Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Didn't they say Diane Lane has been chosen? Why do they need other actresses to audition?"

After Ronald returned to the studio, he heard Coppola's evaluation of Diane and thought that the actresses' auditions were over.

But Coppola still asked him to continue to shoot audition videos for the remaining actresses tomorrow, which made him feel a little strange and asked.

"Looking alike does not necessarily mean suitable. Don't you want to know how to solve the problem of consistency in actors' performances? Start by shooting a casting video for me. You know, when Roger Corman asked me to wash his car, I didn't ask why washing cars would help him become a director."

"Uh, okay." Ronald knew that Coppola wanted a suitable person to help him with the audition chores.

Maybe the actors cooperated with each other tacitly, and their performances were more consistent. Coppola's casting is known for actors fitting the roles. "The Godfather" was praised as the best casting of all movies in history. Ronald decided to talk less, listen more, and watch more.

"Go ahead, audition for another day. We'll move on to the next mixed audition tomorrow."

"No problem, director." Ronald made an OK gesture, "But Mr. Coppola, did Mr. Corman ask you to wash the car that year have anything to do with being a director?" This approach is very consistent with Roger Corman's character.

"Of course, and then he asked me to drive his car to shoot the racing scene. How can I shoot it if I don't clean it?"

The next day, Ronald saw many familiar faces again. He also saw Catherine Mary Stewart, the heroine of Menahan Golan's failed masterpiece "The Apple".

In the evening, Ronald and other audition assistants brought all the audition videos to Coppola for review. Ronald, Coppola, and the casting director sat together to watch the audition videos.

"This is C. Thomas Hall." The casting director pointed to the boy with big glasses on TV.

Coppola ticked on his notes, "Who do you think he looks like?"

"Like Johnny, the bullied boy, the friend of the protagonist's henchman." The girl who got the trainee director position answered.

"What about you, Ronald?"

"A lackey, Johnny is strong and opinionated, and this actor Hall, with his innocent eyes, looks more like a lackey." Ronald answered. He would not speak unless Coppola asked.

Coppola nodded and indicated to continue.

"This is Matt Dillon."

"Who is suitable?" Coppola asked again.

"Dally, the outsider who has a good family background but hangs out with the Greaser Gang. This actor has a gangster temperament at first glance, but girls won't hate him," the girl answered.

"Ronald?"

"I agree."

...

After several rounds, Coppola had to wait for Ronald's opinion before moving on.

"This is Tom Cruise."

"Johnny, this one looks like Johnny. He seems to be quite opinionated." The trainee girl answered.

Coppola looked at Ronald.

"I'm not sure. Several roles are possible."

"Very good. I hope you can give me some advice. Don't take my advice as the final answer. George Lucas often argued with me on the set, but he also had many good ideas. If each of you can come up with a good idea every day, then it's worth paying you."

Ronald nodded. He felt that Coppola's words were sincere. Maybe he really needed some opinions from young people.

"Rob Lowe?" This is a very beautiful boy. He is not cool, but beautiful. But it is not feminine beauty. He is very masculine.

"Second Brother Soda?"

"Dennis Quaid?" PJ Soules' husband, very masculine.

"Big Brother?"

...

One by one, the male actors were taken out, and several young people gave the roles they thought were suitable. The casting director filled in the appropriate role names for these actors in the casting notes according to Coppola's code.

After a long time, it was the turn of the actresses again. Coppola also looked at each audition video.

"Kate Capshaw? Twenty-eight years old, still looks young." Ronald briefly introduced the actors.

"Cherry is a little mature, and a little naive." The trainee girl commented.

"Katherine Mary Stuart?"

"How about this one?" Coppola asked the trainee girl again.

"A little soft, maybe more suitable for Cherry's friend role."

"Brooke Shields?"

"She is very suitable, the dream lover of boys all over America." Isn't Cherry a very beautiful girl? The reason for the war between the two gangs was that Ma Zai and Johnny talked to her a few more words, causing her boyfriend's jealousy.

"What do you think, Ronald?" Coppola asked.

"I think... she is really beautiful. Her beauty and popularity seem to make up for the possible lack of acting skills."

"The next one is Helen Slater." The casting director pressed the play button.

Ronald looked at the blue-eyed girl and couldn't help but smile.

"She is also a little beautiful, but her temperament is not like a beautiful girl in the country. She is an uptown girl." The trainee girl's evaluation of the actress was more sharp. Unlike the actor, she was a little reserved and spoke well of several actors.

"Not bad, right? She doesn't have a big city vibe. Her mother is an environmental lawyer and usually wears second-hand clothes." Ronald spoke well of Helen Slater.

"The next one is Diane Lane." The casting director found a videotape of Diane's individual audition.

It was the first time for Ronald to see Diane's audition video.

"Diane fell in love in high school?" Ronald watched Diane shyly and cheerfully talk about her first love on the TV screen, which seemed to be a true performance.

"Why haven't you heard Donna talk about it? Which lucky bastard stole the girl's heart?"

"This one doesn't seem pretty enough." The trainee girl commented.

Indeed, Diane looked a little dark and thin compared to Helen Slater and Brooke Shields, but she looked good in her outfit.

"She looks very beautiful after putting on makeup. I recently shot her MV. She plays the lead singer of a rock punk band and is very photogenic."

"Brookie, Helen, Diane, and those... Ronald, which one should I choose?" Coppola patted Ronald on the back.

"I don't know..." Ronald was stunned for a moment. Why did Coppola ask him? Maybe he wanted to test himself, or wanted to hear the feelings of young men?

Looks alike may not be suitable, Ronald remembered what Coppola said before.

"Maybe let them match with male actors to see?" Ronald squeezed out a sentence.

"Well said, let them all come tomorrow, let the boys come too, we will have a mixed audition on the spot."

...

When it was time for the mixed audition, Ronald set up the camera on one side, and placed three rows of chairs in the middle of the studio in a messy manner, just to audition the scene Ronald had dreamed of, where Daly flirted with Cherry in the drive-in theater.

All the actors, both male and female, sat in a circle along the corner. Ronald greeted Matt Dillon, Tom Cruise, Helen, Brooke, and Diane, whom he knew.

"Helen Slater plays Cherry, C. Thomas Hall plays the henchman, Tom Cruise, Rob Lowe, you play Johnny and Daly."

"Wow..." The actors suddenly made a noise. How can you audition like this?

In general, everyone waits outside for an audition, and the auditioning actors go in when their names are called. If you audition in front of everyone like this, won't others see you no matter how you act? And there are so many competitors

"Be quiet." Ronald called, "Come up if you hear your name." Then he gave Helen a "reassuring" look.

"Look, there's a red-haired beauty here." Rob Lowe pulled Helen's hair and put it under his nose to sniff it.

"Sorry, I can't act, let me prepare for it." Rob Lowe was also a little out of control. How could he act in a scene of teasing a girl in public? He couldn't let go. The people on the scene were not staff members, but competitors.

"It's okay, you and Tom Cruise can switch roles."

"Look, there's a red-haired beauty here." Tom Cruise put the script down, he was still memorizing the lines. Then he acted this scene with his usual serious attitude.

"This is not teasing, this is like a confession." Ronald secretly touched his nose and looked at Helen in the front row.

Helen felt his gaze, smiled, and indicated that she was fine.

"Tom Cruise, come down, let Dennis Quaid come on." Coppola said.

"Did I act badly?" Tom came down and talked to Ronald.

"Actors who have not auditioned, please retreat to the wall and do not disturb other actors." Coppola said to this side.

"It's okay, you did a good job." Ronald said softly, pointing to the empty seat in the corner.

"Helen down, Brooke up."

After several rounds of male actors, Coppola called Brooke Shields to the stage.

"How do I know if this red hair is natural? Is it the same color as your eyebrows?" Dennis Quaid, who plays Dali, said the lines.

Or the age is not right, and he can't play the kind of little gangster look. Ronald shook his head secretly, PJ Soules' husband has little chance this time.

"Put your feet off my backrest and shut up!"

Brooke Shields reprimanded him seriously.

Brooke didn't act like a beautiful country girl, it was a bit like a good city girl, Brooke's acting skills were as bad as always.

"Dennis Quaid, you guys step down, let Matt Dillon and Emilio Estevez come on."

This is another actor Ronald is familiar with. He had seen Emilio Estevez's image in the discarded film of "Apocalypse Now", but it was not edited into the finished film.

"This is the eldest son of Martin Sheen, the star of "Apocalypse Now", the trainee girl said to Ronald, "He looks very handsome."

"Really?" American girls' aesthetics are sometimes strange. Some girls think this hunchbacked Latino boy is handsome.

"How do I know if this red hair is natural? Is her eyebrow the same color as yours?"

Ronald thinks Emilio's acting is okay, but still a little worse than Matt Dillon in his dream.

"Emilio, you go Johnny, Matt, you go Daly. Brooke, you switch with Diane."

"How do I know if this red hair is natural? Are her eyebrows the same color as yours?"

"Put your feet off my backrest and shut up!" Diane Lane hid for a long time, then spoke up and reprimanded.

"Tsk." Ronald secretly admired, this is the chemical reaction between actors, right?

Some actors are very compatible in the camera, and the audience loves to watch them play together. Emotions, strength, no matter how they act, they are very consistent, and they can act any role at any time.

Ronald gradually began to understand that the first key to Coppola's ability to achieve emotional consistency in the drama was casting. It was not whether a single actor was similar to the character, but more importantly, the coordination between the actors.

Sometimes it is not necessarily the actor who most resembles the character who is most suitable, but several actors working together can create the right emotions. This is the so-called chemical reaction.

"Emilio, come down and come in for Ralph Mazzio."

Coppola called a dark and thin actor to play with Matt Dillon. Ralph Mazio is Latino. Although he is twenty-one years old, he looks as if he has not yet developed.

…

As time passed, Ronald also saw some clues. No matter how he changed, C. Thomas Hall, who played Ma Zai, did not change. It seems that Coppola has gradually developed a favorite candidate.

"Okay, Matt Dillon, you can go." After trying this, Coppola let Matt Dillon go.

"."

Matt Dillon was stunned on the spot, and the other actors also looked at him with a little pity.

"Fxck!" Dillon cursed in a low voice, turned and walked towards the door.

"Don't be discouraged, it might be a good thing." Ronald gently pulled him and told him as he walked past.

"Stop comforting me." Dillon patted Ronald's arm and walked straight away.

"Val Kilmer, Mickey Rourke, come up and play Ma Chai's eldest brother and second brother."

"You two change."

"Dennis Quaid, Patrick Swayze, you two are the eldest brother and the second brother."

In this way, this kind of gladiator-style audition made all the actors very nervous, and many of them performed abnormally and their voices trembled. But there are some actors who perform better under pressure.

After several days of intense gladiator auditions, all audition filming was finally completed.

"Bah bang," Coppola clapped twice and said to everyone with a smile, "You all stay for dinner today. I will cook for you personally and give you a taste of the skills of an Italian chef."

Everyone returned to Coppola's temporary apartment in Los Angeles. Coppola cooked by himself, prepared some Italian dishes, opened two bottles of red wine from his own estate, and served them to everyone.

"Thank you everyone for your hard work. Let's finalize the main characters."

"Inform Matt Dillon that Dali is his and ask him to start reading the script in advance."

"Why? Didn't you let him leave early?" The trainee girl was surprised.

"Tell her why." Coppola pointed to Ronald.

"Because he no longer has to audition, the subsequent auditions have little to do with Dali's role, and there is no need for him to stay and co-star. It is different from C. Thomas Hall in the role of Ma Zi."

"Oh." The trainee girl nodded. She found that Ronald still understood Director Coppola's thoughts very well.

"So, this is the second time Matt has played the male lead in a movie adaptation that I wrote." Author Hinton laughed next to him.

"He is indeed very suitable for taking pictures of you." Ronald raised his glass. Dillon has a natural sass that is perfect for a teenager like Hinton.

"Patrick Swayze plays the eldest brother, and Rob Lowe plays the second brother, Soda Pop. Diane Lane plays Cherry. Emilio Estevez plays 'Bitch.'" Coppola assigned the roles. , casting director Fred was recording from the side.

"Ralph Marzio plays Johnny..." Coppola continued.

Seeing that Tom Cruise's name hadn't been called yet, Ronald had some ideas. Paula Wagner called him several times to ask for help.

"What about Steve from the Greasy Gang?" The casting director clicked on the role. There were many male characters in this movie, and there was a supporting role from the Greasy Gang that Coppola didn't pick.

"How about Tom? Tom Cruise, the blond boy who always pushes a little too hard, similar to Steve's personality."

"Just him." Coppola nodded, then took the hand of the teenage girl next to him and started playing with her.

"Ring ring ring ring..." The doorbell rang at this time.

"Sofia, open the door. It's your cousin Nick."

The little girl went to open the door, and it was Nicholas Coppola who walked in.

No, his stage name should be Nicolas Cage now.

"Nick, come here." Coppola asked Nick to sit next to him. "This time I have left a supporting role for you. You should play it well. If you perform well, you will have the opportunity to play a more important role in the next film."

"Thank you for what happened last time. You gave Nick a Screen Actors Guild card." Coppola turned around and thanked Ronald.

"It's nothing. Nick will always come out ahead if you support him."

"But you are always the one who gives him the first chance, Ronald. We Italians know how to be grateful."

After drinking and eating, Ronald said goodbye as he still had a date.

"Which girl is it? Oh wow..." Coppola smiled and sent him out the door.

"Helen, have you been waiting for me for a long time?" Ronald came to the mall where "Fast Pace" was filmed and found Helen Slater in the cinema here.

"It doesn't matter, I know it's Director Coppola who's looking for you. I didn't know that I..."

Ronald shook his head, "I'm sorry that Coppola chose Diane Lane."

"It doesn't matter, I know he's a famous dictator on set. I still have a chance on 'Once Upon a Time in America'."

"Didn't I say that 'Once Upon a Time in America' has already been selected?" Ronald handed over a cup of Coke and caramel popcorn.

Ronald bought two movie tickets. This was the old movie "Chariots of Fire" released last year. The director Hugh Hudson had competed with him for the right to direct a gum commercial. The story of a group of British people winning gold medals at the Olympics actually earned 50 million box office in America.

"You don't know. John Belushi, who was originally scheduled to play the second male lead, suddenly died at home. Director Leon is considering revising the age of the heroine to match the new male lead. So we have to recast."

"How did he die?"

"I heard it was drug abuse."

"So you have another chance?" Ronald and Helen walked into the screening room together.

This time he wanted to take it slow with Helen Slater and go through the dating process of American men and women.

The lights in the screening room have been turned off, and the pre-screening advertisements have begun. This is a new promotion model that some cinemas have come up with since last year. The box office is insufficient, and various incomes are needed to subsidize the cinema.

Helen took Ronald's arm and said, "Yes, I have another chance." She would go back to New York to audition for the leading role in the ABC TV series arranged by her father, so she would stay with Ronald for a while longer if she had the chance.