America: Child stars start with The Shining

Charles had barely enjoyed a few minutes of freedom when he immediately realized a very serious problem.

"Gurgle—"

His stomach growled with hunger; after working all day, he hadn't even had a proper meal.

Charles reluctantly reached into his pocket, only to find it completely empty; he couldn't even find a single coin.

Although he has been chosen by Kubrick to be an actor in "The Shining," he hasn't even signed a contract yet, so the salary can't be delivered to his pocket immediately.

It seems I'll have to go hungry tonight, and the most urgent thing is to get back to my uncle's house as soon as possible.

Los Angeles at night is full of dangers. As a six-year-old child, he could be harassed at any time by homeless people with dazed expressions and sneaky gang members.

Charles quickened his pace, cautiously observing the surrounding street scene.

This is in the northwestern suburbs of Los Angeles, near Santa Monica Bay close to Hollywood. Blacks and Hispanics make up about a third of the population, and the security situation is very bad.

My uncle's house is located in a remote, poor neighborhood, where all the housing is government-built public housing. The environment is terrible, crowded, and noisy, but the only advantage is that the rent is cheap.

This is the price of living in a big city.

Charles sighed, and before he knew it, he had arrived at the door of a house overgrown with weeds. In front of him was a tightly closed door, the wooden planks were old, the paint was peeling, and it looked like it could fall apart at any moment.

He rummaged through his clothes, frowned, and muttered under his breath:

"Damn it, why didn't this bastard even give me the key?"

Left with no other option, he walked around the house and happened to find an unlocked window, which he sneaked inside.

"Phew... thank goodness there's a window here, otherwise I would really be sleeping on the streets tonight."

The room was pitch black; clearly, my uncle had already gone to sleep and had no intention of waiting for me to come back.

Fortunately, otherwise Charles would have been worried that he would have been mistaken for a petty thief and shot, something that is not uncommon in America.

He didn't turn on the light, but groped his way into the kitchen refrigerator and took a hard piece of bread. Then he easily found his room.

It's called a room, but it's really just a small, cramped cubicle under the stairs, where it's difficult to even turn over.

Charles squatted on the bed, tore a piece of bread into his mouth, and barely felt full.

His uncle, Trevor, divorced his aunt long ago. He was not only lazy and gluttonous, but also had a bad temper. He was like a parasite lurking in his body.

They squeeze every penny out of his childcare allowance and salary each month, and then keep sending him out to work and earn money.

Therefore, he absolutely cannot let this guy know that he has become a child star, otherwise the consequences will only be worse.

As Charles chewed on the unpalatable bread, he secretly plotted his next move.

He needs to consult a lawyer to see if there's any way to resolve the custody issue through legal means, and the biggest obstacle is the nearly $600,000 loan.

Only by paying off his debts as soon as possible can he completely sever ties with his uncle.

But he just did a quick calculation and found that with installments and interest, he would have to pay about five thousand US dollars each month.

"FXXX... I'm just a child, this pressure is too much!"

Charles couldn't help but feel a headache coming on. Luckily, he had become a child star, otherwise this debt would have really crushed him.

"Forget about that, let's not dwell on it anymore. I need to deal with the immediate problem first. I have to find an agent tomorrow..."

He quickly finished the last bite of bread, lay down on the bed, covered himself with a few tattered clothes to use as a blanket, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and he soon fell asleep.

He was really exhausted today.

......

Bang bang bang!

Early the next morning, Charles was awakened by a series of urgent knocks on the door.

He shivered as he got out of bed. This godforsaken place was freezing cold, and he hadn't slept well at all last night.

"Kid, I know you're in there. Open the door now!"

A rude voice suddenly rang out, followed by even louder banging on the door.

"Do you fucking know what the hell you did yesterday? Frank just called me and told me you're fucking fired!"

Charles frowned, but didn't open the door. He explained through the door panel:

"Um, Uncle, please listen to me first..."

"Shut up! Don't give me any more excuses!"

Trevor abruptly interrupted him, stopping his banging on the door abruptly. Then, there was a loud clanging sound of keys clattering together, and the lock was roughly turned.

Click!

Trevor stood in the doorway, his face grim, and yanked Ciel out of bed.

"You think you'll be safe hiding here?"

"If I hadn't kindly taken you in, you would have been living on the streets like those black devils!"

"Get out of here right now! Don't come back if you can't find a job!"

Before Charles could react, the next second, he was dragged out of the house and thrown onto the dirty lawn.

boom!

The door was slammed shut!

"WTF, I'm a six-year-old kid, and I've been kicked out of my house like this?"

Charles could never have imagined, no matter how hard he tried, that he would encounter such an absurd thing.

He grew angrier the more he thought about it, so he searched the surrounding area and painstakingly pushed a large trash can to his uncle's doorstep.

"Damn it, go to hell!"

boom!

He kicked over the trash can with a sudden thud, and a stench of decay immediately filled the air.

"Shit, what have you done, you little rascal!"

When Trevor rushed out and saw the mess outside, Ciel was already far away.

He now needs to find a suitable agent to help him sign a contract with the Shining production team without a guardian.

He would never tell that damn Trevor about being a child star.

This guy is particularly good at exploiting legal loopholes; he's a complete scumbag.

According to court regulations, Trevor, as the guardian, cannot abuse the child; otherwise, Ciel could send the abuser to prison with a single report.

Therefore, although Trevor had a bad temper, he never left a scar on Shire, and being kicked out of the house was far from enough for him to take Shire to court.

Even if he did that, the worst punishment for Trevor would be to attend a parenting training course of more than ten hours at the request of the court, which would be meaningless.

"F***ing! How can this godforsaken place have laws that protect trash and scum?"

The streets were deserted in the morning, and Charles consciously avoided the oddball vagrants lying on the ground; he didn't want to get entangled.

He then quickly found a newsstand and, under the shopkeeper's slightly unfriendly gaze, rummaged through the messy pile of newspapers and pulled out an entertainment special.

Charles quickly flipped through the contents, looking for the little guy with the agency name printed on his card; this was the fastest way for him to get this information.

Unlike later years, in 1979, accessing the internet was extremely difficult, far less efficient than print media.

Suddenly, he stopped on a certain page, staring at a piece of information, and muttered:

"CAA...you're the one."

Founded in 1975, this company was envisioned by Charles as a future super talent agency empire that would dominate the entire Hollywood scene.

Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Cristiano Ronaldo, and even Zhang Yimou, Ang Lee, Wong Kar-wai, and Jackie Chan are among their clients.

Of course, there's also that amazing old man, Deng, who suddenly became energetic after leaving office and started a nationwide speaking tour to make money.

However, CAA is now nothing more than a new face that is being besieged and suppressed by the established brokerage firm WMA and can only barely survive.

But for Ciel, an unknown child star, it was just right.