From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

"Happy birthday!"

"… Me?"

"Hey, Anson, happy birthday."

"Thanks, but today isn't…"

"Happy birthday, wow, nineteen years old, God, I envy your youth."

"Come on, how old are you, twenty? So you're feeling old now? Does Steven know you're like this?"

Amidst the back-and-forth banter, everyone around burst into laughter, even accompanied by whistles and applause, making the entire filming set extremely lively, and the atmosphere instantly heated up.

"Catch Me If You Can" – action!

February 9, 2002. The filming schedule, originally set to begin on January 8, had to be postponed again due to delays in casting. However, Steven realized that they couldn't keep dragging it out. Delaying it day after day would be a burden on the entire crew.

Therefore, with a single command, the entire crew worked overtime on pre-production, operating at high speed, and finally started filming before winter left New York –

Because the key scenes in New York all took place in winter, Steven needed the authentic weather of the East Coast with its continuous rain and snow to help.

To be precise, they had been filming for ten full days, and it was unlike any of Anson's previous acting experiences. Steven Spielberg was a director who meticulously planned everything before filming, from camera angles to lighting to acting, all planned and rehearsed in advance. The real purpose wasn't to ensure that there were no mistakes during filming.

"This is a movie, not a play."

Steven said.

All the discussions and planning were to ensure that everyone knew what they were doing when they entered the set, what their task, goal, and rules were, and then to use their professional skills to complete the filming according to the situation on set, finding sparks within the planned framework.

Detailed, meticulous, thorough, comprehensive.

This way of working did make the entire crew operate at high speed like a precision instrument. For Anson, this was a completely new experience.

From the first day of formal filming, the crew was in top form, cooperating seamlessly and progressing rapidly, demonstrating Steven's skill as a seasoned director.

Based on his previous experience in "The Princess Diaries" and "Spider-Man," Anson thought that it might take three to five days to complete a scene, but Steven could finish filming it in an afternoon, and not in a perfunctory way, but with guaranteed quality. This also placed strict demands on the actors –

Especially Anson.

Not only were there many scenes, but they were also important. Anson's performance state was often the key to whether the entire crew could maintain high efficiency.

The pressure was immense.

As it stood, Anson withstood the pressure, and the entire filming process was very smooth. Before he had time to adapt to the atmosphere of the set, they welcomed their last day of filming in New York. Next, they would go to Los Angeles, then Quebec and Montreal, their footprints covering the entire North America.

However, the last day of filming didn't mean it would be simple and easy. In fact, it was the opposite. The previous ten days of filming were all light-hearted scenes, and the real highlight was saved for the finale, because Steven needed to ensure that the crew had completed their coordination and were in the best condition to complete the challenging filming.

Everyone could feel the pressure.

Early in the morning, Anson drowsily arrived at the set, a residential house located in Queens.

Dilapidated. Withered. Barren.

Although it wasn't a slum, it wasn't far from it. After Old Frank's last struggle to apply for a loan from the bank was rejected, they completely declared bankruptcy and had to leave their detached house and come to a small forty-square-meter apartment in Queens, trying to survive.

For the past two days, the crew had been filming in this apartment.

People thought that Anson wouldn't adapt, because on the surface, Anson looked like a young man who didn't know the taste of sorrow, but they didn't expect him to adapt very well.

If Anson told them that in his previous life, he and his mother had even huddled at the entrance of apartments, under overpasses, and on McDonald's chairs to spend long nights, compared to those places, the apartment in front of him, no matter how dilapidated, at least had a roof and four walls, and he was actually very satisfied –

Probably no one would believe it.

But, having just arrived at the apartment, what was going on with these staff members?

Birthday?

Anson's birthday was in November, long past. Lucas had made a special trip to Los Angeles to hold a birthday party for him, with friends gathering to celebrate him getting closer to the age of twenty-one, the legal drinking age, so the way they celebrated that night was… prohibiting all alcohol.

Anson still remembered James Franco's expression of utter despair, yet forcibly suppressed by Lucas. How could he forget his own birthday?

So, what was going on here?

Facing him, Anson saw Steven Spielberg. "Steven?"

Without waiting for Anson to ask, Steven already understood. "Don't ask me, it's Tom's idea. He said it could help you get into character."

Looking like a hands-off manager, he raised his hands. "I don't understand acting, but I need today's filming to go smoothly, so happy birthday."

Then, Steven patted Anson on the shoulder. "Congratulations on becoming an adult."

Adult?

Looking at Steven's mischievous smile, Anson was slightly helpless. "Nineteen. Even if it's a fake birthday, at least get the age…"

Steven shook his head slightly. "No, sixteen." He nodded gently again. "Sixteen years old."

After speaking, Steven turned around and continued to busy himself, preparing for filming.

Anson couldn't help but laugh –

The scene this morning was exactly Little Frank's sixteenth birthday, a conversation between the Abagnale father and son, hence this scene in front of them.

In America, compared to birthdays like eighteen and twenty, sixteen, representing the ability to get a driver's license, and twenty-one, representing the ability to legally drink, are often more important.

Thinking carefully, Anson guessed that Tom Hanks should have seen through it. Although Anson and Tom hadn't had any head-to-head confrontations yet, Tom should have been observing all along, and then noticed Anson's attempts at method acting, so he created the atmosphere for Anson.

I have to say… it was indeed effective.

Even though Anson understood that today wasn't his birthday, that's how lies work. When three people, ten people, a hundred people constantly repeat the same lie, the lie becomes truth, at least to some extent.

To be precise, it should be Christopher Walken dressed in costume –

Having stepped onto the Broadway stage as early as 1964, Christopher was a well-grounded method actor who had been shining on the big screen with his unique personality for forty years in Hollywood. Although he had never been a dazzling absolute protagonist,

His outstanding performance in "The Deer Hunter" won him the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, and he could also be seen in works such as "007 A View to a Kill," "Pulp Fiction," and "Sleepy Hollow."

At this moment, Christopher paused slightly, looking at the staff coming and going, and then at Anson, who had a bit of sleepy look in his eyes. The smile on the corner of his mouth froze.

"Hey, Junior, happy birthday."