"Jingle Bell ......" a rapid phone ringing woke Joel Cohen, who was buried in a pile of papers. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info "Ethan, can you answer the phone?" ”

Ethan Cohen walked up to the phone and said, "Hello! I'm Ethan Cohen. Hello! , Mr. Spielberg ......"

Joel Cohen hurried over when he heard Ethan mention Spielberg, apparently across the phone from Steven Spielberg, a partner at DreamWorks.

"What did Steven say?" When Ethan Cohen hung up, Joel asked eagerly.

"Good news, Joel!" Ethan looked a little excited, "DreamWorks has agreed to invest in our new project after research, and Mr. Spielberg will try his best to get Paramount on board." ”

"It's great news, so we can relax our budget a bit." Joel shook his fist and smiled.

The Coen brothers' last film, Murder of Green Toes, did not receive good reviews after its release, and the commercial success was not great, so they were eager to start their new film immediately. They have done a lot of work in the early stage, and they have made a lot of changes in the plot and character portrayal of the script alone. The Coen brothers believe that as long as they get the investment as soon as possible, they will soon set up a crew to shoot the material, leave time for editing, and then strive to release it at the end of this year. All the links are stuck in the investment here, and the last time I mentioned it to Spielberg, I didn't expect it to happen, which made the Coen brothers really a little overjoyed.

"However, he made some conditions...... Ethan Cohen said hesitantly.

"Conditions? What conditions? Joel asked.

"Hmm...... Some questions about distribution and other benefits, but we're going to talk to DreamWorks and Paramount about that, and I wonder if Spielberg recommended an actor to us. ”

"Actors? Who is it? Joel frowned in confusion.

"Chris Vaughn."

"Who is he?" Joel thought about it for a moment and was sure he hadn't heard the name.

"I don't know." Ethan Cohen replied with a shrug.

.....．

Chris met with the Coen brothers on the second day of the "American Beauty" finale party. He received a call from Sam in the morning when he was in Allen's office with his agent. The editing of "American Beauty" has already begun, and if it goes well, it can be released in the fall, so its publicity work may be officially launched in August or September, and Chris, as one of the important supporting actors, will definitely follow the producer to attend some promotional activities. During this time, Chris has five to six months to take on his next film job, and he and Alan have been discussing his next work plan for some time now.

Both Chris and Allen were pleasantly surprised to hear that the Coen brothers wanted to meet them, knowing that the filming of the Coen brothers' next film might be about to begin. At this time, they want to meet Chris, needless to say, it must be for the casting work of the movie. I didn't expect Sam Menders to really be able to help him get in touch with the Coen brothers, and his smooth start in Hollywood was unbelievable, and Chris was overjoyed.

The Coen brothers' films are definitely the most impressive in Chris's mind are "Blood Labyrinth" and "No Country for Old Men", the former was remade into the scolded "Three Guns" by Lao Mouzi, and the latter was a huge success at the 80th Academy Awards. The Coen Brothers' works always have their own unique style, creating a unique and charming world of personal images, and it can be said that each of the Coen Brothers' works is highly anticipated by critics and fans. The dark and twisted black humor, the stylized narrative technique, the right pace control, the expression of human nature and the unpredictability of the plot make the Coen brothers' work very different from mainstream Hollywood films.

At 9 a.m., Chris showed up at the Coen Brothers' office in Hollywood. The décor of their office is nothing special, except for the stacks of script scripts scattered around the desks that show what makes the owner different. After all, it was the god of Hollywood who was going to meet, and Chris was still a little nervous when he first arrived, but the Coen brothers stood up very enthusiastically to greet him. Similar to the photos, the two of them are dressed casually, and their bodies are a little thin, but they can easily distinguish their identities. Joel Cohen is a little taller and has long, curly hair, while Ethan Cohen has shorter, lean hair.

"Chris, I think you probably already know that we're going to make a crime movie, and DreamWorks will be involved in the investment, and Mr. Steven Spielberg wants you to play the role of a killer in it, although I haven't seen your performance, but we believe in Steven's vision. But it's a very important role, so today we want to meet with you. Joel Cohen spoke first.

"Yes, I know, thank you very much Mr. Spielberg for your recommendation, and thank you for giving me this opportunity." Chris began by expressing his gratitude and understanding, "Mr. Cohen, I really like your movie, and I hope my performance will satisfy you." ”

"Okay, Chris, let's start as soon as possible, this killer in the movie is a very complex person, he loves art, he likes Mozart, he has some cleanliness, but he is extremely cold. Hopefully, you can show his complex side. Let's go outside, and Ethan will let you take the camera. Joel briefly introduced Chris's characteristics to the character and turned to Ethan.

The three of them came outside, and there was an open space of about 40 square meters. Soon the staff walked in with a camera on their shoulders. Ethan Cohen, the more silent of the two brothers, took the camera and adjusted it carefully, then gestured to Chris, "Chris, just say when you're ready." ”

Chris nodded, the Coen brothers didn't show him the script, obviously to test his basic understanding of the characters and his own live performance. The situation is completely different now than when he auditioned for "American Beauty", when he was very well prepared for the role of Richie, and he had a deep understanding of "American Beauty". But now that he was about to play a role for which he was not prepared at all, it was a real problem for Chris. And in Li Ping's world, the Coen brothers didn't seem to have launched any works before "Three Kings Who Escaped from Prison". Even if you can use the killer with a somewhat similar style in the Coen brothers' later "No Country for Old Men" as a reference, Chris still doesn't have the confidence to play the role well.

"Cruel, Mozart, cleanliness......" Chris thought about the killer's traits over and over again, while recalling the similar characters in the works he had seen. "Cruelty" can be compared to the performance of Javier Bardem in "No Country for Old Men"; If you "love art", you can be a little nervous when performing; As for how to integrate "cleanliness" into the performance, Chris has not yet thought of it. He lowered his head and walked back and forth in the room in contemplation, when suddenly a small water stain on the ground entered his eyes, his eyes lit up, and he suddenly remembered Leslie Cheung's performance in "Farewell My Concubine". At that time, it was a simple shot of Cheng Dieyi played by Leslie Cheung walking, walking and walking, he suddenly stopped, lifted his foot and shook it gently, and then continued to walk forward, it turned out that there were a lot of cinders on the ground, this inadvertent foot lift, but it was quite expressive to show Cheng Dieyi's cleanliness.

Thinking of this, Chris finally felt a little relaxed in his heart. Of course, it is not enough to show these characteristics of the role and simply imitate other people's performances, but today is just an audition after all, and it is on the premise that there is no script, with Spielberg's recommendation, I believe that the Coen brothers will not question their acting skills, and today they probably just want to see their live performance.

"Mr. Cohen, I'm ready." Mentally planning what he was going to perform, Chris walked over to the camera and motioned to Ethan Cohen.

Ethan Cohen nodded and focused the camera on Chris's body, after all, it was just an audition, so he simply used a flat lens to shoot. Joel also walked to the back of the monitor in the corner of the room to watch Chris's performance, and then Chris appeared on the monitor. He seemed to be in a good mood at this time, although his face was expressionless, but his steps were very brisk. As he walked, he seemed to hear something, and Chris suddenly squinted his eyes slightly and took a deep breath, as if he was feeling his surroundings and the environment. A look of pleasure appeared on his face, and then he raised his hands as if he were conducting an orchestra and gently rotated his body, as if he were dancing solo to music. His performance didn't look like a killer at all, but it was infectious, and Ethan Cohen unwittingly held the camera and followed his figure. On the other side of the room, Joel Cohen looked thoughtful with his chin in his hand, his eyes fixed on the scene on the monitor.

"Poof!" Suddenly, a crisp voice sounds, interrupting Chris's movements, as well as Ethan and the camera's movements. As an experienced producer and director, Ethan knew that the performance had taken a turn and he didn't hesitate to raise the camera to get a close-up of Chris's face. Joel Cohen also sat up straight, and Chris's face appeared on the monitor, and the happy expression had long since disappeared. Chris looked down at the water stains on his shoes and frowned, his face was cloudy and rainy for a moment, gloomy and low as if it could drip water, and his eyes were also slightly squinted, but at this time they revealed a devouring light. Looking at Chris's expression on the monitor, Joel Cohen couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart.

“fuck！” Chris cursed in a low voice, then carefully shook off the water stains on his shoes, then leaned down and took out a tissue to carefully wipe it clean, but the nature of the dance was gone, and then he walked forward quickly......

"Very good!" As soon as Chris's performance was over, Joel Cohen applauded. Ethan didn't say anything, but through the thick lenses, he could see the excitement hidden in his eyes. "Really well done!" Joel complimented, "Obviously, you took some of the characters from other works and designed the performance. However, you need to restrain your feelings, the expressions of the characters before and after your performance change too much, some unnatural, and the traces of the performance are very heavy, which will make people feel a little dramatic. But it's already very good to have such a performance in such a short period of time, and it seems that your acting talent is good. ”

Ethan Cohen walked over to Chris and sat down, "Chris, I think your performance was more of a parody. And I think your Bennett is too murderous, and the Bennett in my mind should be low-key and not too public. Of course, it is obviously unrealistic for you to enter the heart of the character in a short period of time, and you still have a lot of room for improvement, I hope you will continue to work hard. ”

"Besides, your face looks a little too young, huh...... It's too handsome, maybe it will be better after putting on makeup. He paused, then gestured to Chris's face and continued.

"Thank you." Chris replied with a smile. is worthy of the Coen brothers, who can see through his performance so quickly, he said secretly in his heart. Although he performed very seriously and devotedly just now, he didn't have a sense of substitution in his heart, as if he was performing for the sake of acting, and he couldn't do it with feeling. But Chris was relieved that his performance was finally recognized by the Coen brothers.

The Coen brothers invited Chris to the living room for a while, and the two went to the office to discuss. “OK！ Congratulations, Chris! I think you've got the role," Joel Cohen walked up to Chris five minutes later and handed him a file, "This is the script for the movie, you take it back and take a good look at it, and hopefully you'll be well prepared." ”

Chris took the file and saw that the cover said "ConnieTown", and judging by the name, the story should be about what happened in this town called Connie. Typical Coen Brothers work. The background of the Coen brothers' films, whether real or fictional, is always carefully chosen, and each story also happens and ends logically in such a deliberately chosen background. The story of any Coen brother has a very clear story background, which shows that the two of them attach great importance to the location of the story.

"Also, this is a Thomas Harris novel The Silence of the Lambs, so go back and feel the atmosphere created in the book, I hope it will help you." Ethan Cohen interrupted Chris's thoughts as he was stunned.

"Okay, I'll be serious!" Chris replied.

After chatting with the Coen brothers for a while about the character of the script, Chris got up and returned. Getting on the bus back, Chris was still a little uneasy. The reason for his uneasiness is not because he is worried that he will not be able to play the role in the movie, but now that he has determined that there is absolutely no movie called "Connie Town" in another time and space. This made Chris feel a little panicked, he was no longer sure if there were any traces of Li Ping in this world, maybe he would never be able to find his past.