Full-time actor

Chapter 635 [61] Nolan’s choice!

"How's it going? Have you finished reading it?"

Chen Yu looked at Liu Yifei, who was leaning her head against the back of the chair, thinking deeply.

Just now she was holding the script of "The Grand Budapest Hotel" which Chen Yu had just finished writing and reading it.

“Is this really a story you created directly after you thought of Budapest?”

Liu Yifei frowned and looked at Chen Yu in a naive way.

She was actually very surprised in her heart. This story about the Budapest Hotel was very interesting, and the plot was full of ups and downs and was very dramatic.

If people knew that Chen Yu only spent a few hours to write such an excellent script, many people would probably have the same expression as Liu Yifei.

"how to say!"

Chen Yu didn't want to pretend to be cool and say something like "Congratulations on guessing something correctly". After all, he was a plagiarist and he should at least have some dignity.

Although there are not many left.

"When it comes to literary creation, inspiration is what's important, the spark that makes it happen overnight!"

“Creation is actually very quick, but interesting inspiration is hard to come by!”

Chen Yu tried his best to explain it to Liu Yifei in a simple and clear way. Liu Yifei nodded in agreement: "Indeed, I've seen many novel authors say so, but it's still surprising that you thought of this story when you flew to Budapest!"

"It's okay, after all, it's not my first time writing a story!"

"I think it can be made into a movie. If I had money, I would definitely invest in you to play Zero!"

Zero is an important character in "The Grand Budapest Hotel". Chen Yu set him as the No. 1 male lead. In his previous life, he was the No. 2 male lead.

He was a doorman at the Grand Budapest Hotel. He had to flee due to the war in his hometown and came to Budapest. He became the most proud disciple of Mr. Gustav, the butler of the Grand Budapest Hotel.

This Gustave is the male lead.

And Zero is the biggest winner in the movie, he is only 18 or 9 years old.

At the beginning, when Chen Yu wrote the script for The Grand Budapest Hotel, he just snatched it up in advance because the movie was very famous and had won many awards...

But as he was writing the script, he discovered that the second male lead "Zero" could be made a Chinese.

The story of "The Grand Budapest Hotel" takes place in Europe from the 20s to the 30s. The main timeline is in the 60s, around 30, when China was indeed in the midst of war.

It was normal for Chinese people at that time to flee to Hungary.

After all, it is a country in Europe with Chinese ancestry, and it is said to have been founded by the descendants of the Huns.

Then Chen Yu can try to play this role.

After all, in the movie, Zero is an undocumented person, and because of this incident, the story in Budapest came about. On the train, he underwent two identity checks.

The butler Gustav saved him twice, once he became his confidant, and once the butler was killed, and Zero inherited the butler's billions of assets.

Therefore, the more Chen Yu wrote, the more he felt that he could give this script a try, and it would be more than just a matter of writing it.

After writing the script with such emotional investment, Chen Yu also reserved a role for Liu Yifei.

Zero’s girlfriend, Agatha, was changed to Liu Yifei’s English name, Chris, in the script.

A female employee in a cake shop, the two people's meeting was accidental, and the encounter between two people from the same hometown might have been even more dramatic.

So, Chen Yu made some changes in the script.

“I really want to take a picture!”

"Otherwise, why is the heroine's name your English name?"

Chen Yu smiled, and Liu Yifei's eyes lit up a little: "Is it so careless? Then will all the scripts you wrote before be filmed?"

"Not necessarily, I just think this story is great and I want to film it!"

"It's mainly to satisfy your request. We two will film a love scene as the male and female protagonists!"

"Then let me read the script again and give you some advice!"

Liu Yifei was obviously interested in it. Chen Yu was indeed attracted by the script and had not yet decided on a director. If his debut film "Better Days" was good, he would not mind directing the film himself.

Because he was very clear about some key points in shooting The Grand Budapest Hotel.

The plot of this movie is outstanding, one of the reasons why it is so popular is that the art, colors, costumes, music, etc. are all top-notch. It is one of the few films that has full artistic quality.

If "Better Days" is Chen Yu's attempt at a film with Chinese characteristics, then "Budapest" is an ambitious work that aims to go global.

It seems like a big leap, but if the first part is successful, the second part is actually not that difficult to accept.

After all, Chen Yu is somewhat famous in Hollywood. He has this platform, so it is normal for him to write, direct and act in his own film and invite some Hollywood actors to participate.

Anyway, he has money, so he can set up this game.

Moreover, a film that seems to be full of European style will also shine at the three major film festivals.

In recent years, European films have begun to decline across the board and have been dominated by Hollywood.

They must be in urgent need of a movie like this to create some image for old Europe.

Soon, as the two were discussing, the plane arrived at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport!

The airport is far away from the city center. The exterior shots of "Invisible Mission" for nearly 20 minutes were all shot in the city center. The first shot was the exquisite and century-old Hungarian National Parliament Building, located on the beautiful bank of the Danube River.

Liu Yifei's filming was completed here.

What follows is a drastic montage-like switch, with the camera moving to the Budapest railway station, where a conspiracy and pursuit unfolds around the railway station.

The reason for choosing this place to shoot was actually decided by Chen Yu. He was just following the traces of the previous life's "Mission Impossible 4". The choice of Budapest in the previous life was a publicity agreement between the producer and the Budapest government.

It is actually similar in this life. Hollywood often does not require much money for filming. On the contrary, some places need such cultural output to build their reputation, so they will be happy to welcome large crews like Hollywood to come to their city for filming.

This will benefit tourism, investment, etc. Hollywood has already done very mature work in this regard.

After taking a taxi, Chen Yu, Liu Yifei and their assistant arrived at the hotel where the crew was staying.

A distance of more than 20 kilometers.

The filming started early the next morning. Chen Yu only had ten days here, so the filming schedule and notices were a bit tight. Liu Yifei only had two shots, so it was easy to shoot.

There aren't even any lines, so it's indeed simple, but what is needed is the impact of the shots and the beauty.

The filming proceeded in an orderly manner. Chen Yu and Liu Yifei followed the crew to Moscow, Russia... In addition to the filming, Buda Castle, the Kremlin, the Danube River, and Red Square all left their footprints.

During the breaks in filming, the two of them would go for a walk around the area where the filming took place, and half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Compared to Chen Yu's ease, there were some differences in the casting of Nolan's new film "Batman: The Dark Knight".

The main issue is the selection of the role of the Joker.

Currently, Nolan has completely joined the ranks of first-tier directors in Hollywood due to the success of "Batman Begins". "Batman Begins" ranked among the top three best-selling films last summer, and received rave reviews from comic fans and critics!

With a global box office of $3.7 million, it is the highest-grossing film directed by Nolan, even more than all his other films combined.

Therefore, he also has his own high requirements and say in shooting and angle selection.

After all, he wanted to try something new with "The Dark Knight", and IMAX allowed him to see the possibility of making movie images more impactful and clearer, so he wanted to be the first to try it.

In Hollywood, if a director coming from the outside wants to gain recognition from the circle, he must have a resume that local directors do not have.

Nolan is such a director. He is not American but from Britain. Therefore, to achieve greater success than other local directors, he must find his own way.

Ironically, even though Nolan had achieved such great success in his previous life, making films such as "Interstellar" and "Inception", he still had no Oscars.

Not to mention winning an award, he didn’t even get a nomination.

So it is indeed not easy for an outsider to gain trust in North America.

And now, Nolan is obviously working hard on his path as a director, and IMAX is a breakthrough he thought of.

If successful, it will not only mean a huge box office success, but also Christopher Nolan's name will be written in film history and milestones, and the importance of "The Dark Knight" is self-evident.

He would never allow the crew to have other voices. For this reason, after the filming of "Butterfield 8", he did not immediately agree to Warner's request. Instead, after a year of silence, he filmed "The Prestige" with his brother Jonathan Nolan!
It was during this period that the two suddenly came up with an idea for the sequel to Batman.

This forced him to take on this project again.

And the center of this creativity is the clown.

So even though the character of the Joker is not the male lead in the script conceived by the Nolan brothers, his level of excellence is greater than that of the male lead.

All the plots of the sequel revolve around this clown.

And just after the Nolan brothers agreed to cooperate with Warner and Legendary, the casting department actually gave him a candidate for the role of the Joker.

An actor from China.

Nolan knew him, a very famous action star in Asia, but he was nothing like the Joker in his mind.

"Listen, John, I need a white man!"

"You understand? A white actor needs to have rich acting skills, a thin body, and be a little crazy..."

Nolan spread his hands toward casting director John Papasidora.

This is not the first time he has worked with John Papasidora. He was the one who decided on the main roles in "Memento" and "Butterfield 8".

They will collaborate more in the future, including "Inception", "Tenet" and so on.

"Christopher, I understand your concerns, just as I am in a dilemma too!"

Papasidra looks very funny. He pointed to some of Nolan's acting resumes and said, "Besides Chan, don't you have other options?"

"Robin Williams, Reggie Halmi, Paul Bettany, Heath Ledger and Adrien Brody..."

Papa Sidra said it all in one breath, and Nolan shook his head helplessly.

When he saw Chen Yu's first resume, he was a little surprised.

However, the others were not much better.

"Robin Williams is almost 60 years old, I don't want my second male lead to be an old guy!"

"Recky Halmi? He's an old guy, too. Do you think his previous performance as a clown was good enough?"

Reiki Halmi has played the Joker in several Batman movies before, but failed to leave a deep impression on the audience.

"Paul Bettany is my fellow countryman, so of course I want to work with him, but his fame is not enough to support the role of the Joker. I know his acting skills too well, and he is not that good!"

Nolan eliminated three candidates in a row. In his opinion, the casting of Papa Sidra this time was really hard to describe.

Except for the last two.

Heath Ledger and Adrian Brody.

Nolan has seen Heath Ledger's "Brokeback Mountain". He is a handsome guy and his acting skills are very good.

As for Adrien Brody, he is an Oscar winner for his movie "The Pianist", which became popular all over the world. He is also the youngest Oscar winner to date.

He was a little hesitant about these two actors.

"Then let these last two have an audition!"

"But, are you really not considering Heal Chan? His acting is really good. Can't clowns wear makeup? This should be able to cover up his skin color problem!"

Papa Sidra was actually very conflicted as well.

Because this actor was recommended to him by Warner, Legendary and CAA, he is said to have a great influence in Asia and can promote the film's box office in Asia.

The bottom line is, choosing this person will result in better box office results.

Especially in Asia.

"Don't consider it. Call Ledger and Brody first to see if they have time!"

"Especially Brody!"

Nolan said this rather forcefully, and Papasidra shrugged helplessly: "Ok, I'll give you an answer as soon as possible!"

With that, Papasidora walked out, apparently to make a phone call to Heath Ledger and Adrien Brody.

Soon, Adrien Brody knocked on Nolan's office door in frustration: "Christopher, I'm sorry, Brody's schedule has been scheduled until 2010..."

This is indeed no joke, for many Hollywood movies, their release dates are determined 1-2 years, or even more than 3 years in advance.

Therefore, many leading male roles are often confirmed several years in advance.

As the youngest Oscar-winning actor in Hollywood, although Adrien Brody is not very famous at present, many people think that he should be one of the top stars in Hollywood in the future, so they all want to work with him.

In the five years from 06 to 11 alone, Brody filmed a total of 5 Hollywood films, an average of 15 per year.

In 2012, he even starred in the commercial blockbuster "1942" by Chinese director Feng Xiaogang!
"Where's Heath Ledger?"

Nolan was already a little anxious because this was the only actor he relatively recognized.

"He's busy!"

"But are you asking him to audition alone?"

Papasidra shrugged speechlessly: "It will be hard to explain to the Screen Actors Guild, and Warner and Legendary will probably question it too!"

In the United States, the Actors Guild has formulated many corresponding clauses to ensure the rights and interests of actors.

Among them, the director secretly took advantage of the actors, which is absolutely not allowed and strongly condemned.

Although Nolan did not do this, it is an easy handle to attack if someone wants to mess with him.

Moreover, the Screen Actors Guild is also involved in the entire Hollywood audition and casting process. If there is only one actor competing for the role, they will also conduct routine inquiries and investigations.

For Nolan, who is striving to become one of the top directors in Hollywood, this is obviously an unwise move.

"Christopher, I think we can add the previous audition spots!"

"Your fellow countryman Paul Bettany and Reggie Halmi, it would be best if Heal Chan could also send an invitation, so that we can give an explanation to Legendary and Warner!"

Papasidra thought that such words should be okay and gave Nolan some advice.

"whatever!"

Nolan obviously lost his temper. After tapping the table, he couldn't help but ask, "John, are there any other actors to choose from?"

"Of course, if you're not satisfied with the audition, we can keep selecting!"

“Until you are satisfied!”

"All right!"

Nolan understood the meaning of Papasidra's words.

Given the current cooperation between Warner and CAA, in fact, all the actors available for selection are selected from them.

This cannot be changed because of the contract.

Papa Sidra has actually already selected a group that he thinks are most suitable. If he were to choose again, either they would not have time or they would not be suitable...so Nolan had no other choice.

The only one he can use now is Heath Ledger!
Fortunately, Nolan still has some recognition of this actor in his heart.

When the time comes, he will audition the actor to see if his performance fits the definition of the Joker in his script. This is what Nolan values ​​most.

"Heath Ledger?"

After Papasidra left, Nolan suddenly picked up his resume. He was going to ask someone for some specific information about this actor.

At this time, Papasidra, who had withdrawn, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

He is between the director and the investors, and he has obviously done his best to achieve this.

(End of this chapter)