The Legendary Actor - Chapter 62

When Roy Lockley arrived at Pioneer Village, it was three minutes after eight. It was rush hour for the wine&dine industry as Roy was surprised to see three groups of people waiting for tables at the door. However, after asking around, Roy discovered that Renly had reserved a table for him in advance, and so he was able to skip the line and go straight to the bar.

After finding his place, the usher said enthusiastically, “Wait here for a moment, Renly will be right over.”

Sure enough, within a short time, Renly walked over quickly, “Good evening, Mr. Lockley.” After a polite greeting, he handed over the menu, “It’s a busy time, so if you haven’t had your dinner yet, you can take your time and I’ll come back when this is over, okay?”

Roy was stunned, looking in front of him stood a dude in a dark blue printed shirt, shirt sleeves casually rolled up, black tie tucked into the gap between the third and fourth button – convenient for work yet still sharp, giving an interesting flavor. Such a scene made Roy really have some reaction, but he still reflexively nodded his head, and then Renly quickly introduced the menu, leaving Roy some time to decide as he turned straight away to leave.

After two brief encounters, Roy thought he had prepared himself enough for Renly’s casualness and spontaneity, but he still felt a strong sense of absurdity at the moment.

He, as an agent, had gone door-to-door to find the actor himself, informed him of an audition invitation, and yet here is the actor doing his odd job and so competently at that…. What kind of dedication is this? Or is it actually being unprofessional? Roy felt a little confused. In the past years, he handled a thousand or eight hundred actors, but meeting someone like Renly, this was the first time in his life.

Thinking of this, Roy couldn’t help but laugh dumbly.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Renly walked over with a steady pace and sat down in front of Roy.

Although anxious, his pace and breathing were not disordered, and the grace and cultivation shown between his hands and feet was really different. If Roy’s impression of Renly was still a bit vague before, it was becoming clearer now.

“It’s okay, it was a great show tonight.” The wall always showed that it was just after ten o’clock, the wait was indeed longer than expected, but Roy wasn’t lying, this was his first moment of relaxation, real relaxation in these two months, “I hear you occasionally perform on stage?”

Usually, Roy didn’t like to talk to actors, and he was quick to do his job. But Renly was different, and he could always get something out of each brief conversation.

“The occasional cameo.” Tonight’s performance was by an indie folk band that used unique instruments such as African drums, sand hammers, and saxophones to create a sense of unrestrained freedom in their folk music, which was quite special, “I’m not sure how you feel, but the music always calms me and keeps me focused.” Renly looked at Roy again and smiled, “I mean, besides sleeping.”

Roy was amused, “I feel the same way you do. However, I thought you were the type who liked classical music.”

“God, I guess I need to change my image, . Am I usually that old-fashioned in your impression? You’re only the second person today to offer a different view of my image.” Renly’s quip made Roy laugh.

Roy shrugged, “I don’t have a deep knowledge of accents, but I still have no problem with a pure London accent.” And Renly’s manners in raising his hands and feet, which are habits that go deep into the marrow of one’s bones, can tell a lot about a person’s background.

Take accent as an example, picky and arrogant British people will not only distinguish between London accent and other regional accents, but also between East London accent and West London accent, and those small details of word usage and intonation often become the first basis for British people to judge family background the moment they open their mouths.

“It seems that switching to a New York accent should be my top priority,” said Renly. Renly shook his head solemnly, and his seriousness was a real turn-on.

“Your Texan accent is just as convincing,” Roy commented pertinently.

Langly raised an eyebrow, “But it’s not so popular in New York.” The North American continent generally discriminates against the middle of the two coasts, the north against the south, and the United States against Canada above and Mexico below. New York, which considers itself to be a cultural leader, is certainly “the best of the best”, comparable to London.

“Haha, it’s true.” Roy nodded in affirmation, “Aren’t you curious as to what the offer for the work was?” Roy was going to keep chatting, but his professional/instincts couldn’t help but pop up.

“Oh, right.” It dawned on Renly, “So, what exactly was the invitation? I’ve been very curious this afternoon.”

Looking at Renly’s unruffled appearance, Roy didn’t feel the tightness in his chest, but rather found it interesting. He was even more eager to see how Renly would react when he heard about the offer, “”Thor”, from Marvel and Paramount Pictures, they want you to audition for Thor! Thor the protagonist.”

In the long history of film development, comic book adaptations can be divided into three eras, the first era before 1978 there is almost no market for comic book adaptations, Marvel and DC two comic book companies only fought for a niche market.

In 1978, Christopher Reeve’s “Superman” exploded, starting the twenty years of dominance of DC Comics in the movie market; in 2002, “Spider-Man” exploded again as it teamed up with “X-Men” to carve out the future for comic book adaptations. But at that stage, comic book adaptations were like double-edged sword, win big, lose big.

In the third phase, after 2008, with the debut of “Iron Man”, comic book adaptations became a brand new genre of movies, and even a pillar of the movie market.

Just last month, “Iron Man 2” was released in North America, and it hit $128 million in its opening weekend, ranking fifth in movie history. The four-week cumulative box office has now reached 275 million, which is a sure sign that it will pass the 300 million threshold, and it can be said that it has brought the wave of comic book adaptations to a new height.

It is against this background that “Thor” was put on the agenda, and it is not an exaggeration to describe it as an attention-grabbing film.

“Thor, Thor?” Renly’s first reaction was to be stunned, not because of the huge investment in the film, but because Thor’s on-screen persona was so different from that of Eugene in “The Pacific”. If it was Ang Lee’s version of “Hulk”, it could be argued that Ang Lee wanted to show the stark contrast between Bruce Banner before and after his transformation, so he might have chosen Renly to audition, but Thor? From a casting standpoint, Renly couldn’t understand the connection.

“Hanks has not been shy about praising your potential on at least three occasions at private parties. The performances presented in “The Pacific” were also convincing enough. Frankly, many studios now think you’re the next Brad Pitt.” Roy’s simple explanation dawned on Renly.

But when he heard the last sentence, Renly couldn’t help but laugh. Brad Pitt.

Of course, when Brad was just starting out with “Legends of the Fall”, “Twelve Monkeys”, “Seven” and “Fight Club”, he did win a lot of praise for his performance, but Brad was never a good actor, or rather he stopped to be one.

If that’s how they define Renly, then, well, Renly is out of luck. “I’m not interested in comic book adaptations” Renly replied.

Roy was stunned. He guessed that Renly would respond in different ways, including, of course, “no,” but he never expected that Renly would reject the proposal so bluntly, without even thinking or hesitating. This … is simply too unbelievable, Roy felt his heart a bit unable to carry on beating, so he took a big sip of refreshing beer, and another big sip, he needed to squeeze out the shock.

“Renly, do you have any idea how much investment there is in this production?” Roy believes that Renly may have been a pure newcomer who didn’t know the industry inside out, and that’s why he turned it down so simply.

In the Hollywood casting process, there is an unwritten rule that in order to become a leading role in a top-tier production, whether it’s a leading man or a leading woman, it has to go through a certain amount of training. While there are always Hollywood fairy tales of overnight success, examples such as Megan Fox in “Transformers” or Joe Alwyn in “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” this is definitely not always the case. That actually is really rare.

Most of the time, actors need a certain foundation to lay, mostly unknown small productions, using their own performance as leverage to impress the top big name producers through the finesse of top agents. A resume of work, a good performance, and a top agent are indispensable. The fastest time to go from being an unknown actor to being the lead actor in a top production is two to three years.

When Francis Parker saw Renly’s performance in “The Pacific”, he called Tom Hanks and said he could push Renly into the top tier in three years. This time frame was not just talk, but a reflection of real life.

Now, after appearing in just a one TV series without an agent’s endorsement, Renly has entered the casting process for a top-tier blockbuster – a mere audition invitation, but one that means Renly will be able to talk face-to-face with the big-name producers, regardless of whether the audition is successful or not.

For example, the next time a big production comes along, Renly’s name will be on those producers’ desks, even if he doesn’t have a top agent to help run it. It’s exactly one in a million chance, and the opportunity that no one else would be able to win after three years of hard work is now in front of Renly, and it’s definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

But Renly actually refused! Even as calm as Roy was, he was now on the verge of dislocating his jaw for good.