The Legendary Actor - Chapter 65

“Thor”

Just seeing this cover, Chris’s heart suddenly beat fast, hitting his chest hard, and because it was so intense his chest became dull and painful, the raging excitement was so sudden and fierce that it caught him off guard, as if his sternum was about to shatter.

Pupils began to slowly dilate, mind abound with thoughts that stormed his temples.

Recently, the industry has been inundated with news about the casting of “Thor”, and the selection of the lead actor is even more boisterous, with the latest news updated almost every day, some of them true and some of them false, and it’s hard to tell the difference.

So far, the rumors have included Brad Pitt, Channing Tatum, Daniel Craig, Charlie Hunnam, Alexander Skarsgard, Joel Kinnaman, and many more.

Even top entertainment magazines like Entertainment Weekly focused on the casting of Thor.

Moreover, Paramount and Marvel were so impressed with the project that they even invited Kenneth Branagh to direct it.

Kenneth is not a commercial director, he is a typical theater director of British origin, specializing in scene control and artistic precipitation. He won the Oscar nomination for Best Director and Best Actor twenty years ago for writing and directing “Henry V”. His work always retains the characteristics of the stage, but still overflowing with the realism of cinema. Not only in Hollywood, but even on a global scale, he is a highly recognized director.

The original comic book for “Thor” was inspired by Norse mythology, and it’s clear that Paramount wanted Kenneth to bring a sense of Shakespearean epic to the film and create a commercial blockbuster that would both be well received critically and a box office hit.

Chris had stayed in Los Angeles for over a month, mainly for “Thor”! Not only him, but his brother Liam Hemsworth was also aggressively pursuing the role. But the problem was that they didn’t even get an audition!

Yes, they traveled all over Los Angeles, and their agents were constantly looking for ways to win the opportunity to present themselves to the producers, in order to succeed as leading actors in top-tier productions. From the size of the investment to the preparation of the casting and even the airtight audition invitations, everything showed that this was a work that could make any nobody fly!

That’s what he came to Hollywood for, isn’t it?

It took Chris’ agent a lot of effort to hear about the audition, but it was hard to get on the waiting list for it. Even if they are newcomers, the agents behind them are all incredibly powerful, definitely above Chris himself.

After a month of tossing and turning, he came back to New York empty-handed, with nothing to show for it. Liam was still in Los Angeles, snooping around, keeping him informed.

But now, with the “Thor” script right in front of him, so close to him, Chris felt a little short of brain capacity for a moment, as if the whole world was falling apart.

So, what’s going on here?

Does … does it mean that Renly got an audition invitation for “Thor”? Did Marvel Studios even voluntarily submit the script to Renly? And Renly did it without the help of an agent? Could it be that…”

Did Renly get on Paramount’s radar with just one film, “The Pacific”? Or did Tom and Steven, the two producers, endorse Renly behind the scenes? Could it be that Renly, who insisted on polishing himself on Broadway, was finally seen for the talent that made Kenneth famous in Shakespeare’s plays? So, what did Renly say? Did he say yes or did he refuse?

Seeing the script just sitting there on the shelf, seemingly unappreciated, does it mean that Renly rejected it?

To Chris, Renly was an idealist, with all the talent but always with unrealistic dreams and a refusal to compromise on reality, or worse, Renly probably didn’t actually have any talent at all – not that he saw any anyway, and his performance in “The Pacific” might’ve been mediocre.

Over the past year, as is always the case, he’s been one, maybe even three or four steps ahead of Renly in his career, with leading roles in movies with big names like Sean Bean, and the next step being a leading man in a top-tier production like … “Thor”.

As for Renly, he just finished acting in his first film, a TV series, and his career is just starting, very slowly, not to mention becoming a leading actor in a big production, and even acting in the next one is not that easy. The distance between them is growing little by little, and the rate at which it is growing is increasing.

It doesn’t matter if Steven Spielberg was behind it or not, or if Kenneth Branagh was impressed by the performance in “The Pacific” or not, or for any other reason.

Chris’s cheeks burned with an unspeakable anger that nearly incinerated him to pieces, and the shame ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, as he recalled in his mind that he had just mocked and lectured Renly, now turning out to be a big joke!

Fake, this has to be fake! Beyond that, there is no other explanation!

Chris told himself that, but what was left of his senses was telling him that it didn’t make sense – why would Renly produce a fake “Thor” script? Not to mention that Renly had no idea what was going on in Hollywood, so how could he lock exactly on “Thor” at once? Even if he knew, why would he do it? Is it just a prank? To spur him on?

He couldn’t help but clench his fists, his muscles trembling slightly. Fake or real? True or false? Just open it up and take a look, that’s all. No, that won’t work, if you’re sure it’s a fake, then it’s a prank, but what if … What if that’s true? What should he do?

When his fingertips touched the cover of the script, the roughness of the texture almost burned his fingertips, but he still gritted his teeth and grasped the script firmly, like a chestnut in a fire, and quickly grabbed it, his right hand trembling, as he opened the script.

He was so nervous that he actually tried three times before opening the cover of the script.

He quickly perused it, his eyes scanning rapidly, his heart gently trembling, and even the whistling noise in his ears could be heard, but his vision was incomparably clear, word for word, as if he were a printing machine, deeply burning everything into his mind.

This is true, this is true, this is indeed the script of “Thor”.

The shock was so extreme that Chris seemed to be struck by lightning, and his whole body froze in place, unable to move at all. Renly had really become “Thor” audition choice! What’s even more ridiculous is that he just threw it on the shelf with no respect.

“Should I take this opportunity?”

After the idea sprouted in his mind, it could no longer be stopped, like a prairie fire, it spread rapidly and uncontrollably.

Chris turned his head to the door, and then scanned the hall, afraid of Renly’s sudden appearance, the guilt and nervousness made his steps like a dance on a blade, but the deep desire, greed and hopes were burning deep inside, the thrilling sense of danger and the touch of reality made all the cells in his body start to jump.

Anyway, Renly was not interested in commercial movies, which he instead desperately wanted, so even if he took it for himself, it wouldn’t hurt, would it? Right? Am I right? This a natural and logical thing to do, no?

Before Chris realized it, his feet had crossed the entire hall, into his room. He closed the door with force and jumped, the whole body dead against the walls, gasping like a cow, sweating like rain. The sweat of his hands had wet the script, yet as he looked at the script in his hands, uncontrollable joy emerged, the kind of madness. It swept in like a tornado.

“Chris? The conditioner is about to run out, remember to record it in the shopping list.” Renly’s voice came from the hall, and Chris jumped up, ran left and right in confusion, and finally shoved the script directly under the mattress.

Quickly wiping the sweat from your hands, he opened the door to his room and walked out calmly, “What are you going to do now? Aren’t you going to sleep?”

Renly paused as he walked into the room and turned to look at Chris with a speechless look on his face, “I just took my clothes to be washed, I have to wait for them to be washed and get dry.

“Ah.” Chris responded, but his over-stressed brain was working at an alarming rate, “So … what are you going to do then?”

Looking at Chris with a strange expression, Renly frowned slightly, which made Chris’s heart jump to his throat – did Renly notice something strange? So, what should he do? What to do? But then Renly scoffed, “I don’t work out, anyway.”

Chris followed up with a couple of dry chuckles, “Oh, oh, oh. I know you don’t.” His mouth was so dry that it almost had a bitter taste, “I … I’m going to take a shower, I’m all sweaty.” Chris said a casual sentence, then fell away and went back to his room.