America 1987

Chapter 71 The Director Who Wants to Be an Actor

That final attempt was mostly to test this new method of stimulation, to see if it would be successful, so that he would have another way to deal with situations where he could remain unmoved in the face of temptation in the future.

No wonder she withdrew as soon as she showed some signs of improvement; so that's why.

Returning his attention to the present, upon hearing Nicole's words, David thought for a moment and simply went along with it with a smile: "You know I'm unhappy, yet you still say that. Can I take that as you wanting to accept my punishment?"

"Punishment? How do you want to punish me?" She leaned closer to his lips and gave them a tender kiss. "You're not going to hit me, are you?"

"No," he said, reaching out to pull her onto his lap, his hand gently caressing her outer thigh through her clothes. "We can try something new."

After a while, David suddenly became indifferent to desires again.

He suddenly felt like chatting with Nicole for a while, a chat without any sexual desire, so he started talking.

"I suddenly feel like chatting with you for a while, Nicole, without any sexual involvement whatsoever?"

"Okay, then go ahead and tell me."

She was peeling off the stockings that were originally on her legs, bit by bit.

Have you ever danced ballet before?

David rested his head on the armrest and glanced at the other person's legs.

"Skip it, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I was just curious because your thigh muscles are quite well-developed."

"I started learning shortly after moving to Australia," Nicole said, crumpling her stockings into a ball, putting them in a plastic bag, and then stuffing them into her bag.

David, observing the other person's actions, continued to ask, "You're so tall, how can you train like this?"

"It was okay when I was a child, but it's not okay when I grow up."

Seeing that the other person was still able to focus on the topic and hadn't gone off-topic like usual, Ni became serious for a moment. "When I was 13, I was already the tallest student in my class (1.75 meters). By the time I was 14, I really couldn't jump anymore."

"And then you went to study acting?"

"Yes, and then I went to study acting."

After a moment of silence, David asked, "Why a performance? Are you interested in this?"

"I'm quite interested." Nicole continued before the other person could ask, "I think I became interested after reading 'The Wizard of Oz.' I was quite introverted at the time and didn't have any goals or hobbies. It was after reading 'The Wizard of Oz' that I started to have the idea of ​​becoming an actress."

The Wizard of Oz (1939) is one of the most classic musical fantasy films in American film history, produced by MGM and starring Judy Garland.

The story tells of Dorothy, a little girl from Kansas, who is swept into the magical land of Oz by a tornado. In her search for her way home, she meets the Scarecrow who wants a brain, the Tin Man who wants a heart, and the Cowardly Lion who wants courage. The four of them travel together to the Emerald City to seek help from the Wizard of Oz, and in the end, each of them gets their wish.

Before his time travel, David had never seen the movie, which was from such an old era, but he had read the original novel of the same name in its entirety. He couldn't remember how old he was at the time, but it must have been elementary school. He read it along with Shen Shixi's animal novels.

The story itself is nothing special; it's just a bedtime story or fairy tale for children.

However, because the movie's theme song "Over the Rainbow" won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and because it is a representative work of early color films, it has been passed down to this day and is the childhood enlightenment work of many Hollywood actors and creators.

"Speaking of which, I suddenly remembered another question I was planning to ask you before I came," Nicole said, taking the script out of her bag. "Why do you include so many... um, American cultural references in the dialogue of your film?"

American cultural references, translated as "American cultural memes," are a term that arose in the internet age and doesn't exist yet.

"Oh, you mean this?"

David scratched his head, stretched, and said, "This movie is a low-to-medium budget romantic comedy. It should be enough to rely on the North American domestic market. There's no need to deliberately weaken the local cultural characteristics for the sake of overseas markets."

"Moreover, using more American cultural references can, to some extent, enhance the sense of identification among local audiences and make it easier to cultivate fan loyalty."

It's true that sacrificing overseas markets to cultivate the domestic market can, to some extent, better foster fan loyalty.

In terms of movie audience and fan base, Stephen Chow is definitely no match for Jackie Chan, but when it comes to fan loyalty, let alone Jackie Chan, the former is in a class of his own in the entire Chinese film and television industry.

Putting aside everything else, just look at Bilibili to get a glimpse of it.

The total views of fan-made videos related to Stephen Chow on Bilibili have exceeded 20 billion, making him undoubtedly the platform's top traffic driver.

While the near-fandom-like praise and deification might bring negative attention to the idol, it's worth it.

"Well, what I really wanted to say was that there were some allusions you quoted that I didn't quite understand, and I need you to explain them to me."

"OK, OK, which sentence don't you understand?"

……

"You must have felt really awkward in that scene, Nicole. That smile you gave her was just an expression of apology to her best friend, and it should have been a little teasing and playful, not that forced smile you gave her."

Quentin walked over to the camera and gestured to Nicole on set, saying something famous.

This is the set of "When Harry Met Sally". The scene we just filmed was the first scene in the movie. When Sally drove up, her best friend was passionately kissing her boyfriend, Harry, who is also the male lead in the movie. Because she was in a hurry to catch a ride to New York with Harry, she couldn't help but interrupt their sweet talk.

Nicole Kidman's on-screen image has always been that of a cold beauty who keeps people at arm's length, so her smile does indeed have a somewhat forced and insincere feel.

As for Quentin personally demonstrating and instructing, that's one of his long-standing traditions.

This guy's initial dream was to become an outstanding actor. After dropping out of high school at the age of 16, he worked as an usher in a movie theater. He then studied acting for six years under the tutelage of very famous actors in the industry, so he could be considered a classically trained actor.

So in the original timeline, he would occasionally make cameo appearances in the movies he directed or wrote, indulging his passion for acting.

Although he is not completely in charge of this film, David has given him a lot of creative autonomy. As long as the plot doesn't go astray, he can do whatever he wants.

Therefore, he expressed his views and understanding of the character.

"And you, Billy, your performance just now was a little over the top. Harry is just unconventional, not reckless..."

In a public interview, Quentin Tarantino described himself as a "method screenwriter," meaning that when writing a script, he deeply immerses himself in the character, becomes that character, and then displays a series of words and actions.

It is said that when he was creating "Kill Bill," he was extremely immersed in the role, stating that "these characters are me" and "I am the Bride." This deep immersion even affected his daily life—during the creative process, his behavior began to show signs of becoming more feminine, and crew members on set noticed subtle changes in even his gait.