It's reasonable for me to be a three-time Golden Horse Award-winning director and an all-around

Chapter 119 Please Call Me Lu Rui - Specialist in Unearthing Potential Villains! (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
A new day begins at Ruixing Film Studio.

Lu Rui arrived at the company early in the morning and, with the assistance of James Wan and Zack Snyder, began the audition process.

"Taken" and "I Am Legend" were both projects of Ruixing Film Company, so the auditions were simply conducted together.

The first one was the audition for "Taken".

This movie requires a significant number of Hollywood villain actors, unlike "I Am Legend," which has a small cast.

Throughout the morning, Lü Rui selected more than ten actors.

Villains, for the most part, only need to show their faces and then get killed. They don't need to have great acting skills. Some don't even have many lines. All they need to do is look fierce.

Therefore, the audition went very smoothly.

After the morning auditions, only four key villain roles remained to be cast.

The first one is "Peter," whose identity is a stooge who lures and follows girls at the airport. His character is outwardly young, handsome, and cheerful, but inwardly he is sinister.

The second is a gang leader, the core decision-maker of the human trafficking group. He has a sinister appearance and has targeted many young girls, profiting from human trafficking.

The third is "Marco," a gang member who participated in the kidnapping of the "daughter" and was eventually executed by electrocution by the protagonist.

He is also a key character who leads to Taken 2.

The fourth villain is Saint Garry, the organizer of the women's auction, who is impeccably dressed in a suit and tie, but is evil to the core.

In the plot, all four of them eventually die at the hands of the protagonist.

Lü Rui planned to finalize the four roles before leaving get off work in the afternoon.

Hollywood may lack many things, but it certainly doesn't lack actors and dreamers.

The four major talent agencies, CAA, WME, UTA, and ICM, sent in a number of resumes of actors they were interested in signing.

Lu Rui had already pre-screened a batch of candidates, and all he needed to do in the afternoon was meet them, have a brief chat, and they would be able to finalize the decision.

At noon, Peter Griffin bought a boxed lunch and came back.

While eating, the three of them talked about the choices made by the male protagonist in "I Am Legend".

Lu Rui took a bite of rice and started: "With an investment of $1.5 million, the male lead must be a top-tier actor who can carry the box office."

This story is largely carried by one person, following the 'lone hero' trope, so the character needs strong personal charisma and presence to sustain the loneliness and explosive power amidst the apocalypse.

James Wan nodded in agreement: "Indeed, this role is too special. He has to have the calm rationality of a scientist, the vulnerability after losing everything, and the ruthlessness when fighting against the Night Demon. His acting skills must be solid."

Prior to this, the three had already been initially screened among the current top male stars in Hollywood, but no official confirmation had been made.

Zack Snyder took a sip of water and leaned back in his chair: "I do have a few options. Tom Cruise is fine with action scenes, but he lacks a bit of 'apocalyptic heaviness'."

Will Smith would be a good fit; he's been on a roll these past few years, with big-budget films like "Independence Day" and "Men in Black," and he's popular with audiences too…

“Will Smith won’t do,” Lu Rui interrupted directly.

He had absolutely no liking for this guy, otherwise he wouldn't have stolen the other party's project.

Zack paused for a moment, somewhat surprised, but still added, "There are plenty of good white actors, but this story is set in the ruins of New York and is about a disaster for all of humanity, so racial inclusivity is very important."

From a market perspective, African American actors have become increasingly popular in the global market in recent years, especially in the action film genre, where they have a very solid audience appeal…

Lu Rui did not object to this.

In the early 2000s, Hollywood began to pay more attention to the representation of racial diversity in commercial films.

African American actors not only fit the film's universal theme of "a catastrophe for all humanity," but also attract African American audiences, broaden market reach, and break the traditional commercial film's singular focus on the race of the protagonist, which is more in line with current social trends and market demands.

This is also one of the reasons why the Warner Bros. chose Will Smith in his previous life.

But now that the project is in Lu Rui's hands, he will definitely make some changes.

For example, change the male lead!
Will Smith isn't the only African American actor in Hollywood. If he's gone, we can choose someone else.

Moreover, without the support of his two representative works, "Hitch" and "The Pursuit of Happyness," Will Smith's current career is not going well, and there are many African American actors who are more outstanding than him.

Thinking of this, Lü Rui picked up a tissue and wiped his mouth: "Zack is right. Tomorrow, we'll have the four major talent agencies recommend top African American movie stars to come and have a chat."

There's no rush to finalize the casting, but the direction must be clear: the actor must have sufficient box office appeal, be able to handle complex emotions, and be capable of carrying a one-person show.

Zack and James Wan exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement.

However, at the same time, the two of them couldn't hide their curiosity.

What did Will Smith do to offend Lü Rui? Why does he sound so unhappy whenever that guy is mentioned?

……

The auditions continued in the afternoon.

The first step was the casting for the role of Tom Pitt at the airport.

There are two candidates for this role, both recommended by CAA, but they belong to different agents.

After thinking it over, Lü Rui decided to call both of them in.

The audition room door opened and closed, and the two actors stood in front of Lü Rui.

"Let's introduce ourselves first." Lu Rui looked at the two of them, his expression calm, but his heart was inexplicably complicated.

The older young man on the left, with long brown hair, spoke first:
"Hello director, my name is Ryan Gosling, I'm 25 years old, from Canada. I started acting at the age of 12. I've worked with Denzel Washington on 'The Glorious Era,' and I've also acted in 'The Believer,' 'Leland's America,' and even released an album with Britney Spears..."

At 25 years old, such a resume is definitely "impressive".

Logically speaking, Ryan Gosling's status shouldn't warrant taking on these kinds of "villainous" roles.

However, his career has been unsuccessful in recent years, with few suitable film and television projects and few directors willing to hire him.

Therefore, his agent wanted him to broaden his acting range and actively seek opportunities instead of passively waiting for roles to come to him.

So he was recommended.

After all, befriending a director like Lü Rui would be entirely beneficial for him.

For him, the size of the role isn't important; the key is to promote himself and let more people see his performance.

Ryan Gosling went on and on about himself, but Lu Rui's mind was filled with thoughts of his later achievements.

He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor, starred in "La La Land," and even made it into the top ten of Forbes' annual list of highest-paid actors...

Although we are currently in a slump, we will be back in full swing in a year or two!
If Lu Rui remembers correctly, it seems that next year or the year after, this Canadian actor will experience a rapid rise in his career and receive a Best Actor nomination.

A few minutes later, Ryan Gosling finished his self-introduction.

Immediately afterwards, the young male actor standing next to him, whose face was covered with freckles, began to introduce himself:
"Hello, directors. My name is Eddie Redmayne, I'm 23 years old, from England, a graduate of Cambridge University. I've performed in many stage plays at Shakespeare's Globe and starred in the TV series 'Doctors'..."

Compared to Ryan Gosling, Eddie Redmayne's resume was clearly much weaker. But Lu Rui's eyelids twitched slightly.

Who would have thought that this relatively unknown actor would become one of the youngest Best Actor winners in Oscar history nine years later for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking!

She later starred in works such as "Jupiter Ascending", "The Danish Girl", and "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them".

Crucially, he also starred in a web series that Lü Rui really liked.

Days of the Jackals!
"They're all promising prospects!"

Lu Rui was itching to keep both of them.

Ultimately, the choice between the two options is unavoidable.

After their self-introductions, the two took turns performing a short skit.

Their acting skills are certainly not bad, but in terms of appearance, Ryan Gosling has the advantage.

If you want to fool young girls, you can't just rely on facial modeling; how can you possibly gain their trust?

"Ryan, have your agent come to the company."

When Lu Rui said those words, Ryan Gosling remained calm, but Eddie beside him could not hide his disappointment.

But then, Lü Rui added, "Eddie, would it be convenient to leave a business card? Your performance was very unique. If there are any suitable roles later, how about I contact you?"

"of course can!"

The freckled boy's eyes lit up, unable to hide his excitement, and he quickly pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it over.

He thought he would return empty-handed today, but he didn't expect to be remembered by the director, which means there will definitely be opportunities for collaboration in the future!
After the two left, the actor playing the gang leader came in.

Of the three candidates, Lü Rui immediately took a liking to Michael Shannon!

At this time, he had not yet starred in "Revolutionary Road" or "Man of Steel," and in Hollywood, he mostly appeared as villainous supporting characters.

With strong facial features and an inherently gloomy and ruthless aura, he is very suitable for portraying "a sinister-looking gangster decision-maker".

"We've found another promising prospect."

Lu Rui muttered to himself, and without much hesitation, he decided on him.

Immediately afterwards, the actor who auditioned for the villainous role of "Marco," who was involved in the kidnapping and would lead to the sequel, walked in.

"Hello director, my name is Tom Hardy, I'm 28 years old, from London, England. I've appeared in films like *Black Hawk Down* and *Star Trek*, and I've been nominated for a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor..."

Regardless of whether it's domestic or international, actors usually list all the movies they've acted in during auditions.

Although many of them sound impressive and are big projects, most of them are not worth mentioning unless the lead actor is one of the top three billed stars.

For example, Tom Hardy's resume only has the "nomination for Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor" being somewhat impressive.

This is precisely the key reason why he increased his salary.

But Lü Rui didn't care. As long as his acting was good and could enhance the film, he was willing to pay more.

Tom Hardy was undoubtedly the best choice in his mind!
Although he is not tall, he has a rugged appearance and can easily portray the image of a fierce and impulsive gangster.

Most importantly, he was also a promising talent, and later became one of Hollywood's famous "villain specialists"!

After watching his performance, Lü Rui immediately made his decision: "You're the one!"

At this point, the three key villain roles have been successfully finalized.

The next step is to secure the role of the person in charge of the auction, and then filming for "Taken" can begin.

"Call in the next auditioning actor," Lü Rui instructed.

The assistant responded and went out, quickly bringing in another person.

"Hello director, I'm Christian Bale, 31 years old, and I've appeared in films such as 'American Psycho'..."

"The Dark Knight" wasn't released until 08, and "The Prestige" was snatched away by Lu Rui. So at this time, although Bale had representative works, he was only a minor celebrity in Hollywood and was still in a steady upward phase.

Warner Bros. recommended him because they thought that "Taken," as a Sino-foreign co-production, might help him open up the global market.

So, he arrived during a period when he was free.

Anyway, this role doesn't have many scenes. If he gets the part, he'll play it; if he doesn't, it doesn't matter.

However, today he encountered Lü Rui, a director who specializes in finding promising talents.

How could Lü Rui let go of the man who was supposed to be the future Batman, the male lead in Zhang Weiping's diary titled "Me and Bale Filming a Bed Scene"?
"Have your agent come over to sign the contract."

Lu Rui smiled broadly, like a fox that had stolen some grapes.

He managed to pick four major villains who were currently in a slump but would become Hollywood stars in the next decade. How could he not be happy?
To prevent any unforeseen complications, the next day, Lü Rui signed contracts with the agents of these actors, officially finalizing the casting choices.

But just then, he suddenly discovered something very interesting.

Of these actors, apart from Michael Shannon, who often plays villains since his debut, none of the rest are Hollywood natives.
When he raised his doubts, Peter Griffin, a former WMA agent, explained:

"Hollywood actors, especially those who grew up in the mainstream film and television system, are usually very picky about 'villain' roles."

They grew up listening to 'hero stories', and their agencies preferred to push them onto the path of 'positive idols'. After all, in commercial films, the protagonist's aura can build popularity, secure endorsements, and ensure a more stable box office appeal.

Therefore, among local actors, unless they are already established veterans aiming to win awards by playing villains, most younger actors are unwilling to take on villainous roles, fearing that the audience will become too immersed in the story and label them as such.

At this point, Peter Griffin suddenly changed the subject: "On the contrary, non-native actors, when they first entered Hollywood, did not have as many constraints of 'idol image'."

For them, getting a significant role is already a good thing; whether it's a righteous or villainous character, they just need to establish themselves in the industry first.

Moreover, many non-native actors possess a natural 'exoticism,' and the fierceness or gloom in their eyes when they stand there makes them more 'convincing villains' than local actors, which directors find appealing.

Lu Rui nodded thoughtfully.

Peter added, "To put it bluntly, local actors have a smoother resource path and don't need to take the risk of playing villains who might be criticized. On the other hand, for non-local actors, villains are a shortcut to breaking through their limitations."

Lü Rui nodded again, indicating that he understood.

He then contacted Jiang Wen and others, informing them of the specific start date for the film: "I won't be going back. You guys fly directly to Hollywood before March 5th, and we'll start filming from here."

"Okay," Jiang Wen nodded in agreement.

Subsequently, Lü Rui contacted Hou Hongliang and asked him to arrange for the publicity department and all the actors to cooperate in officially announcing the main cast and crew of "Taken" and begin promoting the film.

Jiang Wen was fine; he had seen plenty of ups and downs and didn't need to rely on this bit of hype to maintain his popularity.

But Red Starwood and the newly established Starlight Brilliant desperately need this kind of exposure...

(End of this chapter)