Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Ah...ah...!"

"Ah...you bitch."

Ronald and the other three heard the noises outside getting louder and louder, and hurriedly got up and walked out of the room to see what was going on.

In the lounge, two women were swearing at each other.

One of them was Melanie Griffith, who Ronald had seen before and auditioned for "Endless Love". After not seeing her for a year, she was not as chubby as before, but a little thinner, and her fair skin was very conspicuous.

"You little bitch who seduced my dad, you came to my house at the age of 20 with your bitch mother and refused to leave." The other girl pointed at Melanie's nose and cursed.

"You bitch who's dating Nigger." Melanie was not to be outdone, and she pretended to be a child's tone to imitate the other person, "M...J..., when are you coming to my house? I have something good to show you."

"How old were you at that time, huh? 16?"

"You bitch, you actually eavesdropped on me and MJ talking in my house."

"Ah... I'm going to kill you." Another girl rushed over, grabbed Melanie's hair, and pulled it down hard.

Melanie was pulled so hard that she lowered her head, and the girl took the opportunity to scratch her face with one hand.

Melanie's face was scratched by her, and she screamed "Ah...", which was the biggest harm to the actress. She relied on her height to grab the other person's hair with one hand, and then slapped him with the other hand.

"Pah!"

A slap was crisp.

"Ah..."

The other person screamed, and then exerted force to pull a lot of Melanie's hair that was grabbed in his hand down.

"Ah..."

Melanie Griffith screamed miserably, rushed forward and pushed the other person down, sat on her, raised his hands, and slapped her twice.

"Oh...oh..." Ronald hurried forward, and he and casting director Don Phillips grabbed one each and separated them.

The two were hugged and tried to kick each other. Ronald had no choice but to separate them and then find the person who accompanied them to the audition to comfort them.

The girl Ronald was hugging was the one who had quarreled with Melanie. He found out that the one who accompanied her to the audition was the famous singer Cher. In the past, he often saw her and her ex-husband Sonny Bono performing the duet "I Got You Babe" on TV on Staten Island.

"Is this your daughter, Ms. Cher?" Ronald asked.

"Oh, no, this is Ryan O'Neal's daughter, Tatum. She lives in my house." Cher replied, "Thank you just now, who are you?"

"I am director Ronald Lee." Ronald thought to himself, it turns out that this girl is the little girl in the movie "Paper Moon" directed by Bogdanovich. With this role, she won her father Ryan and won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Why does someone's daughter live in your house? It seems that this relationship is quite complicated.

Ronald looked at Tatum O'Neal and saw that she was fine except that her face was a little red and swollen from being slapped. He asked them to sit down and rest first, and asked her if she needed an ice pack or if she wanted to go to the hospital for a check-up.

Tatum heard that Ronald was the director, and immediately adjusted her hair and tried to smile, but unfortunately it pulled her injured cheek, and a pain made her grin.

"Today is not suitable for you to audition, I will ask the casting director to choose another time so that you can stagger the audition." Ronald first made a promise to reassure the little girl.

Cher comforted Tatum, took the ice pack handed by the assistant and asked her to apply it.

Cher took the opportunity to quickly tell Ronald the whole story.

It turned out that Tatum O'Neal and Melanie Griffith had a personal grudge. Melanie had lived in O'Neal's house for a period of time in the 1970s and had an affair with her father.

I saw at the audition site today that I don't know who provoked the other first, and it developed into the two exposing each other's secrets, cursing each other's privacy, and finally fighting each other.

"Then why did you send her here today?" Ronald asked.

"Her father moved to live with Farrah Fassett two years ago. She was left alone at home and had to take care of her brother's daily life. We were on a TV show before, and she would come to me when she had something to do."

Ronald was speechless and had to let them go first and arrange a time for the audition later.

"Is there anyone here..." Cher asked while holding Tatum O'Neal.

"They are all Universal staff and know the rules." Ronald knew that she was asking if anyone would tell others. The news media wouldn't, as people here know the importance of things, but private messages are inevitable.

Let's go back to look at Melanie Griffith. Her injuries were more serious, with a few strands of hair falling out and a few scratches on her face, but luckily her face wasn't disfigured.

After persuading Melanie and her boyfriend to leave, Ronald went back to continue the audition. Actresses fight each other just like ordinary girls. I heard that Melanie Griffith lived with lions when she was a child, so the wild power was even more powerful.

The next audition for Kelly Preston was still the same old problem, with an extremely beautiful appearance, but her acting skills were not good enough, and she couldn't play the yearning and fear of an innocent girl facing love. Ronald had to let her go back and wait for news.

Before leaving, Preston made a phone call gesture to her, which made Heckerlin look over.

What's this? Not only did she not get what she wanted, but she also caused rumors?

In his heart, Ronald sentenced this low-IQ beautiful actress to death in the audition.

Carrie Fisher, the "Princess Leia", is still as beautiful as ever. Her lines and acting skills are also good enough.

However, Ronald is a little unsure. On the one hand, her age has increased irreversibly. She was born in 1956 and is already 25 years old, which is too far from a high school student.

On the other hand, she will also participate in the subsequent Star Wars, and may not be able to accept nudity. Maybe George Lucas will have to decide. Although there are certain marketing benefits and her brand can be promoted, this kind of scale restriction may force the crew to change the script in turn.

"What do you think?" Ronald asked the three people for their opinions

"Have you ever thought that the audience has too deep a memory of her image of Princess Leia?" Don Phillips whispered.

"You are right, Don." Ronald understood that an image that is too impressive to the audience will often limit the performance of the actor.

If the audience shouts Princess Leia as soon as they see Stacy on the screen, then the movie will not be able to continue.

Ronald had to cross Fisher out of his mind. There were no suitable candidates for the roles of Stacy and Linda when they encountered the two actresses who were fighting each other.

"Do we have anyone else to audition?" Ronald asked.

"Paramount's big production "An Officer and a Gentleman" was also auditioning. Many actresses went there to try their luck first. Besides, it was a play for women, and ours was a play for girls. Actresses aged 18-22 actually prefer "An Officer and a Gentleman". After all, if they become famous in one fell swoop, they can continue to act until they are 35 years old without changing their acting style."

"Who are the candidates?" Ronald asked.

"Debra Wger, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebebsp;De Mornay..."

Don Phillips reported a list of actresses' names.

"Okay, invite them to audition."

The fact that the actresses were fighting each other at the audition site was known to the senior executives of Universal. The next day, President Tom Mount and two producers called Ronald and Heckerling to a meeting.

"You are behind schedule. You need to speed up the audition of the leading actress." Tom Mount came up and put pressure on Ronald.

"Mr. Mount, we have some scheduled auditions for actors in the next few days. I believe we can find the right person." Ronald handed over the prepared key list.

"You are not well-informed, Ronald." Tom Mount flipped through it. "Jennifer Jason Leigh is likely to get the leading actress of "An Officer and a Gentleman". You need to find someone else."

"Okay, we will speed up the process." Ronald didn't know what Mount had hidden plans. He always felt that there was another purpose for calling him here. The actresses were fighting outside the audition office and couldn't blame him. It was normal for the auditioning actresses to have other options.

"Why don't we jump out of this box and think of a different solution?"

"Here, here," Ronald thought, and then answered Mount, "I wonder what the solution is?"

"How about we try an actress who is the same age as the 12th graders? For example, Brooke Shields?"

"We can't afford her salary, and if she participates, her mother Terry will not agree to the frontal nudity scene."

Ronald replied. Then he thought, with Brooke's acting skills, she would definitely not be able to play the two heroines well. And if she participates in the film, she must abide by the 6-hour work schedule every day without overtime, which will further delay the progress of the filming.

"I think it can be considered. After all, she is a popular star. It is not impossible for us to modify the script for her." Hekelin was a little excited. If a popular star participates in the film, the scale and budget of the film will be expanded accordingly.

Ronald looked at Hekelin and thought to himself, "Then the script must be modified, the schedule must be postponed. Of course, I may not be able to be the director of this big production, and you may not be able to do it either." He knew what she was thinking. He didn't want to go through this kind of production hell again.

"I can consider adding an additional $1 million as long as Brooke Shields can be invited. The script can also be modified. Didn't she also participate in The Blue Coral Lagoon and Endless Love? We can also handle it with a stand-in."

"I will contact Brooke's mother Terry." Ronald agreed. He knew that Terry was extremely greedy and the price offered here would not satisfy her. But Brooke might just be an episode. What is Tom Mount's real idea?

"Now let's discuss the selection of the male lead."

"So the real purpose is still the male lead." Ronald thought.

The audition clips of several candidates were shown on TV.

"I think this Judge Reinhold is good." Heckerling commented.

Judge Reinhold is her best friend's boyfriend, and no one in the crew knows this secret. She originally wanted to recommend her best friend who works at the Academy of Film and Television (AFI) to be the casting director.

Although the position is now occupied by a friend of producer Lin Sen, she still wants to recommend one of her own people as the male lead, so that after the start of filming, she can squeeze out Ronald, who is related, with her own ability.

A screenwriter who just turned 20, relying on luck to sell a script to Jane Fonda. How can the director's professional knowledge compare with his own, a top student with an undergraduate degree from New York University and a master's degree from AFI? He has also made documentaries and an excellent graduation short film, relying on these to get Mount's appreciation.

"He has good acting skills, but he is a little older. Why don't we try Nicholas Coppola?" Ronald said Nicholas's last name, hinting that he could give a face to director Francis Coppola.

Tom Mount smiled. This kid's idea was actually good. If Coppola's new film "Old Love, New Love" had not been cancelled after Paramount executives watched the sample film in October, this face could also be sold to him.

Paramount was not satisfied with the daily sample film shot by Coppola and was ready to give up the release of Coppola's new film.

Coppola was carrying a high debt of tens of millions of Chase Bank. If the new film did not sell well, it would probably go bankrupt. Now the senior executives in the industry are wondering if Coppola has run out of ideas.

The producers who still had confidence in him did not want to lend a helping hand. It would be better to wait until he went bankrupt and then sign him to multiple film contracts at a cheap price to get a bargain.

"No, we can't use him."

"Why? Because his performance is too 'dark'?" Ronald was shocked. This was Mount directly rejecting his choice. With Brad as the male lead, both of his choices failed?

"Because he is underage."

"But his audition information says he is 18 years old?" Ronald remembered Nicholas Coppola's information, which was clearly an adult.

"He forged it. We have confirmed it with Francis. He admitted that Nicholas was only 17 years old and could only shoot 6 hours a day."

"But Brooke..." Ronald knew he was wrong as soon as he said it. He shouldn't have agreed to invite Brooke.

"Yes, Brooke is a star. If she is willing to come, we can modify the script for her and then see if we can invite a male actor with the same acting status as her to cooperate."

If Brooke is willing to come, we will increase the budget and change the male lead to a big name. If Brooke doesn't come, which she probably won't, then Nicholas is not old enough to be suitable for this small-budget movie.

"Hmm..." Ronald sulked, looking at Heckerling and Mount. How should he deal with this casting issue?