Rebirth in America

Even before DreamWorks started filming "Roman Holiday," Alex had thought of an excellent leading actor, and that was Gregory Peck.

He compared Pike's appearance with the appearance of the colonel in his memory, and felt that Pike should be more handsome. As for the age difference, he could completely achieve it through makeup.

Besides, since the heroine is Hepburn, let’s just make a Hepburn and Parker version of “The Sound of Music.” These two are the movie lovers in many people's minds. Even more than fifty years later, many people still hope that this pair will get together.

When the filming of "Roman Holiday" was completed, Alex immediately asked Parker: "I'm going to make a musical movie next year, and I want you to star with Hepburn. What do you think?"

When Parker acted opposite Hepburn, he knew that Hepburn would next star in the heroine of "The Sound of Music". He did not expect that Alex would invite him to be the male lead. He happily replied: "Why not? I would love to work with Hepburn."

So Alex struck while the iron was hot and asked others to discuss the salary issue with Parker's agent. At this time, Parker was already a popular movie star in Hollywood, and many companies wanted to invite him to film.

The agent suggested that he join those big deals from big companies, which would be more beneficial to Parker's future. But Parker insisted on accepting the invitation from DreamWorks, so his agent had no choice but to comply with his idea. In the end, DreamWorks gave him a salary of US$500,000 without any share.

After getting the male lead, Alex was very happy. He had great confidence in Hepburn and Peck, believing that as long as the two of them were announced as the protagonists, fans of "Roman Holiday" would immediately be attracted to the cinema. This is hundreds of times better than any propaganda.

As for another important role in the film, the Baroness has never been cast. Initially, Alex planned to cast Eleanor Parker, who played the original Baroness.

Eleanor Parker, born in 1922, was invited by Warner Brothers to enter the film industry after working in a theater troupe in her early years. She began filming in the film industry in 1941, and her acting career reached its peak after moving to MGM in the 1950s. Because of her beautiful appearance and talent, she can adapt to various roles, but she is considered to have overacted sometimes.

At that time, Alex believed that Eleanor would have no problems with her acting skills since she had been in the industry for more than ten years, but she still needed an interview to find out.

"Hello, are you Miss Eleanor's agent? I have a movie here that I would like her to star in." DreamWorks staff quickly contacted her agent and arranged an interview time and Place.

Eleanor, who is ten years younger, looks much more beautiful than she remembers, without the cool and noble feeling of the Baroness in "The Sound of Music". However, as soon as she started performing, Alex knew she was wrong.

Her acting skills are so superb that people can ignore her appearance and deeply feel the inner emotions of the character. Morris and others all admired his superb and dedicated acting skills.

After the other party's performance, Alex quickly said: "Miss Eleanor, your acting skills are really great. I sincerely hope that you can play the role of the Baroness in our film."

Eleanor smiled slightly, nodded and said, "I also hope to cooperate with you. However, I still have to let my agent negotiate the terms before I can decide."

When Hollywood actors accept a film, if they are not very familiar with it, it is usually negotiated by the staff of both parties. In this way, benefits can be maximized without hurting feelings and face. In particular, some actors are not good at bargaining. They leave it to their agents to negotiate terms with film companies.

Eleanor's agent immediately offered a sky-high price of 600,000 US dollars. At this time, except for those at the level of movie kings and actresses, other popular movie stars could get it at most between 400,000 and 500,000 US dollars.

Alex originally gave Parker a salary of 500,000 yuan, which was a very good condition, but the other party offered such a high price because he wanted to ask for a high price and pay back the money on the ground. Of course, the staff at DreamWorks would not pay a supporting actor that much, as this would cause other actors to have objections, and the two sides began to argue.

Alex got impatient with waiting, so he bypassed his people and contacted Eleanor. He said: "Miss Eleanor, I very much hope that you can star in my movie. But your agent wants $600,000, which seems a bit too high. I think I can offer you $500,000." Please accept my invitation, this is my most sincere wish."

Eleanor felt a little moved after hearing this, and she said, "Okay, I'll discuss it with the agent first, and I'll call you as soon as I have the result."

However, what he didn't expect was that her agent had already found a role for him from Paramount. This is a science fiction horror film called "Ant Soldiers".

Her agent advised her: "Paramount is a powerful company and has great influence in the film industry. This is an opportunity for promotion."

Paramount also wanted her to be a supporting actress, and the money was not as much as $500,000, but Eleanor finally listened to her agent. A year later, when "The Sound of Music" was released, she realized what a classic movie she had missed.

In desperation, Alex had to find someone else to play the baroness. He chose over and over again, and finally chose Ingrid Bergman, another actress with a noble temperament. She is a famous Swedish actress who, after Greta Garbo, has shined in the world of film and television. Another Swedish superstar.

Ingrid Bergman was an orphan and was raised by relatives. After graduating from high school, he joined a professional theater troupe and soon became a big star in Sweden.

When she received Alex's invitation, she was extremely surprised, because at this time she was disappearing from Hollywood because she abandoned her husband and daughter and eloped with the famous Italian director Rossellini. She has always been a holy image in the minds of American movie fans, but because of this move, she angered the conservative movie fans at the time, causing many movie companies to dare not invite her to make movies.

"Are you sure you want to give me a role to play?"

Ingrid Bergman could not imagine that at this time, anyone would dare to ask her to act. She also knew something about Alex. The Carpenter Brothers' records had already been sold overseas and they had many fans. At this time, it was also widely rumored that the real director of "The Sound of Music" was Alex, and Morris was just the nanny director to protect him.

"Yes, ma'am! I think this role belongs to you."

Alex's decision was actually opposed by many people within the company, especially those in the marketing department. They believed that bringing in a notorious actress would affect the film's box office results.

Morris even yelled at Alex: "If you dare to ask this shameful woman to star in my movie, I would rather not make this movie!"

Alex was unmoved and said coldly: "This is my movie, my territory, I make the decision!"

Morris was also furious for a moment, so he blurted out those words. However, his words were echoed by many. There is a reason for this.

When Bergman eloped, she was still married to Peter Lindström, but gave birth to a son for Roberto Rossellini, which caused a worldwide uproar.

The so-called "holy icon" in the hearts of Americans was shattered. The media and the public reviled her and Hollywood ostracized her. She was kicked out of Hollywood. Bergman has been abandoned by the world for more than five years and still has not appeared in any movie. Her films with Rossellini also failed.

In the view of Morris and others, this is not a question of whether it is emotionally acceptable, but a question of whether it will affect the success or failure of the film.

However, Alex didn't listen. He was the boss and he wanted whoever he wanted. At this point, not even Morris could object.

It’s not like Alex hasn’t considered Bergman’s influence. However, he believes that more than five years have passed, and by the time the movie is released, it will be six years. Such a long time is enough for the most angry person to calm down and enjoy Bergman's performance with peace of mind. As long as her performance can conquer the audience, people will eventually forgive her and UU Reading www.uukaｎshu.netｔ will have to accept her.

After Bergman got the script and read less than a third of it, she immediately decided to accept the role. She stood up excitedly and said to Alex on the other side of the phone: "I must play the Baroness!"

Once these three people, including Sister Maria, the Colonel, and the Baroness, are confirmed, there will be no major problems with the film and filming can begin. As for other characters in the movie, such as the seven children of the colonel's family, the Carpenter brothers and sisters occupy three places. The remaining four young actors were also found early through selection.

Alex had prepared the songs and dances in the movie long ago. Before filming started, the actors who needed to perform the songs and dances had been gathered for training. For this piece, he firmly believes that it is definitely much better than the original one.

Of course, the songs and dances that should be copied from the village should still be copied from the village. He is not afraid of being accused of being the king of copycats, because these things have not been written out yet.

When other people knew that Alex had done all the songs and dances in this movie, their expressions of surprise and admiration were obvious. The same is true for Morris. He thinks he is familiar with Alex, but Alex surprises him every time he does something.

For example, this time the film insisted on asking Bergman to play the role of the Baroness, which made many people dissatisfied. When they saw Bergman acting freely on the set, they realized what they had almost missed.

After everything was prepared, Alex patiently waited for the arrival of autumn. Austria is at its most beautiful at this time, which is also when the story begins.