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

Chapter 118: Joker Diary
Chen Nuo didn't know what Warner's people said to the police on the phone. Anyway, the two policemen immediately put aside their attitude of facing a great enemy, and after a simple check and warning, they actually let them go.

But he was not too surprised. After all, that was Warner. Maybe for Michael Slan, the vice president of Warner Bros., this little thing was nothing.

"Thanks, Michael. I owe you one."

"Chen, 50 plus 3%, and we'll be even."

"This……"

There was a hesitant voice in the receiver, and Michael Slan said, "Chen, you said this yourself. You owe me one."

Chen Nuo didn't say anything, so Michael Slan said, "Chen, you should be content. You are still so young, and you can get a million-dollar salary in Hollywood. Think about it, this is Batman 2! Think about the actors you work with, Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, and even Morgan Freeman. Chen, if I were you, I would not hesitate for a second. Just appear in this movie for one second, and your value will double."

As expected of the Vice President of Warner, he is a real speaker. If I still don't agree, I'll just go ahead. He sighed deeply and said with a bit of resentment: "Michael, we are even now."

Michael Slan smiled with satisfaction: "OK, Chen, we are even now."

When Chen Nuo told Qi Yuntian his decision, he said nothing and agreed immediately.

After Chen Nuo hung up the phone, he felt that Qi Yuntian was in a very good state. The closer he got to the time of his rebirth, the more he would remember. If Qi Yuntian could maintain his current attitude, he could save a lot of time and energy by not explaining the procedure.

Chen Nuo was deep in thought while sitting in the passenger seat, but Liu Xiaoli, who was driving, could no longer suppress her curiosity.

She had been in the United States for many years, but this was the first time she had been in trouble with the police. Looking back now, she could not help but feel very scared. Fortunately, the person who called Chen Nuo settled the matter in a few words.

Who is he negotiating cooperation with? This kid is really not simple. It seems that I have to coax him again.

After changing her mindset, Liu Xiaoli began to fully utilize her skills in dealing with people.

She coughed lightly and said, "Xiao Chen, thank you so much. Auntie was really confused just now and a little confused. If it weren't for you, it would have been a disaster this time. It's a blessing for Xixi to have a friend like you."

Speaking of this, Chen Nuo actually didn't quite understand.

Aren't you an American? Haven't you been in the US for several years? How come you don't understand anything?

Could it be that she was really like what some rumors said, that she married a lawyer of mixed nationality, and because she was not good at English, she became a housewife for five years. After she learned the language well, she divorced him and returned to her country with Liu Yifei. That's why she doesn't even understand such basic common sense.

But for him, it was a blessing in disguise. Through this incident, he did not arouse the suspicion of the old fox Michael Slan, and he negotiated the film salary smoothly.

Chen Nuo smiled falsely: "Haha, it's okay, Auntie."

Liu Xiaoli sensed Chen Nuo's dissatisfaction, and immediately found a topic to talk about: "By the way, Xiao Chen, The Condor Heroes is about to be broadcast, did you know?"

Chen Nuo was in a daze. Too many things had happened during this period. This drama had just finished filming four months ago, but it felt like a long time had passed for him. "I don't know."

Liu Xiaoli smiled and said, "I also heard about it. It is said that Director Zhang Jizhong rushed to finish the film this time, almost driving the post-production staff crazy. It only took three months to edit a version for review. But before it was reviewed, many TV stations came to inquire about the price. Guess which TV station finally sold the first broadcast rights after three rounds of bidding a few days ago?"

Chen Nuo looked at Liu Xiaoli's smiling face and was a little confused: "Which one?"

"Xichuan TV Movie Channel."

Chen Nuo was surprised: "Ah?"

Liu Xiaoli smiled and said, "Yes, it's the TV station in your hometown, Xichuan TV Film Channel. I haven't heard that they have snatched the first broadcast of any drama before. In the end, they were left with Zhejiang Education and Technology Channel and Shandong TV to bid. Guess how much they sold for the last episode?"

"How many?"

"11 per episode." Liu Xiaoli shook her head and said, "Director Zhang and his team were so happy. Afterwards, the first round of broadcast rights also sold very well. A total of ten TV stations bought them, including Beijing TV, Hebei TV, Shanxi TV, Hong Kong Jade TV and Taiwan CTV. It is said that Hong Kong and Taiwan originally only wanted to buy the second round of broadcast rights, but your If Love sold well there, so they all wanted to strike while the iron is hot and earn some ratings."

Give me back my "If Love", Liu Xiaoli blew it so hard that even Chen Nuo laughed.

Qi Yuntian also told him that, indeed, he has gained some fame in Hong Kong and Taiwan, but to say that it is because of this that other TV stations bought the first-round broadcasting rights for him... Chen Nuo has not yet become so arrogant as to that extent.

Liu Xiaoli saw Chen Nuo's expression and knew that he didn't believe it. Indeed, she had heard all these things from hearsay, and no one really knew the details. This kid was too hard to fool.

Liu Xiaoli complained in her heart, but smiled and said, "Xiao Chen, really, many people say so, it must be true. You are really famous now. Look at your fans, the number is more than many male stars."

Chen Nuo chuckled, "Really?"

He still didn't believe what Liu Xiaoli said.

Although Qi Yuntian did say that he now has a fan group called Glutinous Rice, just like some kind of corn, he also asked if he wanted to manage it.

Chen Nuo rejected it immediately.

"Really. Hey, Xiao Chen, to be honest, there aren't many young male actors who are more popular than you. Let me count the ones ahead of you: first, Zhou Yumin, second, Xie Nicholas Tse, third, Chen Guanxi, fourth, Chen Kun, fifth, Yu Wenle, sixth...that Huang or something, he's not even recovered from his illness yet, he's basically retiring. You, in the entertainment circles across Taiwan, Mainland China, are number six right now."

Chen Nuo tried to hold back, but couldn't help saying, "Auntie, you mean I'm ranked sixth, right?"

When Liu Xiaoli heard this, she couldn't help but laugh secretly. It seemed that this time she had taken the right route. She nodded and said with a smile, "Yes, Xiao Chen, you are Lao 6."

Chen Nuo took a deep breath and said nothing.

Liu Xiaoli continued with a smile: "Xiao Chen, which company did you sign a contract with this time? Can you tell me?"

Liu Xiaoli is Liu Xiaoli, Liu Yifei is Liu Yifei, and Chen Nuo has actually always been able to tell them apart very clearly.

He didn't have to be on guard against Liu Yifei because he had told her about Li An's incident last time, and up to now, he hadn't heard any rumors about it outside.

But what about Liu Xiaoli?
Tell Liu Xiaoli that he is negotiating a contract with Warner?

He might as well take a loud speaker and shout on the street.

What's more, you said I was a 6 just a second ago.

"I'm sorry, Auntie, I can't talk about this."

Liu Xiaoli was not embarrassed. She knew that Chen Nuo would not tell her about this matter. She was just asking to try her luck. She smiled and said, "It must be a big production. Congratulations, Xiao Chen."

After chatting with Liu Xiaoli, they arrived at the hotel. Looking back at Liu Yifei who was still asleep in the back seat of the car, Chen Nuo got out of the car.

As a mother, she is really foolish but appears wise. No wonder some people in later generations criticized her for some of her actions that were stupid.

He didn't know what some of the operations that Liu Yifei's fans and friends were talking about more than 10 years later were, and he really didn't care about them, but now Chen Nuo could only silently wish Liu Yifei good luck and take care in his heart.

……

……

Qi Yuntian argued with the people from Warner’s legal department for three whole days, causing Chen Nuo and his team to pay an extra $10,000 in legal fees!

According to Qi Yuntian, this time he saw how the Hollywood giants eat the small shrimps.

I originally thought that reaching an agreement with Michael Slan would be just like reaching an agreement with Chen Kexin and Zhang Jizhong. Both parties could sit down, politely review and sign the contract, shake hands, and say "Happy cooperation."

The result is a dream.

A supervisor from Warner Bros. actually came out and started dragging out the payment schedule, saying that it would be paid in three installments within two years after the box office settlement.

I waited for your sister for two years.

Qi Yuntian slammed the table on the spot.

Then there were threats, insults, and compromises, and then there was slamming of the table, threats, insults, and compromises.

Over three days, we repeated this process countless times before we finally agreed upon a result.

From the date of box office settlement, 60% must be paid within one week, the remaining 30% within one month, and the final 10% within one year.

There is no way, these are the six great virtues.

Even a mosquito's legs would be scraped with oil. Although he would not necessarily refuse to pay, his spirit of taking advantage of even the smallest advantage is truly admirable.

Finally, when Chen Nuo took the pen and wrote his name on the contract, it was already January 2006, 1, one week before the Chinese New Year.

But he couldn't leave yet because Christopher Nolan had returned to the UK before, and after learning that their contract had been signed, he asked to wait for him for a day and he would fly over from the UK to meet him.

Chen Nuo could only stay and wait for Nolan.

Chen Nuo thought a lot about what Nolan was going to say to him, but he didn't expect that Nolan didn't come alone. There were two other white men with him. One was a fat man with a big beard, and the other was a tall and thin man who looked a bit effeminate.

After the introduction, Chen Nuo learned that the bearded man was the main makeup artist of the Dark Knight, a Spaniard named John Carione.

The tall and thin lady is Lindy Hemming, a French woman who is the chief stylist for the show.

The two parties sat down and exchanged a few pleasantries, and Christopher Nolan asked in his London accent: "Chen, how much do you weigh now?"

Chen Nuo said in English: "71 kilograms, which is...more than 150 pounds."

Christopher nodded and said, "Chen, after our discussion, we hope that you can gain 20 to 25 pounds before the filming begins."

One pound is roughly equal to a little less than 1 kilogram, which means that Nolan wants him to gain about 20 kilograms.

Chen Nuo's current weight is a little thin considering his height of 180cm. Although he doesn't have lumps of muscles on his body, his features are clear and curvy.

If you gain 20 pounds, it will be a different story.

But Chen Nuo didn't hesitate at all and nodded: "Okay."

Nolan immediately smiled and asked, "Chen, why don't you ask the reason?"

Chen Nuo said: "I know it's because of the clown."

Nolan nodded and said, "Yes, it's because of the Joker. I took the videotape of your audition back to England. The three of us have been studying your makeup these past few days. We all agree that this is a very groundbreaking image of the Joker. It brings the Joker from comics, stage plays and circuses to our side, making the Joker a real person who may exist around us. However, there are also some problems."

John Carione continued, "Chen, from a makeup artist's perspective, I see that you have abandoned those delicate and sharp lines in the past clown makeup. You make it broken, blurred and real, which is really amazing. But now you are too young and too thin."

"When I put makeup on you in the future, I will definitely ask you to actively twist your cheeks or raise your eyebrows to create wrinkles. I will also use one hand to rub the corners of your eyes to create crow's feet. But the premise of all this is that you need more fat on your face so that the lines of your skin can be revealed."

Lindy Hemming also said at this time: "Chen, your look also needs to change. The clown in the play is about 30 years old, which is very different from your current age. You don't have the body shape that a 30-year-old man has, such as a protruding belly, a fat butt, and a pair of thick thighs. In the video, after you put on the clown's red suit, you give me the feeling of a unique young hippie rather than a weird middle-aged man."

After the three of them finished speaking, they were silent for a while, giving Chen Nuo some time to think.

Nolan then concluded, "Chen, this is why I asked you to gain weight. Our filming starts in mid-May, and you should join the crew in late May, which is still four months away. I hope you can gain weight to your target weight before joining the crew, but not at the cost of damaging your health."

In fact, if they didn't say so much, Chen Nuo wouldn't object. After hearing these explanations, he immediately said, "Okay, Director, I have no problem."

Nolan and the other two looked at each other and suddenly laughed together.

Nolan explained, "We didn't expect that the process of convincing you would be so easy, Chen. I originally thought that you would care more about your appearance. Now it seems that you have saved us a lot of trouble."

Chen Nuo didn't laugh. He said seriously, "Director, because I really want to play this role well. So if there is anything else you need me to do, just tell me."

Nolan looked happier. He said, "I do have a few more requirements. First, read the script carefully. But I am not worried about this because I believe in your professionalism. Then, secondly, you did give a wonderful performance in the audition that day, which eventually got you the role. However, there is actually a subtle difference between the clown you played and the final effect I wanted."

"Director, please speak."

Chen Nuo has a very correct attitude.

The Joker he played at that time was a variation of Jeremy, so it was not surprising to him if it did not meet the requirements of the perfectionist Christopher Nolan.

“You’re too sharp. No, it can’t be said to be sharp, but your performance still reminds people of Nicholson’s performance in 1989. Like him, you interpreted the Joker as an evil monster. But in my movie, I don’t want him to be a monster. I hope that the Joker you finally interpret will be as real as the makeup you created.”

“I hope the Joker is not the devil from hell or some kind of perverted freak. No matter how crazy, unreasonable, or evil he looks on the surface, remember that he may be a patient with split personality or mentally twisted and insane due to some childhood trauma, but he is still a person. All the evil things he does should be something that humans can do.”

"I hope the clown you play is a transformation of everyone around us." Nolan took out a notebook from his briefcase. The cover was dark brown leather, and there was a small golden lock in the middle of the cover. The notebook didn't look new, but rather a bit rustic.

Nolan said solemnly: "Chen, in order to help you understand the role, I picked out a notebook for you from a flea market in the UK. I named it the Joker's Diary. I hope you can fill it up before joining the crew."

(End of this chapter)