Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1355: Aren’t you afraid of the commander-in-chief’s wrath?
"After the filming in the Cayman Islands is finished, except for those who come to unpack and debug the equipment, other staff members can stay here for one more weekend. The crew will take care of your food and accommodation, and the rest will have to pay for themselves..."

"Oh yeah!"

Filming in the Cayman Islands not only made the crew shoot very efficiently, but also created a lot of tension. Shooting in this resort every day, but without the time and money to stroll on the beach, dive, and hook up with beautiful women, the natural "artists" in the crew had nowhere to vent their hormones, and they almost vented them during the filming.

Moreover, Ronald and several of the main actors also had their boyfriends and girlfriends visiting the set, and this inequality further exacerbated the complaints. The crew stayed here for a few weeks, and after finishing the filming, they had to move to Washington, DC to film the remaining FBI-related scenes, so they were asked to go directly there. Ronald thought that there would be a strike, so he simply paid some money to let the staff stay and have fun for a few days. Those who volunteered to go to Washington to be the advance guard were all given double salary plus bonuses, and even the union could not say anything against this.

After a long flight, Ronald arrived in New York first. Helen had already returned to her apartment, looking forward to the fruits of their hard work in Cayman. Ronald still had to meet many people...

"Here are Dafoe and Klein's auditions, would you like to take a look?" Jonathan Demme came over and watched the backup actors they had found for Andy, the male lead, with Ronald, but Demme was extremely dissatisfied with both of them. He was not interested in inviting even the British actors Jeremy Irons and Gary Oldman.

William Dafoe and Kevin Kline were both willing to play the lawyer Andy, but based on the two pages of script given to them (the main plot was not revealed), Jonathan Demme discovered a major problem.

But Demi insisted on not telling Ronald what the specific problem was. He just wanted Ronald to take a look as well. If the two had the same opinion, then there was really a problem.

"Okay, oh, I'm so tired, I really can't go to the resort to shoot movies in the future..." Ronald sat down and took a bowl of takeaway chicken soup to replenish his energy. This is a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown that specially added wolfberry and codonopsis, and it was slow-cooked over low heat...

"Oh, God...they, they..."

"You noticed it too, right?"

"Yeah, they're all hateful..."

After reading the details of the two auditions, Ronald indeed discovered the problem. William Dafoe and Kevin Kline, both of whom played the sick Philadelphia lawyer Andy, had a kind of disgust that made people have no sympathy at all.

This disease makes mainstream society feel uncomfortable, and the two actors, whether it is because of their looks or temperament, have a gloomy and uncomfortable feeling. This feeling is projected onto the audience's mentality, and it becomes a feeling of "you deserve it."

Andy was meant to make the audience feel pity for him, and feel for the misfortune of a good person falling into trouble. If the main feeling after seeing the male protagonist was "you deserved it", that is, a sense of gloating over other people's misfortune, then the whole movie would be completely untenable.

This is not a question of the actor's or the director's evaluation. It may end up being a box office disaster.

Miloš Forman, who won two Oscars for best director, suffered a Waterloo in "Valmont". Many reasons can explain the film's huge failure, but the fact that the leading actress Meg Tilly made the audience feel less sympathy than Michelle Pfeiffer, who played the same role in another film "Dangerous Liaisons", is undoubtedly one of the important reasons.

This is not just Ronald's opinion. Cinema Score conducted a sample survey of the audience for this film. American audiences also have very different views on the roles played by the two female stars.

"What you said makes sense, but why? There's not much difference between Tilly and Pfeiffer in terms of acting skills and appearance?" After listening to Ronald's statement, Jonathan Demme agreed with the statement that people couldn't feel pity for him, but he was a little unclear about the root cause of the problem, and kept pacing back and forth there.

"I'm not being objective, but have you ever thought about the impressions they left on the audience with the other roles they played?"

"I think what you said is very objective..." Jonathan Demme clapped his hands. This may be the crux of the problem. Before this movie that made her famous, Michelle Pfeiffer played the kind of pitiful roles. As soon as the audience saw her, they felt that they had evoked memories of the past, and that she was a pitiful woman.

Meg Tilly did not follow the typical Hollywood star path. Her ex-husband was a Hollywood producer who often found her different types of roles. She tried all kinds of roles, including pure, femme, abstinence, and debauchery.

Therefore, there is no impression left in the audience's memory. When they see her, they do not feel pity or that she must be an innocent victim.

None of the actors chosen for "Philadelphia" have the ability to make the audience feel pity at first sight. Even Daniel Day-Lewis, who Jonathan Demme wanted at the beginning, is not suitable. He can only use his acting skills to make the audience believe, but he does not have the ability to make the audience feel right at first sight.

"Do we really have to find Tom Hanks?" Ronald thought for a long time. Among the actors in Hollywood who were familiar with him and could play the leading role of Andy, it seemed that only Tom Hanks was the most suitable...

"Maybe Tom Hanks is the most suitable one?"

Jonathan Demme hesitated for a moment, but finally expressed the same opinion.

"Go find him first. If Rita has any complaints, come to me and I will try to convince her..."

Ronald knew that the biggest obstacle to Tom Hanks starring in this movie might be his wife Rita Wilson. Hanks had to work non-stop for three movies in a row, and even if he was given a star on Hollywood Boulevard, he couldn't be used like a machine.

……

"Hi, Rita. I'm currently filming in Washington DC. Can we talk after I finish filming?"

Sure enough, Rita Wilson was very angry. After Tom Hanks received Jonathan Demme's invitation, he was interested in playing this role, but Rita was so angry that she called Ronald's assistant and asked him to answer the phone immediately.

"Ronald, Tom just finished filming Sleepless in Seattle. You know how picky the director Nora is. She even had to read the lines word for word without making any mistakes. The clothes had to match the background color, and it had to be a harmony she approved of. This movie has exhausted Tom both physically and mentally, and I haven't even mentioned the previous A League of Their Own.

You're not going to let Tom do a third film like this, are you? We were all planning on taking a vacation."

"Ah, yes, vacation, you should go on vacation. It was my negligence. I just came back from the Cayman Islands and I'm very familiar with it. There are seven miles of beautiful beaches, which are very suitable for couples. Do you like it? I will arrange a plane to pick you up and fly directly to Grand Cayman Island. There are executive suites at the Marriott Hotel, as well as professional seaplanes and diving instructors. Of course, you can't take a plane right after diving. You have to wait for 24 hours. Don't worry about everything. I'll arrange everything..."

"Ronald, Ronald, ... you know that's not what I'm talking about. If you let him continue to star in your movies, I will file a complaint with the Screen Actors Guild..."

"Rita, listen to me, I don't mean to force him. I also don't mean to overwork Tom. This movie is really suitable for him. He is the most suitable. There is no one better than him in Hollywood... Do you understand what I mean? Jonathan is the best director..."

"Hey, Ronald, if you don't come up with a good reason, I, a Greek woman, will get mad. I won't have the courage to oppose him then. We all need our wives to take good care of us so that we can have room for creativity..."

Tom Hanks, who was on the phone, also spoke up, half-jokingly helping Rita and Ronald to ease their rising tempers...

"If you want to give a reason, I do have one, and I was just about to tell you..."

"What's the reason?" Rita Wilson also asked. As long as the reason was not convincing enough, she would insist on giving up the role.

"Jonathan Demme is a very good director. I am sure that he and Tom will make a movie that will be well received by critics and audiences across the United States. This is definitely an opportunity for Tom."

"Wow, Jonathan is a good director, but not every one of his films hits the mark. Your record is much better than his."

"You mean you want me to direct? I don't have time. I still have to edit the movie I'm about to finish shooting."

"Tom can wait and rest..."

"Uh..." Ronald thought about it for a few seconds, but gave up. He knew his level. This kind of subject matter and story was not suitable for him. In fact, this story was very plain. It was not his forte to capture the true meaning from the plainness. He still preferred commercial films with ups and downs in the plot.

"Well, yes, Jonathan actually has a secret. I have seen many of his films. When he wants to make a film and is full of creative passion, a wonderful chemical reaction will occur. Shotgun Lulu and The Silence of the Lambs are all like this. Even his earliest film, Orange Is the New Black, is a low-cost exploitation film full of social reflection.

The works that the studios wanted to impose on him can only be regarded as an above-average commercial film director, not a great one. "

"Hmm?" Rita Wilson's voice softened a little. Indeed, The Silence of the Lambs won five major awards, which is the third time since the Oscars were introduced in Hollywood.

"I'm telling you, why don't you give Jonathan a chance and let him talk to you too? He and I both have good friends who are suffering from the same disease... Well, if I didn't understand it myself and he handled this subject better than I did, I wouldn't give it to him.

If Emile knew that I had given this film to a random director, he would definitely jump out of his sickbed and call me to protest..."

As Ronald spoke, he began to feel sad too.

"I understand. How is Emil?" Rita is also an actress and is always very sensitive to such emotional things. What's more, what Ronald said makes sense, so she is inclined to agree.

"He didn't respond very well to Dr. He's experimental treatment. I'm just trying to keep him as comfortable as possible..."

"Do you think Tom has any hope of playing this role..." Rita Wilson finally hoped that her husband would win the Best Actor award, so she asked again.

"I don't know. The subject of this movie is so sensitive that if the right time, right place and right people are on our side, it is very likely to be nominated. But I can't guarantee it, Rita. Otherwise, I would be lying to you."

"Okay, but I'm going to take a vacation with Tom first... He's so tired."

"Of course, you don't have to worry about anything, I'll take care of it for you..."

……

After taking care of Tom Hanks' affairs, Ronald began the final filming of the movie "The Trap" in Washington, DC.

"Ed, very good." Ronald gave a thumbs up to actor Ed Harris who had just finished filming and was about to take a break.

The FBI detective played by Ed Harris is very different from similar characters in ordinary movies.

In a typical Hollywood movie, the FBI is either very stupid and evil, or very smart and righteous. It depends on whether the FBI is a positive or negative character in your script.

But in this sugar-coated trap, the FBI is fighting a battle of wits and courage with the protagonist Mitch. Although their professional legal knowledge is definitely not as strong as that of the protagonist Mitch, they are also humane. After finally obtaining evidence to punish the law firm where Mitch worked for that was engaged in tax evasion and money laundering, they also turned a blind eye to Mitch's behavior of protecting himself and rescuing his brother.

It can be said that this FBI detective is an ordinary person, neither a good person nor a bad person. He has coerced and deceived the protagonist, but he has also helped and understood the protagonist.

Bald actor Ed Harris didn't want to act in this movie. It was Tom Cruise, his good friend who wanted to work with him that made him agree to play the role.

However, after filming some scenes, he let go of his original prejudice against this movie, especially since Ronald gave him enough space to improvise and was able to listen to some reasonable suggestions he made. He was not the kind of commercial film director who only cared about the shooting progress as originally imagined.

"Wow, you make me so happy. Hahaha..." Ed smiled. After all, it was not a movie he liked. It would be fine as long as everyone could get along harmoniously.

"Does he like me? Or is he just trying to get me to accept his offer?" Ronald asked the director of photography after Harris left.

"It doesn't matter. He performed very well in front of the camera anyway..."

"Hahaha……"

Ronald also laughed. He actually didn't really care much about the performance of this role. He was more involved in scenes that were easy to control, and his roles were not those that had a big impact on the movie.

"Ronald..."

As he was talking, Ed Harris walked in again. "This gentleman wanted to see you. I saw he was in a hurry, so I brought him in."

"Oh, thank you." Ronald turned around and saw that it was little George who came in. "George, why are you here?"

"Is there a convenient place to talk?"

……

"The Ascension of Hidden Dragon will be released as originally planned? Who told you that? Didn't they agree to make the changes?"

"Oh, Ronald, you don't watch TV?"

Little George turned on the TV in the trailer...

"George Perot announced today that he would return to the presidential election. He expressed confidence that he could get votes and public support. As the vice president's running mate, he chose not to choose Boston University President John Silber, who had been a popular candidate before, but to choose his temporary running mate during the previous campaign registration, the deaf Admiral James B. Stockdale."

"You don't mean?"

"Yes, the Navy doesn't support us now. The budget cuts led by my father and Cheney have even forced them to give up the subsequent upgrade development of the F-14."

"What?" Ronald was speechless. Such a beautiful fighter, you don't want to develop it? "Little George, I have to say, this is really disappointing. I have to say, I don't support your father in this matter."

"Besides that, is there anything you can do to stop the release of this film that discredits my parents?"

"I'm afraid it's difficult. Legally, this video is a news film. According to the law, Hollywood can quote it even if the White House doesn't want it to. You can only stop it through legal proceedings, but that will be after the movie is released."

"OK, I understand. I'll tell Barbara, thank you."

"I say, Warner Bros. isn't worried about your father's anger now? He is still the owner of the White House?" Ronald didn't understand. Could it be that with the support of the Navy, a film studio would dare to offend the President?

"No, they didn't do it because they had the support of the Navy, but because they saw the possibility of my father losing the election."

"So, can he?" Ronald was stunned for a moment, then slowly said this sentence.

(End of this chapter)