The Legendary Actor - Chapter 63

Roy had to take a deep breath and adjust his own thoughts to explain emphatically, “”Thor” is a top production, and Marvel and Paramount had so much confidence in the project that they gave it a budget of $150 million! One hundred and fifty million, that’s the average investment level for blockbusters today.”

As the official agent of the Screen Actors Guild of America, Roy takes on almost all independent production offers, because every agent knows that ninety-five percent of big production projects with $100 million or more investment are in the hands of the top agents at the five major agencies, and no other agent has access to those resources, let alone a top investment like $150 million – and that’s for one of the hottest comic book adaptation projects of the past two years!

“It is a top project and a male lead, and you know that 99% of the male actors in Hollywood are willing to just strip off and climb into the producer’s bed for such an audition, not even caring if that producer is a man or a woman!” Roy’s vivid analogy made Renly laugh lightly, which Roy found even more puzzling.

“No, even if it’s just an audition opportunity, that’s enough to get your name out there in the community. “Roy powerfully emphasized that opportunity is a delicate thing for Hollywood, and sometimes just an audition opportunity with a top agent, or a top producer, or a top production, is enough to turn an actor’s future upside down.

Instead of rushing to interrupt Roy, Renly listened with a smile and made sure Roy finished before he spoke, “I know, I know all that. But I also know that once the audition is successful, what it means-” Renly paused, “-is a minimum of five, maybe even six movie deals; it means full publicity with Marvel, with little or no room for development of one’s own. Meaning, the label of commercial actor will stay with me for a long time.”

The most iconic example was Chris Evans, who was active in teenage school comedies before hitting the big time, continuing his career by selling his muscles and being goofy and funny, before he was cast in “Captain America” by Disney, who completed its acquisition of Marvel Entertainment.

Chris signed six movie deals at the time, each for a mere $300,000. The movie became a hit, and Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man was already paid as much as $40 million, so Disney gave Chris a token increase in his salary and the right to a box office bonus.

More importantly, of course, “Captain America” became a label, and even a shackle, for Chris for the next six or seven years, and his acting career was almost completely mired in the mud, with the exception of the Marvel movies. Not only because the screen image was fixed after the success of the movie, but also because Marvel’s contract required the actor to maintain a positive image in order to cooperate with the publicity, in other words, in and out of the movie, in and out of life, all received restrictions.

In fact, not only Chris, but almost all the main actors in the Marvel film series faced the same problem. Even Robert Downey Jr. was no exception. After the disastrous failure of his other works outside of Marvel, he focused on exploring the potential of the “Sherlock Holmes” series in hopes of expanding his career.

Success is Marvel, and failure is also Marvel.

Roy didn’t say anything right away, but instead he fell silent and gave it some serious thought, “You’re not interested in commercial movies?”. That’s the only explanation Roy could come up with.

From the solid acting in “The Pacific” to the balladry of “Cleopatra” to the polished acting in Broadway, it was evident in all the details.

Renly is an artistically inclined actor who is bound to seek more breakthroughs exactly in acting, so it’s not surprising that he refuses to work in commercial films.

For Hollywood, the nature of the actor’s category is very important. To make a simple and rough distinction, there are artistic actors and commercial actors. As the names imply, the former are mainly active in independent art films and break into Hollywood with their solid acting skills, while the latter are mainly in commercial films, where box office appeal and audience affinity is their key to being among the top tier.

Although commercial film actors often act in art films in hopes of impressing others and vice versa, it is much more difficult for them to succeed across borders. This is one of the reasons why Steven Spielberg’s position in the industry is so special, and also one of the major factors that make Meryl Streep’s position in the industry so highly regarded.

The fiasco of “Batman and Robin” led Warner Bros. to shelve the role of Batman for a decade, which made George stay away from commercial movies and concentrate on art films.

The other is Scarlett Johansson, who showed great potential as a rising actress in “Lost in Tokyo,” “Girl with a Pearl Earring” and “Match Point” during her debut, and after playing the Black Widow in “Iron Man 2” she achieved unparalleled commercial success, but was never able to win over the academy in the arts.

It is at this point that the importance of an agent can be seen. The agent has a clear picture of the actor’s future, when he or she should take on an art film, when he or she should act in a commercial film to increase exposure, how he or she should select for a commercial film, and whether he or she should focus on building a network of directors, producers, and so on for an art film, or whether he or she should act simply because of the script.

All of this is a very delicate matter and a bargaining chip for top agents to get a ten percent bonus.

“But if that’s the case, all the more reason for you to audition.” Roy suggested, in a professional manner, “not for the sake of a successful audition, but to increase your exposure. Only then will you have enough freedom to choose your work in the future. Otherwise, with a label of a newcomer, no one knows about you at all, and even audition opportunities are almost non existent, so what’s the point of talking about the future positioning?”

Over-ambitiousness is a fault of every new actor.

“First of all, if you’re auditioning for a role, it’s natural to do your best to get the part, isn’t it?” The answer of Renly stunned Roy, that confident posture really can’t be refuted, Roy can’t help but become a bit dumbfounded, “Secondly, I am interested in commercial movies, in fact, I think acting in commercial movies should be a very wonderful experience, if there is an opportunity, I will try my best to get it.”

Although they don’t require much of an acting test, Renly has always believed that the charisma and depth that an actor brings to a role has nothing to do with the subject matter, as was the case with Matt Damon’s solid performance in “Bourne”, not to mention Heath Ledger’s legendary performance in “Batman: The Dark Knight”.

Imagine yourself in the magical world of “The Lord of the Rings” or “Harry Potter” or the spy world of “James Bond” or the majestic cosmic world of “Star Wars”, all of which you can’t experience in real life.

Being able to try different flavors of life is why Renly always remains passionate about his career as an actor. So, not only did Renly not reject it, but he was also eager to try it out.

It’s just that a comic book movie doesn’t work for him, at least not a main character. Because Renly knew very well that if he acted, he would not be able to get rid of the shackles; if he were to play a villain in a comic book movie, Renly thought it would be a good proposal.

“I’m just not interested in Thor, but if it’s Loki, I’ll give it a shot.” Renly’s answer almost made Roy’s eyes go out the window – give up the lead role and choose a supporting role? If it’s a top actor, that’s fine, but is Renly just a fledgling? This … this … is simply a fantasy.

Roy swallowed a mouthful of saliva and suddenly didn’t know what to say. He was willing to audition for the role of Loki, but not Thor. “You know, you don’t have the bargaining power,”

Renly smiled and shrugged, “So I just chose to turn it down, anyway.” Renly also knew that such an opportunity was rare indeed, but it just wasn’t what he was looking for, “But I’m really not interested in playing a superhero. I don’t think I have the superhero quality.” Afterwards, Renly laughed to himself, looking relaxed and pleased with himself.

He knew what he wanted, had clear goals and clear preferences, and would not easily compromise, but would also not easily give up. When such a person enters Hollywood, his path may be a bit twisted at first, but if he is given a chance, he will be able to grasp it firmly in his hands and shine brightly.

Suddenly, Roy realized, is “The Pacific” such an opportunity? The invitation to audition for “Thor” may have been the first sign.

“Phew …” Roy let out a long breath and reorganized his thoughts, “I’ll tell you what, I’ll bring the script here, you take it back and read it.” Seeing that Renly wanted to say something else, Roy stopped him this time and continued, “If you find the script interesting and plan to audition, then this gives you a chance to at least go in front of the producers and say you want to play the role of Loki.”

Renly didn’t laugh this time.

“If you’re not interested, you’ll give me a call then, and I’ll handle that aspect of the comic book.” The role of the bad guy still had to be filled by an agent, otherwise the studio’s bad impression of the actor would be irreversible.