When Sierra Leone's civil war broke out, other countries turned a blind eye to the chaos. Most of the journalists at the time chose to flee the country, but Semula decided to stay, and he decided to record everything that happened here on camera. In the midst of the riots of the civil war, the danger can be imagined, before Semula, nine of his colleagues had died tragically at the guns of the rebels, and he was lucky to survive, and as a result, "Crying Freetown" has gained worldwide recognition, not only won several prestigious awards, but also became the most authentic record of this period of history.

Edward Zewick soon got in touch with the film's author, Thoryls Semura, and when he learned that Edward was working on a film about the civil war in Sierra Leone, the brave war correspondent wanted to make sure that all the details of the film would be faithful to the facts. Even though the story and characters of the film are fictional, it is important to convey the truth. After Edward Zewick showed him the script, Solyls Semura found that Lin Mingyang thought the same as him, and then he proposed to Edward Zewick his desire to join the crew.

Director Edward was naturally very welcome, and he needed a technical advisor who was familiar with the subject. Not only did Soryls Semura advise on the costumes and props for the film, but she also introduced the crew to people who could speak the Mendean and Creole dialects. In addition, Semula has an in-depth study of the diverse culture of Sierra Leone, and has been in contact with scouts, smugglers, and mercenaries, which will be of great help to the actors in the film to grasp the roles.

Finding a technical advisor familiar with the Sierra Leonean civil war, a talented screenwriter writing the script, and Edward's own extensive directing experience, several important factors for the success of a Hollywood film were in place, except that MGM and director Edward Zewick had some disagreements over the choice of actors.

In Edward's previous directorial works, there is an obvious tendency that the cast is very strong, and it is rare to encounter a good script, of course he will not miss the opportunity, in addition to the actor has been confirmed to be played by Lin Mingyang, he gave the starring shortlist, black movie star, veteran Oscar actor Denzel Washington; Hollywood's new glamorous queen and new Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron is on the list.

Not to mention that Denzel Washington is the most expensive actor among black movie stars, even the blonde beauty Charlize Theron is also worth a lot because of the Oscar just now, plus Lin Mingyang, the most expensive of Hollywood's new generation of movie stars, the budget of the film is rubbing up, and it is one-third more than before.

Edward's list of luxury star lineups can be said to take into account all aspects of the audience, almost three generations of men and women, old, middle and young, its strong box office appeal is undoubted, but the budget cost of such a configuration is a little overwhelming.

It's not that MGM is unwilling to invest money, in fact, compared with similar films, the previous budget cost of "Blood Diamond" is not low. This type of film in Hollywood is generally applauded but not sold, producers invest in such movies, most of them spend money to buy and drink, and it is already very successful if they can make a small profit, and many companies will not bet heavily on it because the odds are too high.

MGM has suffered such losses before, and the highly-anticipated "Wind Whisperer" suffered a box office waterloo, and the company was almost on the verge of bankruptcy. Although director Edward is full of confidence and several main creators have high praise for this film, in the face of the list submitted by Edward, the senior management of MGM still can't make up this decision.

There is no recovery, Edward has lost his patience when he waits, he has used the last killer move, if this list can't be passed, it will be meaningless for him to be the director, if the MGM executives hesitate again, then they don't have to worry about the choice of actors, let's consider changing the director first!

The trick worked, and MGM couldn't afford the director's resignation, so they agreed to the cast list, but the film's budget still didn't fully meet Edward's requirements. Denzel Washington and Charlize Theron's salaries are not so easy to negotiate, even if director Edward lowers his salary by one million, the budget gap is still a bit big.

After learning of this situation, Lin Mingyang also became a good person. He announced that he would take out a million from his salary to fill the budget gap with director Edward. His high-profile response finally made MGM's face unbearable, and they added another three million dollars to the film.

The film's budget gap is plugged, but new problems arise. Edward and Denzel Washington are somewhat friendly, but have never been in contact with Charlize Theron at all. He was worried that Charlize Theron would be very likely to refuse by handing over the script so boldly. In the end, Edward's assistant gave him an idea and asked Lin Mingyang to be a lobbyist.

At this year's Oscars, the most talked about is not Peter Jackson's feat of sweeping 11 statuettes in a film, but the innocuous hot kiss between Lin Mingyang and Charlize Theron. After the award ceremony, various rumors about the relationship between the two were hyped up in the media, but the two basically had no contact during the later period, and the discussion slowly subsided.

At this time, staying in Harvard, Lin Mingyang has become less showy than before, and he definitely didn't agree to this kind of "eye-catching" thing at first. But in the end, he couldn't withstand the pleading of director Edward to lower his profile, and Lin Mingyang was pushed into this gentle fire pit without hesitation.

-- When he found out that he didn't meet him as he imagined Edward Zewick, Charlize Theron's lips were so big that they could almost stuff an apple. Although Theron covered his mouth at the right time, this scene was still in full view of Lin Mingyang, who was sitting opposite, he looked at Theron with a smile, admiring the rare surprised posture of this beauty.

Although Lin Mingyang was wearing sunglasses, Charlize Theron could still feel the other party's gaze through the lenses, wandering between his collarbone and his high, bulging chest. It's no wonder that some photographers say that Charlize Theron is the camera's best friend. Charlize Theron, who is less than 30 years old, is stunningly beautiful, her charming green eyes and her attractive smile, and her surname figure are enough to make anyone want to go wrong.

Charlize Theron, who has never had any stage fright in front of the camera, suddenly wiped the pink on his cheeks in Lin Mingyang's admiring gaze, his eyebrows and eyes sank, and a wisp of shame penetrated his heart. This Hollywood supermodel beauty and Oscar-winning actress actually looked shy in front of Lin Mingyang, and it is estimated that the spread will make many people fall through their glasses.

Since the last "Vanity Fair" drinking party fell into the desert, Charlize Theron saw Lin Mingyang again, and she was actually a little nervous and flustered. The smile on the corner of Lin Mingyang's mouth seemed to have a seductive charm, like a magnet that firmly attracted every different surname close to him.

Charlize Theron began to regret that he didn't directly refuse Edward Zewick's invitation at the beginning, otherwise he would not have put himself in such an embarrassing situation, being stared at by a man younger than herself with such a gaze, and then thinking that she actually kissed him in public at the Oscars, and later laughed at the other party for being a "chick" in kissing, and finally was "teased" by the other party once, she couldn't help but blush with shame.

"Big beauty, we're meeting again!" Lin Mingyang opened his mouth with a cynical tone, and this sentence was almost equivalent to Charlize Theron's ears being whistling at him frivolously on the road.

Although her heart is beating like a rabbit, the perfect acting skills of the Oscar-winning actress have made Charlize Theron completely free to control her facial expressions, except for the blush on her face, she did not let Lin Mingyang notice more of her real mood swings. She pretended to be embarrassed and glared at Lin Mingyang: "Why are you this guy, Director Edward?" ”

Lin Mingyang shrugged regretfully, "As the screenwriter and actor of the film, on behalf of Director Edward and all my colleagues in the crew, I am honored to extend an invitation to the beautiful and moving Miss Charlize Theron, and I hope you can be the heroine of this film!" ”

Charlize Theron didn't expect Lin Mingyang to be so direct, she had read the script of "Blood Diamond" before, the plot was very in-depth, and it was also very challenging. But after winning the Oscar for Best Actress, Charlize Theron has also become picky about the films she has made, and she prefers to play roles with more personal performance space. And in "Blood Diamond", a movie with two male protagonists at the same time, the beautiful and moving heroine will inevitably be reduced to a beautiful vase in the end.

In front of Lin Mingyang, Charlize Theron found it difficult to say no, she seemed to have a shrunken self in her heart, constantly instigating her to accept Lin Mingyang's invitation, but she was also proud and she didn't allow herself to agree so easily. In the end, Charlize Theron decided to embarrass Lin Mingyang, because it was too easy to get, and he would not know how to cherish it.

"Rhetorical compliments are the reason you use to convince me?"

Lin Mingyang kept a faint smile on his face, "I know that you were born in South Africa, and most of the filming of this film will be done in South Africa, travel plus visiting relatives, this is a rare opportunity." ”

"You also know that I grew up in South Africa?" Charlize Theron covered it with her hand in time when she opened her mouth wide this time, so that Lin Mingyang didn't let her joke again.

"As the first beautiful woman to kiss me in public, it's not just a privilege for fans and directors to follow you!" Lin Mingyang pursed his lips, as if he was reminiscing about the aftertaste of that hot kiss, and this action made Charlize Theron blush again.

"I know that you are the first Oscar-winning actress from Africa, and the president of South Africa gave you a gold nugget engraved with his name after you won the award, in recognition of the honor you have won for the South African people." In addition to lamenting the recognition of South Africa's political axe and real gold, Lin Mingyang actually wants to suggest that the Oscar statuette is also made of pure gold, so that no winner will put it in the toilet or throw it away at will.

"That's not enough, since you know that the president of South Africa gave me the award, you should think that I just came back from there!" Charlize Theron shook his head, and his wonderful eyes were filled with brilliance that Lin Mingyang couldn't understand.

"I know that last year's "Stealing the Sky" was your first commercial film in Hollywood with a box office of over 100 million, so I guess you are going to take on more commercial films this year?" Lin Mingyang was not in a hurry, he sipped his coffee slowly, and his tone was very similar to the tone of a friend chatting.

"Before the age of 18, I was just a small model, and I had to participate in modeling business activities while juggling my own studies, and at that time I never dared to expect myself to become a superstar, just hoping to make more money and make my family's life better." Charlize Theron propped her chin on one hand, an expression of remembrance on her face.

"You can't imagine that I met my first agent while walking down a tree-lined street in Los Angeles, and he gave me a business card, and then I stepped into the show business in a daze."

This atmosphere of memories touched Lin Mingyang's dusty memory, and he began to talk about his fame: "My situation is somewhat similar to yours, but my luck is better than yours. Three years ago, in the summer, I was working at a gas station owned by my friend's father, and then I met Mr. Ortega, who was helping someone wash their car. ”

Charlize Theron shook her head, there was not just a gap of luck between her and Lin Mingyang: "You are the sunny and handsome actor in "Youth Musical", and I played only an inconspicuous small role in my first movie "Chicago Ghost 3". The following year, I starred in the black comedy "Two Days in the Valley", which was considered to be a third-rate actor in Hollywood. ”

Later, Charlize Theron co-starred with Keanu Leeves in "The Devil's Advocate", which was an instant hit for her, but the audience always remembered her as "Keanu Levi's wife in the film", and the character lacked a distinct surname. Since then, her beauty and figure have surpassed her fame as an actress and become the focus of attention.

Compared with Lin Mingyang, Charlize Theron's road to fame is more difficult, people only value her amazing beauty and supermodel figure, and do not pay more attention to her acting skills, so the title of "vase" follows all the way. Although she has taken on a lot of classic literary films since then, she still can't completely get rid of the shackles of the vase, always struggling repeatedly in breakthroughs and confinements, when she just started a new style of performance, she was always messed up by a few boring commercial works, she made money, but the performance always stood still.

It wasn't until "The Witch Devil", adapted from a true story, appeared, that Theron's career showed a new dawn. In this film, she self-destructs her image and is a huge success. For a girl who grew up on a farm in the suburbs of South Africa, it was not easy to get to where she is now.

(To be continued)