From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Sunlight, afternoon. The sound of automatic sprinklers watering the lawn filled the air. Although it was already October, and autumn had quietly arrived, Los Angeles was still dry. There hadn't been any sign of rain for over four months, making the city's air feel like it was about to ignite.

No wonder Venice Beach was still crowded with people.

In the blink of an eye, the New York audition was already three weeks ago, and the Emmy Awards felt like ancient history from the last century. Life had returned to a leisurely pace.

After finishing the screen test, Anson stayed in New York for a whole week. On one hand, Edgar needed to follow up and inquire about relevant news; on the other hand, Eve arranged a fashion party for Anson—

According to Eve, it wasn't her own arrangement, but some big names in the fashion industry wanted to see Anson. Since there was an opportunity, Eve tagged along.

Originally, New York had a grand event every October:

New York Fashion Week.

Without a doubt, that was the real important stage.

But Anson still lacked works. Although Eve could get Anson an invitation, and she believed Dior would be very happy to have Anson appear by their booth, Eve was worried that pushing too hard now would label Anson as a model, which would be bad for his acting career.

There is a difference between a pretty face and a model.

Hollywood welcomes pretty faces, but rejects models, at least in the year 2000.

So Eve changed her mind and didn't rush to push Anson into the fashion world, but simply arranged a private party to let Anson show his face to those big shots, preferably catching Anna Wintour's attention.

Unfortunately, it was all for nothing.

Since Anson left New York, Sony Columbia hadn't leaked any news. There were no new auditions, no project advancements, and no internal rumors. Nothing. James waited in New York in vain and didn't see any relevant people. The two weeks were pure torment.

From this, you could see Edgar's accurate judgment—

They needed to calm down, temporarily take a half-step back, press the pause button, sort out their thoughts, and examine the project from a more objective and rational perspective.

Edgar believed that after the screen test, an actor should have stood out, but didn't fit their initial vision for the entire project, so they needed time and space to re-examine the information they currently had.

In this situation, being too aggressive, too eager, and too closely pressing might lose their composure and ruin the advantages they had built.

That was why Edgar brought Anson back to Los Angeles.

James's long wait proved this point.

Three days ago, James finally returned to Los Angeles, having waited in New York for more than a month, just like Hayden's audition for "Star Wars: Episode I", and still didn't get a definite answer.

This feeling of being suspended in mid-air was really uncomfortable.

James lay depressed at home for two days, but couldn't lie still after all. Early this morning, he forced himself to go out, not knowing where to go.

And Anson?

He started working out, starting with physical fitness.

This audition experience made Anson realize that although he didn't plan to become a second Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson by lifting weights, it was very necessary to develop muscle lines through other fitness exercises.

If the "Spider-Man" audition was successful, he could foresee a series of professional training sessions, and his current advance training was laying the foundation.

But if he missed the role, it didn't matter. This was paving the way for broadening his acting career, and even a professional pretty face could have more possibilities.

Anson couldn't remember who the original words came from, but he once saw an actor's interview saying:

Maintaining my appearance and physique is my job. So I don't think training and fitness is a torment. I can't take everything for granted.

Now, Anson finally understood the meaning of this sentence—

So this is what it's like to live off your face.

Finishing his workout and pushing open the door, Anson thought he would be the only one home at this time. James was out, Hayden was training, and Chris's TV series had finally started filming, but he unexpectedly saw Brad, who was usually up all night, appearing in the morning, a rare sight.

That scene wasn't much different from Edward standing in the sunlight, sparkling with golden light in "Twilight."

"Shhh."

Brad was on the phone. Noticing Anson, he made a gesture.

Anson quickly lightened his footsteps, turned a corner, entered the kitchen, opened the refrigerator, took out a bottle of mineral water, and gulped it down, every pore on his body opening up, feeling refreshed.

Then.

"Ah!"

Brad let out a strange cry from the living room.

Before Anson could ask, Brad had already slid and knelt at the kitchen door. Just as Anson walked out, a strange scene appeared—

Brad was kneeling in front of Anson.

Both of them were stunned, their eyes met, and they blinked.

Then Anson pretended to tap Brad on the head from a distance, and then made a cross gesture himself, "Amen, I forgive your sins."

After finishing, he put his hands together.

After making the gesture, Anson tilted his head, "Is this Buddhism or Catholicism?"

Brad: His forehead was covered with black lines.

But he still couldn't help it. A light smile crept onto the corners of his mouth and bloomed shyly. Brad, who was usually drunk and couldn't open his eyes, and had a slightly round face, once again showed the appearance that had amazed countless people five years ago, and his slightly tired and turbid eyes finally regained their light.

"Anson."

He called out.

"Huh?"

At this time, Brad had regained his composure, all the joy and excitement surging in his eyes, "I got the role."

Anson was stunned, his thoughts turned in his mind, and then he realized, "That role?"

Brad nodded vigorously, "Richard Christo's movie."

The unexpected opportunity he got at the Emmy Awards after-party.

"And!"

Brad took a deep breath, a very, very big one.

"Sandra Bullock is confirmed to star."

Beautiful!

Anson clenched his fist and cheered for Brad, "Good job!"

Worth being happy, worth celebrating.

This should be Brad Renfro's return to the mainstream spotlight after a full five years. Regardless of the box office success of "Murder by Numbers", his name will be back under the Hollywood spotlights.

This is also the first chain reaction brought about by Anson besides himself since coming to this space-time.

Brad finally reacted and raised his hands high and cheered, venting all his joy without reservation.

"Ah! Ah ah ah! Anson, I did it. I finally got the role through my own efforts, ah ah ah!"

Fifth update.