Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Exploitation Hollywood 1980 Text Volume Chapter 18 Audition Stand-in "How is Zachary?" Ronald asked Paula Wagner who was going to New York with him on the plane.

"Oh, the little thing is very cute, isn't it?" Paula said with a smile on her face when talking about her son with Niceta, she took out several photos from her bag and asked Ronald to look through them.

"What a healthy child." Ronald looked at a few pictures. Little Niceta looked very strong.

This time, Paula went to New York to sign a formal meeting with Brooke Shields, and then sign an agency contract with her. Paula, a strong woman, has always worked very hard for her work. She left her child in the care of a nanny and her husband and arrived on Ronald's business jet.

Speaking of signing Brooke Shields, Paula Wagner is very enthusiastic. Since she no longer served as Ronald's agent, her relationship with her husband's most important client has improved.

Paula is best at making long-term career plans for actor clients, and is not just a person who recommends clients to famous directors. What she needs is a well-known director with whom she has a familiar relationship and who has a good role so that she can get the news first. The rest just needs to be left to the professionalism of both parties.

Brooke Shields was the undisputed number one teen idol before she went to college. Four years later, most people still have an impression of her. And there is no doubt that it is much easier to remind you of an idol than to recreate one.

For such a star with a high IQ, good appearance, and natural ability to deal with the media and social media, Paula is very optimistic about the potential of making a venture capital investment in her.

"I will use the standards of a real actor to create her, rather than the star she played before. I have seen a lot of her film and television and commercial clips. In fact, she has a very good imagination and has also received professional body training as a model. In terms of training, as long as you have a solid acting coach and start slowly and step by step, you will soon be able to perform a role that the audience will remember." Paula began to talk about her future plans for Brooke Shields.

Ronald sounded in agreement. One thing that made Paula Wagner different from other actors' agents of this era was that she didn't just negotiate the highest price for an actor out of all the contracts available to her.

On the contrary, she always carefully selects a series of roles so that certain qualities of the actors become one with these characters. The market in America is large enough, and there are many types of actors that audiences can remember.

To be honest, the image of all actors in the minds of the audience is not created by the actor himself, but by the vivid and memorable characters he or she creates.

With Diane Lane in her hands, she can make several possible long-term image positions. This time Penny Marshall "grows up" is a good opportunity for Diane.

"How was the audition with Diane and Tom Hanks?" Ronald asked as he thought about the results of the audition.

"The preliminary reading of the script is very good. The two people's images match well. They are both familiar types of handsome guys and beauties. Director Penny likes Diane's acting skills very much... and said they have a natural chemistry."

"Ah... that's a good thing." Ronald touched his chin. I haven't read the script yet. There won't be any passionate scenes, right?

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…

The plane landed at Teterboro Airport, where Ed Limato, a famous Italian-born broker who was known to treat his clients like a family member, was already waiting there, wearing a windbreaker and waiting just below the gangway.

"Hi, Paula, you are still beautiful. This is a gift for little Zachary." He hugged Paula, who got off the plane first, and gave a woolen hat to Paula's son.

"Hi, Ronald, we meet again. You took so much trouble with Nick last time."

"We're all our own, Ed," Ronald hugged him and saluted.

Several cars prepared at the airport first took Paula, Julia Taylor and others who were traveling with them back to the place where they were staying. Ronald, Richard, and Limato went to a loft apartment on Fifth Avenue.

"When you called me, I was also surprised. This movie was rumored in the Hollywood industry, and many female stars wanted to star in it. Why did you take the initiative to invite Michelle?" Limato asked Rona. De sent some prosciutto and brandy and asked in the car.

"Ed, you should know." Ronald glanced at him. This man was very sincere to his clients, but he didn't think he had a future back then, but he told Michelle Pfeiffer a lot about himself. Bad words.

"Actresses may take the role of Tess as an opportunity, but for me, choosing the right person for Tess is more of a big challenge. All the charm of this play lies in Tess's transformation from an ugly duckling to a white girl. If the moment of the swan's revenge cannot be acted so that the audience can empathize with it, then the movie will not be successful."

"Hey, you're right. This movie is indeed not an ordinary commercial movie. I see the great light of traditional drama." Limato did not dare to ask more questions and just expressed his goodwill to Ronald diligently.

In the history of filmmaking, there is indeed a precedent in which not only the director selects the actor, but also the person who sees the most suitable role, even if the other person is not a professional actor, he will persuade him to star in the role.

But now that Hollywood has become highly commercialized, this kind of thing only exists in legends in the industry.

After a night's rest, Ronald and Julia Taylor went to the location where Jonathan Demme was filming "Married to the Gang" in Long Island, New York.

The weather here is clear and the sun is shining, which is not inappropriate for shooting indoor spring scenes.

After receiving access passes from the production manager, Ronald and Julia Taylor walked into the set, being careful not to disrupt the filming by making any noise.

The shoot took place in a small hair salon. The hair salon was built with half of the wall removed to facilitate the movement of the camera.

Ronald could tell that what he was going to shoot today was the inside of the hair salon. On one side is a row of hair-cutting seats, on the other side is a simple lounge chair, and behind it is a sink with a metal hose sticking out to facilitate rinsing customers' hair.

Pfeiffer's blond hair, which Ronald was familiar with, was dyed into brown curls, giving him a more civilian look.

This hair salon, as well as the customers and stylists inside, all have a strong black style. Angela, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, has to do her own hair and wash her customers' hair.

So Pfeiffer was dressed as a hair-washing girl, with a floral long skirt that didn't look cheap, a purple long-sleeved bottoming bra, and an inappropriately gaudy green short-sleeved overalls.

I saw her picking up an apron, putting it on a female customer, and then began to skillfully lift her hair to style it.

"Cut!" Jonathan Demme over there stopped filming. When he saw Ronald coming, he announced a ten-minute break.

"Well..." Ronald looked at Michelle Pfeiffer who hurried to the lounge, and looked at Julia Taylor.

Both of them felt that this time was not in vain. Pfeiffer plays a hair-washing girl from the service industry at the bottom of society. She has a very similar temperament and moves like someone who works in a real hair salon.

In the first half of "Marrying into a Gangster", she played the role of a gangster boss woman, well-dressed and well-fed, with a temperament like a noble lady.

This ability to make excellent transitions between the images of two social statuses is the reason why the two of them took the initiative to invite Pfeiffer to audition. This time they came to see the actual shooting on the set of Jonathan Demme, and it was really extraordinary. .

"Ronald," Jonathan Demme saw them both.

"I'm not disturbing you," Ronald greeted Demi.

"As promised, you really have a good reputation among these Broadway actors. I announced that you are coming today, and they are very happy."

"Hey? Who? Do I know him?"

"Hey, look who's here, Ronald."

Two Broadway actors had already seen Ronald and happily came over to say hello.

"Alec, Kevin? Why are you here?" Ronald hugged them both in surprise.

It turned out that after watching Alan Rickman's "Dangerous Liaisons", I met Broadway actor Alec Baldwin when I went to a bar, and Kevin Spacey, who performed a celebrity impersonation show in the bar.

"Hahaha, he is the gangster husband who died playing Michelle Pfeiffer's character," Demi introduced to Ronald. "Kevin is helping me here. We have dealt with him before. He was a gangster in the TV series. The boss image is very good, let’s ask him to play a similar gangster role.”

Ronald chatted with the two actors about the play. Their scenes had already been filmed. When I heard that Ronald was coming, I came here specifically to see him. There were several actors they were familiar with who were also gathered around, trying to strike up a conversation with Ronald.

In particular, there is an actress with a chin that is a little too round, which is unexpectedly pleasing to the eye.

Soon, Michelle Pfeiffer rested and came out to say hello to Jonathan Demme. Ronald stepped forward and the two hugged tightly.

Ronald and Pfeiffer met for the first time since they last went to Cher to audition for "Moonlight". Although there is little contact, the two still have friendship with each other and have helped each other several times. Even if we meet, we are still friends.

"I haven't had time to change..." Michelle Pfeiffer had just taken off her apron and knew she was going to audition next, but she didn't know what kind of role she needed to dress up as.

"It's good like this. The first half of this character is an ugly duckling, and the second half is a white swan. It seems to be the opposite of the one you are filming now."

"Hahaha", Michelle Pfeiffer was amused, covering her mouth and laughing.

The two looked at each other, seeming to recall the tacit understanding they had when they got along before.

"We can't disturb Jonathan for too long. We'd better leave first. He can continue filming other scenes." Ronald broke the awkwardness.

After saying that, he went over to chat with Jonathan Demme for a few words, then came back to leave with Pfeiffer.

The three actors on the other side, two men and one woman, are still coaxing Julia Taylor. Taylor actually has files on the three of them and is familiar with some of their previous roles. Except for Kevin Spacey, who is relatively reserved, Alec Baldwin and the supporting actress kept looking over, looking for Ronald.

"How was the chat?" Ronald came over to ask his casting director.

"Wait for me..." Julia Taylor and the three actors ordered, coming over to whisper a few words to Ronald.

"Since you said so, let's go together, but you have to make an agreement with them. As a stand-in for the audition this time, it is impossible to get a role in the new movie."

The so-called audition stand-in means that when auditioning for the protagonist, some supporting actors are needed to play with the actor to see the overall performance. These supporting roles are called audition doubles.

Generally speaking, the protagonist is the first to be determined. When you audition for the protagonist, you don’t know who will play it. The person who reads the lines with the protagonist actor during the audition is the audition double. They usually find suitable actors by the casting director, which is very cheap. The wages can be processed. This is also within the scope of the casting director’s authority.

However, since the main character has not yet been decided, none of the audition stand-ins who accompany the prince to study will be cast in the movie.

The three of them readily agreed that they mostly wanted to establish a relationship with Ronald, and they also wanted to learn more about the inside story of Hollywood blockbuster production.

Several people got into a Toyota van that was specially adjusted to serve as a nanny car. Ronald asked them to sit down, then took out Kevin Wade's latest revised version of the script and handed it to Michelle Pfeiffer.

Then he said to the three audition stand-ins sitting behind him: "This is a script for working girls. Because we didn't prepare you three to participate, we didn't prepare the usual role scripts, but Julia said you are all trustworthy. Theater people, when you get to the audition office, I will give you the complete script, which will be taken back after the audition.”

The character script Ronald mentioned is a method often used by Hollywood to prevent leaks. Take out the script and rebind it according to the parts where the characters have lines, so that other actors don't know, and some people don't know the complete story even after filming.

During auditions, it’s even more necessary to keep things a little more confidential. All three expressed understanding and nodded in agreement.

"By the way, I'm sorry, can you repeat your name again?" Ronald asked the actress who was a bit petite but cute.

"Joan, Joan Cusack," the actress answered.

"Okay, thank you." Ronald wrote down in his notebook and asked his assistant to write a check in his name to pay him.

Returning to the rented conference room, Ronald marked the fragments of the script that needed to be read by Michelle Pfeiffer. Because there are three actors to help, the audition footage can be expanded.

First up was Kevin Spacey. He plays Tess' boyfriend Mick Dugan, a cook.

"You are so beautiful." He naturally acted out a lustful attitude.

"Come here, sweetheart." Spacey moved to the side, freeing up one side of the sofa, and then patted Michelle Pfeiffer to come over.

"Oh, Mick, could you give me something I can wear out, just once?"

Michelle Pfeiffer reads her lines with a plaintive anticipation.

This section talks about Mick’s 30th birthday gift to Tess, which is just a set of sexy underwear and garter panties. All birthday gifts were boudoir fun, no clothes that Tess could wear out and be proud of.

"I wouldn't mind if you wore it out," Spacey improvised.

"Huh?" Ronald turned his eyes and glanced at Spacey. What does this guy want to do? Teasing Michelle Pfeiffer? Not timid.

"Hi, it's just a natural reaction that I've been doing too many imitation shows recently. I'm sorry." Kevin Spacey felt numb all over when Ronald stared at him, as if he was being stared at by a ferocious beast, and he quickly explained himself one time.

"Pfft, hahahaha..." Michelle Pfeiffer was amused by him, because these words were spoken by Spacey in the tone of host Johnny Carson, which was very funny.

"Hahaha..." Everyone laughed and revealed the matter.

The second supporting actor was Joan Cusack, who played Tess’s superior Catherine:

"We are a team, Tess, and people's impression of me begins with you, my secretary."

"Um, yes, Miss Parker." Michelle Pfeiffer began reading this paragraph in a timid tone. This is the first time the two meet, and Catherine sets rules for Tess.

"Your makeup and accessories need to be sorted out. If you wear shabby clothes, people will notice your clothes. If you dress tastefully, people will notice you as a person."

Ronald unexpectedly discovered that Joan Cusack's dialogue skills were very good, and she acted very well in a domineering manner. Except that her accent was a bit more like Chicago's standard accent and lacked the fluency of Manhattan's upper class.

"Yes, Miss Parker." Michelle Pfeiffer's line skills were better than Cusack's. She was scolded by her new boss both times she spoke. Moreover, it was this kind of condescending criticism that came from across classes, which made her both The answers were different every time.

The first time was because Catherine might not like the way she was dressed and felt that her boss was difficult to get along with and made too many demands.

The second time was when a graduate of an Ivy League school who came from a wealthy old-money family showed his disdain for poor children who were attending night school and community college students inadvertently.

Finally, Alec Baldwin plays the leading role of Jack Traynor.

"What, am I not suitable to appear here?" Michelle Pfeiffer didn't put on any makeup, but she looked very charming as soon as she smoothed her hair.

"No, no, I'm sure you're top-notch no matter what you do, ace." This paragraph was from the script that Ronald himself and Demi Moore read during the audition. Baldwin's reaction was indeed better than that of amateur actor Ronald. Be good.

"I have a brain that can do business, and a body that is tempting to commit crime... Is there anything wrong with this?"

"Hey... I can't stand it anymore." Michelle Pfeiffer, a sexy star with a pure appearance, speaks the kind of lines that only gorgeous girls say, and the lethality is definitely not light. If combined with makeup, costumes, and hairstyle, it would definitely be a good show.

After the audition, Ronald asked his assistant to write checks to several audition stand-ins. He first sent Michelle Pfeiffer to the car and returned to the set of "Married to the Gang".

"How did I perform? Not as a director, but as a friend?" Michelle Pfeiffer suddenly turned around and asked Ronald a question on the way to the car.

"Huh? Very good..." Ronald looked at Pfeiffer. Pfeiffer, without any good makeup, was still very charming. She is not the kind of actress who needs heavy makeup to look stunning. Just wearing a purple long-sleeved top makes people feel extraordinary.

Put the other three actors into the car and take them back to the set. Ronald came back and sat down with Julia Taylor:

"I discovered a serious problem..."