broadway Outside. Tickets are cheap, but real critics, theater lovers, and casting directors come often. In addition to dramas that can't find their way out of whimsy, there is no shortage of rising stars and avant-garde dramas here.

  Some big Hollywood actors also came out from here. The most famous ones are Meryl Streep, and Diane Lane, who has acted with her since she was four or five years old.

   Ronald rented a large, bright and spacious house here with MGM's budget. He instructed all the assistants to put together a long table, forming a huge table.

  There are various snacks that Ronald found from Chinatown on it, and there are steaming carts like Cantonese restaurants next to it, ready to replenish at any time. There are also piles of cola, coffee machine, black tea, and some light alcoholic beverages on the table.

   Ronald came to the scene ahead of schedule and organized the script reading.

   He was seated at the head at one end of the table, next to his director of photography, David Watkin. Ronald met him on the set of "Endless Love", and when Ronald was called to "direct" Brooke Shields' **** scene close-up, he was the one who shot the shot.

   He also won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography for "Out of Africa".

   He is particularly good at taking ordinary urban scenes into an epic dramatic mood.

  MGM attached great importance to Ronald directing their first film in more than a year, and recruited the best people in the industry to assist Ronald.

On    Ronald's right is another Oscar winner, best art director for 1979's "Jazz Spring", Philip Rosenberg.

   The film also won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Philip Rosenberg’s art and design style also makes the bland street scenes show a travel postcard style.

  The two kings sat down left and right, and began to chat about the set and selection from time to time. From time to time Philip Rosenberg pulled out a photo album and asked Ronald to choose which scene would fit in the movie.

   Opposite him, MGM specially hired to shoot the behind-the-scenes, and behind-the-scenes shooting team, several documentary shooting teams of MGM TV. They set up the VCR and started filming against the table in the corner.

   Actors began to arrive one by one. Seeing this posture, everyone clearly felt that MGM attached great importance to this movie.

   "Hi Olympia, Hi Julie,..."

   Ronald left the table every time to hug and say hello to them. On Broadway, there are strict rules about who can say hello to the director. Only those actors approved by the director can enjoy hugs and kisses. Average actors and poor performers will be demoted and only shake hands.

   Knowing the sensibilities of these actors who have been messing around on Broadway for a long time, although not a hug lover, Ronald also plays the rules. …

   "Hi Nick!" Here comes the corner Nicolas Cage. Ronald went out a short distance and intercepted him after he entered the door. And say hello to him first.

  Among a group of Broadway-experienced theatrical performers, Nicolas Cage seemed a little immature, and Ronald specifically showed off the escalating treatment of the protagonist to let everyone know that Nick was his.

   Sure enough, although Cage was still a rookie in the Broadway hierarchy, Olympia Dukakis, Vincent Gardenia and others also stood up and greeted him.

   "This way, this way", at this moment, there was a loud noise from outside the door.

   "It's Cher here."

   Ronald recognized the voice of one of her assistants. I saw the assistant help open the door, and Xueer walked in with a large group of people.

   "Ronnie, it's nice to meet you." Cher glanced and saw Ronald.

   first came up and greeted Ronald, and then introduced some important ones to Ronald, and more importantly, to the actors present.

"This is my personal hair stylist, this is my personal dresser, this is the driver, this is my assistant...and finally, this is my personal pastry chef Rob Camiletti, who bakes bagels is my favorite.

   "Please sit a little back, the front row is the actor's seat." An actor suddenly spoke up and stopped Rob Cameletti, the pastry chef who wanted to sit next to Cher.

   The young man is very handsome, he glanced at the assistant, and then looked at Xue Er.

   "Honey, wait for me at the back, take out your bagels and let everyone taste."

  Xueer knew that this was illegal, so she asked the pastry chef to get some bagels, and then went to the hair stylist.

  Ronald saw a plate of doughnut-like bread on the table, just without the frosting. Ronald has always liked all kinds of snacks, so he took one and ate it.

   "Ouch..." The smell of German lye bread hit his nostrils, Ronald was caught off guard, but fortunately the tomatoes and vegetables were okay, so he reluctantly ate it.

   Now to lose weight, the concept of health has invaded the market of America. As long as it is low in calories, it can be sold no matter how unpalatable it is.

  Ronald glanced at Cher's new boyfriend, who seemed to be out of place for this place, except that he was handsome and could bake bagels.

  The big battle of Hollywood stars also makes a kind of Broadway character actor less satisfied.

  Broadway actors pay more attention to rehearsal and the guidance of directors and screenwriters. In the theater world, directors know more than actors, and it is a rule that everyone follows.

   In Hollywood, a director and a star, who has the final say on the crew, is a very interesting question.

Although   Ronald has done Cher a big favor, she is a singer and star who is used to seeing big battles after all. It was normal for her to swagger through the market with several assistants. The boy who baked bagels took it with him when he thought it was good, and ate his love food exclusively.

   And Rob is of Italian descent. If there is anything he doesn’t know about Italian customs, can you ask him on the spot? …

   However, this kind of action, especially Rob's ignorance of wanting to sit in the front row and participate in the sacred script reading, made the actors around Broadway feel more or less dissatisfied.

  Especially Olympia Dukakis who played Cher's mother, she just couldn't stand it and called that Rob's baker to go to the back row.

   On Broadway, these irrelevant people can't even get in through the door of the rehearsal room.

   "Have we started the script reading?" Dukakis asked Ronald.

   "Wait a while..." Ronald replied, looking at the door.

   "Who are you waiting for? Your doughnut master?" Dukakis complained in a low voice. The Broadway actor absolutely respected the director's rules and kept her from going on.

   "The person I'm waiting for is here", Ronald stood up and laughed.

   A small, Italian-American man with black-rimmed glasses pushed open the door and broke in.

   "Ronald, it's really nice to see you. I'm not late, am I?"

   "No, you are welcome to my script reading, Marty."

  The comer is Martin Scorsese, who has a high reputation in the New York theater and film circles. He was the foreign aid that Ronald invited to help him settle down on the first day.

"Ha, I just came to see you. I'm very happy to hear that you have finally returned to the orthodox drama. Pauline Kael, a famous film critic in New York, also said that she wanted you this time, and she felt that your talent was exploded by those commercials. The rice **** was delayed, this is the way you should go..."

After   , Scorsese began to greet the actors, and he talked about how he grew up in an Italian family who owned a dry cleaner in Brooklyn, New York.

   How do you understand the big family of Italian descent?

   He told Cher that he had seen the "Skwu Incident" that she played and thought she had no problem playing such an Italian woman.

   He also greeted the screenwriter Shanley, praising him that although he is Irish, his observations of Italians are more careful and true than Italians themselves. Perhaps only a bystander can capture this delicate and exquisite Italian atmosphere.

   He also encouraged Nicolas Cage, saying that when he was a child, there was a bakery on the corner of the street, and the baker in it gave him a great yearning. At one point, he was reluctant to iron clothes for people, but became interested in baking bread.

   picked up a bagel, and Scorsese put it down before taking two bites. When he was a child, the Italians owned a bakery, and the bread in it was much better.

  Ronald chatted with Scorsese, then asked him to make a cameo role in his movie.

   Scorsese said that if it is the protagonist, he can consider it. But his mother never appeared in the movie. Ronald, of course, invited his mother for a cameo right away, in the bakery scene that Scorsese was so fond of.

  "Then let's start", Ronald sent Scorsese away, turned around and announced the start of the script reading.

  Broadway actors, the way Ronald looks now is a little different from just now. As an Italian-born film director, Scorsese's films are all centered on dramatic conflict. …

   He values ​​Ronald so much, it seems that Ronald either has studied the play very well, or is also a prodigy of the play. And film critic Pauline Carr's reputation is known to everyone, this person who likes to severely criticize film directors, suddenly expressed his expectation for Ronald's new work, which also made them feel that this "moonlight sultry" seems to be true It's a movie with great potential.

   On the other side of the film actor camp, their views on Ronald have also changed, and Cher even feels that among the three consecutive films made in the second half of this year, perhaps Ronald's is the hope for him to turn over.

  Cher's recitation is very good, maybe it's a compensation from God for her dyslexia. Relying on the cassette tape of actor Julie, she is very accurate in every line.

Nicolas Cage, who played the role, was also very impressed with Cher's Italian accent. The two read that in the morning after the sultry night in the moonlight, Cher slapped Cage in the face. On, Cage still feels pretty good.

   "You can hit hard, Miss Cher." Cage said to her, "I think you're in the right mood."

   "Come back when the real filming takes place", Cher didn't expect Cage to make such a request.

   Script reading is actually a group of actors sitting in a circle, where everyone reads their character’s lines. It's a way of getting the actor familiar with the character, and then the opponent.

   In New York, a place with a strong theatrical atmosphere, there are still college students holding classic scripts and playing games with their classmates in school.

   "Hahaha..." Everyone liked Nicolas Cage's approach to his role. Two Hollywood actors were also accepted. During the break, Julie, the actor who played the aunt, also came over and whispered to Ronald that it was rare for her to see such a co-production role.

   On the second day, the Broadway camp and the Hollywood camp each had an understanding of each other's strengths. The two sides put away the contempt they might have had at the beginning, and began to read carefully and cooperate with each other's performances.

  Xueer also put away the pomp, and did not let a group of followers come here. Especially that bagel baker sweetie. The dialogue between her and Dukakis began to get better.

  The other actors also felt that Cher's line skills were worthy of her Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress last year.

   They admired the casting director Ronald hired. The Broadway team hired by Julia Taylor actually brought out the realism of the entire Castorini family.

   Audiences who have actually dealt with Italians in Brooklyn, New York, will soon see on the screen the characteristics of certain acquaintances in their daily lives.

   Audiences who have not seen the big Italian family in Brooklyn, and because of the film education of "The Godfather", have stereotyped some characteristics of Italians, and such a performance will make them all satisfied.

   Ronald also gradually understood the characteristics of each actor and began to redesign some scenes according to their performances.

   The one that surprised Ronald the most was Olympia Dukakis who played his mother Rose. The time points of each of her reactions are very accurate, and it is not bad at the point with the best effect. …

  Ronald felt that Dukakis should have a nickname called Staples, which made many Hollywood actors who were rumored to be excellent acting ashamed. This kind of special ability is not born, but it is acquired through more than ten years of careful observation and study.

   If she was in a comedy, she would be a very good candidate.

   Especially in her opposite scene with Cher, mother Rose asked daughter Loretta the same question twice. Does she love that man.

   For the first time, Loretta faced the marriage proposals of various Johnnys. She answered that she did not love her. Dukakis's eyes had a momentary loneliness and regret for the unfortunate daughter. But as a mother, she still said yes immediately, cheering her daughter up, saying that a marriage without love can last long.

   The second time Loretta confronts her brother Ronnie, of course she admits that she loves Ronnie. Dukakis shouted, "I knew it," but there was indeed a trace of happiness in his eyes for his daughter to find a lover.

   The response to these two questions and answers is really a fraction of a second, and within a fraction of a second, the audience will lose the complex emotions behind the lines.

   But Dukakis's accurate card point allowed this emotion to be accurately transmitted to Cher, which made her response even more glorious.

"That's the response I want, it's very good." Ronald pointed to Dukakis and praised that with such a person with outstanding acting skills in the crew, it can really make other people's performances better in silence. one floor.

   Soon, the last continuous reading begins. Everyone can't stop in the middle, but must follow the entire script, from beginning to end, to find out their own emotional baselines and weaknesses in cooperation with each other.

   Ronald couldn't help worrying about the old actor Fedor Chaliapin. He was severely deaf and often missed his opponent's lines. With such a continuous reading around, what should Chaliapin do?

   Sean Connery also said that he was robbed by Chaliapin when he was filming the last movie. Ronald wondered if it was Sean Connery's poor acting, or whether he had misheard his thick Scottish accent.

   When it came to Chaliapin's several scenes, Ronald cheered up and observed his performance.

   Contrary to Ronald's expectations, Chaliapin connected the lines perfectly. When Ronald looked over, he hadn't noticed it yet, and he smiled at Ronald, as if to say, look, Dad can still act.

  Ronald was very surprised, and he said to Gently, very good.

   But this time maybe he was too light, as if Shariapin didn't hear it at all.

   "The old man has something. He hears what he hears, but he doesn't hear anything if he doesn't."