Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1319 A Subtle Balance

Ronald heard about Meg Ryan's idea of ​​co-starring with her husband, and got a videotape handed to him by her personally, which contained a collection of highlights of all of Dennis Quaid's previous performances.

But to be honest, Ronald is prejudiced against Dennis Quaid. He has a square jaw and strong testosterone, a typical star face from the 1970s.

Moreover, he initially married Ronald's friend PJ Soules, but soon after he entered the industry, he abandoned her and pursued the popular Lea Thompson. When Thompson's box office failed and her future was uncertain, he pursued Meg Ryan.

It’s not that Ronald has any moral obsession with such people, but because Dennis Quaid’s face shape is too much like a college football quarterback.

In the eyes of female audiences born in the 1960s and 1970s, such a man is a typical popular lover. As long as he beckons his finger, the most beautiful cheerleader queen will go out with him. If he dumps the girl, it must be because the girl can no longer keep up with his pace, and the audience will forgive him.

This is the influence that the actor's appearance has on the casting, and it will also have a certain stereotype on the acting skills of some actors.

Dennis Quaid has long been accustomed to playing this kind of role. It is very difficult for him to show the infatuation and delicacy of Sam, the male protagonist in "Sleepless in Seattle", in a short time. And this also requires the cooperation of the actor himself and active adjustments.

The male stars of the new era, such as Tom Hanks, have round faces that are not too aggressive. The audience will unconsciously bring him into the image of a cousin next door. It will be much easier to add some infatuation, humor, and delicate qualities to the character.

Even if it is the more handsome Tom Cruise, because his chin is not so square and the lines of his eyes are softer, female audiences are more likely to accept that he plays a love-struck role.

In short, this is an era where circles are better than square lines. The tough men who appeared in propaganda and posters during the Cold War have gradually become less competitive in a market dominated by female audiences.

Of course, speaking like this about her husband in front of Meg Ryan would not get a positive response.

Although Ronald was the director of her debut film "Top Gun" and her famous film "When Harry Met Sally", times have changed and Meg Ryan is now a star actress. In addition, the other party vaguely revealed that she had just given birth and it was inconvenient for her to film while breastfeeding.

This made Ronald worried that the other party was tying up her husband to act in the film. If Dennis Quaid didn't act...

And Nora Ephron is so optimistic about Meg Ryan. When she wrote the two drafts of the script, she wrote it with Meg Ryan in her imagination. If she were to replace the actress, as a novice director, she would have to handle many details properly...

"Dennis is great, but I'm not deeply involved in the casting. From my perspective, Dennis lacks the sense of humor that female audiences like..."

Ronald didn't say anything final.

"Ha, you think so too, right? I've told him many times that he should change his performance method. Well, I won't say anymore..."

Meg Ryan is now more famous than her husband, and sometimes she doesn't give each other much face during business discussions.

……

With audition materials from several people who asked for favors, Ronald and Nora Efron met again to discuss.

"Tom Hanks, definitely Tom Hanks... My script is worthy of his and Meg Ryan's performances. Believe me, when I was writing the script, I felt very good, and there were only these two people in my mind..."

"Okay, I believe you. I will support you to be a director at TriStar Pictures..." Ronald smiled. It seems that Nora Ephron wrote the script with emotion and passion. This is a good thing for creation.

"But why do you like Hanks so much?" Ronald also wanted to recommend him selfishly. He didn't like Dennis Quaid, and he also wanted to hear Nora Efron's opinion, which would make it easier to refuse.

"Look here..."

Nora Efron was very excited. She opened the latest revised version of the script and showed Ronald a newly added plot.

After Sam's wife passed away, he lived with his son. His friend arranged a blind date for him. After meeting the woman Victoria, Sam was somewhat satisfied and wanted to spend the weekend with her. However, because of his son Jonah's dissatisfaction, he canceled this romantic weekend trip.

"Can you imagine Dennis Quaid doing this? Wow... He would definitely leave his son aside and go meet a beautiful woman. Only someone like Hanks can do that..."

Nora Efron had different ideas from Ronald. She wanted to position the relationship between the male protagonist Sam and his son Jonah as the kind that female audiences would like most... a caring and loving father, and the relationship between him and his son is more like that of a mother and son than a father and son.

"That's true..."

Ronald knew that Nora Efron's taste represented the thoughts of a large part of the female audience. This perception was very fatal. If the wrong actor was chosen, this subtle disharmony would ruin the credibility of the entire movie.

And in real life, Dennis Quaid did something even worse. He used to trick PJ Soules, who was older than him, into not having children. In the end, the two divorced because Soules wanted children. When he married a successful star like Meg Ryan, he couldn't wait to have children.

"Isn't your plot overemphasizing the hero's gentle qualities? No single man with self-respect would refuse an invitation from a beautiful woman to spend the weekend together..."

Ronald watched it over and over again, and this plot was a bit too much. He understood that Nora Efron wanted an image that was completely different from the male love roles in the past, but highlighting tenderness too much would actually make men lose the possibility of being loved by women.

An image that is too masculine and full of hormonal factors will make today's women lose the idea of ​​spending their lives with them, while an image that is too gentle or even feminine will make women lose sexual attraction to them.

The subtlety here requires careful consideration.

"Oh, men..." Nora Efron, who was also a woman who had suffered emotional trauma, did not comment on this.

"But Dennis Quaid is still not suitable. Sam has never met Anne, but he thinks that the two of them will be a good match based on just one meeting. Dennis Quaid is not convincing, and he doesn't have a sense of humor..."

"That's true. After all, Tom Hanks started out as a comedian..."

Ronald and Nora Ephron found a common cause…

……

"Fuxk, this is crazy, because I'm not gentle enough?"

Dennis Quaid accepted the audition and later received the reason given by director Nora Efron. Of course, under normal circumstances, the director does not need to give a reason. This time it was mainly because Meg Ryan had been confirmed as the lead actor, and Dennis Quaid's relationship with CAA, so he needed to explain the reason for rejecting him.

"Honey, we still have a chance. Let's find another script and act together..." Meg Ryan was still very grateful to Ronald, and what director Nora Efron said made sense.

"This is discrimination against me, Daxm it"

Dennis Quaid was not satisfied. His position in the industry was already lower than his wife's. If the movie was a big hit, the gap between their positions would widen further. This was unacceptable to an actor who thought highly of himself.

He even thought of asking Meg Ryan to give up the movie, but he knew that it would be difficult for his wife to refuse a movie that was based on a script written by a certain actor, produced by Ronald, who made Meg Ryan famous, and directed by Nora Ephron, who wrote such phenomenal scripts as When Harry Met Sally. So he didn't say it out loud immediately.

"This is unacceptable. I will report this to my boss. A couple co-starring in a romantic film is the best way to promote their movie. We at CAA cannot allow this..."

Dennis Quaid's agency contract is also signed with CAA. His regular agent did not understand the conflict and history between Ronald and his boss Ovitz. When he heard about this, he immediately expressed his intention to launch a campaign against his client.

Package is the source of CAA's power. With such good package conditions, not package is to turn a blind eye to the fans of this celebrity couple, to leave money on the table without pocketing it, and to commit a crime against CAA's profits...

However, when he went to find a more senior agent and reported to Ovitz's secretary, he soon received disappointing news.

The senior agent warned him not to mention Ronald to his boss. Unsure why, he went to one of Ovitz's many secretaries to make an appointment to talk about the matter.

When the secretary learned that he was going to package Ronald's production projects and hoped that the boss would put pressure on the screenwriter and director under him, he was scolded and kicked out of the office.

Because of his young age, he did not have a deep understanding of the important things happening within the company. He was only moved by the corporate culture that Ovitz promoted during his first employment. He really could not understand who CAA would be afraid of?

He explained to Dennis Quaid that it might be related to other CAA clients who were also pursuing this role. He also encouraged him to use his wife Meg Ryan's relationship and work together. To succeed, he had to do whatever it took...

Dennis Quaid had used women as a springboard before, so he was encouraged by his agent and was full of confidence, ready to carry out a roundabout plan...

……

"This script of yours doesn't look like a comedy. It's serious enough..."

Meanwhile, Ronald and Nora Efron went to the baseball field and took the opportunity to audition Tom Hanks.

Although Hanks jokingly said that he asked Ronald to help him get the role, he was actually still dissatisfied with the original script.

After making comedies for many years, he is a little tired of those farces that have no logic and can only tickle the audience.

This is why he is very grateful to Ronald for asking him to shoot a serious dramatic film like "Other People's Money".

If a movie actor wants to transform, he must be appreciated by a big director. In this star-based Hollywood, it is very difficult to abandon the original positioning and change the type of role. Any director who can do this is very popular with actors.

Nora Efron cut down the overly comedic content in the original plot to a very low level, leaving only some light, real-life jokes. The audience will not feel that this is deliberately funny.

"But this is a bit too much... I don't think there is a widower who would refuse a beautiful woman's invitation to spend the weekend together. The plot here reminds me of a farce comedy..."

Tom Hanks also expressed his opinion on the overly feminine plot.

Ronald looked at Nora Ephron and smiled an "I told you so" smile.

"Have you two discussed this?" Nora Efron wondered if the two had agreed on this since they were so unanimous.

"No, I think that if Annie wants to fall in love with Sam, she has to have some love for children, but a man who refuses to date his son when he expresses dissatisfaction will be regarded as a loser, right?"

"Okay, I'll revise this..." Nora Efron still muttered and put a question mark at that place in the script.

"I find that you and Hanks have made this movie too dramatic. Romantic comedy, romantic comedy, there is still comedy here..."

Nora Efron still had no psychological advantage over Ronald. When they discussed the script, many of Ronald's demands for authenticity were agreed to by Tom Hanks.

"Really? Is there such a thing?"

Ronald frowned. Is there really a problem?

He was not sure. The strength of "When Harry Met Sally" was actually in the dialogue and the characterization of the two protagonists. That was because Nora Ephron incorporated her own picky personality and the personality of director Bob Reiner into the script.

Therefore, the authenticity is guaranteed by the prototype character.

But this is not the case with "Sleepless in Seattle". The original screenwriter had an idea and then wrote the story based on the structure of the old movie "The Golden Alliance".

Although Nora Efron has revised the film twice, there have been no major changes to the structure and characters.

If these opinions of mine caused Nora Efron's overall grasp to deviate, it would have a very negative impact on the box office.

"I'm not sure. I do think there's too little comedy, and Hanks isn't willing to do more..."

"Hmm..." Ronald thought, if it was too comedic, Tom Hanks might really refuse.

"What are the general ways to save the comedy of a movie?" In Nora Efron's eyes, Ronald is still the magical director. Ask him any question and he will give you the answer.

"Hey? You can add some supporting characters and let them take care of the comedy part, so that the audience won't find the protagonist too funny..."

Ronald thought about it and realized that this trick did exist in movies in the past. The supporting actors were responsible for the gags, which would not distract the audience and also provide the necessary humor in the love story.

"Who will play the clown in this movie?" Nora Efron was the screenwriter after all, and she quickly understood Ronald's idea.

"This character has to make people laugh at first sight, but not feel disgusted. It also has to be able to be serious at serious times..." Nora Efron circled the role list. It seemed that the friends of the male and female protagonists were good choices for this job.

"Indeed, she has to look funny..." Ronald agreed. Nora Efron was very talented and that put his mind at ease.

"Well, it's best if he's fat and average looking, not a threat to the heroine, and able to answer questions frequently, like a funny person. He's more realistic, and can understand the heroine's romantic ideas..." Nora Efron spoke in more and more detail, as if there was an actor in real life.

"Hey?" Ronald was also more and more surprised as he listened, "Who did you think of?"

"Look..." Nora Efron pointed to the supporting actress, Rosie O'Donnell, who was waiting for filming on the set.

"Puchi..." Ronald thought about the last time she molested him, and this person was indeed suitable.

(End of this chapter)