Chapter 97: An Obstacle Impossible to Avoid
Chapter 97: An Obstacle Impossible to Avoid
However, Hanks also understood why Cruise was being so cautious.
The other man had always followed the idol route. To put it bluntly, he relied on his face to make a living. If he suddenly appeared on screen dressed as a woman, it really could cause dissatisfaction among some fans.
Eric did not immediately answer Tom Cruise’s request. Instead, he asked:
“Cruise, if I remember correctly, you should already be twenty-seven this year, right?”
Tom Cruise nodded, his tone carrying a trace of pride.
“I started filming when I was sixteen. Back then I was even younger than you are now. It’s been almost ten years already.”
As a young man who came from a lower-class single-parent family, with absolutely no influential background supporting him, he had carved out his own place in Hollywood through nothing but diligence and hard work over ten years.
Tom Cruise absolutely had the right to feel proud.
“Then, Cruise, every actor eventually needs to transform, especially actors who take the idol route. Male actors in Hollywood may have a longer shelf life than actresses. You don’t urgently need to expand your acting range and move into other genres the moment you turn thirty. But sooner or later, that moment will come. So I think this opportunity can count as an attempt for you.”
Cruise countered:
“Eric, there are many ways to experiment. It doesn’t have to involve playing a woman. Actually, I’ve already been thinking about the issue you mentioned. My agent has also recommended some genre films to me.”
Eric slowly shook his head.
“That still doesn’t change anything, Cruise. Many of the films you acted in before leaned toward artistic drama, but Academy Awards never even gave you a nomination. The reason is simple. Even though those films were excellent, your on-screen image never underwent any major change.”
“Think about it this way. You debuted ten years ago, yet your hands are still empty when it comes to the Oscars. Don’t you want recognition from the Academy?”
“I think that if you perform this role well, combined with the small sacrifice of cross-dressing, the Academy would at least give you a Best Actor nomination.”
In Eric’s previous life, Andy Lau had won his first Hong Kong Film Award Best Actor trophy through Running Out of Time, fulfilling a long-held dream. Aside from Andy Lau’s own acting ability, the bold cross-dressing performance in the film had also played an important role.
The Oscars were an obstacle no one in Hollywood could avoid.
As long as you belonged to Hollywood, it was impossible to remain indifferent toward the Oscars.
Actors especially.
In order to gain Oscar recognition, stripping nude was the mildest thing imaginable. Destroying one’s image was commonplace.
Psychopaths, murderers—if it could win an award, then there was only one word for it:
Act.
In Eric’s previous life, the great beauty Charlize Theron had gained weight, exposed herself, and shaved off her eyebrows for the sake of an Oscar-winning role, using every possible method.
Poor little Leonardo had gone even further for the Oscars, creating that famous “you fat, I fat” spectacle and completely shattering fans’ perfect Titanic fantasy.
Sure enough, after Eric finished speaking, Cruise finally stopped rejecting the idea outright and instead fell into brief silence.
How could he not know where his problem lay?
He had simply been unwilling to admit it and too afraid to change.
Small figures who climbed up from the bottom feared failure far more than actors born into privilege and wealth.
No one wanted to return to that kind of life again.
The fear of falling back into the dust had almost made Cruise forget that, with his current status in Hollywood, he already possessed the qualifications to survive failure.
But the temptation of the Oscars was enormous.
Cruise had already spent ten years in Hollywood. If he still did not understand what the Oscars represented there, then he never would have achieved his current success.
Eric sharply caught Cruise’s wavering and immediately pressed forward:
“Cruise, in my opinion, Andy is an even more tragic character than the Count of Monte Cristo. He only has a few weeks left to live. In order to avenge his father, he stakes everything on a dangerous seventy-two-hour game against Sean. One careless mistake could destroy him completely.”
“Under those circumstances, the audience’s attention will focus far more on Andy’s ultimate fate.”
“The cross-dressing setup exists to push the story forward. It’s not like those vulgar comedies that deliberately destroy an actor’s image just to amuse audiences. This is a very serious performance.”
“I believe that if someone is truly your fan, they’ll definitely understand.”
After remaining silent for a full two minutes, perhaps Eric’s argument had worked, or perhaps the temptation of the Oscars had overcome his concerns.
In the end, Cruise slowly nodded.
Once that issue was resolved, the atmosphere inside the conference room relaxed considerably.
Both Cruise and Tom Hanks began expressing opinions about details in the script.
Hanks felt Sean’s personality was somewhat vague. Why, exactly, was he like the female Interpol supervisor who clearly liked him had described—never chasing women, never visiting nightclubs? Even workaholics needed to settle down eventually, didn’t they?
And why would such an all-capable elite police officer be demoted to some tiny local police station?
Because time had been tight, Eric had rushed out the script for Running Out of Time in only one day, basically following the remembered framework of the original story with very few modifications.
He had considered many of the bugs Cruise and Hanks pointed out. He simply had not had time to revise them yet.
Although Cruise always spoke in a lofty tone like a senior lecturing a junior, and Hanks loved grabbing onto details and questioning Eric until he was left speechless, Eric still patiently discussed the script with both actors.
After all, having two actors who had participated in numerous Hollywood blockbusters help revise the screenplay not only saved Eric considerable effort but also ensured the script better matched Hollywood filmmaking rhythm.
“Hey, Johnny, you didn’t misidentify them, right? It’s been almost four hours already. Why haven’t Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks come out yet?”
After staking out Firefly’s office building for nearly four hours, Hollywood Information Daily paparazzo Kent finally could not help entering the convenience store and questioning Johnny suspiciously.
Although paparazzi could spend an entire day and night waiting outside celebrities’ homes for news, that only happened when they had clear targets.
Now they had not seen even a shadow of the two stars, and they genuinely could not think of any reason Cruise and Hanks would stay inside Firefly for an entire morning.
Naturally, doubts had begun to form.
“No, no, mister reporter, I swear I didn’t mistake them,” Johnny hurriedly replied.
“Look over there at those two business vans. The one on the left belongs to Tom Cruise, and the one on the right belongs to Tom Hanks. It’s almost noon already. They’ll definitely come out for lunch.”
“Alright,” Kent adjusted the camera hanging from his chest.
“You’d better not be mistaken. Then everybody wins. Otherwise, that seven hundred dollars will have to be returned.”
Johnny instinctively clutched his pocket and immediately began swearing guarantees again.
“Then I’ll wait a little longer. Got any soda? Bring me a bottle.”
“Yes, yes,” Johnny quickly nodded.
Just as he was about to grab the drink, he suddenly noticed the other three paparazzi outside abruptly stand up and rush toward the entrance of the Firefly office building.
“Mister reporter, did they come out? Look at your coworkers!”
Kent turned his head and saw his colleagues already sprinting across the street.
“Shit!”
Cursing loudly, he immediately rushed out the door.
Although they all worked for the same tabloid, the editor would still select the best photographs for publication.
Only the photographer whose pictures were chosen would receive commission pay.