The Legendary Actor - Chapter 72

The street of Amsterdam was filled with the smell of dampness, the air was sticky from the heavy heat, and the restlessness and turmoil made people always want to do something, but they couldn’t lift their spirits; the Victorian buildings on both sides of the street had the taste of antiquity, moss, rust and red brick, and the dense moisture lingered between the brick walls, as if crossing the Atlantic Ocean, from Manhattan to London’s Knights Street.

At the Hello New York Youth Hostel near the intersection of 103rd Avenue, travelers from all over the world, whose plans had been disrupted by the sudden downpour, as they stopped in the lobby on the first floor to look for like-minded friends.

Rodrigo Corts sat slumped on a red lazy couch with a copy of “Discovery” in his hand, but he hasn’t turned the page in almost ten minutes, as he was clearly distracted.

This time, he had come all the way to the United States to find the right actor for “Buried”, and he and screenwriter Chris Sparling were well aware of how important a great actor was to the project.

His first target was Ryan Reynolds, and after seeing Ryan’s performance in “The Nines,” he was impressed by his natural depth of character, and he believed they could make a great production if Ryan were to be cast in “Buried”.

But at the same time, he also knew that Ryan could already be considered a second-tier actor in Hollywood now, and his two films “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and “The Proposal” last year had won him a lot of popularity.

So, on the one hand, he wrote a formal invitation, sent it through the Actors Guild channels to Ryan’s agent, and waited to hear back; on the other hand, he put out an announcement at the Actors Guild that he was looking for an actor, hoping to find another suitable one.

Two weeks went by and he still had no luck. Ryan was still nowhere to be seen or heard from; there were quite a few auditions, thirteen or so, but the performances were far from what he had hoped for, and some of the auditions were so awkward that he couldn’t bear to watch them.

Although Rodrigo knew that “Buried” was not an attractive project in the first place, the results were still frustrating.

New York is a high-end city, and even though he was living in a youth hostel, two weeks still consumed most of his budget, and at this pace, he had to wait in New Jersey, where, as a director without much seniority or resume, he had only few options. New Jersey is geographically inconvenient. It take more than 90 minutes to get into downtown, and it is also lagging more than a little behind in terms of resources.

At this rate, “Buried” start date will remain indefinite.

“Hey, man, why the sad face? A laughing voice came over and disturbed Rodrigo’s thoughts, looked up, and then saw a black man with dreadlocks, wearing a colorful short-sleeved T-shirt and a big smile on his face, walking over to him and fist bumping, “What, the movie project didn’t go so well?”

Rodrigo shrugged his shoulders and smiled bitterly, “Hollywood is much more difficult than it seems.” He’d been here two weeks, making little progress on the project, but also making friends, and the man in front of him was Charles, just a man who was working on his own global project. Currently stopping in New York.

“You should try Broadway.” Charles said with an exaggerated expression that was so vivid that Rodrigo couldn’t help but notice, “Relax, relax. Life is tough, but no one knows if there’s an uphill or downhill slope waiting for them, so don’t think it’s the end of the world right now.”

He imitated Charlie Chaplin’s classic penguin pose, with his shoulders high, elbows at his waist, hands spread wide, head cocked, and voice raised, “We must learn to let go.”

They both laughed at the same time, when a shout came from the counter behind them, “Rodrigo? Rodrigo? Here comes another audition.” The words caused both Rodrigo and Charles to look up and immediately see the smiling man.

He was wearing a white T-shirt with a dark blue checkered shirt, black jeans and a pair of ginger boots, the sleeves of his shirt roughly rolled up to his wrists, his short curly blond hair hanging down casually and unrestrainedly, the corners of his mouth gently raised to the left, outlining a untamable curve. There seemed to be some aura of savagery rampaging beneath the skin of a refined gentleman, ready to break through the restraints, silently establishing the dominance everywhere it appears.

With just a glance, Rodrigo didn’t even have time to scrutinize the other man’s features and face, as a strangely unique impression came over, reminding him of the arrogant Marlon Brando in “On the Waterfront” but with a touch of Montgomery Clift’s elegance in “A Place in the Sun”.

He is Paul Conroy, the protagonist of “Buried”.

It was as if he had just stepped out of a script, and his gestures and mannerisms were perfectly in tune with Rodrigo’s every requirement for the role, which was astounding! Rodrigo could feel his heart beginning to beat wildly, the two weeks of waiting finally gave him a glimpse of hope, the urgency and anxiety blossomed like fireworks, and his blood rushed toward his heart.

“You … are the young master of that rich family!” Charles’s surprised voice brought Rodrigo out of his thoughts and he looked at Charles in confusion, but he was so excited that he stretched out his arms and gave the man in front of him a big hug. What was the name of … again?”

Charles gripped the other’s hands tightly and racked his brain for memories. The other person didn’t seem to be in a hurry, just stood there smiling without interrupting Charles’ thoughts, “Sledge. Yes, Eugene Sledge!” Charles finally remembered and laughed cheerfully.

“I guess I can put my pistol away now.” The man’s reply made Charles laugh even more merrily, but Rodrigo had a puzzled look on his face, and the man, seemingly sensing Rodrigo’s gaze, released Charles’s right hand and took the initiative to introduce himself, “Good afternoon, I am Renly Hall, and you must be Mr. Corts? Nice to meet you.”

Rodrigo took the other man’s right hand, but his eyes couldn’t help but look at the man in front of him in detail, and he was disappointed.

Renly was too young, really too young, looking no more than his early twenties, just like a fledgling college student, which was far from the characterization of Paul in “Buried” – Paul should be a middle-aged man in his thirties, with a family, with two children, and at a certain stage of his career, facing some hardship in life.

The glimpse just now is just an illusion, caused by many factors such as light, angle, distance, etc. Rodrigo could hardly conceal his disappointment, he had thought that the long wait had finally paid off, even if it wasn’t Ryan, he was an actor with untapped potential, but, apparently, his expectations were too high.

“Yes, I’m Rodrigo.” Although he tried his best to hide his disappointment, his tone inevitably fell back, the change in attitude was really too obvious, even Rodrigo himself felt a little inappropriate, so he even turned to look at Charles, forking off a topic, “What’s going on? Do you know him?”

“It’s Eugene Sledge! That recent “The Pacific” that has sparked so much discussion, it is pretty much a one-man show for him, and let me tell you, he’s really exquisite in his performance!” Charles’ exaggerated words caused a lot of people around him to look at him, but Charles didn’t care and said with a serious face, “Believe me, this is an actor who can surprise! Trust me, you’ll be glad you have him for your film project.”

Rodrigo understood that the articles about “The Pacific” had been dominating the news pages for some time, and that he was not a man who could not hear the news, so he would not miss it. It’s just that he didn’t have much interest in the war, nor in Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, or “Band of Brothers”, so he had never watched “The Pacific” and naturally didn’t know any of the characters.

As for Charles’s praise, Rodrigo had his reservations, as a 20-year-old kid? Acting talent doesn’t come along every day; and if this guy was so great, wouldn’t he have been all sitting on the pedestal after “The Pacific”, with all the offers. And why would he choose to part of a god forsaken film with no name, no background, and no real talents? It would be even more absurd than Ryan nodding his head to the invitation to appear in the film, which had no prestige.

In the blink of an eye, Rodrigo had already made up his mind, and he smiled politely, “It seems today is my lucky day.”