Chapter 195: Inviting a Guest Appearance
Chapter 195: Inviting a Guest Appearance
Eric stopped and turned around. “Is there something else, Miss Anwar?”
The moment she called out, the young woman regretted it a little. She felt she had sounded too eager. But since she had already spoken, she could only gather her courage and say, “Mr. Williams, could I invite you to dance with me later?”
Eric looked at the petite figure wrapped in a deep-V crimson dress and the low-heeled leather shoes beneath her slender calves. Naturally, he thought of the stunning tango scene from Scent of a Woman. Smiling slightly, he asked, “Tango?”
Gabrielle nodded. The corners of her lips curled upward, her smile carrying a naturally playful charm. “If you’d like.”
“All right. Give me a moment,” Eric said, pointing toward the end of the corridor.
The young woman knowingly nodded. She watched Eric turn and leave again. Only after his figure disappeared behind a door did she quickly raise her small hands and pat her chest several times. At the same time, her mind raced, thinking about what she should say and do later to attract more of the attention of this man who was the same age as her.
After luckily obtaining the role of the tango girl in Scent of a Woman, Gabrielle had already been in America for several months. As her understanding of Hollywood deepened, she became more determined to stay there.
Although the tango scene in Scent of a Woman lasted only a few minutes, because of Al Pacino’s strict demands, it had taken over a week of filming in a New York hotel. During that period, the young woman remained with the production crew the entire time. And she discovered something almost miraculous: from the director down to the production assistants, everyone on the set treated her with extraordinary politeness.
Even though she was a newcomer and made frequent mistakes during that week of filming—some of them very basic—director Martin Brest and Al Pacino never once lost their temper with her. At most, they frowned to show dissatisfaction before patiently explaining things to her again.
At first, Gabrielle assumed they were simply good-tempered people. But on the third day of filming, a temporary actor became distracted during a scene, forcing a complicated shot that should have been completed already to be repeated several times. Al Pacino flew into a rage because of it, smashing something and verbally berating the actor so harshly that the man burst into tears and left the set in humiliation. Afterward, she realized Martin Brest was not good-tempered either.
That was when she began wondering why she was receiving such special treatment.
A small incident afterward finally made her understand the reason.
The matter began with a young man named Matt Damon. During filming, after a few days of interaction, he developed feelings for her and tried to flirt with her. Somehow, Al Pacino found out. Gabrielle personally witnessed Al Pacino call that clueless young man into a room for a talk. After that, Matt Damon never showed her any attentiveness again.
Through that incident, the young woman finally pieced things together.
The reason she was being treated this way was because she had been recommended by Eric Williams.
And more importantly, they probably regarded her as Eric’s lover, which was why they treated her so courteously.
Because of this misunderstanding, as a rookie actress, she avoided nearly all the harassment she otherwise would have encountered. It was practically a miracle. Even back in Britain, although both her father and mother worked in television and tried their best to protect her, she had still encountered harassment while filming television dramas.
Because of that misunderstanding, she had received many benefits, so from beginning to end, she never had any intention of clarifying the truth. In fact, whenever chatting with others, she casually mentioned Eric’s name from time to time, deliberately giving people certain hints.
Now, most people familiar with her—including her agent and even the general manager of the agency, Kapoor Sid—had categorized her as Eric’s lover.
And none of them looked down on her because of it.
After all, Eric Williams was currently single. Who knew? Maybe one day she would successfully rise to become his official girlfriend—or even his wife.
But she knew very clearly that she and Eric actually had no relationship at all. From beginning to end, they had only exchanged a few words and met once.
As time passed, she even began worrying about what would happen if the truth were discovered. Especially her agent—whether intentionally or unintentionally—had already asked several times recently whether she and Eric had gone on any dates.
“Hey, what are you thinking about?”
A voice suddenly sounded beside her ear, interrupting Gabrielle’s thoughts.
Seeing Eric standing in front of her, the young woman quickly shook her head. “Nothing.”
“Let’s head back in,” Eric said casually, not paying much attention.
“Mm, okay,” the young woman replied. Then, boldly stepping forward, she wrapped her arm around Eric’s.
Seeing the sudden intimacy, Eric gave her an amused glance.
Gabrielle lowered her head with flickering eyes, not daring to meet Eric’s gaze that seemed capable of seeing through people’s hearts. Yet she stubbornly refused to let go of his arm.
Eric chuckled softly but did not expose the woman’s little schemes.
He only felt a bit regretful that there was none of the soft, comfortable sensation he was used to on his arm.
If Nicole, when lying face down, still had at least two soft mounds barely enough to fill a hand, then the young woman clinging to him now was completely flat-chested.
“Eric, I’ve decided. Firefly will distribute Scent of a Woman ourselves. I think Robert made a lot of sense.”
Once they reentered the banquet hall, the sharp-eyed Al Pacino spotted Eric immediately and walked over smiling. Upon seeing Gabrielle leaning against him like a little bird nestled against someone, Al Pacino openly waggled his brows at Eric without the slightest attempt at concealment.
Eric had already expected this outcome.
If Robert Shaye could persuade even him, then convincing Al Pacino was naturally even easier. The more eager Al was for awards, the more likely he was to listen to Robert Shaye.
“I believe this will be a good choice,” Eric said with a nod and smile. “By the way, Al, do you have plans for your next film yet?”
Al Pacino shook his head. “I’m planning to rest for a while. Kapoor advised the same thing. Filming two movies this year is already enough for me. Kapoor said it would be best if I waited until after the next Oscars before considering my next project.”
After saying that, Al Pacino paused, glanced at Eric’s expression, and immediately added, “But Eric, if it’s a film you’re making, I’m available anytime.”
“No, Al. I don’t really have any films suitable for you at the moment,” Eric explained. “Actually, it’s this—you’ve probably heard I produced a television series…”
Al immediately laughed. “Of course I heard. I also heard you personally directed two episodes yourself. Eric, your way of thinking really is… unconventional. Among the directors I know, unless they couldn’t survive anymore, very few would willingly go make television dramas. By the way, why are you bringing this up…?”
Eric said, “Actually, it’s because the series I produced is a sitcom, and I’d like to invite you to guest star in an episode.”
“This…”
Al Pacino immediately hesitated.
Guest starring in a television series itself was not the issue. What worried him was the reputation of the series Eric had produced. If the show’s ratings turned out to be terrible, then his guest appearance would be no different from participating in a terrible film.
The disastrous movie that had once driven him into temporary retirement several years earlier still haunted him to this day. As a result, he now cherished his reputation far more and did not dare agree immediately.
Eric understood that this was not something he could force, so he continued, “Al, this series is filmed while it airs. The premiere just happens to be on September 3rd on the Fox Broadcasting Company. I know what concerns you, so how about this—if the average ratings after broadcast are lower than fifteen million viewers, then pretend I never brought this up. But if it’s above that number, I hope you’ll consider it.”
“In that case, I have no problem with it,” Al Pacino immediately agreed after hearing Eric’s assurance.
He still knew quite a bit about television. If an American drama exceeded fifteen million viewers, it counted as a hit show. Guest starring in it would suit his status perfectly and would also help raise his visibility.
“Then it’s settled. You can take a look at the show when you have time.”
Al smiled. “The first two episodes were personally directed by you, the great director yourself. Of course I’ll watch the premiere on time. By the way, can you tell me what kind of role I’d be guest starring as?”
“Of course. I want you to play yourself.”
“Myself?”
“That’s right,” Eric said. “The rough plot goes like this. One of the six main characters in my series is a struggling actor. One day, he lands a role playing your body double…”
In the original version of that episode, although Joey played Al Pacino’s butt double and generated endless laughs, Al Pacino himself never actually appeared.
But things were different now.
Since Eric already had this connection with Al Pacino, he naturally intended to make full use of it and have Al genuinely appear on screen.
“Wahaha!” After hearing Eric’s description, Al burst into laughter. “Actually, if necessary, I wouldn’t mind appearing nude on camera.”
Eric shrugged. “You understand. It’s required by the plot.”
“Of course. I think this storyline will definitely be very interesting. Oh, all right, Miss Anwar must already be getting impatient. Sorry for taking up so much of Eric’s time. You two are going dancing, right? Eric, Miss Anwar’s tango is actually very good.”
“Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Pacino,” Gabrielle said.
She had not actually shown any impatience at all—how would she dare? So she felt deeply grateful toward Al Pacino for helping her out.
“Well then, enjoy the party. I’m going to chat with some other people. See you later.”
“See you later,” Eric nodded, then led the young woman toward the dance floor.