Chapter 329: The Little Girl Holding the Plush Toy
Chapter 329: The Little Girl Holding the Plush Toy
Ivanka Trump wrinkled her little nose and gave a light huff, then glared unhappily at her father.
Donald Trump awkwardly whispered to Eric, “Ini’s angry with me right now. I promised to bring her here to watch you make a movie before she was willing to speak to me again.”
Eric raised an eyebrow slightly. “Did something happen?”
“I… divorced Ini’s mother some time ago,” Donald Trump admitted without hiding it. “So, you understand.”
Eric remembered seeing Donald Trump’s wife at the premiere of Home Alone 2 before the New Year. At the time, the two of them had seemed perfectly fine. Still, this was someone else’s family matter, so it was not appropriate for him to ask further. America’s divorce rate was over fifty percent. Eric had practically become numb to such things already. Among the people he knew, most had either been divorced themselves or had parents who divorced.
After wandering around a few times, Ivanka suddenly walked up to Eric. “Eric, Daddy divorced Mommy, so you’re not a good person either.”
Eric froze slightly.
That… was some powerful logic.
Your father dumped your mother. What did that have to do with me?
Eric spread his hands helplessly. “Ini, I’m innocent. This really doesn’t seem related to me, does it?”
“Did you forget what you promised me before?” Ivanka asked angrily.
Eric thought for a moment, then shook his head. “How about giving me a hint?”
“Hmph, bad guy.” Ivanka smacked Eric with the Bugs Bunny plushie in her hand. “You clearly promised to let me act in your movie back then. Now you’re filming a movie and didn’t even tell me.”
“Oh, that.” Eric suddenly remembered. He had only said it casually at the time, thinking that at Ivanka’s age, she would probably forget about it quickly. Unexpectedly, the little girl remembered it even more clearly than he did. “But this movie doesn’t have any little girl roles.”
“Hmph, bad guy. Excuses. You don’t keep your promises. I’m never talking to you again,” Ivanka said angrily, turning her face away.
Never talking to him again? That threat was rather serious.
Eric thought for a moment before saying, “Ini, how about this? In a little while, you can play a little girl passing by one of the leads. Hmm, it’d be best if you also carried your rabbit.”
Ivanka wanted to stay angry for a little longer, but she ultimately could not resist Eric’s “temptation.” She quickly turned back around. “Really?”
“Of course.” Eric nodded solemnly. It was just a random passerby role anyway, completely insignificant. Naturally, that was not something he could say out loud. “Didn’t you say you joined an acting class before? Let me see the results of your training.”
“I’ll definitely shock you. You’re just a guy who can direct and nothing else,” the little girl complained sarcastically.
Eric was speechless. She still remembered that line.
Lunch break soon ended. Naturally, there was nothing to criticize about Nicolas Cage and Whoopi Goldberg’s scenes. Originally, all the pedestrians on the street had been adults, with no little girl present. Now that a little girl had suddenly been added, Eric had to rearrange things slightly.
“Ini, once that lady walks over here, this lady will take your hand and start walking around with you. Keep going along this road until you reach over there. Remember, act natural. Don’t look at the camera, and don’t curiously stare at the lady in the pink jacket.”
“Oh, I know, I know already. You’re so naggy,” Ivanka waved her little hand impatiently.
Eric shrugged and returned to the director’s chair. Originally, he had suggested having Donald Trump lead the little girl as an extra. It would also help improve his relationship with his daughter, so Donald Trump had naturally been delighted. Unfortunately, the little girl refused no matter what, so Eric could only pick a woman from the extras to hold her hand and pretend to be her mother.
“Everyone in position, prepare to shoot,” Eric shouted through a megaphone as the actors all took their places.
“Action!”
As his voice fell, the tracking shot appeared on the monitor. Oda Mae, who had just donated the four-million-dollar check in her hand to an orphanage, walked forward with a depressed expression.
“Oda Mae, I’m proud of you,” Sam’s ghost said as he followed behind her.
“I don’t care whether you’re proud of me or not. What does a nun need so much money for?” Oda Mae, played by Whoopi Goldberg, complained furiously to the empty air. “Stop following me, and stop talking to me.”
Sam looked at Oda Mae walking farther away and added once more, “You’re amazing.”
Hearing those words, Oda Mae suddenly turned around. Naturally, she could not see Sam, so after glancing around, she viciously spat into the air before turning and leaving. Her actions looked absurdly comical, and Eric almost wanted to applaud.
At the same time, on the other side of the street in the monitor shot, a little girl holding a Bugs Bunny plushie crossed the road hand in hand with a woman as though nothing were unusual. The little girl even stayed in character by glancing curiously at Oda Mae, who seemed to be talking to thin air, then tilted her head upward and appeared to say something to her “mother.” Unfortunately, the female extra clearly had not expected the little girl to suddenly speak to her. Her expression froze briefly, and her steps paused momentarily as well.
“Cut.” Eric shook his head regretfully. If the female extra had cooperated a little, the shot would have been perfect. After all, Oda Mae was babbling at thin air and even spitting. If the pedestrians around her had shown no reaction at all, that would have been unnatural. A little girl curiously asking her mother what Oda Mae was doing looked very natural instead.
“Hold on a moment,” Eric said to everyone before walking over to Ivanka and the female extra. “Miss, what’s your name?”
“Director Williams, you can call me Elena,” the female extra replied somewhat nervously. She had already realized the problem in the previous take had been hers. Although inwardly she somewhat blamed the little girl for suddenly speaking outside the script, she did not dare say it aloud. After all, the relationship between this little girl and the director was obviously unusual.
“Mhm, Miss Elena, what exactly did Ini say to you just now?”
“She asked me, ‘Auntie, why is that lady acting like that?’” Elena answered honestly.
Eric nodded. “That’s exactly right. If you had reacted appropriately just now, the shot would have been perfect. After all, if Miss Whoopi Goldberg is talking to empty air, passersby would naturally glance over a few more times. So Ini’s reaction wasn’t wrong. Oh, don’t misunderstand, I’m not criticizing you. I just hope that in the next take, you’ll cooperate with the scene a little more and give an appropriate response.”
“Then what kind of reaction should I give?” Elena asked.
Eric glanced at Whoopi Goldberg, who had walked over nearby, and smiled. “If you saw a woman acting crazy in the middle of the street while you had a child with you, your first reaction would definitely be to hurry away.”
“Hey, Eric, what part of me looks crazy?” Whoopi Goldberg protested.
“Every part,” Eric replied with a grin.
“Alright, let’s do it again,” Eric said before reaching out and pinching the little girl’s cheek. “Ini, your performance just now was very good. Let’s continue.”
“Annoying! You’re not allowed to pinch my face!” Ivanka, who had still been feeling smug a moment ago, immediately became angry and waved her little hands to slap away Eric’s “evil claws.”
Eric laughed and shrugged before instructing everyone to reset.
The scene played out the same as before. Nicolas Cage and Whoopi Goldberg’s performances remained flawless.
As Oda Mae stopped in the middle of the street and spat into the air, a “mother and daughter” pair happened to pass by. The little girl carrying the Bugs Bunny plushie glanced at Oda Mae, then curiously raised her face and said something to the middle-aged woman. The woman quickly looked at Whoopi Goldberg without explaining anything, then nervously grabbed the little girl’s hand and hurried away.
“Good, absolutely perfect!” Eric applauded.
Although many people around them did not know exactly what had happened, they still enthusiastically joined in the applause.
During the break before the next shot was arranged, the little girl proudly strutted over to Eric and stretched out her hand toward him.
“What?” Eric looked at the little hand extended toward him in confusion and asked.