"Good morning, Tony." Jenny raised her coffee and said hello to director Tony Gilroy - this is the screenwriter of the "Spy" series, relying on the meticulous and low-key and subtle suspense plot of "Spy", the suspenseful plot has won unanimous praise from the industry and fans, especially the ingenious connection between the second and third parts of "Spy", which is even more praiseworthy, showing his strong plot control ability. His golden sign is also an important reason for Cesare to be optimistic about this movie, after the "Spy" series, the unfinished Tony began to seek the transformation of screenwriter to director, his first work chose the same suspenseful color, but the tone is more realistic, and the fight scenes do not have so many medical litigation themes. In his first directorial work, he was able to work with big names like Soderbergh and Sidney Pollack, and he was able to conduct big stars like Jenny and Clooney, even if Tony himself was friends with big stars like Matt Damon, he was just as excited, and nodded with a smile at Jenny, "I read your character analysis - great, Jennifer, I'm looking forward to your first day." ――This is your first time playing a supporting role in a movie, right? ”

Jenny laughs and says, "It seems like I've always been the lead actor except for the first movie." "Early." George Clooney, with silver sideburns and a dashing demeanor, also walked into the set, this studio is not large, and it can generally support a crew to shoot locally, so the crew members are very free to move around here, George has already put on makeup and can move around freely, running out to have breakfast in the sun - this is almost impossible for "Pirates of the Caribbean" filmed in the city, in order to keep the new look secret and add some mystery to the film, Jenny and they generally can't go out of the studio after makeup, that is, they are filming " The fifth Sally", Jenny has never been so free, the paparazzi have always followed her behind her back, and even this time to start filming a new film, even if it has been a few hours drive from Los Angeles, she didn't expect to get rid of the paparazzi, the only question is when they will show up, destroying the free atmosphere on the set.

Handing over the coffee and coat to the assistant, George walked up to Jenny very formally, shook her hand, squinted charmingly, and greeted gracefully, "You look refreshed, Jennifer, do you still like your hotel room?" "We're all very much looking forward to your first official performance." Tony rubbed his hands together excitedly and invited, "Do you want to see George's first scene?" This may help you get into the groove. ”

Because Jenny doesn't have many scenes, in order to help the actors get into the play, plus there are not too many scenes in this movie, the set is exclusive to the crew, and the studio can exist a lot at the same time, so roughly the interior scenes of the film are in chronological order, so before her, George has been filming for a few days, and it is Jenny's turn to join the crew to start the play. It also meant that she had to start acting in earnest for her first shot, and she didn't enjoy George's treatment - his first shot must have been very simple to walk around

Jenny and George Clooney, who had a friendly smile, glanced at each other and made a slight grimace in their hearts: I have to say that George is a very mature Hollywood movie star, and maybe an absolutely qualified politician. is also because the direct competition between her and George is not obvious, not as direct and tragic as her and Renee and Bell's several tear-up battles, her relationship with George is still very good at the beginning, George is even more personable, at the very beginning has been seeking dialogue to solve the problem, after the problem is solved, it is even more hormonal gentlemanly, in a few meetings are active jokes**, and it is a compliment and conversation, as if it has completely uncovered that layer. -- At least on the surface.

But for Jenny, it was a different matter entirely, how could she not feel the awkwardness between the two? I'm afraid George knows very well that Jenny doesn't like him, and he may not like Jenny, but after all, he has lived so many decades or twenty years longer than Renee and the others, and he is an experienced producer, so he still has a big picture of things. He has successfully conquered the crew with his mature and atmospheric performance, whether it is the director or several other supporting actors, George's opinion is very high, so now that Jenny has chosen to join the group, as one of the older and successful producers with production experience, he will definitely not have too few ways to make Jenny uncomfortable.

Just like now, although she won one more Oscar than George, Tony's attitude naturally put George in the position of a senior, without the slightest respect for her double win, this is of course Jenny's Oscar does have a little water, but to be honest, compared with George, she doesn't feel that she has a loss, Tony's attitude can't help but say that it is the result of George's usual behavior, and as a lion who opened his mouth at the beginning, and later wanted to completely squeeze out George, In the end, it affected Warner's investment strategy, which directly caused the crew to be unable to get more budget for the Olympics Jenny - it may be a pity to say this, but it seems that she seems to be the best thing in the crew, the bitch, the villain, although because of her coffee position, no one will say anything more on the surface, but the crew members must have much stricter standards for her than George, and George Clooney is also well aware of his dominant position. Of course, "Jenny doesn't really care too much about what everyone in the crew thinks of her, with her position and connections today, there really isn't anyone in this crew who needs her to be careful to please, but then again, when it comes to interpersonal wars, will she lose to Clooney? If it weren't for the fact that she was very interested in this project, Jenny was seventy percent sure that she would be able to squeeze George out, and he would be speechless, but it would take too much energy to do so, and there would be a possibility of failure after all, and the reason was too illusory, so she finally gave up. She said with a smile, "I'm sure it's going to be a pleasure to watch George's performance." ”

Her calm and elegant performance seems to surprise both George and Tony - in the initial incident, her impulsive and repeated performance must have made these two people have a very outrageous misjudgment of her character (judging from Tony's surprise, he is also well aware of Jenny and George's turbulent undercurrent, but just pretending to be stupid and not intervene), George narrowed his eyes, did not speak, but showed a somewhat reserved smile, while Tony was more genuinely happy and excited, "Very good, then we better act separately quickly, Don't stand here stupidly. ”

George had already put on his makeup, just hanging out for breakfast, and now of course he was going to prepare for the first scene with Tony, and Jenny also quickened her pace to the dressing room and changed into the clothes that belonged to Karen: a very typical and boring OL suit, a good cut that belongs to the upperclass, but it also means mediocrity, Karen's personality cannot be reflected through her makeup, because she is a very decent company executive, and will only choose those options that have no personal traces in the executive suit, her clothing, The hairstyle and makeup are like this, very bland, and even Jenny has to continue to pretend to be ugly, blurring the concept of age, without makeup and even smearing baby oil on her face, blurring off her original distinct facial contours, because Karen obviously can't be too beautiful, and even according to Tony's original personality, her body shape should be closer to that of an ordinary middle-aged housewife, with fat and bloated parts, more like in "The Fifth Sally", Sally's state before personality fusion, and then a few years older than her, a little fatter.

In fact, for Jenny, being older than Sally is equivalent to pretending to be old, and she dances a full decade and a half to play a middle-aged woman over 40 years old, compared with "Life and Death Reading", the only advantage is that Karen is a de-gendered character, so the audience may not completely combine the screen image with her personal age, but will clearly realize that she is playing old - this is actually a trick of the producer, they guessed the concerns of Jenny's team, So at the beginning, I kept saying that I would dilute the age, but after Jenny signed the performance contract and began to make formal contact with the director, the crew's face changed, and all kinds of requests and hopes came one after another, so they almost didn't directly say that they planned to shape Jenny to the age of 40, and Jeanne cooperated.

In fact, for Jenny, the truth is indeed the case, if she will accept pretending to be old, the more rational choice is, of course, to act in "Life and Death Reading", she is the female lead in that film, and it is also an Olympic award business card, maybe she can get another nomination for her. But to tell the truth, she was untouched by the plot of "Life and Death Reading", when it came to personal wants to act, then there is no doubt that Karen won, and even she is no longer so reluctant to pretend to be old, old is old, so what, it's not that there is no way to get back the public image. --She only used her star privileges to refuse the filmmaker, that is, their need for weight gain, she knew that this would not be successful, she was still young, even if she ate fat, it was not the fat that Karen would have at that age, anyway, it was just a few nude shots, which could be replaced by prostheses, or follow-up CG special effects.

The crew was probably afraid of angering her, so they happily agreed to Jenny's bargain, but this also meant that Jenny had to tie some prostheses around her waist all the time, so as not to give people the impression that Karen was proud of her figure, in addition, the makeup process was actually quite simple, the makeup artist took Jenny to the studio and took a look at her appearance under the filming light - and then the skin with its own foundation, a dozen strong lights, without makeup, the face will show the effect of a large oil field, and the outline will be completely blurred, It's not surprising to be a few uglier than usual. "Your eyes are so bright." The crew took a box of non-prescription contact lenses that were a little gray - Jenny usually wears invisible lenses when she goes to the theater, because she has a slight myopia, and now after taking off her glasses, she has added more gray pupils, and she looks immediately distracted, with a hint of uneasiness in her dazedness. "And your silhouette is a little too defined, even without makeup—oh, Jennifer, you're so jealous."

Jenny is almost immune to such flattery, she showed a kind smile, and threw a layer of dark foundation on her chin, blurring the dividing line between her chin and neck, so that in the camera, her well-defined and eye-catching advantages have completely disappeared, plus the makeup artist has made a lot of fine lines on her face with special effect makeup foundation, and the sense of old age is about to come out, although Karen's age is not reflected in the script, but standing in the spotlight, she is already a mature woman with a sense of age.

# "Here it is. When Jenny entered the studio, Tony, who was also elegant and silver-haired, had completely entered the working state, just nodded very casually, greeted softly, and continued to bend down to talk to the little actor who played Michael's son, "We need you to be more natural, dear, you were still a little too restrained just now, don't be nervous, you can eat an ice cream after this part, so let's get it done quickly." ”

The little actor's eyes widened, obviously very fascinated by ice cream, he bit his fingers and nodded his head up and down quickly, and George also finished his makeup, and the two returned to the car, surrounded by long guns and short guns, and reenacted the scene that had just been shouted NG: the son and Michael talked about the book he was reading recently, and Michael promised to read it when he had time, but the son had already seen through his lie.

Although "Michael Clayton" is a bit dull in terms of plot themes, as far as the script is concerned, it can be said that every word is fine, and no scene is superfluous, if Jenny is a man, she will definitely be fascinated by the role of Michael, because he is so dramatic. In this seemingly bland dialogue, the director and screenwriter Tony wanted to have the effect of being in a deep midlife crisis and feeling sluggish, and Michael's dialogue with his son repeatedly shows his loss of control over his personal life - in the scene before the script, the audience or reader already knows that he has lost control of his career, his finances have lost control, and this scene shows that he is completely out of control of his family. Son and Michael both love each other, and are sure of this, there is no bloody misunderstanding here, only helpless miss, Michael does not know what he is busy with, will miss the opportunity to communicate with his son for this reason, he loves children very much, but he has no time to read the novels that his son is fascinated by, and has even lost the ability to integrate into the world of novels, unable to piece together effective information from the child's enthusiastic narrative, and find the reason why children and friends are immersed in this novel. He can't relate to his children anymore, and Michael didn't sacrifice his personal life for the cause he loved, in fact his career was a mess, a shameful one, a failure in every way. Michael is a complete mess, and he himself understands this, and every word his son says is a reminder to him that makes him even more desperate.

This drowning-like heaviness will gradually deepen as the plot develops, and the focus of this whole drama is not actually how Michael handles this tricky medical lawsuit, but how it is used to hang the hook of the audience, how Michael struggles to avoid completely drowning in the dirty river of reality, completely losing his soul, and becoming a walking dead who goes with the flow - this is the real attraction, and this makes Michael completely separated from top agents like Jason Byrne and becomes an extremely challenging character. Of course, the spy shadow is also the pinnacle of spy suspense films, but it is also an indisputable fact that Matt Damon can't portray Michael well, after all, he hasn't reached the point where he can lift weights lightly and be able to put it away, Michael doesn't need to be good, he doesn't even need to be too handsome, he just needs perfect acting skills, can soak the sense of despair into his limbs, and shape this middle-aged man who is struggling to drown.

Watching George's performance with his hands crossed beside Tony, Jenny ignored those meaningless dialogues, staring at George looking for Michael's feelings, she shook her head with some emotion and regret: Clooney's gentlemanly demeanor has brought him to this point in the film industry, this man seems to have a natural confidence and calmness even in the stormy seas, so after he goes up in age, it is like a steak going through aging, and his attraction has soared, and he has quickly attracted a large number of fans. has become a representative of the late bloomers in the film industry. But it is precisely this calm temperament that hinders him from going further in the performance itself.

Objectively speaking, Clooney still has acting skills, and he has also done his best to portray Michael. It's not a superficial portrayal of an irritable and reckless middle-aged man, even if it's done, Michael's words are still very calm, he is using his expression to show his suppressed heart, from the close-up, she can see the inner emotions that George intends to express now, and his elusiveness for the role is also in place, Michael tried to understand his son's description, but he still couldn't help but wander, regret and perfunctory after returning to his senses...... In the end, it is a character who can continue to be nominated for an Oscar, and his acting skills must be above the level.

However, although his Michael is low and melancholy, although he is also desperate and struggling, but limited by the elegance and calmness that Clooney has tried to maintain for so many years, almost integrated with him, Michael still feels a little floating, and it is difficult to arouse the audience's emotional resonance, which also makes his performance a little bland, like a perfect facsimile, and the technique is no longer picky, but the lack of the most lethal aura makes him a gap with real masters, such as Daniel Daylewis and other methodological masters. ”cut！” Tony seemed to be very satisfied with George's performance - the reason why a master is a master is, of course, because of scarcity, George is already an actor above the level, as a junior director, Tony has nothing to be dissatisfied with, he shouted excitedly, "good! ”

The scene is over, the little actor immediately cheers and runs to his mother, asking for his ice cream, George also laughs and gets out of the car, says hello to Jenny, and walks with her to the next studio that has been prepared, his morning scene is over, and then there is Jenny's first scene in the whole film, that is, the scene where she falls into a brief emotional breakdown in the bathroom. "A very talented little ghost." He pointed to his son's back and said complimentally, and from the tone of his voice, George was very pleased with what he had just done. "But he doesn't know how talented he is, all he cares about is saying his lines and getting his ice cream."

Jenny also smiled gracefully, "Yes, but maybe it's better for the show, isn't it, people always have the best chance of creating miracles when they don't know where they are and what are the limits." ”

Instead of complimenting George's acting skills as is customary, and George didn't seem to notice this, he said in some deliberate surprise, "I find you a girl with a lot of depth, Jennifer." ”

He winked at her, as if to show politeness and affection by **, and Jenny smirked at him, "Thank you for the compliment, George." ”

The atmosphere between the two of them became a little cold and awkward, and George coughed and said kindly, "Ah, the studio is here - don't be nervous, I'm sure you'll do well." ”

He winked at her again, and smiled warmly, as if he was simply encouraging Jenny, and Jenny smiled at him with a subtle and grateful smile, and said sweetly, "I really need this, thank you for your support, George." ”

The two laughed desperately at each other for a while, but in the end it was George who gave in and stepped aside to let Jenny into the scene, while he himself stood beside Tony and laughed with him.

From Jenny's point of view, he was no longer smiling in the shadows, but more like a cold, silent smile, waiting—even expecting something.

Soon, the photographer had already determined the trajectory of the camera, and Tony was satisfied with the assignment, "From here, let's take an overhead shot, and then we open the door, shoot a close-up, Jenny is in place, clear the scene-"

Her first shot is still very simple, because it is an overhead shot, the camera pans over the bathroom cubicle, the door must be closed, so the director can only see the effect from the monitor, and this shot is relatively static, in fact, it is okay to change to anyone sitting there, the camera hovers over Jenny's head, the director remains silent, and then, the field manager quickly and quietly dismantles the prop door, puts it down on the ground, and Jeanne - no, Karen - appears in front of the film crew.

Karen sat on the toilet seat, ignoring the disgusting conjectures of what had happened in this bathroom, how many disgusting assesses had sat on this washer, she was too tired to care about her cleanliness, and when she got home, she might throw the dress away, but all she could think about now was how fucking long the working day was, how out of control this damn case was, everything seemed to fall apart, the whole world was shouting her name, demanding everything, solutions, The power to continue, the magic that made all the miracles come true, she - she just didn't know how she could satisfy them, she was so tired that she almost rolled off.

She needed to take a shower, she was sweating all the time, she was horribly sticky all over her body, Karen smelled a familiar smell, she turned her head and looked at the two indecent wet marks under her armpits, she was sweating, but she didn't know what to do with these two stains, this was a damn law firm bathroom, no amount of expensive air fresheners could hide the faint smell here, how was she going to find a bar of soap in this hellish bathroom, and even if there were, how could she have the damn time to scrub these two damn pieces hastily, Proof of weakness? ”cut！” Tony's voice seemed to be wrapped in cotton, and it was only through layers of barriers that it reached Jenny's ears, but she still managed to be brought back to the real world by this sound, clean, unobtrusive, and like every time she entered Karen, it left a satisfying and refreshing aftertaste.

The world except for her seemed to fall into a terrifying silence, the director, the assistant director, the set manager, the production director, the prop master, the cameraman - they all stared at her with a ridiculous and frozen expression, and it took a few seconds like a century before Tony said softly, "...... good。 ”

Jenny smiled confidently and looked straight at Clooney beside Tony - as if inspired by her, whether it was director Tony, production director Pattu or even Clooney's own assistant John, they were all led by Jenny and turned to look at George Clooney at the same time.

Clooney's expression was unfathomable, and he managed to maintain his demeanor, but the graceful smile that seemed to be etched into his face was finally gone.

After all, this fact is so obvious that it no longer needs any words to explain, and it has become the consensus of the entire crew-

…… It's overpowered......