From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

“… … Dear passengers and friends, the flight is about to arrive at its destination, San Francisco International Airport. The plane will begin its descent shortly. The restrooms will be closed in five minutes. Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts… …”

The in-flight broadcast sounded. It seemed like only a moment ago we had boarded the plane for this short, ninety-minute flight, and I hadn't even had time to get used to the economy class seats; the next moment, the plane was already preparing to land, arriving in another city.

After the last audition, everything progressed smoothly, and time flew by.

Regarding the salary, Andrew O'Connell discussed it with the "Princess Diaries" production team, and the team offered a figure of $200,000.

Considering the film's total budget of only $25 million, plus Anson's resume as a first-time film actor, although he was the male lead but not the primary character, this salary was already considerable, showing Garry's sincerity.

Darren told Anson an inside story—

The "Princess Diaries" actor budget is mainly spent on inviting a legendary superstar. Not to mention Anson, even the female lead's salary is not high, because this superstar is the real core of the entire production team.

Julie Andrews.

An actress who could be immortalized in history with "Mary Poppins" and "The Sound of Music." Her resume includes not only Oscars and Grammy Awards, but also the DBE title awarded by the Queen of England earlier this year. She is undoubtedly a treasure of British actors.

Although Julie Andrews has also appeared in some works sporadically in recent years, in fact, her last appearance in a mainstream commercial film released on a large scale must be traced back to the distant 1986. After that, she was more active on Broadway, showing off her singing voice.

However, in 1997, Julie discovered a benign tumor in her throat and had to have it surgically removed. This forced her to interrupt all work. After the successful operation, the doctor assured her that she would be able to recover in six weeks.

But three years passed in the blink of an eye, and Julie's voice still had not recovered.

For three whole years, Julie had no work. Although she could speak, she could no longer sing. At the age of sixty-five, Julie was forced to retire early.

Until now, Garry Marshall extended an olive branch, inviting Julie to return to the big screen.

Julie hesitated.

But Garry said that since watching Julie's Broadway work "The Boy Friend" in 1956, he had always hoped to be able to work with this superstar.

When he got the "Princess Diaries" project, the first actor Garry confirmed was Julie. In the script, the female lead, Mia, has a grandmother who is also the current queen of an unknown small European country. In Garry's opinion, this role belonged to Julie.

Garry visited Julie three times, hoping that Julie could once again show her elegance on the big screen.

Julie was moved and returned to mainstream production after a full fourteen years.

Naturally, in the cast list, all the other newcomers stood aside, and Julie was the biggest star in the entire crew; Garry also hoped that Julie could become a mentor to the two young protagonists and inject some magic into the film.

Of course, based on the memories of his previous life, Anson already knew this in advance.

In other words, "The Princess Diaries" was already very generous in terms of salary. Garry's sincerity could be seen from the details. He really believed that Anson was the best candidate and was not stingy in giving the corresponding salary.

Andrew was not prepared to haggle, but he still fulfilled his responsibilities as an agent and tried his best to fight for the interests of his artist. He returned a number:

$250,000.

As a result… "The Princess Diaries" agreed directly, exceptionally simply and exceptionally readily.

Purely from a numerical point of view, Anson earned $180,000 for three episodes of "Friends" guest appearances, while the salary of the male lead in "The Princess Diaries" seemed a bit pitiful, but considering this was a mainstream commercial performance opportunity, that was another matter.

Just look at the "Friends" crew and you'll know—

Originally, the renewal of the "Friends" crew was undoubtedly the biggest suspense and focus of this summer. However, the reality was slightly different.

The renewal was not as exciting or tense as expected.

David Crane had meticulously planned and arranged everything, and the six leading actors were united and advanced together. He had already created momentum and grasped people's hearts early on. NBC's negotiation space was very limited. After only three rounds of talks, NBC nodded in agreement, and the two parties finalized a new agreement.

Everything was simpler than imagined.

Finally, NBC and the six leading actors of "Friends" reached a unanimous agreement. They will renew for the seventh and eighth seasons with a salary of $750,000 per episode; of course, the producers, writers, production team, and shooting budget will also increase, and the entire crew will benefit.

Renewing for two seasons in one go, and the next renewal negotiation will be in two years, in the summer of 2002.

Undoubtedly, this once again broke the salary structure in the Hollywood TV series field, and salary discussions for other ace TV series were also put on the table one after another. "Friends" became the focus of heated discussions this summer.

Logically speaking, the six leading actors of the TV series should open champagne to celebrate.

But in the end, there are not as many as imagined.

Between television and film—at least in 2000, when streaming media platforms were nowhere to be seen—there is an invisible thick film. Perhaps only one lucky person out of a hundred or even a thousand actors can break through the barrier.

Matthew Perry had already experienced it—

"The Whole Nine Yards," this movie achieved good box office results in the first half of the year, but all eyes were on Bruce Willis, not Matthew.

Courteney Cox also had a deep understanding. She starred in "Scream" in 1996, but now, she can't find suitable film work. She also hopes to be the leading actress in movies, she also hopes to be the heroine of romantic love movies, and she also hopes to have different opportunities to try.

However, this is not easy.

Not only Jennifer Aniston, who had more ideas because of her marriage to Brad Pitt, but the other five actors still had movie dreams, hoping to one day be able to star on the big screen and become film actors. They relied on "Friends" to achieve success but didn't want to be tied to it forever.

A little hesitation, a little hesitation, and then, there were changes in the negotiations.

It took David Crane a lot of effort to persuade all six actors. NBC also realized that this was not a smokescreen and was immediately frightened, fearing that "Friends" would end, so they simply nodded and quickly settled the matter to avoid complications, which led to this high-paying agreement.

Perhaps, the actors of "Friends" are envious of Anson's performance opportunities.

The fourth update.