Objectively speaking, the two roles of Jack and Ed in "L.A. Confidential" are not the type that can push actors to the extreme, so Hugo finally chose a role that he was interested in - Ed, a sanctimonious character, has never been challenged in Hugo's career as an actor, how to make the audience hate Ed at first sight, and even dislike and reject Ed, this is definitely a difficult challenge, and he thinks it will be a very interesting thing.

"Ed?" Curtis looked at him in surprise, pondered for a while, and shook his head, "This is an incomparably ...... It's incredibly difficult. ”

Although Hugo has played many villain roles such as "Schindler's List", "Seven Deadly Sins", and "Death Row Walk", in fact, the audience's image of Hugo is still mainly positive, not only because of the positive image in works such as "Independence Day" and "Speed of Life and Death", but also because of the positive impression Hugo usually shows when facing media reporters. Therefore, when people see Hugo, the first impression that comes to mind is more positive words such as "sunny, bright, gentlemanly, gentle".

This is also the reason why the image of Hugo in "The Seven Deadly Sins" is reversed, which makes people's spines more and more chilling.

However, Ed in "L.A. Confidential" is different, he is hated almost from the first appearance. Breaking stereotypes is not an easy task.

Kevin chuckled, "That's what Hugo was for, wasn't it?" "He and Hugo are actually the same kind of people, and they have a strong interest in acting. However, he is still slightly inferior to Hugo, and he does not have a wise enough eye for the selection of scripts for commercial films, so he never dares to try. If he has the opportunity in the future, he also wants to star in commercial films, which may be very interesting.

"What about you?" Hugo looked at Kevin with a smile, "I said you were allowed to pick first." ”

"I want to play the role of Jack." Before Kevin's words fell, Curtis clapped his hands happily, and a crisp sound echoed, "I just want Kevin to play Jack!" This made everyone look at the excited Curtis, and he couldn't help but explain, "Actually, I watched Kevin's stand-up comedy before he became famous......

Everyone looked at Kevin again, and Kevin suddenly realized, explaining, "That bar on the back street? Curtis nodded in agreement, and Kevin said to Hugo, "One way to make a living when you're not famous is like you're performing on the streets." ”

Curtis nodded vigorously, "I really wanted to work with Kevin back then. Before this work, Kevin had never played the role of Jack, calm, gentle, wise, and cunning, but at the same time he hid incredible emotions and knew how to grasp the proportions, but he let himself be caught in the whirlpool because of the residual justice. ”

Kevin chuckled, "Would you believe me if I said I wanted to play Jack because he unexpectedly died two-thirds of the way through the movie?" ”

With that, Kevin and Hugo looked at each other, and then laughed at the same time. Curtis, who was sitting next to him, had a black line, but things went unexpectedly well, which made Curtis breathe a sigh of relief.

Previously, when choosing the cast of the movie, Curtis heard that Hugo had a list of actors, which made him worried, lest a bad cast selection would ruin the whole movie, but he saw the name of "Kevin Spacey" in the first place, and "Kevin Bakken" in the second, which really made Curtis overjoyed; Now, although Beckon unfortunately missed the schedule, it was obviously a wise choice for Spacey to play Jack and Hugo to play Ed as he envisioned...... Curtis's mood suddenly brightened.

"Hugo, what about Bud? I looked at the list of actors, and there was no suitable person on it. Curtis quickly cut to the point, the Iron Triangle has already made up the second of them, and it's time to look at the third corner.

Imagine the confrontation between Hugo and Kevin - the two Oscar winners for Best Supporting Actor and Best Actor respectively in the past three years, and both leading acting figures of the baby boomer generation, just painting the scene in their minds, which makes people excited—even surpasses the confrontation between the two old actors in "The Line of Fire" Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, and it is far from the duel between Hugo and Brad Pitt in "The Seven Deadly Sins".

When conceiving the role of Bard, Hugo proposed several candidates, including Alexander Lorraine, Mark Wahlberg, Denzel Washington, Johnny Depp and others, and this list was also approved by Barry Meyer - neither of the latter two are actors under the Endeavour elite agency.

"So, you don't like Depp?" Hugo raised an eyebrow, Johnny was at the party tonight, but he only had time to nod and say hello to him. Curtis went straight to the audition.

Curtis didn't speak immediately, but weighed his words for a moment, "First, he's not strong enough, far from enough; Second, his temperament is too gloomy, and he can win the pity and care of the audience, but he can't burst out with that bloody and cruel power. He cautiously looked at Hugo's expression to make sure that Hugo was not too upset, and then said, "So, I don't think he's a good fit." ”

Hugo also knew it was a dilemma. The character of Bard seems to be a "thug" on the surface, but in fact, hidden under his violent image, he is a broken soul, and the innocence and beauty he represents are a very mixed emotion.

Since the strong rise of a large number of action actors such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harrison Ford in Hollywood, for a long time, thick muscles were almost the most important part of the interview process, so it is very easy to find a muscle actor in Hollywood. But this kind of actor needs to have that childlike innocence at the same time, and have enough acting skills to make the audience empathize, which is even more difficult.

Even Mark Wahlberg doesn't fit the bill, and while his acting skills are commendable, his height is fatal - he doesn't even have five feet seven inches (one meter seven) yet.

In fact, Hugo first thought of Russell Crowe, and rightfully so.

When Russell was young, it can be said that he was a very unique landscape in Hollywood, he was strong and rugged, which was played heartily in "Gladiator"; But at the same time, there is a very special childishness in his delicate facial features, that kind of innocence and childishness, which makes his temperament changeable, sometimes a man and sometimes a boy, "beautiful mind (A. Beautiful。 Mind)" became another stage for him. What's more, when he was only thirty years old, Russell's aura and solid acting skills have already been admired by countless people, and his natural performance style has won countless praises.

Playing the role of Bud, Russell can be said to be completely consistent with the original book, and more importantly, Russell gave Bud a sympathetic and heartbreaking beauty in "L.A. Confidential", which changed the tone of the entire movie.

However, Hugo did not write this name in the list of actors because Russell is still a newcomer to Hollywood, and he is not sure if he is too shocking to write it so rashly - hand-picked an actor he has never met to work with? It's weird not just in Hollywood, it's in any industry.

Originally, Hugo hoped that Alex or Johnny could be qualified for the role of Bard, but apparently Curtis was not very satisfied, Hugo himself thought about it carefully, and also denied his own idea, he thought about it for a while, and said, "I wonder if you have heard of an actor called Russell Crowe?" ”

Hugo vaguely remembered that after Russell landed in Hollywood, he collaborated with Sharon Stone and Leonardo DiCaprio in a movie, and Sharon, who was in full swing at the time, handpicked Russell and Leonardo, two newcomers, to co-star, and even in order to force the producer to agree to this condition, Sharon did not hesitate to lower his salary and postpone the film contract, just to match the schedule of the two newcomers. This incident caused a lot of uproar, and Leonardo also mentioned it to Hugo, but in the end the movie failed miserably.

Hugo had an impression of this, but lately he couldn't remember the name of the movie, and he wasn't sure if his memory was accurate. Therefore, at this time, Hugo is still a little cautious.

"Russell Crowe?" Even Kevin let out a clear rhetorical question.

Curtis then said, "Of course, 'Lawlessness,' (Romper. Stomper)', an Australian film, this young actor has wow Hollywood. ”

Hugo was not very familiar with Australian cinema, and he did not know the film "Lawless", so naturally he did not know how many people noticed this movie at that time in 1992.

This film, called "Lawlessness", has been regarded by countless people as one of the most important films of the last two decades, and the film shows how an ordinary individual can become an evil and cruel person under the influence of what circumstances. In essence, it shows not only the problems of individual individuals, but also the contradictions and conflicts between the whole society and isolated groups, and the blood and cruelty shown in the work are highly controversial.

At the same time, Russell, who is the star of "Lawless", also attracted the attention of Hollywood with his superb acting skills and excellent performance. This won Sharon's favor and knocked on the door of Hollywood.

Although "Lawlessness" has a limited influence on ordinary audiences, "Russell Crowe" is still an absolute newcomer; But for veterans such as directors, actors, and screenwriters, it was the first time that they really felt Russell's unlimited potential. At the same time, the achievements of Russell and Nicole Kidman, two Australian actors, in Hollywood have really opened the door for Australian actors to land in Hollywood.

Therefore, "Lawlessness" is indeed a very important work. Kevin and Curtis both know.

Hugo could only pretend not to understand at this time, but he secretly thought in his heart that his understanding of movies was still very limited, and he should continue to study, "Yes, it's him, it's him." What do you think of him coming to play Bard? ”