Chapter 131: A Lolita With a Shelf Life of Twelve Years
Chapter 131: A Lolita With a Shelf Life of Twelve Years
In the photo, the seven-year-old Kirsten looked as delicate as a doll, with golden hair, a round little face, a princess dress, and an adorable lace sunhat. A pretty lock of golden bangs showed on her forehead.
Unfortunately, Eric knew that this actress would grow increasingly less attractive in the future. After adulthood, she would completely lose her current carved-from-jade appearance.
Perhaps Westerners would not consider her that unattractive, but by his Eastern aesthetic standards, he really could not see anything beautiful about her. If he absolutely had to praise her, he could only say she had presence, though that did not really sound like praise for a woman.
As for this Lolita whose shelf life only lasted until twelve, Eric directly chose to pass. The girl did not have much potential to dig out. If she had not been lucky enough to become Spider-Girl, perhaps this child star would have faded into the crowd after 2000.
In the parallel timeline, after the Spider-Man trilogy ended, Kirsten Dunst’s career directly declined, and she almost disappeared from the public eye.
Eric pulled out the file of the other familiar girl, Sarah Michelle Gellar. Compared with Sarah in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the girl now had a round little face. Although she was already almost twelve, she still looked very petite, so playing a girl around ten years old was completely fine. That was probably also why Sarah had been selected.
Compared with Kirsten, who only had experience appearing in New York Stories, Sarah’s résumé contained a string of film titles. Of course, none of them were famous. At least with Eric’s large viewing history, he had not watched a single one of them.
“Jonathan, what impression did you have of this girl?” Eric handed Sarah’s file to Jonathan Demme.
Jonathan took it and glanced at it, then quickly recalled Sarah’s audition. “This child started acting in films when she was four. The acting experience listed on her file is all true. During the audition, she had a strong sense for the camera, was poised and natural, and showed no stage fright at all. I chatted with her for a few minutes. She’s very smart and sensible. Although she looks thin and small, she’s already twelve, and a little precocious. Mentally, she’s at least fourteen. If we use her, filming will be much easier compared with those real ten-year-old children.”
Eric took the file back and decided, “Then let’s use her. As usual, contact her first. She must sign with UTA.”
Although Eric had told Kapoor he did not plan to expand UTA these next few years, actors cultivated through his film projects definitely could not be handed cheaply to other agencies. Because of the article on CAA that Eric had created some time ago, CAA’s model had been exposed. Even if CAA still had many advantages, it was no longer possible for it to maintain superiority in its operating system. The future emergence of multiple competing agencies was certain. Therefore, UTA could develop steadily and calmly without worrying about CAA becoming the sole dominant power.
Watching Eric continue opening other actors’ files, seemingly only skimming them before quickly deciding on the cast, Jonathan Demme instead felt somewhat unused to it. “Eric, don’t we need to arrange another round of auditions? Isn’t this a little…”
“You think I’m being too hasty?” Eric looked up with a smile.
Jonathan scratched his head. “At least, you should look at their audition tapes, right?”
Eric circled the last actor’s name with his pen and said, “No need, Jonathan. I believe these people were all chosen by you after careful selection. Any one of them should be competent for the roles they need to play, so I don’t need to do anything unnecessary. Besides, I really can’t spare too much time. The Others also needs to start filming as soon as possible. Cannes and Berlin are out of the question, but I hope we can make it to the Venice Film Festival in September.”
“Alright, I’ll notify these people as soon as possible.” Jonathan nodded in agreement. He also seemed to understand something. Perhaps Eric was doing this entirely to show his dominance over this project. Although the boy before him was young, his desire for control was even stronger than those ancient emperors who, in their declining years, constantly worried about being driven from the throne by the crown prince.
It was just a pity for those actors who had finally entered the final list but were not chosen. Perhaps they were still excitedly preparing for a third round of auditions, but they were destined to be disappointed. Although this seemed rather unfair, this was Hollywood. All kinds of strange things happened endlessly, and there had never been any fairness to speak of.
After organizing the pile of files in front of them with Jonathan, Eric asked, “Has there been any progress on the filming location?”
“I entrusted friends in England to look for a few mansions on some islands in the English Channel, but I think I need to personally go there and inspect whether they’re suitable. I also need to communicate with the owners of those mansions in person. You know, many of those historic old houses belong to British nobles. Although these people have declined now, they still retain an incomprehensible pride in their bones. So I’ll have to personally visit them. Once they feel respected, things will become much easier.”
Eric inexplicably thought of some things from his previous life and revealed an understanding smile.
Jonathan Demme suddenly said, “Actually, Eric, if you personally came forward, things would go even more smoothly. You’re British, after all. Many British media outlets now regard you as their pride. If you appear personally, those minor nobles would definitely treat you as an honored guest. Perhaps we could even obtain the use of some mansions without spending money.”
Eric waved his hand. “Forget it. After all these years, I’ve even forgotten my British accent. Besides, I can’t possibly leave the crew right now. By the time Running Out of Time wraps, The Others will definitely have already started filming long before that.”
Filming over the next few days still went smoothly. After all, it was studio shooting, without as many restrictions as exterior scenes. Cruise also displayed his first-rate professionalism. If not for the fact that he occasionally showed covetousness toward Eric’s absolute leadership over the crew and kept pointing fingers during the shooting process, Eric would definitely be happy to work with Tom again in the future.
However, the possibility of the two collaborating again in the future was not high. With Cruise’s personality, perhaps only a director at Spielberg’s level could use him without losing authority. In many of Cruise’s films in Eric’s previous life, even if Cruise himself was not the director, he still firmly controlled the crew, to the point that even the film giants cooperating with him were not allowed to interfere.
Eric and Cruise were the same kind of person in this regard, so the possibility of the two working together in the future was destined to be slim.
“Brooke, your expression just now still wasn’t right. When you see Andy vomiting blood, what you need to show is panic and helplessness, not disgust. So your facial expression should be wide eyes and a slightly open mouth. You absolutely cannot express it by frowning.” Eric frowned at this moment and raised his arm to tap the watch on his wrist. “If we try twice more and still can’t get it, we’ll have to drag this into the afternoon. You wouldn’t want to waste your own time and everyone else’s, right?”
Brooke Shields stood before Eric, her eyes lowered like a little girl who had made a mistake. Whether she was pretending or not, no one could be sure, but this appearance always weakened a man’s anger. Eric had only finally scolded her after five or six NGs.
“Sorry, Eric. I seem to… have found the feeling now.”
Eric sighed. “Then let’s try one more time. Everyone get ready.”
Brooke Shields returned to her seat. This was the scene after Andy and Yoyo’s second encounter, where they ate together in a small restaurant. Eric still chose to shoot it on a set. It was not to save money. With a forty-million-dollar budget, there was no need to save. He simply wanted to finish these scattered indoor scenes as quickly as possible. The exterior scenes were the hard bone to chew. Moreover, Columbia’s massive soundstage could fully provide these conditions. Even the street outside the small restaurant was a full-scale model. Although it was noon now, the studio easily created nighttime conditions.
“Miss Shields, don’t be anxious. Just take it slowly. We have plenty of time. I don’t think this is entirely your problem. Eric is still too young.”
During the preparation gap, Cruise warmly chatted with Brooke Shields.
If Brooke Shields had performed this badly in a film led by Cruise himself, Cruise would probably have flown into a rage too. But right now, Cruise seemed very willing to see Eric suffer, while he transformed into a modest gentleman and tried to get close to the beauty.
“Thank you for comforting me, Mr. Cruise,” Brooke Shields responded with a smile.
“Then, are you free tonight, Miss Shields? I wonder if I have the honor of having dinner with you?”
Brooke Shields’ newly trimmed slender brows lifted slightly, and she subconsciously glanced at Eric not far away. If possible, she would rather invite Eric Williams, not the married man in front of her.
However, that young director, who was five or six years younger than her, was hard for her to figure out. What she could be certain of was that Eric was very interested in her. This was her intuition as a beautiful woman, and she was sure it was not her own narcissism. When Eric occasionally looked her over, his gaze carried a difficult-to-hide heat, like an eager seventeen- or eighteen-year-old youth. But most of the time, he behaved like a worldly middle-aged man, using that seasoned gaze of someone who had seen countless women to brazenly admire her beauty and body.
“Mr. Cruise, can I give you an answer this afternoon? I’m not sure whether I’ll have anything else tonight,” Brooke Shields said, declining slightly, though she did not completely close the door.