Dominating Hollywood: Starting with Scarlett

Chapter 277 Theoretical Master
It has been a full half month since Taylor and Tang De broke up.

During this period, Tang De always learned about her life through her agent.

Of course, the reason for her breakup was revealed half a month later.

Her new song "Last Kiss" was freshly released and quickly became the second single of the new album.

This song appeared a little later than the original history, the main reason of course was because of Tang De.

Taylor called that night after the recording of the song was completed.

"I finally finished the song, so let's make peace."

Tang De was somewhat helpless about the girl's willfulness: "So you want to write a song, there's actually no need to do this."

"No, I need inspiration! You know, I've been imagining how ruthless you are to me during this period of time, and then I got a lot of inspiration... In fact, I'm still angry with you now."

Taylor started to get upset as he spoke: "You should coax me, otherwise I won't make peace with you."

Tang De couldn't help but smile and said some sweet words to Taylor, and then said: "In fact, baby, I have wanted to give you a surprise for a long time."

"What surprise?" Taylor asked.

"It's a surprise that will definitely drive you crazy, but let's talk about this in person." Tang De kept it a secret.

"So if I don't propose reconciliation, you won't give me this surprise?"

"I only give this surprise to my lover."

"Hmph, so when you finish filming the scenes in Italy, I want to see you."

"It will be soon. There are only a few more scenes left before the end."

"see you then."

Just as Tang De hung up the phone, a dispute was happening on the set.

The two parties in the dispute were a man and a woman. The man had curly hair and was one of the screenwriters of Tangde Company, Al Kalu.

He used to be a screenwriter for Marvel and was later poached by Norton's Eye. He has a very good writing style.

The woman is the actress who plays the Egyptian princess Cleopatra, Cagalli Bonnie. She is not a new actress, but she has not had any well-known works in Hollywood. She was chosen this time mainly because her image is more suitable.

"Al, I think this character can be more exciting. The current role is too monotonous. I don't know where she came from or what she is going to do. I don't know her personality or ideas. How can I play the role?"

Cagalli held the script with a somewhat dissatisfied expression and complained to El.

"Cagali, this character will have her own chapter in the future. For now, she's just a cameo, so I don't think it's necessary to add more scenes." Al shrugged. As a screenwriter, he had to serve the entire movie.

This movie is not Leopatra's personal movie, it mainly tells the story of Lucy and Pierre, so he feels there is no need to introduce too much.

But Kakali shook her head and retorted: "Why is it unnecessary? The audience needs to see a flesh-and-blood person. At least my life story should be explained clearly, otherwise I will just become a background board."

"Then how do you want to change it?" Al thought for a moment and asked for her opinion.

"Leopatra grew up in the palace. She was very gorgeous and had people serving her in everything she did. So she should have mysophobia and perhaps a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder. For example, these scenes are too messy and lack beauty. She should have said a few more lines to reprimand this situation."

After Cagalli finished speaking, Al waved his hand and said, "These settings don't match the comics. Leopatra is not a savage person. She cares about the people. Although she looks beautiful, she does everything herself. This is her personality."

"Hey, why should we stick to the character design of comics? Audiences need to see living people. Don't you think such a role is more exciting? I believe I can play it well."

Cagalli tried her best to sell her views on the characters to El.

Al thought for a long time, and finally nodded and said, "I can give you an obsessive-compulsive disorder, but not anything else."

"Why, I think what I said is very good!"

"This is the script finalized by Tang. If you want to change it, go find Tang." Al became a little impatient after being pestered for a long time, and directly pushed Tang De out.

Hearing the director's name, Cagalli finally calmed down: "Okay, I'll find time to convince the director, but you have to finish revising the script as soon as possible, it will be my turn soon, and I need to get familiar with the character quickly."

When Tang De returned to the set, everything was normal. Al did not tell him about Cagalli's request to change the script because he thought it was not a big deal.

Many actors often ask for script changes on the spot, and some even go so far as to add endless scenes for themselves.

If it is a big-name director, it would be fine and the actors would not dare to go too far, but if it is an ordinary director, then the actors would probably have to be tolerant.

Of course, there are also some stubborn directors who choose to go ahead with it.

For example, Damien Chazelle, the director of "La La Land", spent several years carefully polishing the script. When filming started, he chose Emma Watson, who played Hermione in "Harry Potter", as the heroine.

But Emma Watson made many requests to the crew, even asking the director to move the filming location from Los Angeles to the UK.

This annoyed director Damien Chazelle, who ultimately decided to reject her request and replace the lead actor.

In the end, Emma Stone replaced Emma Watson and starred in La La Land.

In Tang De's place, no one dared to act so arrogantly. After all, Tang De's bad temper was well known to everyone. If anyone dared to act arrogantly, they would be kicked out.

But Cagalli felt that adding a little arc and personality to the character shouldn't be a big deal, as she had always done that anyway.

In other crews, she also likes to discuss characters with the screenwriter and then add a little more to her role. After all, she graduated from MIT with a major in music and drama. In her opinion, the characters in these commercial films are too thin, and she has an obligation to add a little literary quality to the script.

Soon the Italian scenes came to an end.

In the church, Leopatra will appear in the movie for the first time. Because her spirit body was projected to the modern era by Lucy using special means, she is in a spiritual state.

You can talk to anyone, but you can't touch them. Only super powers can interact with reality.

Since the scene was simple, requiring only two lines and a few reaction shots, it didn't take long.

Plus, they are about to leave Italy for the next filming location tomorrow, so the crew members are all chatting and laughing, and are very relaxed.

Tang De didn't ask too much. It was a must for a director to keep the crew in a moderate state of tension. If he only emphasized discipline, it would make the crew more likely to make mistakes. When everything was ready, Tang De stood in front of the monitor and shouted "Start".

The next second, Cagalli was suddenly pulled out from the left side of the screen and rubbed her forehead, as if lamenting the dizziness of the time tunnel.

Scarlett stood opposite her and said in a calm tone, "We're here."

Cagalli raised her head and looked around, then frowned slightly and said, "This is the modern era. It looks really bad."

Scarlett was slightly stunned because this line was not in the script.

She immediately realized that the actor opposite her had changed the lines, so she took the opportunity to ask, "What's wrong with it?"

"Aesthetics, the aesthetics is really bad, look at this mess." As soon as Cagalli finished speaking, she heard Tang De shout "Ka".

"What are you acting?" Tang De walked over with the script and stared at Cagalli.

"Director, uh, I'm acting out the script that was revised by the screenwriter." Seeing Tang De's expressionless face, Cagalli couldn't help but feel a little nervous, and quickly threw the responsibility onto the screenwriter.

"I ask you, what are you acting?" Tang De did not question the screenwriter, but repeated what he had just said.

Cagalli swallowed nervously and explained, "I felt that Leopatra should show more character, so I added two sentences."

"Who agreed to it?" Tang De did not blame her, or reprimand her on the spot, but a low-pressure atmosphere enveloped her.

"Al, Al agreed to it."

"Hey!" Al came over from the side, a little flustered: "That's not the case. I only agreed to the obsessive-compulsive disorder, but I didn't add these two sentences to you."

Tang De looked at the two of them and said, "I repeat again, from now on, any changes to the script must be approved by me, understand?"

"I understand. Sorry, Tang De." Al felt a layer of sweat on his back. He didn't expect that this actress would take advantage of the situation and directly blame him.

He didn't dare to go against Tang De's words, as he had heard a lot about the recent situation of the unfortunate screenwriter who was fired.

"And you, Leopatra is a kind person, she would never speak in such a sarcastic tone. And when you enter a new world, is the only thing that comes to your mind at the first moment that is the poor aesthetic criticism? Your poor brain can only see neatness or irregularity? Patterns, sculptures, colors are completely out of your consideration?"

"Remember, what you need to do is be curious! Be curious about everything in the new world. This is the reaction a normal person should have."

After hearing these words, Cagalli opened her mouth and wanted to refute but couldn't organize her words for a while.

But Tang De had already turned back to the monitor and directly announced to start over.

Having been reprimanded by Tang De, Cagalli did not dare to go against his wishes again and could only perform according to the original lines in the script.

After performing it three times, I finally passed.

The crew members immediately clapped their hands to celebrate the completion of this scene.

Only Cagalli felt aggrieved and complained to Scarlett: "Don't you think Tang De is limiting our performance?"

Scarlett thought this woman was a bit ridiculous. She actually spoke ill of Tang De to her without restraint. Now everyone knew that she and Tang De were still in contact.

But there are many abnormal people in Hollywood. It is normal that Cagalli has been stuck in the same place for seven or eight years. An actor with such low emotional intelligence will not be liked by people even if he looks good.

Of course, since Cagalli dared to say it, Scarlett naturally dared to listen: "Why?"

"I think actors should have room to play, otherwise we will be like a mechanical puppet, drifting with the flow. I think Leopatra should have her own little temper, which may not be so likable, but this is her authenticity."

"Really? Then isn't a kind person real?" Scarlett crossed her arms.

"But don't you think this looks too fake? I discussed this with Professor Mellen during class at school. Do you know Professor Mellen? She is a top professor at the MIT School of Music and Drama and has published many works. Oh, the book The Birth of an Actor. As an actor, you must have read it. She is my teacher and we often discuss things about roles."

Cagalli seemed to have opened a chatterbox and kept chattering, which made Scarlett very troubled.

She wanted to get rid of this woman, but found that she followed her wherever she went, like a buzzing mosquito.

What she said was also very abstract. She talked about all kinds of acting theories and wanted to analyze hundreds of reasons for just one expression.

Even later on, Tang De's script had become a flop, and only the book written by her and the so-called Professor Mellen could save the film.

It was at this moment that Scarlett understood why Cagalli had come to her to complain.

This was clearly a message for her to convey to Tang De, telling him that only by adhering to drama theory could this work be saved.

Scarlett was speechless and could only retort: ​​"So do you have any works?"

"What?" Cagalli was stuttering for a moment, "Works, of course, I have, I have made quite a few in the past few years, but they haven't been released yet, probably because the directors are waiting for next year's Cannes."

"A work from three or four years ago waiting for next year's Cannes?" Scarlett found a loophole in her words and said, "How do you think you acted?"

"It's very good... I mean, it fits the character very well and adds a lot to the movie."

"Then why didn't I see you at the Oscars ceremony. Don't you want to attend?" Scarlett asked a very heart-wrenching question.

"Uh..." Cagalli was stunned for a few seconds: "Maybe my performance is not the type that the public likes."

"Then why do you think that Tang De's movie will not be liked by the public? Or, if it is performed according to your ideas, will it be unpopular by the audience?"

These words confused Cagalli.

Her expression was obviously hurt, and she struggled to say the classic line of a loser: "That's not my problem, it's the audience's problem."

"It's all the audience's fault? Don't you have any responsibility at all?" Scarlett stabbed at her weakness. "And you have such advanced theoretical skills, but you can't control the audience? I think a good actor should be able to balance artistry and entertainment. Can't you do that?"

Cagalli was completely speechless, and her expression looked as if she was about to cry due to being wronged.

"Besides..." Scarlett gave another critical blow before she was about to leave: "I haven't watched "The Birth of an Actor", nor do I know any Professor Mellen... Acting skills are acquired through practice, not by writing papers or reading theories."

After saying that, she turned around and left gracefully, leaving Cagalli disheveled in the wind.

(End of this chapter)