From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

… Look, in this shot, the camera will be positioned diagonally behind you, capturing the state of others in the room with the back of your head.

"And?"

"It will then move clockwise along an arc, first focusing on your mother, then your father. During this process, your grandmother and the lawyer will continuously move through the frame, traveling along a set path, creating a distraction."

"Note that your gaze should attempt to find your father's location."

"Next, the camera will pause at the level of your left shoulder before completing the clockwise rotation, capturing your expression head-on."

"So, do you have any questions about this camera movement?"

Filming continues.

From morning till afternoon, they remained in the Queens apartment, shooting scenes moving from the kitchen to the living room, finally arriving at the Abanel's bedroom to conclude today's highlight—the most challenging and simultaneously most important scene.

Precisely for this reason, Steven personally stepped in to explain the entire camera position, track, and composition to Anson, ensuring Anson understood the effect of the three-dimensional space being presented. Only in this way could he deliver the correct performance in the correct position.

Steven remained Steven, for whom the position and space of every actor in the shot were crucial.

Anson was in excellent form.

The entire day's filming had proceeded smoothly, and he was still in the zone, quickly grasping Steven's vision for the scene's composition.

Gently nodding to indicate his understanding, Anson inquired, "What about the performance? Does the director have any ideas?"

Steven shrugged slightly, "Surprise me."

With that, he patted Anson on the shoulder and left without saying more, clearly having many more details to arrange for the scene.

This was the last scene of the day and the last one to be filmed in New York. Everything before had been a warm-up, all preparing for this scene.

The divorce scene.

The thing Little Frank feared and dreaded most had finally happened. The Abanel family had failed to hold together and was sadly heading towards a fragmented end, which was a heavy blow to Little Frank.

However, worse still, because he was a minor, decisions regarding his guardianship were pending. Should he choose his father or his mother?

This scene was what Steven was filming.

Moments before, Little Frank had learned of his parents' divorce.

Moments later, Little Frank had to choose who to live with.

Precisely for this reason, Steven used the entire design and direction to visualize the confusion and turmoil in Little Frank's mind, creating a series of distractions from auditory to visual, emphasizing how the world Little Frank knew was beginning to fall apart.

Naturally, the performance was especially important.

Because all of this was a turning point.

In Little Frank Abanel's autobiography, it was after this divorce that he couldn't accept the reality and chose to run away from home. While living in a hotel, he saw pilots coming and going, looking extremely dashing. He was completely captivated and determined to become a pilot. But he didn't want to bother going to flight school, which was too much effort, so he began forging his identity.

An incredible journey of crime thus began.

So, what exactly did Little Frank experience in this scene?

In his past life, Leonardo had displayed anger and fear in this scene. You could clearly see his later, monotonous frowning acting style, showing the instinctive reaction of a sixteen-year-old boy.

Accurate, but not rich enough.

More importantly, Anson didn't want to repeat Leonardo's performance. He was him, not Leonardo, and their understanding of the role was naturally different.

Therefore, Anson had just asked Steven, but Steven was clearly uninterested, handing over the initiative to Anson.

Involuntarily, Anson began to recall the year he was twenty-five, when his father's business went bankrupt, and he and his mother were reduced to living on the streets overnight. They didn't even have time to pack their luggage and were driven out like stray dogs. The gossip and whispers of the neighbors spread ugly and unpleasant rumors. What was that state of mind?

Anger? Fear?

No, not at all.

Those who have truly experienced it know that everything is too sudden and too fierce. At that moment, there is no time for anger or fear. The first reaction is confusion, and the second is bewilderment. There isn't even a gap to deny reality.

In other words, the third reaction was denial and escape.

Layer upon layer; step upon step.

Thoughts surged in his mind, and Anson involuntarily quieted down.

At this time, looking back at the memories of his previous life, it was not painful, but somewhat dazed. Those things that had actually happened had no sense of reality, as if a dream was playing out before his eyes, and he watched the "movie" playing, staring at the figure of his previous life, yet feeling particularly unfamiliar.

However, his heart slowly settled down, immersed in the bitter sea water.

"Are you okay?"

Suddenly, a thunderclap sounded in his ear. His thoughts disappeared like the tide, and Anson refocused, then saw the face in front of him.

Natalie Baye, the actress who had topped the French César Awards four times and won the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival in 1999, was fifty-three years old this year. She had been in the industry long enough and, like Christopher Walken, was a powerhouse. She was also another harvest from Steven and Tom's visit to Paris.

She was playing Little Frank's mother, Paula Abanel.

A simple greeting, in French, her soft tone particularly gentle.

Anson was slightly stunned, then revealed a smile, "Just adjusting my state, you know, trying to awaken some memories."

Natalie slightly raised her chin, "Method acting?"

She understood immediately, as expected of an industry veteran.

Natalie sat down next to Anson, "Relax. Your performance today has been very good. There's no need to dredge up those memories. Just follow today's feeling and delve deeper. Those emotions accumulate little by little."

"Child, you don't know what's happened."

A simple sentence, but it hit the core.

Anson gently nodded, "Thank you."

Natalie was regretting her meddling. She just saw that the collaboration today was pleasant, so she wanted to offer some help, but she had overlooked that American actors have distinct personalities. One or two of them firmly believe that their color is the most special, refusing to accept the opinions of others; but she didn't expect Anson's response to be so frank and sincere.

Natalie paused slightly, her heart warming, "Just believe in yourself, you can do it."