Best Actor

    "How's the situation over there?" Walking into his office, Anthony Minghella scratched his bald head habitually, and then asked Steve Andrews who was waiting there and Dax Roman.

    "Again, Weinstein was pretty laid back and went golfing with Disney CEO Michael Eisner this morning." Andrews spread his hands.

    Minghella frowned immediately, the audition had taken almost a week, and if Weinstein couldn't get his head down, it would be very tricky.

    He suddenly regretted agreeing to do this. If he continues to tangle with Weinstein, maybe he has agreed now? But in just a few seconds, Minghella adjusted his mentality, he had already done everything, there was no need to regret it, and he couldn't show it in front of Andrews and Roman. They proposed this for themselves.

    "What are your thoughts?" He said, reaching out and scratching his head again. Although his head was basically bald, there was still a circle of hair on the back of his head and on his temples. It's just that if you don't think of a way to solve the problem in front of you, I'm afraid that the few hairs will fall out.

    The two in front of them exchanged glances, and Andrews spoke first: "There is another way, so far, among these newcomers, we have selected the five most suitable, You can make a gesture of inviting them to talk individually, and have people get the word out."

    "Oh?" Mingella was puzzled.

    "Weinstein did this because he didn't believe we would really bring in a new actor to be the leading man in Ripley, so what we're going to do now is let He's sure of that." Roman added beside him.

    "And Weinstein is also unable to determine your determination. William Holberg first passed every other day, and now he runs there every day." Andrews said immediately.

    William Holberg is one of the executive producers of the crew and was sent by Miramax. As an investor, it is normal for Miramax to send someone to supervise and participate in the production matter.

    Hearing him say this, Mingella couldn't help blushing. He didn't expect that he was just watching the audition, and there would be some gaffes.

    The young man acted that day when Ripley met Freddy after murdering Dick. This scene was difficult and Minghella didn't pay much attention to it at first. But with the performance of the other party, he unknowingly watched it, and even jumped up and shouted "Cut" excitedly at the back, wanting to correct it.

    It doesn't mean how perfect the young people's acting is, in fact, many places are a little too aggressive, with some traces of stage play. But he took the character's emotions very appropriately, acting both introverted and extroverted, and it was easy to infect people who watched seriously, so Mingela forgot that he was auditioning in the end, got up and shouted "Cut" to want to Let him correct the retake.

    This perspective shows that this young man has great potential, but his qualifications are too shallow. Mingella deliberately turned over his information in detail afterwards. Sean Tang, 23 years old, from San Francisco, only started to be an actor in September this year, and only played a supporting role in the popular TV series "Friends". Interestingly, he originally had a role in "Everybody Loves Raymond", but was dropped by the crew, and ended up going to the "Friends" crew, which helped them get the best ratings in the new season.

    What a shame. Minghella occasionally has this idea. If he acts in a few more movies before this, even if he has not had a role in a big production or high-profile movie, he will carefully consider the potential he has shown.

      Opinions are highly operational.

    "That's it." Minghella said after thinking for a while.

    Dong dong dong, there was a knock on the door, Minggla, who poured himself a glass of water and took a sip, said immediately, "Please come in."

    As the door of the office opened, a young man walked in, with brown hair, black eyes and mixed-race features, it was the Sean Tang he admired.

    "Sit down, Sean." Minghella greeted, pointing to the sofa.

    "Thank you, Mr. Minghella." Sean bowed slightly, and then sat down. There was no other young people's restraint, nor was he eager to express himself, neither humble nor arrogant, very good to people .

    "Don't be too nervous, you can call me Anthony," Minghella sat down on the sofa next to him, "I couldn't help but applaud you for your performance in auditions. ."

    "As long as you like it, I can worry about it for a long time after I go back." Sean smiled slightly.

    Mingella couldn't help laughing, and her goodwill increased a little: "I've read your profile, Sean, you've just started being an actor, haven't you?"

    "Yes, I came to Los Angeles in May this year, and have been doing other work. In September, I got into a fight because the bank refused to cash a check, and was arrested by a broker. I liked it, so I became an actor." Sean briefly talked about his past few months.

    "Did you have any acting experience before this? Like a stage play?" Minghella asked.

    "Yes, I did a stage play in school," Sean said simply, "I know it's not enough, so I've been auditing acting classes at USC during this time."

    Minghella pondered for a while before continuing to ask: "So, what do you think of the character Tom Ripley."

    "I've seen a lot of comments that they have to do something about Ripley's bisexuality as one of the sources of his tragedy, like falling in love with Dick and not getting it In response, I killed him on impulse. But I personally prefer to put this aside and analyze this character only from the perspective of human nature. Ripley is not a bad person. Like many ordinary people, he loves vanity and yearns for it. A rich life, but he can't control his greed, jealousy, and dissatisfaction with the status quo, plus Dick and his friends never looked at him directly, only regarded him as a sidekick or even a clown, so it became a tragedy If you want to play this role, then how to show his contradictions step by step will be the most important point..."

    As Sean started speaking, the two talked for more than 30 minutes, which was the longest among the actors who auditioned.

    After he left, Mingera couldn't help but sigh again regretfully, this young man is really good, he has done a lot of homework, and several times he couldn't help but want to go deeper Let's talk, if not...

    Minghella shook his head and stopped thinking about it, but is this really the case?

    …

    Listening to the melodious tune, Anthony Minghella looked around in the restaurant, but after a long time he couldn't find the person he was looking for. The restaurant was always full on weekends. He walked to the bar in frustration and heard the sound he wanted to hear.

    "I thought you had to wait there for ten minutes before coming." The middle-aged man sitting on the high chair in front of the bar turned his head and smiled.

    "Why are you sitting here, John?" Mingella looked at each other in surprise, "Didn't you get a table?"

    "No, I just want to sit here." The middle-aged man shook the cup in his hand, "It's more comfortable here."

    Mingela laughed, sat down next to him, and called the waiter for a drink.

    "How are you doing? I heard you seem to be a professor at USC." Minghella asked after tasting the dark brown whiskey.

    "It's just a few lessons from time to time." The middle-aged man named John shrugged, "But it's not bad, the USC environment is very good, the atmosphere is also relaxed, very comfortable. "

    Although he said it very well, in the next few sentences, his tone was somewhat bleak.

    Minghella was silent, reached out and patted his shoulder, and was about to comfort him, but he heard him say: "I'm going back, Tony, back to England."

    "Go back? It's good, it's good to go back and relax." Mingla said with a smile.

    "No, old man, I don't plan to come to Hollywood again," the other party shook his head, "I looked away, it's not a big deal here..."

    "Damn, what are you talking about?!" Minghella widened his eyes, "You are John, the all-rounder John Harrington who is proficient in writing, directing, and producing everything!"

    "So what?" John Harrington looked at him, "You go to the street and ask anyone, whether you know more about Oscar best director Anthony Minghella, or a fire Nearly burning down John Harrington at MGM Studios?"

    Mingella sighed: "Listen, old man, a failure is nothing, you know, I'm working on the movie version of "The Genius Ripley", if you want, you can come to the crew to do it An assistant director. You can start all over again, as long as you stay on for a few years, you will definitely have a chance to run the director.”

    "Thanks, old man, but...how many years can I survive?" Harrington smiled, "Don't forget, I'm British, not every British can Success here."

    Mingella stopped talking, he thought of Weinstein, if he was an American like Spielberg, would Weinstein still play those little tricks? Yes, as long as it can bring benefits to investors, they will pursue you, but glass ceilings exist everywhere at the same time.

    "Okay, don't talk about that," Harrington waved, "I asked you out today to say goodbye, let's talk about something light."

    Mingella forced a smile and chatted with Harrington about other topics. After a few glasses of wine, they recalled that the two of them had a great conversation before.

    "By the way, what are you going to do after returning to the UK?" Minghella asked after eliminating the simple food in front of him.

    "If I can, I would like to go to the Royal Academy of Arts and Drama, even if it is an ordinary lecturer. It is not bad to see those young actors who are energetic and constantly discovering themselves and showing their talents. The back of the camera is bad." Having said that, Harrington laughed, "You know, I met such a young man in USC, who is smart, patient, and good at analyzing problems. Although his acting skills are still a bit immature, he The potential is immeasurable. By the way, do you remember the way of acting that we designed with Lied? One face makes two different expressions, and the kid actually made it with transparent glue on the facial muscles already."

    "You guy, you must have instigated each other to do it." Minghella laughed.

    "I didn't, I just mentioned it, I didn't expect him to practice it. To be honest, it's hard to have a young man like him who is down-to-earth but dares to try. ." Harrington said, looking up and drank the remaining wine in the glass.

    "But last time you said that those students at USC are too keen to be famous." Mingella shrugged.

    "That was before," Harrington waved, "Besides, Sean is not a student of USC, he is an actor, a young actor, come to USC to audit."

    "Sean?" Minghella's heart moved for no reason.

    "Yes, Sean Tang," Harrington nodded, "about 20 years old, from San Francisco, and only started acting in September this year..."

    "Brown hair, of oriental descent, about six feet tall, very modest and easy." Minghella continued.

    Harrington looked at him unexpectedly.

    "I was recently casting the male lead for "The Genius Ripley", and he auditioned." Minghella explained.

    Harrington's expression changed, he didn't speak anymore, patted Mingra lightly, and then got up to go.

    "Wait, John," Minghella stopped him, "do you think..."

    "That's your movie, Tony." Harrington said without looking back.

    But after taking two steps, he still stopped, and then slowly turned around: "If I were to direct... I would make him the male lead."

    Watching his friends leave, Mingera sat in front of the restaurant bar for a long time.