Zhang Ran responded with a smile: "I have seen most of your movies, and you have acted very well. I especially appreciate your performances in "The Master" and "June Bug", especially "June Bug", that character has a little bit of a sense of joy, it's easy to get over if you don't handle it well, but your performance is just right. ”

Amy Adams was extremely happy when she heard Zhang Ran say this, and immediately said: "I am a fan of Mr. Zhang, I have watched every one of your movies, and I have purchased a Blu-ray disc collection." I especially liked "The Aviator" and "One Man Shines the Light", and "The Scorching Sun" was also very fond of it, and I went to the cinema twice to watch it. I really wanted to work with you, and this is a dream come true. ”

After a few words of praise to each other, Zhang Ran looked at Amy Adams and said, "Miss Adams, have you read the book I introduced to you?"

Amy Adams said: "I watched Zhang Chunru's "Nanjing Massacre" and "Weitling's Diary", and "Rabe's Diary" has not had time to read it. The things recorded in the book are so terrible that I don't dare to read more, and I can only read a small part at a time. Even so, I still have nightmares. I had never been exposed to something so horrible before, far beyond my imagination. ”

Zhang Ran nodded slightly, he also often had nightmares after reading the materials of the Nanjing Massacre: "This is exactly why I made this movie." At first, I just wanted to make a biopic of Zhang Chunru, but after reading a lot of information, I felt that I couldn't do it so simply, and it would inevitably be Weitling, Rabe, and some other characters. They are the torch in the darkness, the hope and conscience of humanity. ”

Amy Adams remembers critics saying that Zhang Ran's films were always about hope in despair. If you simply make a biopic of Zhang Chunru, then it conflicts with this concept. Because Zhang Chunru committed suicide, it is difficult to bring hope to the audience that such a brave and strong woman committed suicide. The script is different now, although Zhang Chunru and Weitling both committed suicide, and Rabe also died in poverty, but their books remained. These three books are torches in the darkness and represent the hope and conscience of humanity.

There are two kinds of confrontation in the current script, one is the confrontation between Weitling and the Japanese atrocities, and the other is the confrontation between Zhang Chunru and the forces that covered up the Nanjing Massacre, and in this respect, the idea and depth of this story is stronger than that of many similar films. Amy Adams felt that the film would be a masterpiece like Schindler's List and The Pianist, or even better. This is also the fundamental reason why she knows that this movie is difficult to make, but she is still determined to participate.

Amy Adams nodded, "They are true heroes, the hope and conscience of humanity, and they should be remembered!"

Zhang Ran looked at Amy Adams and said, "Let's talk about Weitling, what kind of person do you think she is?"

Amy Adams thought for a moment and said, "I still have less information to read, and my understanding of her may not be deep enough, but my biggest feeling now is that she is very kind and brave." The Japanese soldiers cursed her, shook her in the face with bloodstained bayonets, and even slapped her, but she did not back down. The Dongying people often sneak into the Golden Women's University and kidnap the women inside. The Chinese employees of Jinnuda struggled to stop it, but they often couldn't. Only when Weitling, who looks like Europeans and Americans, appears and shouts loudly, will they relent. She's like a firefighter who goes around putting out fires......"

Zhang Ran talked about the problem of Jinnu University with Professor Zhang Lianhong of Nanjing Normal University, who had met with Dongying soldier Toshiro, who had participated in the Nanjing Massacre. Toshiro told him that the soldiers stationed in Nanjing at that time knew that the Golden Lady Dali had taken in many young girls. The Japanese army was in groups of three or five, invading day and night, and sometimes directly committing violence on the campus of Jinnu University. In most cases, they take advantage of the darkness to climb over the school walls and take women in the dark. Among the Dongying soldiers, this kind of behavior is called "touching the lottery". Weitling traveled around the school every day, snatching the crying women back from the Eastern Soldiers. When people heard her from afar, they shouted angrily: This is an American school!

Zhang Ran chatted with Amy Adams for a long time, mainly about Weitling's family background, where she came from, what background, what kind of marriage was like, why she went to China, accent issues, and various details.

During this decade, Zhang Ran collected a lot of materials, including Weitling's. Weitling never married, but she had several nieces and descendants who lived in a small town in Michigan, and Zhang Ran visited them. Talking to Amy Adams about Weitling's life, Zhang Ran can be said to be at his fingertips.

Amy Adams is a very good actress, and it is not difficult to play Weitling and everything else, but the real challenge is Chinese, and she is a little worried about this: "A lot of people on Quora say that Chinese is the most difficult language in the world to learn, and every aspect of the Chinese language is as difficult as a book from heaven. Many people say that it takes months just to learn the tone, and even then there may not be a guarantee that it will be 100% accurate. Many people have been studying for several years and still can't communicate with people. At the end of this year, the film will be filmed, and I can't guarantee that I will be fluent in Chinese, let alone that my accent will be accurate. ”

Zhang Ran also knows that it is impossible for an American to become proficient in Chinese in a short period of time, many Hong Kong and Taiwan stars have been mixing in China for more than ten years, and accents are still a big problem, let alone Americans. He smiled and comforted: "It is indeed impossible to master Chinese in a short period of time, we do not require you to be able to use Chinese fluently, and you can memorize the lines." It is mainly a matter of accent, and the accent must be practiced. When the time comes, we will arrange a special teacher for you to teach you pronunciation, so that you can pronounce it relatively accurately. When acting, we will also have a speaking teacher on site to correct your lines. ”

Amy Adams laughed when she heard Zhang Ran say this: "What I'm most worried about is the language problem, because many people on Quora say that Chinese is the most difficult language in the world to learn, and now I'm relieved!"

Zhang Ran looked at the time, it was already half past eleven, and it was almost time for lunch. He wanted to invite Amy Adams to his house for lunch and talk to Zhang Jingchu casually. Although they don't have a rivalry, it's okay to communicate. Eventually, though, he gave up on the idea.

As the Harvey scandal continues to grow, the Federation of Screen Actors Guilds has called on producers and directors not to audition and hold professional meetings in hotel rooms and private homes, and has also asked actors not to meet in high-risk venues to avoid possible harassment and illegal exploitation. Zhang Ran felt that it was better to avoid suspicion and avoid suspicion!

Zhang Ran muttered, "Let's go to the hotel at Four Seasons Resort for lunch, and my wife will come over too." You can casually talk to my wife, she will play Zhang Chunru. In the afternoon, we try on makeup, and the costume designer will adjust the outfit according to your body shape. ”

Amy Adams smiled, "Okay. ”

Zhang Ran and Amy Adams came out of the café and drove to the resort. On the way, Zhang Ran called Zhang Jingchu and asked her to come to the Four Seasons Resort for dinner.

Soon after Zhang Ran and Amy Adams took their seats at the Four Seasons Resort's restaurant, Zhang Jingchu brought her children over. The little girl was curious about the red-haired Amy Adams and looked at her, her eyes rolling. Amy Adams had a daughter about the same age as the little girl, so she smiled and said, "Hello, what's your name?" The little girl couldn't understand what Amy Adams was saying, but she knew that she was talking to herself, clapped her little hands, and shouted, "Senior sister!

Zhang Ran and Zhang Jingchu couldn't help laughing, this girl really calls everyone brother and sister. Amy Adams saw that Zhang Ran and they were all smiling, so she asked the little girl what she said. Zhang Ran told her that she had a lot of students, and they would often come to visit, so the little girl developed a habit of calling senior brother when she saw a boy and senior sister when she saw a girl. Amy Adams also laughed when she heard this, the little girl called the young girl senior sister, and she also called herself senior sister, which means that she is still very young!

After lunch, Zhang Ran and the others drove to the studio on Lanai. After Zhang Ran bought Lanai, Summit Entertainment's movies were often filmed on the island. Later, Zhang Ran simply built a studio on the island to facilitate the filming of the movie.

When Zhang Ran and the others came to the studio, the makeup artist of the crew, and the director of photography Zhao Fei had already arrived for a while. Zhang Ran didn't say much, and directly asked the makeup artist to take Amy Adams to do makeup.

Three hours later, when Amy Adams, who was wearing makeup, appeared in front of everyone, Zhang Ran and the others were shocked. At this time, Amy Adams has become a middle-aged woman in her fifties, she wears rimless glasses, a suit and a woolen skirt, which is very similar to Weitling in the photo, the only thing that is not like it is her hair. Amy Adams is about to play "Batman v Superman", and her hair has to be kept as it is and can't be cut short.

Zhang Ran walked over, handed an American flag to Amy Adams, and asked her to stand in front of a makeshift iron door to try her hand at the show. Amy Adams brewed her emotions for a moment, held the American flag in her hand, and shouted angrily, "This is an American school! No soldiers! Please get out of here!"

Zhang Ran was very satisfied, turned his head and asked Zhang Jingchu and Zhao Fei: "What do you think?"

Zhang Jingchu nodded and said: "It's very similar, I remember that the survivor's description of Weitling is like this, with a pair of lake-blue kind eyes on his face, wearing a suit and a woolen skirt, always holding a star-striped flag at the gate, not letting the Dongying people come in." ”

Zhao Fei also read a lot of information about the Nanjing Massacre, and had a certain understanding of Wei Tling: "I think Wei Tling, who was guarding the gate of the Golden Girl and sheltering thousands of women and children inside like a door god, should be like this!"

After it was decided that Amy Adams would play Weitling, Zhang Ran flew back to China non-stop and continued the casting work. In addition to the three roles of Zhang Chunru, Weitling and Rabe, there are some relatively important roles. There are not many scenes in these roles, but Zhang Ran still requires the actors to be as close to the real characters as possible, because many of them are worthy of respect and memory.

For example, Cheng Ruifang, the superintendent of the Golden Lady House, was not only Weitling's right-hand man during the days and nights of helping refugees, but also used her diary to record the atrocities of the Japanese army. "Cheng Ruifang's Diary" is the only written material found so far that the Chinese recorded the atrocities of the invading Japanese army during the Nanjing Massacre in diary style, which is extremely valuable. Her diary was only discovered in 2001 and will not appear in the movie, but Zhang Ran hopes that Cheng Ruifang will appear in the movie.

After returning to China, the first thing Zhang Ran did was to find the survivors who had escaped death under the protection of Weitling, and show the old man Amy Adams's makeup photos. The old man has been more than eighty years and still remembers the image of Weitling vividly.

The old man's eyes turned red when he saw the makeup photo: "Like Miss Hua! Miss Hua is like this, holding a star-striped flag at the gate and not letting the Dongying people come in." But the hair is not like it, Miss Hua has short hair, and it is not red. ”

Hearing the old man say this, Zhang Ran breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the role of Wei Tling was completed.