Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"I think that when choosing Ali, we should first consider the popularity of the actress. An actress with average acting skills but high popularity is our best choice." Weintraub talked to Ronald about the choice of the heroine in the office again, and he seemed to have changed his mind again.

"Actually, I agree with you. Ali doesn't have too many scenes. Of course, it would be best if she is both famous and has a certain acting skills." Ronald took out his notebook, turned to the page where he recorded that day, and drew a heavy circle next to the handwriting of "Who?"

"So, do you have any candidates?" Ronald asked.

"What do you think of Brooke Shields? She is the dream lover of all American boys."

"This?" Ronald hesitated. Brooke's appearance is of course very suitable for a dream lover, but it doesn't match the overall story of the movie. A girl of her beauty is unlikely to fall in love with Johnny, who comes from a middle-class family, loves riding motorcycles, and practices karate.

And then she will fall in love with an undeveloped skinny monkey like Ralph Mazzio..., it's unlikely. The American people will not accept it. If it is similar to a handsome guy like me who is muscular... Hey, what are you thinking about.

"It is a good choice," Ronald answered while thinking of reasons, "but Brooke has been admitted to Princeton. I know this is her wish. When we were shooting, she had just entered college and it was unlikely that she would ask for leave."

"Is that so? I will contact her mother Terry through her agent. You know Brooke, so you can also call her privately. How about it?"

"Okay, I will..." Ronald's doubts deepened. Why does every time Weintraub goes back to rest, he always has some whimsical but reasonable new ideas the next day?

"In addition, we can't just bet on Brooke Shields. Diane Lane, the heroine of 'The Outcast', is also very well-known among young audiences. She is currently filming 'Streets of Fire'. Can you ask her to take some time to talk? I know you worked with her in Coppola's film."

"This? I'll ask her agent how the filming is going." Ronald added two more question marks next to the question mark, and then folded up the page of the notebook.

Ronald was a little conflicted about Diane Lane. Since he accidentally said the wrong line last time, he has been avoiding her and has not contacted this little girl who can be said to have grown up.

I wonder what will happen when they meet? Ronald is a little worried and a little looking forward to it.

Donna happened to take advantage of the summer vacation to come to Los Angeles to investigate colleges. She will graduate from high school next year and is choosing the college she wants to go to. She has already visited several Ivy League schools on the East Coast, and this time she will come to the West Coast. It's a good opportunity for him to visit the set with her.

Helen Slater arrived in Los Angeles earlier than Donna.

Warner Bros. was very tight on schedule, and the director of "Supergirl" quickly edited a 138-minute rough cut for a preview to the audience. Helen also came to support her. This was her first time to see her performance on the big screen.

Ronald paused his busy crew work and took an evening to accompany Helen to the preview.

Warner Bros. had high hopes for "Supergirl". The poor box office performance of "Superman 3" made Warner doubt this series of movies. This preview was the key to whether the entire "Superman" series could continue.

Although Ronald had only been separated from Helen Slater for less than two weeks, he found that Helen had become thinner. He was a little worried, but he didn't say it to her face, but decided to call Gerald later to find out the situation.

Helen was a little nervous. She entered the screening room, sat in the main creative seat, and held Ronald's hand tightly, so tightly that her fingers turned white.

The name of the producer Alexander Salkind appeared directly at the beginning of the film. The subtitles were made into three-dimensional letters, surrounded by clouds, and Salkind's name also emitted a burst of blue light, full of mystery.

Then the names of the actors were listed separately. This single treatment indicated that the actors were the main creators and would also enjoy a position above the title on the movie poster.

The first name that flew over was Faye Dunaway's name, which also emitted a mysterious blue light. Generally speaking, the first actor's name is usually the leading actor, but in this movie, Dunaway's salary is much higher than Helen's.

Helen muttered a few words, and Ronald hurried to comfort her.

Then Helen Slater's name flew over. The blue light on the name flew halfway and turned red. After fading, it became the official title "Supergirl".

"The actor's name closest to the title is the most important. Congratulations, Helen." Ronald whispered in Helen's ear.

"Hehe," Helen's nervous expression finally showed a smile, "You don't know, this subtitle cost more than one million dollars to make."

"Oh," Ronald thought it was too expensive. This subtitle was very shocking when the first "Superman" came out in 1978. But five years later, Superman has been filmed for three times, and Supergirl still has this subtitle. The audience doesn't think it's very good.

Ronald looked around, and sure enough, the audience didn't react excitedly. Instead, some people yawned, hoping that this boring subtitle would pass quickly.

The slow subtitles finally ended. Supergirl, played by Helen Slater, was in a spaceship, discussing some Kryptonian technology with the scientist played by Peter O'Toole.

Helen is still cute and wearing a dress. Soon Supergirl destroyed the spaceship. She took a small escape cabin and went to Earth to find her cousin Superman to find out what the solution was.

"I feel so strange, it doesn't look like me." Helen said quietly to Ronald.

"The left and right sides of people in movies are reversed, which is different from what you see in the mirror. But it's the same as what other people see. I think you are beautiful."

"Really?" Helen temporarily let go of her worries.

Ronald watched intently, especially those shots of Helen. The director made Helen very beautiful. Compared to Superwoman, Ronald even liked the scenes where she disguised herself as Linda Lee, an ordinary high school student. Helen put on a wig and restored her original brown hair, looking very demure.

But the audience didn't buy it. They didn't come to see his girlfriend like Ronald. Some viewers even booed when Supergirl took to the sky to save the forklift driver.

No one wants to come to the cinema to watch Supergirl fight a forklift, at least in the movie Superman is stopping an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Helen heard the boos and her palms began to sweat. Being strongly dissatisfied by the audience in this way was a blow to Helen, who had just made her debut film.

Ronald put his arm around Helen and gently soothed her with one hand. I have also experienced this nervous feeling. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to make two movies, both of which were considered successful.

After returning home from the preview, Helen was in a bad mood. Ronald gave her a few words of advice, saying that the reaction to the test screening was not necessarily the reaction to the final film.

"Really? Is it that Brooke Shields movie?"

"Yes, I worked for director Zeffirelli back then. The response to "Endless Love" was not good during the test screenings, but it sold well at the box office in the end," Ronald said.

"Oh." Helen's mood did not improve with a few words from Ronald. Instead, she sat there feeling a little sentimental. Ronald went over to say a few words of comfort.

Gucai

"I want to be alone," Helen said.

At this time, the phone rang, it was Helen's agent calling. "Your agent is calling," Ronald handed over the phone.

"Okay, okay, I understand." After hearing the call, Helen lowered her head and looked even more uncomfortable.

"What's wrong? What did you say on the phone?" Ronald felt that when Helen came back this time, she was not as optimistic as before, but rather depressed.

"Warner is not satisfied with the movie and wants to cut it from 138 minutes to 120 minutes. Many of my scenes will be cut."

"It's okay, this is all normal, now the tape..." Ronald tried to comfort.

"No, you don't know the troubles of an actor. I spent so much time trying to fit into the role of Superwoman and even starred in the hanging tower myself." Helen interrupted Ronald and turned around to feel sad.

Helen, who was in a bad mood, went to bed first. Ronald secretly called Helen's father Gerald.

It was already midnight in New York where Gerald was, and he was a little relieved when he was woken up by Ronald's call. Ronald still cared about his daughter very much.

Speaking of Helen's weight loss, Gerald admitted that Helen had started dieting again to lose weight.

"Has her anorexia relapsed? I'm worried. Do I need to see a doctor?"

"No, there are two types of anorexia. One is not eating, and this type of anorexia is dangerous, potentially life-threatening, and you probably know Karen Carpenter had it.

Helen had the other kind, where she would overeat and then deal with it by inducing vomiting or taking laxatives. I made two appointments with a psychiatrist for her in New York. When she comes back, she will slowly get better. "

"Oh, okay." Ronald felt relieved a little.

"Who are you talking to on the phone?" Helen dug out a lot of Ronald's snacks from the room, ate them all, and then went to the bathroom to throw them up. When she walked out of the room, she found Ronald talking on the phone.

"Oh, it's Gerald."

"Oh, my God", Helen covered her face, ran into the bathroom, dug her throat with her hands, and vomited out everything she had eaten.

Ronald knew that the problem was not serious, so he waited outside for her to come out and handed her a glass of warm water.

Helen took the water glass, lowered her head, then sat cross-legged on the sofa, lowered her head and said nothing.

Her psychological problems broke out again, and she seemed to think that her performance and body shape were the main reasons for the failure of the film's test screening. Then Helen thought from the failure of the movie that her relationship with Ronald might also fail.

"The movie will definitely fail. Do you think my performance is too childish?" Helen finally raised her head and asked.

"It doesn't matter, it won't necessarily fail, and even if it fails, your career will not necessarily be affected. I think your performance is good." Ronald knew that Helen's performance was a bit childish, and this was probably due to the actor. Influenced by Peter O'Toole, Helen's lines have a bit of a Shakespearean accent, which is not very suitable in this kind of movie.

"I'm definitely finished. No one will ask me to act in movies anymore."

"Don't say that. I will find you to play the heroine. How about you play my 'Longwei Boy'? I'll go talk to Weintraub."

"You see I act so stupidly, you will definitely not cast me again."

"It's okay. I think your acting is pretty good. The main reason is that the script is not good."

"You are comforting me. If you use me as the heroine, the movie will definitely lose money."

"You don't believe me so much?"

"I believe you are a great director, but I am not a good actor. I will make your movie disliked by the audience. Then you will like me and feel bored when you see me. When you see me, you will remember that I caused your box office failure. Oh, oh, oh." Helen cried softly.

"What are you thinking about? I haven't asked you to act yet, right? Otherwise, you can take a break for this "Kung Fu Kid". I will find you to play the leading role in the next one." Ronald pushed Helen's hair away from her and combed it behind her ears.

"You really dislike me..." Helen turned her head and ignored him.

"No, this matter is entirely up to you. I think you are a good choice to play Ali from the beginning to the end."

"Actually, I don't have to act in your movie. I'm afraid that if I don't act well, you will dislike me." Helen turned around again.

"No, Helen, I like you, not the role you play."

"Hmm... Hmm... Hmm..." Helen twisted and turned and talked to Ronald for a long time.

The two of them repeated these words over and over again. An hour had passed and it was late at night.

"I'm fine. I'm like this sometimes. Did I scare you?" Helen's mood finally improved.

"It's okay. Do you want to eat something? I'm hungry. There's a Japanese restaurant here that's open until late."

"Hehe..." Helen was very happy. She and Ronald had been arguing for so long, but Ronald didn't get annoyed. Instead, he cared about her.

"Okay, don't eat too much this time."

"Hmm..."

The two went to the Japanese restaurant downstairs to eat some sushi, and finally everything calmed down.

"Sometimes Helen is really hard to coax..." Ronald wiped his sweat.