From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Taking a deep breath, Kitcher displayed his calm side, "Then, we won't bother you for now."

Seeing Mangold, who was reluctant to get up and seemed ready to continue persuading Ansen, Kitcher gestured with his eyes to Edgar, who was eyeing him covetously.

Although Edgar maintained a smiling face and did not change his expression at all, Mangold still understood. He helplessly lowered his head and stood up, his whole body not concealing his unwillingness and grievance. He didn't need to speak; his body language had already expressed it clearly.

Kitcher looked a little helpless, but he didn't know how to defend Mangold, so he could only smile at Edgar, carefully concealing his embarrassment.

Unexpectedly, Ansen spoke, "Wait a minute."

All eyes gathered.

"If you don't mind, can you send me the script to take a look at? I'd like to read it."

A pause.

At this moment, it could be clearly felt that the air suddenly became quiet, because the trivial sounds of other customers in the cafe and the sound of the coffee machine running poured down continuously, as if someone had manually adjusted the white noise button to the maximum, and all the sounds surged above the eardrum with unparalleled clarity.

Kitcher and Edgar were both preparing to speak to break the silence, but neither of them was as quick as Mangold.

"Okay."

Mangold said.

His eyes were bright, eager to try, and it seemed like he was stepping on springs under his feet, his body uncontrollably jumping slightly.

"Of course. No problem."

Although he was a beat late and missed the opportunity, Edgar still spoke, keeping calm, "Just send it to William Morris. I will forward it to Ansen."

Mangold hesitated slightly, glanced at Edgar warily, and finally looked at Ansen, as if worried that Edgar would intercept the script.

Edgar looked helpless.

Ansen looked at Edgar, a hint of schadenfreude in his eyes, then looked at Mangold again and nodded slightly.

"No problem. William Morris is fine, I will receive it."

Mangold finally relaxed, "I'm very much looking forward to your feedback."

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Mangold and Kitcher said goodbye. This time, they didn't linger and left the cafe decisively, taking a deep breath of the outside air.

Involuntarily, Kitcher stopped and looked again in the direction of the cafe, watching Ansen's back —

Now, calming down, reason returned, and the heat in his head gradually cooled. He thought he would hesitate again and question his previous judgment.

Just as Ansen himself said, is Ansen's acting skills trustworthy?

Up to now, Ansen's most dazzling and crucial label is still a pretty boy.

Even if "Elephant" topped the Palme d'Or at Cannes, as an actor, Ansen has not yet proven himself. Maybe he has box office appeal, but can this pretty boy act?

Leonardo DiCaprio was like that.

"Titanic" was already a distant memory of six years ago, but when "Gangs of New York" was released, the doubts and criticisms surrounding Leonardo still firmly occupied the mainstream, full of prejudice and provocation.

Kitcher thought he would worry, hesitate, and regret. After the heat cooled down, reason returned to his brain, and those shortcomings would reappear.

However, it didn't happen.

It was just an intuition, but this intuition, with the passage of time, became clearer and clearer, more and more firm, and his mind truly settled down.

"James?"

Mangold's call came from his ear. Kitcher withdrew his gaze and followed his steps. After walking two steps forward, he finally couldn't help but break the silence.

"Maybe, he is a treasure, what do you think?"

"Aye, sir," Mangold said in a deliberately playful tone.

Then, Kitcher smiled, exceptionally brightly.

At the same time, in the cafe.

Ansen looked up at Edgar, but didn't rush to leave.

Edgar could clearly see the smile in Ansen's eyes. He showed a serious expression, "They were just worried that I wouldn't pass the script on to you?"

Ansen shrugged lightly, "If you're not satisfied with the script, would you intercept it?"

Edgar bathed in Ansen's bright gaze, and finally said honestly, "I can't deny it."

Ansen smiled.

Edgar spread his hands, "Hey, that's my job. Otherwise, what should an agent do? I'm not a nanny. They shouldn't bypass the agent and contact you directly."

Ansen's eyes were full of smiles, "Are you feeling that the agent's position is being threatened?"

Edgar coughed twice and cleared his throat, stiffly changing the subject, "The interview is real. Three interview teams are waiting in your trailer."

Ansen, "I don't doubt it. But I believe it shouldn't be that urgent, right?"

Edgar opened his mouth, trying to quibble, but finally swallowed it back, "How did you see that? Is my acting so bad that they saw it too?"

Ansen shrugged lightly, "If you're going to become a full-time actor, you might need to hone your skills further, otherwise just play a pretty boy like me."

Hearing that it was just a joke, Edgar laughed dryly and helplessly sat down opposite Ansen.

Ansen then explained, "If it was really urgent, you would have let Noah come over, and you would have stayed behind to deal with those reporters, to avoid them getting angry."

But obviously, Edgar himself appeared.

So, things might be different.

Edgar suddenly realized, and couldn't help but shake his head lightly, "Does your head always turn so fast?"

Ansen, "So you shouldn't be worried about me being trafficked by them."

Edgar was stunned, then laughed dumbfounded, "Right, I should be worried about them being fooled by you."

Ansen, "You say fooling, I say personal charm, we should seek common ground while reserving differences."

Edgar laughed directly.

Ansen looked back at the window. At this time, he could no longer see the figures of the two Jameses. Then he turned back to look at Edgar, "What's going on? You look particularly nervous. Did you sprint all the way here?"

Edgar sat down opposite Ansen, "Did you guys reach any agreement?"

Ansen, "You've already seen the ending. I'm going to take a look at the script. That's all."

Edgar's expression was slightly embarrassed, "Ansen, I'm afraid this isn't a good project."

Unexpected, but reasonable.

Considering the two Jameses' action of bypassing the agent and directly finding Ansen, Ansen had already been mentally prepared that Edgar probably wouldn't like it; or rather, the two Jameses were worried that the agent might become an obstacle, so they chose to do it secretly.

Now, Edgar's reaction also proves this point.

But why?

Ansen looked at Edgar, "Is the script that bad?"

Edgar sighed softly, "To be precise, I don't know either. I haven't read the script; but, just now, those were James Mangold and James Kitcher, and they are preparing a Johnny Cash biopic, right?"

Ansen nodded to affirm.

Edgar, "That's right. As soon as I heard the director say Johnny Cash there, I had a premonition that it might be this project, and I rushed over immediately."

"Something's wrong."