Chapter 238: Bond Girl
Chapter 238: Bond Girl
“What?”
This time, it was Eric who was confused.
Elizabeth repeated, “You have to look back five hundred times just to exchange for one passing encounter. Wouldn’t that be too tiring?”
Eric was instantly speechless. Was this little girl lacking in romantic sensibility, or was she just too serious? Still, he followed along with her logic and said, “That’s exactly why, since it’s so tiring, meeting each other in this life should be cherished even more, right?”
“Oh.”
Elizabeth nodded thoughtfully, then asked, “But what you’re saying doesn’t seem to have much to do with Sleepless in Seattle, does it?”
“How does it not? Sleepless in Seattle is about a story of fate. A man and a woman separated by thousands of miles are brought together romantically through a radio program. Isn’t that fate?”
Elizabeth argued unconvinced, “But I think a story like yours could never happen in real life.”
“That’s too absolute. There are billions of people in this world. Any bizarre coincidence is possible. Besides, if it happened too easily, why would I make it into a movie?” Eric spread his hands. “It’s precisely because reality has too many impossibilities and too many disappointments that stories appear in all kinds of media, like movies. They exist to give people a kind of spiritual compensation and comfort. That’s where the beauty of stories lies.”
“Fine, you always have plenty of reasons.” Elizabeth realized she definitely could not out-argue Eric, so she gave up.
…
On New Year’s Eve, the father and son once again spent the night alone in the dark, unlit house.
After Jonah fell asleep, Sam carried his son into the bedroom.
Then, alone and isolated, he came out onto the deck. Looking at the fireworks rising in the distance, the loneliness in his heart only grew stronger. Panicked, he fled back into the living room. After drinking some beer on the sofa, he finally drifted into a groggy sleep.
Unknowingly, he saw his wife Maggie appear again in front of him. The woman with short hair, wearing a white dress, tall and elegant with delicate features.
“Can I drink half a can of beer?” Maggie picked up the half-finished beer Sam had been drinking and sat down by his feet, leaning sideways against the sofa as she gazed at him affectionately, a charming smile hanging at the corners of her lips.
Sam stared blankly at her as well.
Maggie spoke again. “What did I always say before?”
“What did you say?”
Sam finally reacted and asked instinctively.
“I said, here’s to your eyes.”
Sam shook his head. “Here’s to us.”
The two looked at each other for a moment before Sam finally said in a painful, almost groaning voice, “Baby, missing you hurts my heart.”
“Cut, good!”
Eric called out in satisfaction. Once the people around them started moving again, the woman sitting on the sofa also stood up and walked over to Eric, smiling charmingly as she asked, “Director Williams, was my performance alright?”
“Of course. You were excellent, Miss Lowell.”
Eric spoke to the tall woman.
The woman’s name was Kelly LeBrock, who just so happened to be the Bond girl in this year’s newest 007: Licence to Kill. In the original timeline, the role of Sam’s wife in Sleepless in Seattle had also been a cameo played by this woman. Since that was the case, and because her fame was somewhat greater now than it would be a few years later, Eric had people send her an invitation.
Kelly LeBrock quickly responded, expressing that she would be very willing to make a cameo appearance in Eric’s movie.
That was easy to understand. Although she was the latest Bond girl, this year’s 007: Licence to Kill had earned only a little over thirty million dollars during the summer season. For other movies, thirty million dollars would certainly have been decent, but this was 007. A result like that was embarrassing to even mention to others. Moreover, the film’s production and promotional costs together had far exceeded thirty million.
Although MGM still managed to recover its costs and even make a small profit through worldwide distribution, the mere thirty million domestic box office gross in North America directly caused the 007 series to be suspended for six years. When it was finally restarted, the entire creative team had been replaced.
Because the movie’s performance had been poor, Kelly LeBrock did not gain much corresponding fame from it.
To be honest, the Bond girls of the 007 series had never gained particularly great fame anyway. People remembered the actors who played 007, such as Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan, and Daniel Craig, but very few people could name many Bond girls.
“Do you want me to do another take? Is this really enough to pass already?”
Hearing Eric say that, Kelly LeBrock asked again.
She had very few scenes. Aside from appearing in Sam’s dream, she only appeared for a few seconds while the family was shopping. Altogether, her scenes in the entire film would not even exceed one minute.
Since she had been able to become a Bond girl, her appearance and figure were naturally top-tier. However, Kelly LeBrock’s situation was somewhat similar to Virginia’s. She was also born in 1961 and was already twenty-eight years old this year. If her acting career still failed to make any major breakthroughs, then after she turned thirty, it likely would not develop much further. Therefore, since she had the opportunity to participate in Eric’s film, the woman had already resolved to fight for as much screen time as possible.
When she first agreed to the cameo, Kelly LeBrock had not even asked for a single cent in salary. Her intentions were obvious. Although it was only a cameo role, aside from Eric, who knew the full situation, nobody would look down on the role.
Originally, many people had tried recommending actresses to Eric, but all of them had been rejected. Instead, Eric directly named Kelly LeBrock. The woman treasured the opportunity immensely. After all, although Brooke Shields had been the nominal female lead in Running Out of Time, in terms of actual screen time, it was barely more than a cameo. Therefore, Kelly LeBrock also hoped that Sleepless in Seattle would bring her results similar to what Brooke Shields received after appearing in Running Out of Time.
But Eric shook his head. “No need, Miss Lowell. It’s already getting late, so you can head back to the city. You probably know the crew’s living conditions here aren’t very good.”
“It’s fine. I’ll wait a bit longer. We’re almost finished anyway. Maybe there’ll still be something that needs me.”
“Alright then.”
Eric nodded, and the woman tactfully walked off to the side.
Filming resumed.
The scene was still on the sofa. Sam opened his eyes and woke up, only to discover that everything had merely been a dream. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. The lights were dim, and silence filled the room, as if reflecting the loneliness in his heart.
“Good, Hanks. That’s all for today’s scenes,” Eric said before turning toward the surrounding crew members. “Everyone pack up and finish as quickly as possible so we can head back and rest. We’re filming at Seattle Airport tomorrow.”