America: Child stars start with The Shining

"You got accepted to Yale University?"

"Classical literature...it suits your temperament perfectly."

"Ahem, why do I feel this way? Uh..."

Then, Charles heard a pleasant laugh coming from the other end of the phone. He had been tricked by Judy again. That girl loved to tease him on purpose and then see his embarrassed look.

He leaned back on the sofa, put down the document in his hand, held the receiver in his hand, and chatted with the other party for a while.

He didn't ask how Judy got his contact information at all.

For this guy, accomplishing something like this is probably much easier than someone else going out to buy a newspaper.

"So, you didn't actually come up with a reason, did you?" Judy asked with a smile on her face over the phone.

Charles immediately denied it:

"Of course I've thought it through."

Actually, he was indeed trying to change the subject, because he just said it casually, but he didn't expect the other party to easily steer him back to the topic.

And it was clear that Judy cared a lot about this answer, so she continued:

"That doesn't sound like it."

Charles cleared his throat and said in a serious tone:

"Classical literature usually gives people a feeling of... solemnity, intelligence, and a slightly aloof distance. Don't you think that's a lot like you?"

There was a brief silence on the other end of the phone.

After a moment, Judy spoke again, her voice still carrying a hint of barely suppressed laughter:

"Ciel, you know what? It's really funny when you're talking nonsense with a straight face."

Charles heard a slightly muffled static sound coming from the receiver. Judy seemed to have moved the phone again, making the sound even closer, as if it were right next to his ear.

He simply changed to a more comfortable position, sinking his whole body into the sofa a little.

The two chatted idly for a while, and just as Charles was about to hang up, he heard Judy suddenly whisper again:

"Be careful lately."

Charles paused, realizing that Judy clearly already knew about his ordeal in New York.

He gave a soft "hmm" and then hung up the phone.

During this time, he had actually discovered John's family business, Sinclair Oil Company, a multinational behemoth with deep-rooted influence that was simply not to be trifled with.

Charles had no idea what the other party would do to him, so he sighed and looked out the window.

Los Angeles has entered the rainy season. The night is heavy and looms over the city. Outside the glass window, a light rain has started to fall.

......

A few days later, Charles returned to the Hollywood set. Pre-production for "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" was complete, and he would be back to the familiar life on set for the next few months.

Fortunately, Spielberg's directing style is completely different from Kubrick's. He is equally strict about details, but at least he doesn't push the actors to their limits.

At least, Charles no longer has to worry about someone forcing him to reshoot dozens of times just for a glance or a gesture. He really doesn't want to relive that painful period anymore.

The studio was bustling as always. The lights were still being adjusted, the set crew was pushing props back and forth, and the actors' assistants were carrying documents and call sheets, constantly checking the time.

He was sitting alone to the side, engrossed in studying today's script, when suddenly he felt his wrist being grabbed.

He looked up and saw that Jennifer had somehow gotten up in front of him.

The other person's face was filled with barely suppressed excitement, their eyes shining brightly, as if they had just stumbled upon some earth-shattering secret, and they looked extremely excited.

She spoke almost impatiently:

"Ciel, come with me quickly, I really saw aliens!"

As Charles was being dragged along, he said speechlessly:

"Wait, Jennifer, how old are you? How can you still believe in this kind of thing... WTF, there really are aliens?"

He had originally intended to take the opportunity to correct Jennifer's mistaken belief that she was overly immersed in a child's fantasy world, but he didn't expect that what she said was true!

There really are aliens!

Charles stared at the strange creature hiding behind the set in the distance, with an absurdly large head, shiny black eyes, and a neck that could slightly extend and retract, and froze for a moment.

Jennifer, standing next to him, patted Ciel on the shoulder with a smug look on her face, as if to say, "See? I told you so."

Charles sighed; he really did seem rather ignorant now.

He had always thought that the character in "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" was mainly created using special effects, but he never expected that there would actually be a complete set of props and costumes on set.

He quickly pulled aside a staff member next to him and asked, only to find out that the "alien" in front of him was actually played by a short adult actor, and the production cost of the entire costume was shockingly high, around $400,000.

In addition, the production team also made several sets of electronic models to deal with various special shots and close-up shots.

Each of those models was enormous, often requiring a dozen or so staff members to work together to control the movements and expressions of different parts of them.

Therefore, the props for filming this "alien" alone cost the production team millions of dollars.

You have to understand that in this day and age, the entire production budget of some low-budget films might not even be as much as the cost of such a prop.

For example, Paramount's "Friday the 13th" may seem like a lot of money, as they spent $1.5 million to acquire the distribution rights, but in reality, the film's production cost was only around $500,000.

It can only be said that Spielberg and his Universal Pictures are incredibly wealthy and generous, sparing no expense to produce a truly commercial blockbuster.

Just then, Tupac appeared out of nowhere, and upon seeing the alien costume in front of him, his eyes widened in surprise, and he exclaimed:

"WTF, I knew aliens existed! Those politicians are just trying to keep it from us kids!"

Charles glanced at him sideways, his lips twitching slightly.

Jennifer and Tupac circled around the fake alien, looking it over from left to right, and they were starting to get restless, wanting to reach out and touch it.

Charles stood aside watching this scene, and a sense of powerlessness suddenly arose in his heart.

He still found it difficult to fit in with this group of immature children.

Just then, a staff member next to them smiled, pointed to the prop costume, and asked them:

"Hey you guys, want to try them on?"

Xia Dun's eyes lit up immediately, and he raised his hand.