Huayu: I'm reborn, but you still force me to be a scumbag?

Chapter 109 Audition for "The Dark Knight"

Los Angeles, USA.

The City of Angels, the Capital of Entertainment, the City of Sunshine.

There is an old saying that every day in LA is sunny.

In this sunny Los Angeles, Chen Nuo and Qi Yuntian successfully registered with the Hollywood Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) with the work certificate issued by Wang Jiawei's crew. From then on, Chen Nuo became an official member of SAG-AFTRA.

Theoretically, from today on, he is a serious actor who can take on regular roles in Hollywood. He can also participate in the casting of any movie and be protected by the union in terms of performance time, rights and working conditions. This is the first step for any actor to succeed in Hollywood.

The next day, they set out at 8 a.m., facing the rising sun, to meet the Nolan brothers and interview for a role that went against the Los Angeles sunshine.

Chen Nuo has never had such a strong ambition for a role.

Once he decided to compete with Heath Ledger, he really wanted to get the role.

It's not just because Heath Ledger died, nor is it just because the role finally won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, nor is it even because of Nolan.

He just liked the role.

But what I said is actually nonsense. I am afraid that every male audience who has watched the movie "The Dark Knight" carefully will be impressed by Heath Ledger's god-like performance.

He is just one of them. Otherwise, how could it be possible that more than ten years later, someone would make a brilliant biography of the Joker, and the leading actor would win an Oscar for Best Actor?

I can only say that, for any actor, if the opportunity is presented, who would not want to try this role?

What's more, Chen Nuo felt that it was God's arrangement for him to audition for "The Dark Knight" right after filming "My Blueberry Nights".

He is aware of his current situation.

He hasn't gotten out of the role yet. He's like a frustrated guy who walked out of the dark art film "My Blueberry Nights".

He is poor, he is lonely, he has witnessed countless joys and sorrows, and he has seen through prosperity and desolation.

He has no one to love and no one to love.

He was like a worm crawling on the bottom of the metropolis, either to be eaten or to be transformed into some deformed monster.

Jeremy before he met Elizabeth was practically a prequel to the Joker.

The only difference between the two seemed to be age, a wound on the mouth, white mud on the face, and an opportunity to transform into a monster.

That's it.

……

……

Christopher Nolan was still a little green at this time. Although Batman Begins brought him into the mainstream Hollywood film circle, The Dark Knight, which would allow him to completely enter the mainstream, was still in the casting stage.

In fact, there is only one role left to be chosen.

Christopher Nolan didn't know what was going on with Jonathan at first. After going to Hong Kong, he inexplicably asked whether the candidate for the role of the Joker could be reconsidered.

Even more ridiculous was the candidate he proposed, a 19-year-old Chinese boy.

Let him replace Heath Ledger, who gave a wonderful performance in Brokeback Mountain?

This is incredible.

But later, his attitude gradually softened.

It wasn't because of Jonathan's recommendation, nor was it because of the boy's award-winning work.

After all, it was just a crude art film. He had seen it but couldn't see anything from it. It only made him realize that the boy was indeed an actor who could act and act well.

Of course, this is also the most basic and indispensable condition.

Without this foundation, there is no need to talk about anything else.

The main reason that made Christopher Nolan change his mind was that after several phone calls and a meeting, he found that what Jonathan said was absolutely correct.

The filming of Brokeback Mountain caused Heath Ledger too much internal friction. When he met him, he could see that the young man was about to go crazy.

If he plays the Joker, Nolan believes that it is indeed very likely that the balance in his body will be completely out of control, and at that time, things may develop to a point where they cannot be handled.

Although Nolan feels that movies are above everything else, if there is no choice, he has no choice. But now, it seems that there is a choice that is not a choice, isn't it?

Then let's meet. Since we have chosen to meet, given Christopher Nolan's rigorous and serious personality, it will definitely not be like Wang Jiawei, who just drinks a cup of tea and chats in private.

This is a commercial blockbuster with an investment of hundreds of millions of dollars, not some literary and artistic film that was a trial by a famous Asian director.

Therefore, Nolan not only invited the film's producer Charles Roven, the co-producer and his wife Emma Thomas, but also the Warner vice president and long-time producer of the Batman series Michael Uslan, and even gathered all the relevant staff to meet the young actor who came all the way from China in a special audition room inside Warner Bros.

Michael Uslan was satisfied that Nolan contacted him at the first opportunity, and that he held the actor interview inside Warner Bros.

However, he was very dissatisfied with the actor he interviewed.

On the phone, when Nolan told him the name of the actor he was interviewing, 10 minutes later, Chen Nuo's entire film resume was on his desk.

After watching it, Michael Yuslan just wanted to say one thing: wtf?

Berlin Film Festival winner? So what?
That's just the self-entertainment of a bunch of loser movie makers.

What else?
Oh, a Hong Kong musical, and a Chinese kung fu drama series.

After reading the information, Michael Yuslan couldn't help laughing. He thought Nolan was joking with him.

However, after communicating with Nolan again, Michael Yuslan realized that Nolan just wanted to meet him first and had not decided to replace him.

In that case, let’s do the same as Nolan and meet him.

At 9 o'clock in the morning, Chen Nuo and Qi Yuntian arrived at Warner Bros. on time.

Qi Yuntian stayed outside and waited. According to Hollywood practice, Chen Nuo would go for the audition alone.

Although he had anticipated the production standards of "The Dark Knight", Chen Nuo did not expect that such a large audition room with so many seats would be fully occupied.

It was a sea of ​​white people, all white ghosts, with a few black people here and there. Most of them were men, with only a few women sitting in the back row.

I have to say, this is very Hollywood.

All the old white men in the front row were dressed in suits and looked very imposing, which surprised Chen Nuo who was brought into the room by the secretary at the front desk.

With so many people coming, it was impossible to introduce everyone one by one. So the recommender Jonathan Nolan just introduced the actors to everyone present, and also introduced several important people at the scene to Chen Nuo.

Immediately afterwards, Christopher Nolan, whose hairline had not receded too much, invited Chen Nuo to sit in the seat in front of him and prepare to officially begin the audition.

Chen Nuo sat on a lonely chair opposite the crowd, facing 30 people alone.

It was like a scene from a Bruce Lee movie.

1 yellow skin VS 30 white skins.

Tensions.

The first one to speak was Charles Rowan.

He is a new producer in Hollywood. Although his resume is still young, in the future he will work with Warner to produce many blockbuster works, such as "Wonder Woman" and "Justice League".

The beginning of his successful career was "Batman 2: The Dark Knight".

Charles Rowan was still a tall, thin, middle-aged white man in his 40s. He wore a pair of tortoise-shell glasses, and his blue eyes cast a cold gaze from behind the lenses, wandering over Chen Nuo.

He said in a distant and serious tone: "Chen, before the audition begins, I hope you can first give us a reason to watch your audition. After all, from all aspects, you are a certain distance away from the clown we imagined. Please tell us, why can't we think that meeting you here is just a waste of our time?"

There was no politeness involved; Charles Rowan's questions were direct and merciless.

That's Hollywood.

No matter how much glory an actor has gained outside of Hollywood, no matter how big a star he is in his own country, as long as he has not proved himself in this LaLaland, no one will take him seriously.

What politeness?
There's a $1 million box office difference between you and politeness.

Especially since you come from backward China, especially since you are only 19 years old, especially since you have yellow skin, especially since you are not a martial arts star, or even a sexy beauty.

Then are you qualified to talk about courtesy with Warner's producer?

And Charles Rowan is apparently not the only one who thinks he is wasting his time.

Because Chen Nuo noticed that almost everyone in the conference room was looking at him with scrutiny, waiting for his answer.

(End of this chapter)