The Legendary Actor - Chapter 42

“Here, here!” Edith raised her right hand and scratched the side of her cheek, her crisp words had an irrefutable power, her leather jacket was tossed aside, and the sleeves of her T-shirt were lifted up, her power gesture easily showed who was in control of the room, “The expression better be relaxed, you don’t want me coming up to you and adjusting it myself with both hands, do you”

She saw Renly sitting in front of the tall window with his hands spread out. He just shrugged his shoulders in an expression of helplessness. Rami covered his mouth, but he realized he couldn’t stop himself, and it was rare to see Renly’s helpless look.

Renly seemed uncomfortable with the camera lens compared to the video camera lens.

Edith, however, pressed the shutter quickly, capturing the moment accurately, and then looked down to check the results.

In the photo, Renly’s movements were so vivid that it was as if he had actually captured the frame, his thin eyebrows slightly furrowed, his mouth slightly drooping, the emotions in his narrow eyes being alive, a bit teasing, a bit innocent, and a great deal rebellious, were caught by the light, and the moment turned into eternity.

Edith looked up and said in a loud voice, “Okay, that’s it.” Then she saw Renly’s gawking face, and deep down she was laughing her ass off, but on the surface she kept her professionalism intact, “Didn’t you hear? I said, “Okay”. You go to the interview first and then wait for the group photo. Next!”

Without giving Renly time to retort, Edith forced the switch.

Renly stood there speechless for two seconds, but his shoulders finally slumped down as he resignedly left the windowsill and took a step toward the interview area. Edith felt that she could not hold back her smile as she watched Renly’s back full of frustration.

Edith began to study photography, and the first person she photographed was Renly, whom she was very close to. She knows that if he is aware of the camera’s presence, his muscles will become stiff, and often the camera can’t really capture his charm, and sometimes he even looks funny. The brightness of the sunlight lifting the clouds makes people’s moods rise, there is even the illusion of pleasant smell.

Edith was deliberately trying to break Renly’s stiffness, to release this feeling of freedom, so that she would be able to capture the most vivid moment, the unique quality of the film’s development. The film’s unique aroma, which strongly comes off in the film’s development, is as tepid as the scent of tea.

Renly pursed his lips to prevent himself from laughing; he tried to slow down his pace so as to not make it look like he is running away, so he dragged on at a slightly heavier pace, but inside he was already celebrating.

When Edith was first learning photography, she always used him as a model, and no matter what he was doing, Edith was there to “click” – “click” and shoot non-stop for hours at a time, he was almost neurotic, so much so that he always resisted the photo shoot.

When he was taking the final photos for “The Pacific”, the photographer kept saying that he looked as if everyone owed him money. It’s hard for others to relate to him. Some things, even if you are reborn, don’t mean that they will go smooth.

He was ready for today, but it took Edith only five minutes to complete the shoot. Renly let out a long breath and left quickly, but he had to look resigned and frustrated so that Edith would think she had gotten her way, or he would continue to suffer.

The interview area was set up in the bedroom – the outside living room was left free for Edith to play.

Today’s interview is with Vanity Fair, one of the most influential media outlets in Hollywood, the general entertainment magazine.

In addition to the annual Oscar night, the magazine itself has a huge readership, covering entertainment, fashion, sports, photography, and more. The columns, essays, and commentaries are all of an outstanding standard and highly regarded by professionals.

HBO’s $220 million investment in “The Pacific” is almost double that of “Band of Brothers” which topped the list of the most expensive TV series in history; coupled with the appeal of Tom and Steven, the TV series has been a big hit since its inception, and now that it’s finally time to air, it’s only natural that the promotion strategy will not be lacking.

Vanity Fair was about to get its first shoot.

After Jon Seda finished his interview, Renly walked up and sat down across the reporter.

The reporter in front was a woman of about thirty-five years old, her pair of slender legs wearing black stockings is undoubtedly the most eye-catching, while black professional suit though solemn did not hide the wearer’s physical endowment. Everything about her screamed of confidence and strength – on a second thought, if you want to make a name for yourself in the news industry where men have absolute dominance, you either have to posses the advantage of a vase, or absolute strength. She had both.

“Daisy Lucas.” The woman was the first to introduce herself, but before Renly could begin, she followed up with, “Renly Hall, right?”

The feeling of being interviewed is very different from standing in front of the camera. When he stood in front of a camera, he was more excited than nervous, but interviews was black waters to him.

Daisy’s initiative took Renly by surprise, and almost as a reflex, he joked, “You’ve done your homework right.”

The lack of newcomer’s stage fright made Daisy purse her lips, but with just a sigh, she asked, “How does it feel to be a newcomer and to be the main lead in one of the most expensive TV shows in history, “The Pacific”?”

This seems like a perfectly normal question, but Renly smelled danger – this was only his first media interview, and it was a routine propaganda for “The Pacific”. Could it be that “Vanity Fair” had started to take over? Is she actually going to dig a hole? Instead, the tension gradually subsided, “First of all, just like “Band of Brothers”, I don’t think “The Pacific” had just a one protagonist.”

And then Renly smiled, “Of course, it was an amazing experience for me to be a part of it. You know, it’s Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg production, right?” For the first time, he showed his deep-seated passion as a fan: “And again, I watched the “Band of Brothers” series at least ten times. So, it’s crazy, it’s all so crazy to me.”

This time, Daisy began to find it interesting that she was answered casually. In HBO’s official information, Eugene was indeed the main lead, and although the entire series was in three-lead mode, Renly’s name was indeed placed first.

It is a fact that the big names in the movie have been trying their best to compete for the order of appearance in the end credits, but Renly, a pure newcomer, is placed first.

It’s not surprising that the old-fashioned and clever answer from Renly was given in return, and at the same time, there was the excitement of a passionate fan in his voice as well.

“So, after the real deal, how does it feel?” Daisy went along with the question.

What is even more interesting is that sometimes the actors have to cover up their real selves during the interview in order to achieve the publicity effect so they keep the performance going.

“Disappointed.” Renly replied with a chuckle as the thoughts in his mind raced and calmed, and sure enough, he saw a glint of interest in Daisy’s eyes, “They were either too busy to shoot, or too busy to care about anything else. I talked to Tom and Steven less times than I could count on one hand, all until the set was finished. I guess that’s real life.”

Daisy laughed softly at the quip, “It’s true. So, how did you feel after you finished shooting “The Pacific” as your first film? Is it the same disappointment?”

In fact, the focus of today’s interview should have been “The Pacific”, as the entire cast isn’t that well-known, so the interview should have only focused on the show either directly or in roundabout ways, like learning more about the shooting and behind-the-scenes episodes. But Daisy couldn’t help but start leaning her questions toward Renly himself.

“I’d say lost, and somewhat regretful, I guess. But I’m sure I wouldn’t want to do it all over again, because the whole shoot was so hard.” As the interview progressed, the tension completely disappeared, and Renly gradually became accustomed to the rhythm of the conversation.

After all, it was the first interview, so Renly was still slightly excited, the pace was a little faster than usual, while interviewing, especially when he recalled the shooting in his mind, this feeling was really special, “Before the official shooting, we had organized a boot camp, like a “Band of Brothers”, at that time we thought, maybe we will be spent and our bodies returning in the caskets on the plane. But then we realized that getting through boot camp was just the beginning. I think that’s how the crew wanted us to experience the shock of actually going to war.”

“Haha!” Daisy couldn’t help it and just laughed out loud.