From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Knock, knock.

Edgar's fingertips gently tapped the table as thoughts raced through his mind.

Then, his fingers stopped.

"Is your relationship with Brad Pitt really that terrible?"

Anson shrugged lightly, "I can't tell you exactly, because the decision isn't mine to make. But after everything that's happened, I strongly doubt Brad would consider me a friend."

He paused for a moment, then added.

"Matt is the same. We're not enemies, but… we're not exactly friends either."

It was a slightly complicated situation to explain.

It wasn't necessarily that George Clooney would resist Anson's appearance; nor was it that Brad Pitt and Matt Damon would necessarily make things difficult for Anson, but rather that Jeff's beautiful blueprint might not necessarily align with George's plans.

Hollywood is like this: if it's an unavoidable job, like the Emmy Awards red carpet, then they'll all put on a mask and show professionalism, working together to perform the act.

But if it's not, top actors also have their own preferences and temperaments, and there's no need to force themselves to endure unpleasantness if cooperation can be avoided.

"Ocean's Twelve" was the latter: George organized a group of close friends, half-work, half-vacation, hoping to maintain a relaxed and happy mood.

So, with so many top actors in Hollywood, and given that the role wasn't indispensable for Anson, would George really risk disrupting the atmosphere of the crew by inviting Anson?

Or, even if George welcomed Anson's joining with open arms, he might not be willing to change his plans and give the position of the twelfth member of the Ocean's crew to Anson.

Moreover, from a publicity perspective, assuming Anson really joined, with Anson's current momentum, almost all viewers would guess that Anson was the twelfth member of the Ocean's crew, wouldn't that be a spoiler? It wouldn't have the surprise that Julia Roberts brought as the hidden twelfth member.

From all perspectives, Anson was a choice, but not the best choice.

However, all of this was just speculation, based on the situation and inferences made from the information.

So, Anson looked at Edgar, "Why don't you communicate with the producer again to confirm the positioning?"

"Hey, Captain, if they need me, my schedule is completely free right now, time is no problem."

Anyway, he hadn't decided on his next project, and both "Spider-Man 2" and "The Princess Diaries 2" were already in pre-production, so Anson's schedule was temporarily free.

Edgar didn't argue any further, nodding to indicate that he understood.

Instead, Anson sensed Edgar's psychological gap and couldn't help but comfort him, "Whether it succeeds or not, the fact that I can enter the crew's line of sight is a breakthrough, after all, this is George Clooney and his buddies."

A joke brought a smile back to Edgar's face.

Then, Anson flipped through the last two scripts.

Somewhat surprisingly, both scripts were of the romance genre; but on second thought, it wasn't surprising, Edgar's strategy was obvious.

A hypothesis: Now Anson has broken the stereotype of middle school students through "Catch Me If You Can"—the reason for saying hypothesis is because they temporarily have no way of knowing the market feedback, and the opportunity to test whether the general public accepts Anson's different image is the next work.

"Elephant," is still a middle school student.

"The Butterfly Effect," is a college student.

Naturally, the works selected now will be the real key.

If the movie box office can be successful, it means that Anson has broken away from the student image and established adult charm, opening the door to a whole new world.

Here, different choices also mean different routes to take next.

"National Treasure" or "Ocean's Twelve" are both considered crime/adventure/action movies, and Anson can then make more commercial blockbusters, including but not limited to action, science fiction, adventure, disaster, etc.

Romance movies, on the other hand, are a different route, and the direction of future filming may focus on comedy, romance, drama, suspense, etc.

Of course, this is only a relative tendency, not an absolute division. After an actor opens up his acting career, he can often jump back and forth in different types of movies. There are quite a few actors like Tom Cruise and Will Smith who can kill people single-handedly and talk about love.

But!

The tendency has always existed, because every time an actor jumps out of their comfort zone and breaks free from constraints, it means risk and challenge, and they must face the risk of failure—

Sandra Bullock's attempt is like this.

As far as Edgar is concerned, he personally prefers Anson to choose the romance genre.

The reason is very simple: the academy.

In the prejudice of Hollywood's academy, action movies have long been labeled as muscular, violent, and simple. It's not that these movies aren't exciting, but that these movies test the actor's skills rather than the actor's acting skills, so they will also enjoy the movies in the theater, but they won't vote for them at the Oscars.

Exceptions always exist, but the process of breaking prejudice is very, very difficult.

If it was just "Spider-Man," Edgar wouldn't have so many ideas; but "Catch Me If You Can" and "The Butterfly Effect" made Edgar see more possibilities.

Edgar has an idea in his mind that he hasn't told Anson yet and doesn't plan to say, to avoid giving Anson unnecessary pressure:

Tom Hanks.

Edgar believes that Anson can follow Tom Hanks' development path.

When Tom Hanks was young, he was also a cream-colored young man from youth movies, and he starred in a series of comedies and romance movies. "Sleepless in Seattle" is just the most famous and well-known one; but at the same time, he can also appear in dramas, historical and biographical movies, showing his acting talent and conquering the academy.

In fact, romance and comedy also need to be subdivided. There are countless small types under the big type, and they are also objects that the academy doesn't like, especially comedy. The academy often associates them with clowns, idols, vases, etc., and these labels are not good either.

Not everyone can become Tom Hanks.

Despite this, Edgar still outlined a blueprint in his mind.

Today, he brought a total of five scripts for Anson, each script has a deep meaning.

It is precisely because of this that when Anson left Edgar behind, hoping that they would communicate and reach a consensus, Edgar also gladly stayed behind.

Indeed, they need to discuss the next step, make full use of the current advantages, firmly grasp the initiative, and plan Anson's career.

Among the five scripts, there are two romance scripts.

Moreover, not just any romance script, Edgar has also carefully selected them, and easily, he immediately caught Anson's attention, and I have to admire Edgar's sharp eyes in sifting through the sand.

One is "50 First Dates".

The other is "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind".