Huayu: Director started with art films

In a room, the door was opened and everyone in the room looked over. When they saw that it was a black man, they immediately looked away.

The black man shrugged his shoulders, found an empty seat and walked over. After sitting down, he asked a white man next to him, "Hey, man, are you here for an audition too?"

The man asked back, “Aren’t you?”

"Of course, this is Art Li's movie, and I heard that Jack Cheng is the male lead. Who wouldn't want to give it a try?"

"Do you think you have a chance?"

"Of course, black, comedic, male, isn't that me?"

"Then you can take a good look around the house to see how many things fit this label."

Hearing this, the black man glanced inside the room and was immediately stunned. Among the dozens of people at the scene, more than half of them met these three labels.

And the worst thing is that there are many well-known black comedians among them.

Eddie Murphy, a black comedian who rose to fame in the 80s, shot to fame with "Beverly Hills Cop" and is now a regular on the show "Saturday Night Live" and a second-tier star in Hollywood.

Martin Lawrence, also a black comedian who debuted in the 80s, became a hot new star in the circle last year thanks to his collaboration with Will Smith in "Bad Boys".

Samuel Jackson, who rose to prominence with "Pulp Fiction", co-starred with Bruce Willis in the action-adventure film "Die Hard 3" last year and has gradually become well-known among the black actors in Hollywood.

"Fake!"

The black man said angrily: "These niggers, don't they know how to give me a chance!"

Hearing the word "Nico", the white man next to him hid to the side. The other party is black and can use it casually, but he must not have any connection with it. If people hear it and think it was him who said it, then he would be in trouble.

Although political correctness is not so obvious in North America today, racial discrimination is still strictly controlled. At least in public, no one will use this word.

In the office next door.

Li Yishu and Cheng Long, along with assistant director Brett Ratner and producer Monica Bellucci,
There were also representatives from New Line Cinema, including Cliff Pierce, who gathered together to look at the audition list in their hands.

There were a total of 8 roles in this audition, but the most important one was naturally the role of a black policeman playing opposite Cheng Long.

As for the other roles, you can arrange them as you like.

"Jingle Bell……"

Just then, Cliff Pierce's cell phone rang, and he apologized, "Sorry, I'm going out to answer a call."

After saying that, he took the initiative to leave the room.

The others didn't care and continued to look through the audition lists in their hands.

Outside, Pierce answered the phone: "Hey, Freeman, you wanna audition, too?"

The caller was Morgan Freeman.

As Lee Ye-su's new film "Rush Hour" began preparations and it was made clear that a black male actor was needed to play the leading role, black actors from all over North America immediately flocked to the film.

Back then, political correctness was not as intense as it is today, and black actors did not have a high status in Hollywood.

Although Lee Ye-su is an Asian director, both of her two works have achieved amazing results.

And the investment amount is 4000 million US dollars (claimed to the public). Who doesn’t want to be the leading actor and become the next Will Smith?

You know, the most popular black actor in Hollywood today is Will Smith, and everyone wants to be the next him.

"NONO, I'm almost sixty years old and I don't know Kung Fu, how can I partner with Jack Cheng?"

Morgan Freeman on the other end of the phone shook his head and refused.

Pierce asked in confusion: "Then why are you calling?"

"I want you to tell Lee that my son Alfonso Freeman is also auditioning. See if you can help arrange a role for him? Any role will do."

"Then why don't you just tell Lee?"

"I called his number, but it wasn't right. Maybe he changed his number."

"Okay, I'll tell him, but I can't guarantee that I can get the role."

"Then can you give the phone to Li?"

Morgan Freeman called because he wanted to get a role for his son. Pierce was cunning and didn't want to get involved, so naturally he had to come forward in person.

"OK, I'll go in and talk to him now."

Pierce opened the door and returned to the room. He then walked straight to Li Yishu and whispered, "Li, Morgan Freeman is looking for you."

"Hmm?" Li Yishu raised her eyebrows, but still took the phone handed to her by the other party.

Listening to Morgan Freeman's words on the other end of the phone, Li Yishu thought for a moment and said with a smile, "No problem, Freeman. It just so happens that we have a black character in our crew who has a lot of scenes."

"Lee, thank you so much!"

"Haha, you're polite. You helped me before, didn't you?"

Although Lee Yi-su had used real money to convince Morgan Freeman at the Berlin Film Festival, the latter personally asked for a role for his son, and since it was just an unimportant supporting role, he gave it to him.

Seeing that Li Yishu was so easy to talk to and still remembered his help, Morgan Freeman was very happy. After all, he was paid to do the job, and Li Yishu could have simply ignored him.

But the other party gave this face, Morgan Freeman thought about it for a while, and then said: "Lee, when your movie starts shooting, I will go to visit the set. If there is a suitable role, please leave one for me and I will make a cameo appearance."

"No problem." Li Yishu agreed readily. It was naturally a good thing that the other party did not ask for any pay to make a cameo appearance.

If there is no suitable role, he will arrange one for you.

For example, in "Rush Hour", the black policeman took Jack to his home and met his father "Morgan Freeman" by the way.

hang up the phone.

Li Yishu found Alfonso Freeman's resume from the actor list, picked him out, and said to everyone, "The role of the black boss will be given to Alfonso Freeman."

The role of this black boss is the black boss in a red suit that the black partner takes Jack to find in the black gang in the movie. He is also the cousin of the black male protagonist Carter, Luke.

He has quite a lot of scenes, with only a few minutes of appearance. The most important thing is that he has a strong sense of camera. The red suit and the appearance of a black man create a stunning visual impact.

After hearing what Li Yishu said, everyone understood the purpose of the phone call and nodded in unison.

"let's start!"

Li Yishu said to the staff, "Go to the next room and let everyone audition one by one, first audition the male lead." "Okay, director."

The crew member nodded, turned and left the room, went to the next door and started notifying the male lead who was auditioning.

After a while, a black actor came in. After he came in, he said solemnly: "Hello, director, my name is Eddie Murphy."

Eddie Murphy?
This face looks familiar. Li Yishu looked through her files and found out that she had appeared in "Beverly Hills Cop".

He is also an excellent black comedian.

Li Yishu had seen this movie and had some impression of him, so he asked someone to give him a script, which was a scene where the black male protagonist Carter rushed into the room of a black gangster and performed some "pretentious" lines.

Eddie Murphy thought for a moment, then his face changed immediately. He pointed his hand at the wall and shouted, "Put your guns down, put them down, you niggers..."

"OK!"

After the other party finished their performance, Li Yishu winked at assistant director Brett Ratner.

Brett Ratner smiled and said, "Murphy, thank you for your wonderful performance. If there is a result, we will call you within three days."

"Thank you." Eddie Murphy said politely and turned to leave.

This is a standard Hollywood audition process.

Even if it has been decided in advance, it is impossible to make a final decision at that time. At least you have to pretend to do so by giving the reason of notifying within three days.

The audition went on little by little, and after more than half an hour, 90% of the black actors had been interviewed.

Among them are familiar black actors such as Martin Lawrence. What Li Yishu did not expect the most was that later, the "Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.", Lu Dan, also came to interview for the role.

By the way, his name is Samuel L. Jackson.

These actors are all pretty good, at least in the eyes of Cheng Long and others, every audition turned out pretty well.

But perhaps because of the comparison with the original film, Li Yishu always felt that these people were missing something.

As for where the problem was, Li Yishu was a little unclear. He took the remaining files and said to the staff, "Call Chris Tucker in."

Chris Tucker was an actor in the original film "Rush Hour".

Li Yishu didn't let him in at first because she wanted to see if other black actors could perform better.

But now I feel like something is missing, so let the original actors come in for an audition and see what's missing.

After a while, Chris Tucker opened the door and walked in. Seeing the auditioners sitting in a row, he waved very skillfully: "Hey, Lee, Jack, I'm your fan, my name is Chris Tucker."

"Hello Tucker." Li Yishu smiled, "I'm glad to have a fan like you, but now is not the time to build relationships, you try this scene."

As he spoke, the staff handed him a short script.

"No problem, I promise to satisfy you!"

Chris Tucker took the script and read it for a few minutes. After thinking for a while, he began his performance: "Fuck, niggers, put your guns down. You niggers have guns in your heads..."

Cheng Long raised his eyebrows and whispered, "Director Li, the lines have been changed."

"Well, let's take a look."

Li Yishu doesn't care that this special way of interaction between black people may not be perfectly reproduced in the script he wrote.

Although as a director, he never likes others to change his lines.

But Li Yishu had no idea how different races, especially black people, communicated in such a foreign country.

The lines that were written were bound to be a bit thin.

And it will be released in North America to attract black audiences, so it must be changed.

So Lee Yi-su didn't mind Chris Tucker using their way of communication to modify the lines.

As he performed, Lee Ye-su gradually understood what previous black actors lacked.

It's emotion!
A kind of emotion that is always in a state of madness and excitement. (Refer to the hyperthyroidism brother and the black actor in "Rush Hour", which is indeed this form)
"OK!"

Li Yishu stopped the other party's performance and said with a smile: "Thank you for your performance. If there is a result, we will call you within three days. Remember to keep the phone open."

After Chris Tucker left, Li Yishu looked at the people around him and asked, "Who do you think is suitable?"

"Eddie Murphy!"

Assistant director Brett Ratner was the first to speak up: "I think Eddie Murphy is the best fit. He has played a black policeman of the same type before. The movie Beverly Hills Cop did very well at the North American box office and has a certain audience. If he continues to play a black policeman and partners with Jack, I think it will attract many audiences to the cinema."

"I think Martin Lawrence is pretty good."

New Line Cinema head Pierce preferred Martin Lawrence.

This person is also an excellent black actor. Li Yishu is familiar with him. She has seen the movie "The stupid Thief" filmed by him in the future. He also played a policeman, and he pretended to be a policeman as a diamond thief.

"Monica, what about you?" Li Yishu looked at Monica.

"I think it's all OK." Monica shrugged. She knew very well that it was Li Yishu's business to choose who to be the actor, and no matter how much others said, it would be useless.

Because there is only one person who can make the final decision.

Li Yishu asked Cheng Long: "Ah Long, who do you prefer as your partner?"

Cheng Long, like Monica, had worked with Li Yishu before and was well aware that Director Li was a dictatorial person. He said, "Director Li, I'm just an actor. You have the final say on who to choose."

"Chris Tucker then."

Li Yishu thought about it and finally chose Chris Tucker, the male lead of the original film.

"Li, why choose him? He has only starred in a small production with a production cost of more than three million."

Pierce frowned. Although the movie "Friday" starring Chris Tucker was co-invested by their New Line Cinema,
It turns out that the other party has some connection with the company, but this is a big production with an investment of 30 million yuan and a claimed cost of 40 million US dollars.

In Pierce's opinion, Eddie Murphy or Martin Lawrence should be chosen.
Because these two are relatively well-known black actors today, and they have a certain box office appeal among the black community.

"Murphy and Lawrence are both good, but Chris Tucker's performance just now is better. I really appreciate the excitement in his performance just now, which is in line with the image of a black police officer who walks between the black and white sides in the script."

After Li Yishu interpreted it from a professional perspective, he looked at Pierce and smiled:
"If our movie Rush Hour does well at the box office, we can definitely consider a sequel. Chris Tucker is cheaper, and we can sign a trilogy contract with him in advance." (End of this chapter)