From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Rachel McAdams was warning herself not to make a fuss, not to panic, not to lose her composure; however, even clenching her fists with all her might, she could hardly control the butterflies fluttering in her stomach, and she felt a little dizzy even bathing in the late autumn sunshine.

Excitement. Elation. Joy.

In fact, Rachel had almost prepared to give up. Despite the rumored investment cost of "The Butterfly Effect" being only ten million dollars, thanks to Anson's involvement, it had long become a topic of conversation in Hollywood, with actors lining up one after another, hoping to bask in the spotlight.

Countless outstanding actors.

The moment her agent called to tell her she had landed the role, she almost fell off the sofa, repeatedly confirming it several times, still unable to believe it.

"The Butterfly Effect" would be Rachel's first work as a leading actress.

The leading role had always been just an imagination and illusion appearing in her dreams, but now it was about to become a reality, and it didn't feel real at all.

More than once, Rachel had self-doubts:

Why did the crew choose her? Was she really suitable for the role? Without any acting experience, wouldn't she be a disaster for the crew? What if the movie failed? What if, after filming started, she didn't know how to act at all and became a burden to the crew?

During that time, Rachel kept having the same dream:

When she arrived at "The Butterfly Effect" set to report for duty, the director asked with a puzzled look, "Why are you here?"

She was driven out of the crew amidst a burst of laughter.

Then, she would wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, sitting in the darkness, terrified and uneasy, but不敢致电经纪人, asking him to confirm with the crew again.

Such nightmares tormented her again and again, her feet seemed to quietly leave the ground, suspended in mid-air, struggling desperately but still unable to escape.

Until now, standing on the soil of Vancouver, gazing at Anson within reach, did a sense of reality slowly transmit from the soles of her feet.

Take a deep breath, another deep breath, Rachel secretly cheered herself on—

She had read the script over and over again more than fifty times, so much so that the script had frayed edges; and she had sorted out the causal relationships along different timelines, peeling back the layers of the story to reconstruct the world, trying to confirm the position of each character in different time and space.

Reading. Research. Deliberation.

This was the only thing she could do, like a life-saving straw, every time she woke up from a nightmare, she would pick up the script and reread it.

Everyone said that Anson was just a pretty face, and the success of "Spider-Man" and "The Princess Diaries" was only due to his appearance; but Rachel had performed opposite Anson, even if it was just an audition, it was enough to let Rachel know how ridiculous and one-sided those rumors were.

Rachel hoped that she could firmly grasp the opportunity.

Although there was no formal performance opportunity yet, Rachel still completed the preparation process according to her own ideas.

Those doubts, those worries, those fears did not disappear, they still existed objectively, but Rachel was not prepared to let them gain the upper hand.

Then.

Rachel saw Aaron, and also saw Anson. On an impulse, she made a salute gesture towards Anson—

Damn it.

Rachel completely couldn't understand why she did that, regretting it as soon as she finished the action.

Unexpectedly, the smile on the corner of Anson's mouth slightly raised, his index and middle fingers closed together, placed at the corner of his eyebrow, gently touching it, a chic and casual posture, gently rippling in that pool of sparkling blue, like a pebble thrown into Rachel's heart lake.

Ripples, slowly spreading.

Rachel burst into a sweet and sunny smile, easily grabbing the attention of those around her, and for a moment, even made Anson pale in comparison.

Mickey paused slightly on his way to the camera position, watching this scene, and instantly understood why Anson chose Rachel to play the lead actress—

Wonderful.

From a film effect point of view, the chemistry between the male and female protagonists is particularly important, this is a selling point; at the same time, Rachel's sweetness is not suitable for this role, because she falls into the mortal world and into the abyss several times in the movie, embarrassed and muddy, Rachel's temperament is difficult to show such complexity.

However, from the theme of the movie, what is really important is Evan's obsession, a kind of obsession that falls into madness and cocoons himself, strangling himself, the source of everything is the imagination of happiness—

A pure, clean, simple, and natural emotion.

That is Rachel.

Mickey can see such purity in Rachel, the purity that represents happiness and represents beauty, and the movie scenes in his mind naturally become vivid and alive.

Mickey suddenly realized that this is the so-called cinematic sense.

Although the crew up and down are all novices, obviously, Anson assumed the responsibility of the producer, showing his maturity and wisdom, from the selection of key roles such as the assistant director and the production staff, to the selection and finalization of actors, and then to the division of labor and cooperation of the crew's professional work, all are advancing in an orderly manner, laying the foundation for the details before the movie starts shooting.

If the movie fails, people always simply and rudely push the responsibility to the director or the actors; similarly, if the movie succeeds, some people also say cool words "It's just that". Whether it is the former or the latter, they are just toads who say "If I were to do it, I could do it too", without any concept of the complexity and difficulty of film production, not even just movies, but also in life.

In fact, from the moment the movie project is established, every detail is crucial—

Scenery. Styling. Photography. Art design. Script. Actors.

And so on and so on.

This is Anson's first time as a producer, but his previous experience working odd jobs on the crew helped a lot, and the filming experience of "Elephant" was also valuable experience, completing the arrangement one link at a time, if Anson didn't know anything, then he would believe Tom Hanks's suggestion:

Give it to professionals.

At this time, the importance of contacts is highlighted, not only Darren Star, David Crane, Jeff Robinov, and Steven Spielberg have given more or less help, Edgar has also completed work outside of his agent duties, helping Anson build the "Butterfly Effect" crew.

Finally, there are the actors.

Whether it is Aaron Taylor-Johnson or Rachel McAdams, all of them have been carefully considered and carefully selected, they are not all.

The actor who plays seven-year-old Evan in the movie is also a future star, Logan Lerman, a young actor who transitioned from child star to teenager with the "Percy Jackson" series, and whose career also includes well-known works such as "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and "Fury".

This time, Logan and Aaron will respectively play Anson's childhood at different times, and Marcia spent countless efforts to finally select two young handsome guys, convincing the audience that they may become Anson's evildoer when they grow up.

But the real surprise is elsewhere—

"Hey, Heath, over here." Anson called out loudly, smiling, as if he saw an old friend.