"These candidates are not good. Which one has the beauty and popularity of Brooke Shields? I use you just to find the right candidate. Until now, there is no one who can compare with me."
Peter Guber was a little angry, with a tone similar to a scolding, which made Julia Taylor of the casting studio and Franco Zeffirelli, the director of "Endless Love", look a little embarrassed.
Weeks have passed since the premiere of "Famous," and Brooke Shields' mother, Terri, is still using delaying tactics to not only delay the launch of a Calvin Klein jeans ad, but also to make the "Endless Love" crew very uncomfortable.
The early casting studio has recommended many young actors, and Brooke Shields seems to have softened its attitude, showing that it can accept the script and entering the bargaining stage. Therefore, the casting of heroines for movies has also slowed down.
However, after Brooke Shields appeared on the cover of "Vogue", Terry's attitude became tougher and he even increased the offer, offering a price of US$1.2 million. Guber, who lacked personal connections in the fashion industry, was a little upset by this sudden attack.
The movie was originally scheduled to start shooting in July, but Brooke Shields' mother delayed the decision and the lead actress was delayed. The focus of this kind of teen romance film is whether the male and female protagonists have a chemical reaction together, so the choice of the male protagonist has not yet been decided.
"Use your brains and think about who else we can invite?" Gubel knew in his heart that the so-called audition was just a gimmick. The probability of being able to select a movie heroine from people with no acting experience was not high. , in Hollywood that pays attention to the return on investment, it is more realistic to look for existing film and television actors.
The photos on the table are of Kelly Preston, who was selected in the last audition, and Deborah Winger, Carrie Fisher and others who were promoted after several auditions.
"Carrie Fisher is pretty good, both beautiful and well-known. Lucas' fifth Star Wars movie 'The Empire Strikes Back' will be released soon..." Guber said, pointing to the photo of Princess Leia.
"She already has a film appointment, Blues Brothers, and the last time she came to audition, she looked too mature and didn't look like an underage girl." Julia Taylor voted against.
Gubel curled his lips. In fact, if you can catch Princess Leia's popularity, it doesn't matter how old you are. "It's better to send her an audition notice."
"What about Deborah Winger? In the TV series Wonder Woman, the actress who debuted as the heroine's apprentice, Wonder Girl, is actually very skilled in acting." Director Zeffirelli suggested that he always has an inexplicable liking for black-haired actors. .
"She is not pretty enough. The recently released movie 'Urban Cowboy', in which she stars opposite John Travolta, was almost rejected by producer Robert Evans because she was not pretty enough." This time it was Guber who voted against it.
Robert Evans is a legendary Hollywood producer who has produced acclaimed and popular films such as The Devil's Baby, Chinatown, and Love Story. His vision represents a certain degree of authority.
"It's better to send her an audition invitation," Zeffirelli insisted.
"Okay, are there any other candidates?" Gubel sent an invitation to all the casting staff present, asking them to name any candidates in their memory who could be qualified as the heroine or the hero.
For a moment I remembered the noisy voices in the conference room.
"How about Rosanna Arquette? Typical blonde girl."
"What about Linda Blair? She can play young, a bit like the newly minted Oscar-winning actress Sally Field."
"In that case, the male lead should be found according to the template of new movie star Dustin Hoffman. His temperament in 'The Graduate' when he was young is very suitable for the male lead."
"Christy McNicholl is good. She just played two girls in 'Cute' with Tatum O'Neal as two girls who bet on who will lose their innocence first at summer camp. It's similar to 'Endless Love'."
…
"Don't you have any candidates?" Julia Taylor quietly asked Ronald, who was thinking about it.
"Do you remember the girl who auditioned for the role of Hillary last time in 'Famous'? Her name was Michelle Fei or something." Ronald still couldn't pronounce the sound of two consonants juxtaposed. He didn't know. Which is not pronounced.
"Which one is it?" Julia was not impressed.
"Marianne should remember that I went to look for her audition photos. She is blond, very beautiful, and comes from a wealthy family. She was rejected last time because her ballet skills were not good."
Ronald went back to the archive room to find the audition information of the girl who looked like a cat.
"That's her, Michelle Pfeiffer." Ronald walked to the conference table and spread the girl's photo on the table. "I remembered the pronunciation of her name."
"This girl has the temperament of a rich girl." Zeffirelli prefers this kind of classical-looking girl, who is suitable for acting in Shakespeare's classical plays.
"That's great. Send an audition notice to her agent." Gubel also nodded, "Ronald, where did you find the candidate? I remember her. I watched it in the ABC police drama TV series '.d. Cats' before. She was cast, but I didn’t expect that a different look would be suitable for a rich girl from the East Coast.”
"The photos of her last audition for 'Famous' are actually more beautiful in real life. She participated in the Miss California beauty pageant."
"Send an audition notice to her agent." Gubel turned around and told his assistant, and then asked Ronald, "Are there any more?"
"There is also a candidate for the male lead." Ronald slowly placed a photo of the actor on the table, covering the bottom of his mouth with his hand, only revealing the part above his nose.
"This man is very handsome." The casting director and assistant present, both women, exclaimed when they saw the photo.
"He had some problems with his teeth, but when he auditioned for 'Famous' last time, he had his teeth corrected, which caused him to lose the chance to play the role of Montgomery in the buffoon role."
When Ronald was looking for photos of Michelle Pfeiffer, he also saw the photo of the young actor who had just gone to the dentist for correction last time. He was deeply impressed by this actor whose agents even disliked him, so he came to the audition alone. Although he lost the role due to an accident, he was always full of fighting spirit and had a sunny personality.
This time the male protagonist doesn’t need messy teeth. He may have a chance after having his teeth corrected, so I brought his audition photos as well.
He removed the hand covering his mouth and revealed his messy front teeth, causing the women watching to sigh neatly.
"This is too different." Zeffirelli saw that the man was a good-looking guy and immediately lost interest.
"I promise, his teeth were corrected by the dentist and the two worst ones were removed. He is quite handsome now and works hard."
"Okay, send an audition invitation to his agent as well. Anyway, the leading actor will most likely have to audition." Gubel agreed.
The story of "Endless Love" is told from the perspective of the male protagonist, but the central character is actually the heroine Jade. The audience's attention follows the perspective of the male protagonist and focuses on this beauty called a fairy in the original work.
Whether the male protagonist is very handsome or not is not that important. Moreover, the casting of the male protagonist is within the scope of director Franco Zeffirelli's power. This blond, sunny boy probably does not catch the director's eye.
Zeffirelli has always liked to use dark-haired, gloomy male protagonists to satisfy his personal preferences.
"Send audition invitations to all these candidates, and also invite Brooke Shields to let her mother know that her daughter is not the only choice we have." Gubel told his assistant.
"But Terry kept pushing back," the assistant reminded.
"You get her on the phone, let me tell you. The rules of Hollywood have always been like this. Even if Marlon Brando plays the Godfather, Coppola still has to audition."
"Hello, Ms. Terry Shields? I am Mr. Peter Gubel's assistant. Regarding your daughter's audition..."
"Terry? This is Gubel. We are going to have an audition soon, and your daughter will come too." Gubel took the receiver and wanted to finalize the audition in a declarative tone.
"We will directly negotiate the remuneration with her agent. As the manager, you can just accompany her when the time comes. ... The audition does not affect the negotiation of the remuneration. It is just an inspection to see who is the most suitable for the role. ... No one Unless she is the producer herself, are you sure you want to invest in this movie?"
"There is no problem with the time. I will arrange the audition slots according to your requirements. Okay, then it's settled." Gubel put down the phone and clapped his hands, "I will send out the audition notice at this time, and everyone will move. This time we have to decide on the male and female protagonists.”
Ronald also joined the group in calling Michelle Pfeiffer and the agent of the boy with the messy teeth to arrange an audition. Julia quickly compiled the feedback from the audition candidates, asked her assistant to fill in a pre-printed form with a pen, and sent a copy to each person.
"Ronald, you are still working as usual. Remember to take a Polaroid snapshot of each audition candidate. There are quite a lot of candidates for the audition this time. Paste the snapshots on the evaluation form to prevent confusion."
…
After finishing preparations for the audition, Ronald went to the rtkd store again for a walk. "Famous" performed well in a small run, and MGM quietly began to expand the run. Word of mouth started to show up in the movie. After watching the movie, many people made a special trip to the New York Academy of Performing Arts to see the real-life fame middle school.
When they walk to the entrance of the Academy of Performing Arts, they will also find the rtkd dance supplies store opposite. When they enter the store and find the protagonist of the movie taking photos with Aunt Karen, Teresa and others, they will take out their money one after another. Buy a leg warmer or two as a souvenir.
Having dinner with Aunt Karen, "A student named Helen came to buy it two days ago. She said she knew you."
"Oh yes, she is the heroine in the commercial I shot. Let me send them a few pictures, as well as Elizabeth Sue." Ronald felt that these girls who performed in the commercial could also be added to his photo marketing plan. , "Invite them to come when the time comes and take some group photos too."
The income that the dance supplies store brought to my aunt was already several times what she used to make as a waitress on Staten Island, not counting the year-end dividends. Kate now trusted Ronald's business vision, so she agreed.
When Ronald returned to the apartment and was about to take a rest, the phone rang.
"Hey, is that Ronald Lee?"
"It's me, you?"
"I'm Rick Niceta, CAA's agent." A rich male voice came from the phone.
"Mr. Niceta, you finally showed up and made it easy for me to find..."
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