The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1852 Believe in yourself
Looking back from her past, Anne's acting career had three important turning points.

The first was "The Princess Diaries," which made a dazzling debut and became an instant hit. This unexpected chick flick propelled her to stardom and placed her under the spotlight.

The third is "Interstellar". After winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for "Les Misérables" in 2013, Anne unexpectedly faced a siege and attack.

The masterminds behind this were the Weinstein brothers. In the same year, Jennifer Lawrence became the second youngest actress in history to win the Oscar for Best Actress and fell on stage while accepting the award. With fame comes controversy, and Jennifer Lawrence was in the eye of the storm. To extricate herself from the situation, the Weinstein brothers preemptively struck.

Before the public outcry took hold, the attacks targeted Anne Hathaway as "hypocritical and pretentious" and Jennifer Lawrence as "genuine," while also spreading hate speech.

Anne had no idea that she would become the target of attacks for behaving appropriately at the awards ceremony. She was caught off guard, and the crisis management was completely inadequate. It was a disaster that came out of nowhere, which ultimately allowed the Weinstein brothers to easily shift the focus.

For almost a full year after that, Anne received absolutely no roles, essentially being completely ignored by major Hollywood film studios.

It's not a ban, it's just... avoidance.

Unexpectedly, just as Anne finally won the most important award of her career and saw the light at the end of the tunnel, she was struck by a sudden disaster that cut her career in half.

Of course, art films and independent films still have a chance, but mainstream films from major film studios completely ignore her, pushing her out of the public eye.

In this situation, Christopher Nolan became Anne's savior. His previous collaboration on "The Dark Knight Rises" made Christopher Nolan very fond of Anne. While major film companies were quietly ignoring Anne, the director personally invited her to star in "Interstellar," breaking the invisible and silent shackles of Hollywood and bringing Anne back into the public eye, thus resolving the crisis.

That's why Anne was always grateful to Christopher Nolan.

And what lies ahead is the second turning point in Anne's career, "Brokeback Mountain".

In this film, Anne plays a Barbie doll, a trophy wife, a typical blonde trophy wife. Her appearance perfectly matches people's stereotypes, but she is going through her own struggles and pain. Beneath her glamorous exterior lies a sadness and loneliness that she can't confide in or that no one knows. She can't even express her sadness and can only pretend to be indifferent, slowly being swallowed by the black hole in her heart.

In this way, by breaking through directly and making full use of the disadvantages of stereotypes to turn them into advantages, an actor can truly complete a transformation in their work.

In the previous life, after the release of "Brokeback Mountain", the four main actors received high praise and widespread attention. The other three actors all achieved breakthroughs in their careers, winning a series of acting nominations and finally winning an Oscar nomination in the acting category. Only Anne was not given attention and was completely ignored.

Beating stereotypes with stereotypes, using magic to defeat magic, those old pedants of Hollywood academies refuse to admit their mistakes and refuse to see the actors' efforts.

Moreover, with three other actors shining brightly in the same production, it becomes incredibly easy to overlook the fourth actor.

However, the effort was not in vain.

This role revealed Anne's potential; she's more than just a princess, and more than just a girl who acts crazy in comedies. Beneath her seemingly generic "vase" image lies an actress with a soul far beyond imagination. The lack of awards certainly doesn't mean Hollywood is blind and deaf.

This further solidified Annie's confidence in acting, and her career subsequently took off smoothly.

It's no exaggeration to say that this is a work that continues Anne's exploration of acting; without "Brokeback Mountain," there might not have been the Anne we know today.

Perhaps Anne will continue acting, like Drew Barrymore, Meg Ryan, and Cameron Diaz, forever trapped in decorative roles; or perhaps Anne will simply turn around, bid farewell to acting altogether, and explore other possibilities in life.

Looking back from the future, things are crystal clear; but even without looking to the future, examining the overall situation from the present, we can still feel the importance of this opportunity. The recent period of stagnation, depression, torment, and agonizing struggle has finally cleared, the sun is shining down, and the whole world seems to have brightened up.

Not only Annie, but Anson could also feel the joy and exhilaration of breaking through the water and feeling the oxygen fill his lungs and bask in the sunlight. A smile naturally crept onto his lips and he looked at Annie with bright and focused eyes. "You are an excellent actress, that's a fact, and Director Ang Lee can see that. He will, I've always believed that."

Joy, happiness, and happiness.

Come on.

The heat and the air lifted Annie's spirits, sweeping away the gloom. All the pain, hesitation, and torment seemed insignificant at that moment.

However, the joy was just the beginning. Precisely because of the happiness, the anticipation, and the cherishing, the anxiety of gain and loss immediately gripped my heart.

Anne's eyes flickered slightly, "This is a difficult role..."

Anson shook his head, not giving Annie a chance to finish speaking, nipping all her unease and panic in the bud, "But you can do it."

Anne was taken aback, then stared blankly at Anson with her chin raised, her gaze wavering.

Anson repeated firmly, "You are capable of it."

Concise, clear, and firm.

Anson looked into Anne's eyes. "You are an actress, and an excellent one at that. You are not only capable, but you will shine."

"You don't need to prove anything to others. You got this role fair and square by going through layers of auditions through your own efforts."

“Think about it, director Ang Lee had just experienced the disastrous failure of ‘Hulk,’ with both box office and critical failure. He was disheartened and even considered suspending his directing work. The reason he was willing to take on this project was because he wanted to eliminate all the noise from the outside world, concentrate on filmmaking, and return to filmmaking.”

"The director's focus and attention on the project is precisely an attitude; he is serious."

"Given this attitude, he chose you and personally selected you for the role. Does that need any further proof?"

"No, no need."

"All you need to know is that you are an actor, and you are about to play this role... What's the character's name?"

Anne answered instinctively, "Lourdes." She didn't even realize that her heart was racing, a surge of excitement and anticipation was surging through her, and she even wanted to join the crew and get into character immediately. That impulse made her blood boil.

Anson: "Lourin, yes, you are about to become Lulin, enter the story, and tell this story with the other actors. That's enough."

"Annie, you should believe in yourself."

(End of this chapter)