Chapter 235: Seattle
Chapter 235: Seattle
After briefly saying goodbye to Aniston and the others, Eric led Nicole, Elizabeth, several staff members, and the rest of the group toward the boarding gate.
The enormous Boeing 747 sped down the long runway and soared into the sky. Once the plane stabilized, Eric unfastened his seatbelt and finally let out a sigh of relief.
Elizabeth, who had been glancing at Eric intentionally and unintentionally the whole time, snorted coldly at that moment.
“This is what happens to greedy men. Hmph.”
Eric had no intention of discussing these things with Elizabeth. The little woman was obviously jealous, so no matter what he said would only provoke her further. Silence was the best response.
After four hours of flight, the passenger plane arrived at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport.
Looking out through the window, the runway was damp, and the sky was gloomy. It was obvious that it had just rained.
Compared to Los Angeles, which enjoyed over three hundred sunny days every year, Seattle’s weather was practically the complete opposite.
Because of its temperate oceanic climate, Seattle remained humid year-round. Even when it was not raining, everything still felt damp.
According to rumor, the original line in the film — “Seattle rains nine months out of the year” — had been director Nora Ephron’s complaint after repeatedly encountering rainy days that delayed filming progress.
Under the careful reminders of the flight attendants, Eric and the others all put on extra layers before disembarking. Even so, the moment they stepped out of the airport, a chill greeted them head-on.
In September, Los Angeles temperatures could still occasionally reach thirty degrees Celsius, but Seattle had already entered cool autumn weather. The temperature hovered around fifteen degrees.
“Hi, Eric.”
Seeing Eric, Jeffrey, who had come to pick them up, walked over and exchanged a hug with him.
After greeting him, Eric released Jeffrey and asked, “How’s Seattle been treating you lately?”
“Terribly. I really hate the weather here,” Jeffrey replied, shaking his head.
Eric laughed and comforted him. “Hang in there a few more days. Once things here get on track, you can head to New York.”
“I know. Come on, the cars are outside.”
After greeting the others, Jeffrey led everyone out of the airport and into several business vans.
After a half-hour drive, the group finally arrived at the filming location in Seattle — Alki Beach.
The beach was located southwest of Seattle. To reach downtown still required about twenty kilometers of travel. Because the area was relatively remote, the crew’s accommodations were correspondingly crude.
Standing in her room, Elizabeth stared in horror at the simple bed and chairs, along with the tiny old-fashioned television that looked like a box.
Dragging Eric over by force, she complained, “Eric, has the production run out of money to this extent already?”
“Of course not,” Eric replied, finding the girl’s expression amusing. He teased, “But we’re not rich enough to build a five-star hotel here exclusively for the crew either.”
“But I…” The girl pointed at everything in the room with obvious disgust.
“Liz, you need to understand that we’re here to make a movie, not enjoy ourselves. To save time, we have to stay nearby. We can’t have dozens of crew members driving over twenty kilometers from the city every day just for better accommodations, right? This whole area is residential. You can imagine how much traffic congestion people already face driving downtown for work every day, and how much time it wastes.”
Elizabeth frowned. “But this place looks… dirty.”
“If you really can’t stand it, then stay at a hotel downtown yourself. Among the motels nearby, this one already has the best conditions.” Eric pointed at the ancient wooden television set that resembled a little box. “Look, it even has a TV.”
As he spoke, he secretly wondered whether he should take one of those televisions home. Give it another decade or so, and it would become an antique. Placing it in a house might even create some sort of postmodern artistic atmosphere.
Rolling her eyes, Elizabeth gave him a look that clearly said Are you kidding me?
After joking around enough, Eric patted the girl on the shoulder.
“Liz, aren’t you planning to become a producer? If you can’t even handle this much, then I’d advise you to give up as soon as possible. When you make movies in the future, you’ll definitely encounter filming conditions even worse than this. Sleeping outdoors overnight will be unavoidable sometimes. What will you do then?”
“I…”
The girl bit her lower lip, then could not help asking, “Then… everyone in the crew is staying in places like this too?”
“Of course,” Eric replied. “My room is diagonally across from yours. Nicole’s room is opposite yours. Also, this motel can’t fit the entire crew, so like I said earlier, this is already the best one around. The prop masters and stagehands are staying at another place across the street with even worse conditions.”
Elizabeth fell silent for a moment. Finally, she quietly turned around and dragged her suitcase into the room.
After lunch, Eric spent the entire afternoon conducting on-site inspections of the filming locations Jeffrey and the others had previously selected.
That evening, the crew held a simple opening party.
The next day, Sleepless in Seattle officially began filming.
“Hey, Victor, how’ve things been with Uncle Hanks these past few days?”
While the crew members were laying down camera tracks, Eric squatted beside a seven- or eight-year-old boy wearing a red jacket and a baseball cap.
The boy named Victor Morris glanced at his mother standing nearby. Only after receiving encouragement did he answer, “Uncle Hanks is really nice. He bought me lots of gifts.”
As he spoke, the boy pulled a tiny Transformers figure from his pocket and waved it at Eric. It looked like Optimus Prime.
Eric smiled. “Alright then. If you perform well later, I’ll buy you a gift too. How about a full set of Transformers?”
The little boy glanced at his mother again, then shook his head.
“No thanks, Director. Mom said you’ve already paid me, so even without gifts, I’ll still do my best.”
Eric patted the boy on the head and chatted with him a little longer before standing up and turning to Tom Hanks.
“What do you think?”
“Victor’s obedient and smart. I just don’t know whether he can pull off the cleverness you want from the role. Honestly, I think there’s another boy who’d fit Jonah perfectly.”
Eric knew Hanks was referring to Stuart Rankel.
But that was obviously impossible.
Even as a supporting role, Stuart’s salary would already be in the million-dollar range, while the little boy before them was only being paid one hundred thousand dollars.
Although Firefly was not short on money, it would not waste funds unnecessarily.
Jonah was indeed a memorable role, but he was still ultimately a supporting character. The true leads of the film remained Sam and Annie.
“Just let him try a few more times. The reason I chose this boy in the first place was because he’s obedient. The filming schedule for Seattle is already tight. If we picked a child actor who refused to cooperate, it could seriously delay production. That would be a disaster for the crew.”
“Haha, I understand.”
Once the camera tracks were laid down, Eric gave the two a few simple instructions, and Hanks led the little boy toward the beach.
The first scene was simple.
It mainly involved Sam taking Jonah boating in the sea and playing along the shore.
Because they were all long-distance shots, there were no acting requirements at all. Hanks and the little boy merely needed to act naturally.
After giving a few instructions to the cinematographer and assistant director and telling them to shoot as much footage as possible, Eric headed toward a nearby trailer.
The trailer door was open, so Eric walked directly inside.
The makeup artist was touching up Nicole’s makeup.
Once the footage of Hanks and the boy playing finished filming, the girl would begin her first scene — the moment where Annie watched the father and son playing from afar, which also served as Annie and Sam’s first conversation scene.
Although the male and female leads in the film did not interact until over an hour into the movie, Eric planned to shoot this scene first.
“Mr. Williams,” the two female makeup artists greeted him immediately upon seeing Eric enter.
“Carry on.”
Eric stopped Nicole from standing up and walked behind the girl, looking at the beautiful woman reflected in the mirror.
A moment later, after skillfully using a makeup brush to tidy Nicole’s face, the makeup artist asked Eric, “Mr. Williams, does this look alright?”
Nicole also stood up and spun once in front of Eric.
At the moment, she wore a white business suit and skirt with white high heels, covered by a loose gray hooded coat — exactly the same outfit Meg Ryan had worn in Eric’s memory.
However, although the two women were equally beautiful, their temperaments were completely unrelated.
What Eric needed was a sweet, slightly silly female lead.
“Nichole, imagine you’re Annie Reed, then smile for me,” Eric said, leaning against a table.
Nicole composed herself for a moment. Then she tilted her head slightly and broke into a foolishly sweet grin as she stared at Eric.
In an instant, an aura that was silly, goofy, and at the same time somewhat sweet rushed toward him.
Eric froze briefly in surprise, then snapped his fingers approvingly.
“Very good. That’s exactly it.”
After receiving Eric’s approval, Nicole quickly withdrew the expression and reverted to the tall, cold, glamorous Nicole Kidman, looking at Eric as she waited for his next instruction.
Eric did not mind the switch in the slightest. As long as Nicole could rapidly transition states during filming, that was enough.
“Oh right,” Eric added, “you’ve also studied Annie’s walking style already, haven’t you?”
“Of course.”
Nicole nodded, glanced around, casually grabbed a shoulder bag and slung it loosely over one shoulder as though it might fall off at any moment, then walked lazily toward the trailer exit using a pigeon-toed gait completely unlike her usual posture.
“That’s fantastic,” Eric praised again.
Nicole’s performance had already far exceeded his expectations.