Full-time actor

Chapter 543 [108] This life’s “Fast and Furious 3”!
On October 2005, 10, Chen Yu returned to Hollywood after a long absence.

He couldn't remember how many times he had come here, and he didn't even know if the fourth time was the fifth.
From being full of freshness at the beginning to being at ease with what he has now, Chen Yu felt very relaxed as he got into Larson's car and drove towards the hotel where the crew of "Fast and Furious 3" was staying.

Tomorrow is the day when the filming of "Fast and Furious 3" officially begins.

Chen Yu already had the shooting notice in his hand; on the plane, Chen Yu read the script again.

To be honest, it is quite different from the previous "Fast and Furious 3". Of course, the primary reason for this plot is the intervention of Chen Yu.

He himself made some modifications to the script.

In its previous life, "Fast and Furious 3" had average box office and word of mouth, so Chen Yu would definitely have to intervene.

Fortunately, there are no big names in "Fast and Furious 3", and he is already one of the biggest names in the crew, so he has a certain say in the script.

When he first took on the script, he didn't have much say; but the moment he won the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival, the Grand Slam award was still a deterrent to Relativity Pictures; unless Chen Yu didn't want to act, his role would definitely occupy a large proportion in the film.

There are still too few scenes of Han in his previous life in "Fast and Furious 3".

Chen Yu understood the original intention of Theory of Relativity to find an unknown white actor to play the leading male role.

At present, Chen Yu has not confirmed his box office appeal in North America, so he can only be the second male lead, which is determined by the market economy; but the result that Chen Yu is striving for now is that he will be the double male lead and he will also be the first male lead.

He may have a larger role to play.

……

"Chan, go to bed early. The car will stop at the hotel on time tomorrow. Just ask the front desk for the key!"

"Let's meet up with Moritz first, then go to the set!"

Larson sent Chen Yu to the hotel entrance. Chen Yu smiled slightly and said, "Ok, thank you for your help!"

This is the means of transportation provided by CAA to Chen Yu. It would be impossible to go to the crew every day without a car, and Chen Yu also brought his own team.

There are five people in the group, including an assistant, a driver and a bodyguard.

God knows if there is any danger in Hollywood, so of course we must take precautions.

After Chen Shu arrived at his suite, he rarely went to the gym, but started to adjust to the jet lag. He forced himself to stay awake until 10 o'clock in the evening, then took a shower and went to bed.

The next day, after the driver Cheng Peng got the car keys, Larson had already arrived. The group first went to Relativity Pictures and met the gold medal producer of "Fast and Furious 3", the Moretz mentioned by Larson yesterday.

This guy is a bald guy and a well-known gold medal producer in Hollywood. He starred in "The Fast and the Furious 1", "The Fast and the Furious 2", and "Speed", and he also served as the producer.

Later, the "Fast and Furious" series, even "I Am Legend" and "The Green Hornet" starring Zhou Jielun, were all created by him.

"Hi, chan, nice to meet you!"

Moritz hugged Chen Yu tightly, appearing quite polite.

There is no way. The movie "Fast and Furious 3" has many twists and turns. The value of the previous film's leading actors Vin Diesel and Paul Walker is no longer the same as before, so they were not invited to the third film.

Chen Yu’s participation is already the biggest surprise.

The other leading actors are not that famous; but even so, Relativity did not dare to take the risk and let Chen Yu be the only male lead, so it had to adopt the strategy of two male leads; in fact, Relativity's CEO Ryan Kavanaugh had a very cunning idea.

The participation of Chen Yu ensured the box office in Asia; while the box office in Europe and the United States depended on another leading actor.

I have to say, if it weren't for the fact that the character Han in "Fast and Furious 3" could stabilize another series for him, Chen Yu might not necessarily agree.

But now, as he breaks through the key node in Hollywood, this movie is still very meaningful to him.

"Come on, Chan, I'll take you to the crew to meet your new colleagues!"

Moretz exchanged pleasantries with Chen Yu for a while, and then the group drove towards the filming set of "Fast and Furious 3".

boom--

After getting off the car, before even getting close, Chen Yu could hear the speeding and roaring of the car.

Although "Fast and Furious 3" is called Tokyo Drift, it was not filmed in Tokyo. Instead, it recruited more than 600 Asian actors and built a simulated Japanese set in Los Angeles.

They were under a bridge in the city center. All the street signs were written in Japanese. Japanese drinks were placed in the roadside vending machines. The hazy neon lights flickered, making this place full of Tokyo charm.

When Chen Yu heard Moritz's introduction, he was still a little surprised.

How much the hell is this going to cost?
No wonder the cost is so high even though there are no famous actors.

“Why not shoot in Tokyo?”

Chen Yu couldn't help asking, and Moritz shrugged: "If it's in Tokyo, the difficulty of filming will be greatly increased, and it will be more dangerous. After all, it's racing in the city, and any problem may cause a big impact!"

"Also, the cost of transporting these 200 vehicles is very high, and we haven't been able to reach an agreement with the Japanese government yet!"

This is actually what gives Moritz the biggest headache.

This time, for "Fast & Furious 3", although the actors' salaries are not high, the investment is far more than the previous two films, mainly because of the investment in vehicles. Moretz estimates that at least 100 modified luxury cars will have to be scrapped after filming this scene.

This is no longer just burning money, but shredding money, crazy shredding money!

Every damaged car means a loss of tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

"..."

Chen Yu was amazed when he heard this. Compared with the investment in Hollywood, some of Hong Kong's modern special effects action blockbusters are simply playing house!
At least, the vehicles used in "SPL" were all props modified from scrapped cars, so it wouldn't be a big deal if they were smashed, as it only cost a few thousand Hong Kong dollars.

But Kavanaugh relied on his endless stream of hot money from Wall Street and, in pursuit of the so-called absolute truth of the movie, spent $7 on custom leather for an RX-2 alone, and also had it spray-painted both inside and out.

The modification cost more than 1000 million US dollars.

"You are so rich and you can do whatever you want!"

Chen Yu was so shocked that he was speechless. This guy Ryan Kavanaugh was simply extremely rich.

Wall Street is indeed crazy these days.

"hey-hey!"

Moritz grinned: "But even so, we still can't invite the actors from the first two films. Those two guys don't seem to be optimistic about this new film!"

This is actually a pity.

Originally, the story of the second film in the "Fast and Furious" series was actually a continuation of the character played by Paul Walker in the first film, and Vin Diesel did not appear in it.

So the story at the beginning of the third Fast and Furious movie was originally planned to revolve around the character previously played by Vin Diesel, but this new-school action star eventually withdrew from the cast, so the screenwriter had to revise the script and design a brand new character, Sean.

And the story was directly overturned and turned into Tokyo Drift!

Ultimately, it was Universal's intervention that set the investment cap at $1 million. If it were more, Universal's reputation would be affected if the box office failed.

"Hi, Neil!"

Walking into the set, Chen Yu saw a fat man in a baseball cap directing the staff to set up the set.

This person is the director of "Fast and Furious 3" - Justin Lin!

Yellow skin, slightly plump body, and a harmless smile on his face, it is indeed an oriental face.

"Chan, let me introduce you, this is the director of Fast & Furious 3... Justin Lin!"

"Lin, Chan, I don't think I need to introduce you any further, do I?"

Moritz introduced Chen Yu and Justin Lin with a playful smile, and finally said: "I believe that you two will have a lot to say!"

"Of course!"

Justin Lin laughed, shrugged, and stretched out his arms: "Hi, Chan, welcome. I heard of your name a year ago!"

"Really?" "Hello, Director Lin!"

Chen Yu hugged him heavily.

Chen Yu certainly knew that "Fast and Furious 3" had a Chinese director; Justin Lin was actually very well-known in China, not to mention in Hollywood.

The Fast and Furious series became popular because of him.

"I've seen several movies starring you. I even watched your new movie Initial D. Your driving skills are really amazing!"

“There was no body double used, and it was shot in one take. I was shocked!”

Justin Lin was speaking in English, and Chen Yu couldn't help but make a joke: "Does Director Lin know Chinese?"

"What do you say?"

Justin Lin immediately switched to Chinese, smiled happily, and whispered in Chen Yu's ear: "I'm from Taipei. I came to the United States with my parents when I was 9 years old. Of course I know the native language..."

"Ha ha!"

The two of them smiled. Even though it was the first time they met, there was a very special feeling between them.

This is the person in front of you. No matter whether you are familiar with him or not, or whether he is a bad person or not, you will feel an inexplicable sense of intimacy in a foreign country.

Although Chen Yu is very clear that this preconceived concept is not desirable, it is actually very normal; just like the Chinese people stick together in foreign countries and the Chinese people specifically cheat other Chinese people, they are just looking for loopholes.

When a fellow countryman sees a fellow countryman, he shoots him in the back.

No matter what, when you see a yellow-skinned person who speaks Chinese, you will involuntarily relax your guard.

Of course, Justin Lin in front of him would not make Chen Yu wary. Even if he faced a white director, he would definitely feel more approachable towards a Chinese director.

Otherwise, why can Chinese actors in later generations only get jobs from Chinese directors and companies?
The difference in skin color affects not only culture, but also barriers.

As for Justin Lin, Chen Yu may understand him better than Justin Lin knows himself.

He did come to the United States with his parents when he was 9 years old. Because his family was working class, he had a hard childhood. In fact, he always wanted to enter the NBA and become a professional basketball player.

But in the end, because of his height, he switched to making movies.

In 97, when he was studying at the University of California, Los Angeles, he co-directed his first film, "Flowers in the Sea of ​​People", with his Hong Kong alumnus Li Mengxi. They were both still students at the time, but the film had a huge impact in the Asian community.

After graduation, he independently directed "Good Luck Tomorrow".

After the film was screened at the 02 Sundance Film Festival, it not only won the Jury Prize, but was also purchased by the newly established MTV Films for distribution. This was the first independent film purchased by the company.

The film was released across the United States two years ago and grossed over $380 million worldwide, while its cost was less than $50.

Variety magazine named him one of the top ten most anticipated new directors!

Last year he directed his third film, "The Conqueror of the Sea", which was invested by Touchstone Pictures, a subsidiary of Disney.

It eventually grossed $2000 million at the box office, with an investment of only $200 million.

This finally made him famous in Hollywood, and CAA and Relativity found him and asked him to be responsible for shooting "Fast & Furious 3"!
This was also his first time directing a Hollywood blockbuster, and he felt quite pressured internally.

"I'll take you to meet some of the main actors. You'll have quite a few scenes together!"

Justin Lin led the way with a smile. Chen Yu didn't feel like he was in America at all, because... he heard a lot of conversations in Chinese, and there were hardly any foreigners in front of him. Looking around, he saw almost all of them were yellow-faced Asians.

This made him feel much more comfortable than filming "Mission Impossible 3".

Everyone seemed to be working seriously on their own tasks, and some were even rehearsing while chatting.

This kind of seriousness is definitely much more dedicated than the so-called extras in the capital and the people who come to Beijing to work. It gives people a feeling that they are striking hard at home while being timid abroad.

When you go abroad, you have to work much harder, and you really are like a second-class citizen, because you can only get more if you work harder than white people... Most of these people are actually extras, but they are very serious about the play and preparing for their roles. Even if there is only one shot, they will still rehearse over and over again.

It has to be said that the industrialized filmmaking in the United States has given everyone from extras to leading actors a very professional awareness.

This is something that current Chinese films lack.

This is also the reason why extras have not been recognized by the public.

In the United States, there are many examples of Hollywood promoting extras. Chen Yu doesn't know whether they are true or not, but by comparison, he can find that at least the work attitude of these extras is impeccable.

Many people become very "hard-working" after going abroad.

"How is it? How does it compare to the domestic crews?"

Justin Lin asked Chen Yu, and Chen Yu smiled and said, "I don't feel like I'm filming a movie at all. I feel like I'm in a factory, with a workshop director who is responsible for assigning different tasks to each person..."

"Hahaha!"

Chen Yu's analogy was very clever, and Justin Lin couldn't help but laugh: "Yes, that's the feeling, a kind of assembly line model, you just need to perform according to the script, your task is to perform and give full play, and the rest will be taken care of by special personnel!"

"Yeah, it does feel pretty fresh!"

Chen Yu couldn’t say what was wrong with this model, nor that it was particularly good, but it was the most efficient way and it also brought out everyone’s strengths.

For example, the actors' acting skills and lines, the prop master's abilities, etc., he will maximize the role of everyone in the crew.

"Hi, Lucas, Brian, Natalie... let me introduce you!"

"Heal-chan, do you know him?"

Justin Lin took Chen Yu to a shady place where several actors were reading the script. These were the male and female protagonists of "Fast and Furious 3" and the second male villain.

From here, Chen Yu could actually see that the entire set was divided into two distinct areas.

The Asian actors gathered together, acting seriously to each other; while a few white foreigners were on the other side, talking and laughing.

Chen Yu narrowed his eyes. For the first time, he felt the different treatment of Chinese people in Hollywood.

Even someone as famous as Chow Yun-fat has encountered this, let alone others.

It is normal to be discriminated against when filming abroad, especially for Chinese actors.

This is a very strong chain of contempt.

White people look down on black people, black people and Asian people look down on each other... Asian people look down on Chinese people...

A few years later, black people got the buff and Hollywood became even crazier.

In order to avoid being despised by anyone, what you have to do is to do the same as Jackie Chan and Jet Li - make a name for yourself in Hollywood!
Nothing is as direct as your own fist.

What did Jet Li say? It's normal to be discriminated against in Hollywood, but no one will discriminate against money and force!
Chen Yu looked at the main actors of "Fast and Furious 3" and did not speak in advance, but waited for their arrival.

At home, he can be humble.

But abroad, he can't care so much, Bruce Lee won all his awards with his fists; no matter what, he has the status of a Grand Slam actor, if he can't handle Tom Cruise, how can he handle these guys? !

Justin Lin, who was standing by, saw this but said nothing.

He understood Chen Yu's operation.

A new official has three things to do when he takes office. Filmmaking is a team process, and if there is a gap from the beginning, the filming will definitely be uncomfortable. What Chen Yu is doing now is to establish his position as the boss of the crew to avoid problems when the filming officially starts!

If the other leading actors were easy to talk to, Chen Yu would certainly not say much; but if there were a few who acted pretentiously, then sorry, between Chen Yu and the others, Kavanaugh would not stand up for these people.

This is what Chen Yu has to do, to make sure whether the main actors are obedient or not.

If they don't obey, he doesn't mind having CAA fire them.

In this crew, what Chen Yu wants is absolute unity!

(End of this chapter)