America: Child stars start with The Shining

Charles slowly pushed open the door and entered the room, immediately spotting Spielberg sitting in the front row. Spielberg smiled and greeted him.

"Ciel, it's been a long time since we last met. You've grown quite a bit since I last saw you on the set of The Shining."

Charles smiled and responded quite naturally:

"It has been a while since we last met, Mr. Spielberg, but I still remember the business card you handed me."

Spielberg seemed to suddenly remember something, raised an eyebrow, and said:

"By the way, lately... you and that Jodie Foster have been causing quite a stir, you two..."

"Ahem, it's really nothing, please stop teasing me..."

The two chatted and laughed, while the producers and staff sitting next to them looked surprised and exchanged glances.

Spielberg seems to... value this child star very much?

It's worth noting that when the previous child actors with some fame walked in, Spielberg didn't chat with them or even exchange pleasantries; they went straight into the audition process.

The group sat up straight and carefully reviewed the actor's resume belonging to Charles.

After Charles sat down in the chair in front of them, Spielberg finally dropped his seemingly casual expression and began to speak in a more formal tone:

"Alright, Ciel, although I had a good impression of you before, you still need to use your acting skills to convince everyone here today."

"The audition was very simple. The scenario was this: a NASA staff member came to your room and told you that he had discovered an alien in your house and that you had to take it away."

"But the problem is, you've already become good friends with that alien, and you don't want this man to take it away."

Spielberg looked at Charles, leaned forward slightly, and said:

"You need to express that feeling of reluctance. I won't give you any fixed lines; it's all up to you to improvise. Can you do that?"

Charles nodded, took a deep breath, and the entire room fell silent.

[Equipped: Ray-Ban Sunglasses Lost by Child Star (Epic), Equipment Slots: 1/2]

[Equipped: Rap Kid's Poetry Collection (Rare), Equipment Slots: 2/2]

[Affix effect: Superstar Aura (Active) has been activated.]

[Affix effect: Street Sounds (Passive) is activated.]

The next second, he slowly raised his head and looked at Spielberg, his expression instantly changing.

Spielberg was taken aback.

He suddenly realized that Charles had quickly gotten into the zone, and his entire demeanor was somewhat different from before. For some reason, his gaze unconsciously wanted to fall on the other man.

The other producers nearby immediately felt the same way, as if the guy in front of them was a natural-born superstar who was naturally good at facing the camera, firmly attracting their attention.

Without hesitation, Spielberg immediately recited his lines from the scene:

"Young man, as far as I know, there's an alien hiding in your room. Is that true?"

Charles didn't reply immediately. He looked at Spielberg with a slightly evasive gaze, his expression uneasy.

His lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to deny it, but in the end he didn't speak and lowered his head.

Spielberg nodded in satisfaction.

In this situation, as a child facing an adult he couldn't resist, he didn't rush to deny it, but instead tried to express his resistance through his body language. Ciel's reaction was very genuine.

He took notice and continued to patiently guide her:

"So, there really is an alien in this house?"

"Yes, sir..."

"You know, child, I have to take it with me now."

"No! You can't take him away, he's my friend!"

The two actors delivered their lines one after another with almost no gaps in between, maintaining a very tight rhythm, which also reflects Ciel's solid foundation in dialogue delivery.

Spielberg was just about to continue when he suddenly froze.

Charles remained seated, but he seemed to instantly become defensive, his chest heaving slightly and his eyes trembling.

His Adam's apple bobbed slightly.

The next second, a few tears dripped down his cheeks. He turned his head to look at his side, as if there really was an alien friend standing there, reluctantly saying goodbye to him.

Ciel lowered his head, as if trying to suppress his tears, but his hand still unconsciously reached out a little to the side, as if protecting someone.

It was an extremely small gesture, but even such a small action moved the producers. The little guy's crying scene was just too real.

Spielberg looked at Charles, his eyes growing brighter, and continued, following the script:

"Child, you know we have to take it with us. It's a way to protect it, and I assure you, you'll definitely have another chance to see it again in the future."

"No! He's my friend! And...and he's afraid of you, I won't let you hurt him."

Charles shook his head violently, his tear-filled eyes staring blankly at Spielberg, displaying an almost clumsy stubbornness that made everyone in the room fall silent.

A few seconds passed.

Spielberg suddenly closed the script in his hand, then looked at Ciel again and said:

"child......"

"I think you're the male lead in this movie."

Charles breathed a sigh of relief, wiping away the tears that had fallen on his cheeks. His eyes were still a little red, and he was slowly coming out of his previous state.

He stood up, thanked each of the adults present, and then walked towards the door.

After Charles left the room, the producers exchanged glances, and one of them couldn't help but smile:

"Steven, isn't this decision a bit too hasty? There are still several good little guys waiting for you."

WMA had spoken to them beforehand, and even if those artists didn't have a chance to be selected, they still had to go through the motions, otherwise it wouldn't be easy to explain.

Spielberg shook his head:

"No need. I don't think any child star could act better than Charles."

"Moreover, this guy is highly praised even by that strict Kubrick. He has praised him to me several times already, and I am very envious."

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly a few times. The producers looked at each other, not knowing what else to say.

......

The Christmas holidays have arrived, and Charles has been staying at home for the rest of the year after only a few days of school. He is currently sitting at the dining table drinking milk.

He still needs to grow.

After auditioning for "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," he received a notification from Spielberg that he would officially join the cast next year. Before that, he has some other things to take care of.

Surprisingly, Jennifer and Tupac also received news of their successful auditions.

Jennifer took Drew's place, which excited her for days. She kept pestering him about it at school.

As for Tupaik, he only got a small supporting role, appearing in the movie for only a few seconds, but this still excited him greatly, and he has been showing more and more respect for Ciel at school lately.

As for Leonardo DiCaprio... he failed his audition, and Ciel hasn't heard from him since.

However, if the original timeline were followed, Leonardo DiCaprio would probably have to go through more than a hundred more failed auditions before finally landing his first movie role.

Ciel could only wish him good luck.

Just then, Ovitz, who was sitting opposite him, suddenly spoke up:

"Ciel, after the Christmas holidays, there will be a small-scale test screening of 'The Shining,' and the production team has informed me that they need your participation."

Charles paused for a moment, then asked:

"I?"

Normally, such preview screenings are only open to a small number of film critics and media, and are part of the pre-release publicity for the film. But to Charles's surprise, he was also going to participate.

Logically speaking, a child star with little fame shouldn't attract much attention, so even if he attends this kind of preview screening, it probably won't make much of a difference.

"Your affair with Jodie Foster has been all over the news lately, so you know what I mean."

Charles twitched the corner of his mouth. Goodness, so that's why.

As we all know, scandals are also part of the publicity and hype for movies, and sometimes they can even bring unexpected results.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing. Do you remember Friday the 13th? WMA is currently promoting the movie with all its might, seemingly trying to compete with The Shining in terms of release date."

Charles frowned, then asked:

"Ovitz, I asked you to do me a favor before, did you manage to buy that thing?"

Ovitz picked something up from the side and placed it on the table:

"Is this it? This thing is so troublesome to use, it seems like it requires a special machine... Hey, what makes you interested in this?"

Charles picked up the little gadget from the table, smiled, and said:

"Ovitz, don't underestimate it. There's a huge profit hidden behind this thing."

In 1975, Sony and JVC released new technologies one after another, and in the following years, a long tug-of-war ensued over these technologies.

In 1984, the Betamax case shocked the entire market, and the Supreme Court's ruling had an unimaginable butterfly effect.

However, in Los Angeles in 1979, this thing was still just a "novelty toy" in the living rooms of a few families, far from being an industry chain, let alone a source of profit.

At this point in time, no one realized the enormous business opportunity hidden behind it.

video tape.