Exploiting Hollywood 1980
Chapter 84: Almost Made a Mistake
"Why?"
Weintraub let out an inaudible exclamation, then began to mutter something.
"Are you sure this is Pat Morita? I always thought he was just a comedy buffoon, and Miyagi needs a real actor to play him."
"Yes, I asked him to shoot some material. If you think his performance is good, then we will bring him back."
Weintraub finally relented, "Okay, this is really good. But I don't know if he can always perform so well. Is this the first time he has read a script? Or did you give him some pointers in advance?"
"When I read the script for the first time, he was pretty good. I thought we could cast him and co-star with our chosen Danny to see if there is any chemistry."
"Okay, let's invite him to try."
A few days later, the audition director called the four candidates back, and this time they read the script with Pat Morita. "
Weintraub and Susan auditioned together for the second round. The four Danny candidates took turns reading the script with Pat Morita.
"Sure enough, Ronald didn't lie to himself. Morita's performance was stable and excellent, and the temporary pairing with the four actors performed very well. The Japanese people have a unique accent when speaking English, and regardless of grammar or word order, the object is often brought forward. The inverted sentences all have the characteristics of people born in Japan.”
Weintraub was relieved. He had to admit that the original director Avelson was right in choosing Morita.
And Ronald used this method to let Morita's performance appear directly in front of his eyes, which was more effective than talking about it a thousand times.
"Very good, that's it for today. Please go back first. We will notify your agent at any time if there is any further news." Ronald said to Morita.
"Thank you. Thank you Mr. Weintraub." Morita bowed slightly, then stood up to leave.
"Aren't you going to take this script with you? Maybe you'll need it in the future." Ronald spoke up. Morita turned around, handed over a complete script, and winked slightly.
Morita seemed to understand, his lips were trembling with excitement. If there is no more roles, he will return to Hawaii with his wife, host on-site canvassing activities for congressmen, and talk about talk shows in bars. He will carry the memory of playing the clown in the TV series "Happy Days" with him for the rest of his life, and will tell his grandchildren about it in the future. Grandpa’s previous stories came to life.
The look in Ronald's eyes made him understand that this opportunity had opened a narrow door for him.
"Morita is really good. Now we have to consider the choice of Danny." Weintraub waited for Pat Morita to walk out of the room, stretched, and then said to Susan, Ronald and others.
"What's your choice?" he asked Ronald.
"I still like Ralph Mazzio." Ronald rewound the videotape shot on the Sony video recorder, then connected it to the TV in the audition room, and found the part where Ralph was talking about Wentraw. Bu said:
"Please see, even when Ralph was reading the script, his lines were very fluent. If he hadn't occasionally lowered his eyes to read the script, you wouldn't have noticed that he was reading the lines."
"But Charlie Sheen is also good. He's more photogenic and he doesn't look Latino."
"But he's a real Latino. His father, Martin Sheen, was originally named Estevez." Dupont, the audition director, interjected.
"I know, but he doesn't look like him, and Ralph Mazio has a Latino face at first glance. And in your script, Danny Webb is of Irish descent."
"I know, this does cause trouble to the audience. So let's do this. Let's change the name of the protagonist to..." Ronald looked at Susan, "What are the names of ordinary Latinos?"
"Hmm... let's call him Daniel, right? Daniel, and give him a Latino surname."
"Then let's call him LaRusso, it's my gardener's surname." Weintraub continued, "Ralph may be more suitable, but it's not decisive. I think Charlie Sheen is also good."
"Jerry, but Charlie Sheen is not yet a minor. If we choose him, our shooting costs will become very high." Susan Akins remembered what Ronald said and was eager to show up in front of Weintraub. Show off.
"You're right, Susan. I didn't expect you to get into the role so quickly, so let's choose Ralph Mazzio." Weintraub happily took a sip of coffee.
"Then there's the question of the heroine." Weintraub asked, "Do you have any suitable candidates?"
"These are the candidates we are optimistic about," audition director Penny Dupont handed over a pile of audition photos and resumes.
"Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Elizabeth Shue..."
Ronald also moved closer and took the audition photos he had read through from Weintraub.
Lea Thompson and Elizabeth Sue are old acquaintances. Ronald preferred Leigh Thompson. Her natural and smooth acting skills are more suitable for this role than Elizabeth Shue. Some of the subtle emotions between Ali and Danny require someone with better acting skills.
As for Jennifer Grey, and Sarah Jessica Parker, Ronald found one thing in common. They both have a big nose with a turn in the middle, like a hump. .
Ronald had seen Sarah Jessica Parker before. She played the supporting actress Rusty in "Football". Her big nose was more eye-catching, and her long face looked even uglier.
Jennifer Grey was okay. Her nose was only slightly bigger than the average, and the hump-like turn was not very obvious.
"I think Jennifer Grey and Sarah Jessica Parker are both very good. The other two are also OK. Let's call them to audition." Weintraub made a quick comment.
"Hmm..." Ronald touched his hair. Of course, he knew that Weintraub was biased towards his own ethnicity. These two girls were at the bottom of the list of beautiful people among all the candidates.
"I think this one is not bad either," Ronald pointed to another photo.
"Helen Hunt? I know her father. We share a rabbi." Weintraub looked at Ronald's recommendation.
"Another Jew," Ronald looked at Hunt's nose. It was okay. It was not too big, and the hump was not obvious. And her appearance did not have many Jewish characteristics. It looks like Helen Slater, mixed-race, secular Jews.
Most of the devout Jews in the world come from Eastern Europe, especially Poland, where a large group of them live together in New York. The genes of the noses of these Eastern European Jews are particularly obvious.
With the key candidates, audition director Penny Dupont began to mark the list. She suddenly remembered an important thing, "By the way, our candidates, except Elizabeth Shue who is studying at Harvard, are all auditioning for John Milius's "Red Dawn" at the same time. If they are selected, they may have to sign an exception clause."
"Exception clause?" Weintraub actually doesn't understand the ins and outs of these film shootings.
"If they are selected there, they can refuse this one."
"Well, who calls him Milius." Weintraub gave Elizabeth Shue a higher weight in his heart. Milius is the screenwriter of many hit movies of Coppola. Last year, he directed "Conan the Barbarian", which also achieved very good box office results. Now he is the darling of Hollywood.
According to gossip, his director's salary has reached 1.2 million US dollars, plus a rifle of any model he likes.
Several people discussed the key candidates and said goodbye.
However, the next day, Weintraub called Pat Morita alone and asked him to meet at the company.
"Hi, Pat, please sit down." Weintraub asked Morita to sit down in the office, and then chatted with him gently.
"I asked you to come here today because I want to tell you in person that you have been selected by the crew to play Master Miyagi. I may have made the biggest mistake in the world before, and almost rejected you, a perfect candidate, so I think it is most appropriate for me to tell you this good news in person in advance today."
"Oh, thank you, Mr. Weintraub." Morita looked very touched and thanked Weintraub for his respect again and again.
"By the way, why do you have an American name like Pat?" Weintraub asked.
"This is the name of the priest who raised money for my polio treatment when I was a child. I am very grateful to him. In addition, my name is difficult to pronounce in English, so I gave myself an American name, Pat."
"Oh, what is your Japanese name? I think the actor who plays Master Miyagi has a Japanese name, so that the audience will feel very emotional."
"My Japanese name is Noriyuki, Morita Noriyuki (noriyukiorita)."
"Okay, then I will sign your name Morita Noriyuki in the movie subtitles. You can ask your agent to sign the contract."
Pat Morita, who left the door of Winterraub Company, found a telephone booth and quickly dialed out.
"Hello, Ronald, it's me. Winterraub really called me and said he wanted to sign a formal contract with me. Thank you." Morita swallowed a little more.
"Congratulations. If you have time next time, you can come to the audition more often. We can discuss the details of the plot. You are Japanese, so there are some details about the lives of Japanese people. If I write something wrong, you can point them out and correct them."
"Okay. But there is one more thing. Mr. Weintraub asked me to sign as Morita Noriyuki, saying that it would be more interesting. But my name in the Screen Actors Guild is Pat Morita. It is troublesome to change the name. Can you tell him not to change it?"
"This?" Ronald thought about it and decided not to go against the producer's small request. Anyway, Weintraub agreed with his opinion on the casting, although Ronald carefully disguised these opinions as Weintraub's own ideas.
"How about this, when the time comes, add quotation marks around 'Zezhi', so that the union and the tax bureau will not bother you."
"Pat "Zezhi" Morita?" In this way, Zezhi becomes a nickname, which should meet Weintraub's requirements.
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