Chapter 26: Improve
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“How should I put it? It’s actually my problem.” Dennis drank some water. He did not look good at that moment as he had a pale complexion, stubble on his thin face, and a slim body… His face probably looked like that because of the makeup done by the makeup artist, but his body was frail because he lost weight for the film.
“Your problem?” Joe was curious.
“Yes. Before the shooting, Eddy told me that although my life experiences will be helpful for this character, my acting skills are slightly weak. Even though I received great appraisals for ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’, it had many important characters, so my issues weren’t obvious. Now, I’m the main character, so… He’s stricter with me,” Dennis explained, then sighed. “The past two days were very smooth because the long shots were simple. Besides, didn’t you realize? Most of them were just test shots.”
Joe rubbed his chin, then nodded. “Indeed. Sounds like you have a close relationship with him.”
“It’s alright, but I’m very grateful for him.” Dennis did not hide it. “I’m very sorry for wasting your time, Joe.”
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Joe smiled and waved his hand. “It happens to everyone. When I first acted for a film, I had more NG takes than you did. I believe that Eddy has his considerations, he’s a pretty good director.”
“I didn’t know that you’re good at flattering, Joe.” Adrian’s voice was suddenly heard.
“You’re the director and the producer, so of course, I should flatter you, right?” Joe turned his head to smile at him.
Adrian shrugged, then looked at Dennis. “How do you feel, Dan?”
“I feel alright…” Dennis smiled bitterly as he replied, “I roughly understand what mood the character is in, but to present it perfectly at any time is… It’s difficult.”
“It’s okay. If you can’t do it in the first take, we’ll just do a few more takes.” Adrian waved his hands.
“But…” Dennis’ smile became more bitter, but he was cut off by Adrian before he finished his sentence. “Don’t worry, there won’t be that many continuous NG takes without a break in the future, I just wanted to let you know your importance in the film. It’s your first time being the absolute main character, so don’t disappoint me.”
After noticing that Dennis was rather nervous upon hearing his words, Adrian paused for a while before he continued, “The shots are constantly repeated now to prevent the same from happening in the future. Once you grasp the feeling, and can perform it casually, the number of repeats will naturally reduce. I believe that you can do it, Dan! Besides, you can learn from this fella here who’s very good at acting—Joe, you’ll give him a few pointers, right?”
“Oh, of course!” Joe raised his hands right away. Though he looked like an excessively casual person, he was very sincere. “I’ve only played supporting roles though, so I don’t have experience in guiding a main character.”
“It doesn’t matter, acting skills are more or less the same,” Dennis quickly mentioned.
“Great, you can compare notes with each other now. I hope that you can maintain your form earlier, Dan, your last two shots were very good.” Adrian left after that.
After walking to the camera, Adrian turned to look at Joe and Dennis who began discussing, then he nodded. Clearly, it was the right choice to invite Joe Pantoliano. He initially wanted to look for an experienced actor who could definitely guide Dennis. After all, Dennis was too fresh, and he was worried that Joe would not be as experienced and shrewd as he would be in 10 years’ time—yes, he played Teddy the policeman in the original ‘Memento’. In fact, he also played a famous character, Cypher, in ‘The Matrix’!
Nevertheless, Adrian got rid of his worry after the test shots. Joe entered the entertainment industry in 1978, and although he had been playing supporting roles for over 10 years, he had plenty of experience. He was basically a golden supporting role actor who was equally famous along with Steve Buscemi. Therefore, there was no need to wait 10 more years for him to play Teddy the policeman. Moreover, he had a good relationship with everyone in the crew and was willing to give Dennis some suggestions.
In actual fact, Adrian did not need Dennis to achieve what he previously requested, because his over-anxiousness would only ruin things. Furthermore, the key of the film was its editing part, thus the acting part could be more relaxed. He just wanted to let Dennis know that if he were to act in any film—even if it was a terrible film—he must give his best!
Following the numerous observations, Adrian decided to make Dennis famous, hence he told him not to find an agent for the time being because he had plans.
With many hiccups, the film shooting began, but the first few days progressed terribly, such that every scene had at least two NG takes before it was passed. In the beginning, a few workers secretly complained, but they eventually got used to it. Needless to say, it was because of those who worked with Adrian in London who showed good examples, as well as Dennis who was conscientious and meticulous—it was worth noting that his daily meals were specially planned so that he could maintain a slim body, whereby he sometimes had an apple for his meal, yet he never complained. In addition, Joe occasionally did gags to regulate the atmosphere on set, hence the crew was overall in a good mood.
“You said you want me to express ill intentions through my eyes, so I’d like to ask you, Eddy. How should I let my gaze penetrate these thin glasses to be reflected on your camera?” Joe gestured while he asked in a funny manner. This was also the reason he was close to everyone on set.
“That depends on your acting. Who says that looks can’t penetrate glasses?” Adrian replied.
“Alright, alright, you’re the director.” Joe looked at him helplessly, then drew two quotation marks with his hands. His humor caused a wave of laughter.
Adrian shook his head without saying anything. He knew that Pantoliano was reminding him, thus he walked over to Dennis to say to him softly, “Listen, Dan. If you really can’t do it, show a numb expression, it’ll be better than forcing a featureless expression. It’s good to be persistent, but appropriate flexibility is necessary too.”
Dennis pondered for a while before he nodded. “I understand.”
“Very well, let’s start again.” Adrian clapped his hands to signal everyone to continue their work.
Dennis’ plasticity was indeed remarkable and he was very diligent due to his miserable past. As such, his improvement was obvious though he still gave off the feeling of a pretty boy once in a while. Adrian could not help but remember a joke he read in the “past”, which mocked three male actors in Hollywood who were famous for their appearance. It went like this: Tom Cruise acts like himself when he plays any role, and he’s proud of it; Brad Pitt thinks that he’s acting as the role; Leonardo DiCaprio acts as though he’s saying “what exactly is this role?!”.
Even though it was harsh, from a different perspective, it showed that it might not be great if a male actor was too handsome. At least from a critic’s point of view, handsome actors with good acting skills might lose points because of their appearance. It was unfair, but nothing was fair in the world.
‘It’ll be best if he can strike a balance between both,’ Adrian thought to himself. ‘But it’s not easy to do that, so it’s better if I train him to be a real actor. He gained quite a lot lately.’
In actual fact, Adrian gained quite a lot too. He continued shooting ‘Memento’ by paying attention to details of the original version, and he was not going to change anything. At most, he would fix the obvious flaws. This was because he was not experienced enough to correct these classic works, and he used to be in a different environment since he lived in a different country in his past life. If he wanted to leave a mark in his works, he would need to have a thorough understanding of them.
That being said, replicating those works was definitely the fastest and the most convenient method. At least when Adrian replicated ‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’, he learned a lot from verifying the analyses he did in the past.
Other than that, he recalled a number of outstanding films from the mid-’90s because of Joe. While he remembered many of them clearly, he did not have a search engine in his brain, hence he could only think of popular films. He required more time to remember those that were equally remarkable but were only averagely famous. Of course, there were other ways to do so, for instance remembering them through certain people and things.
‘Alright, I’ll leave that for the future,’ Adrian said to himself. The shooting process became faster as Dennis eventually entered the right state. Even after Joe left when he was done with his parts, there was no need for them to go back to those scenes. Adrian initially planned to finish shooting all scenes in 8 weeks, but it seemed like they could possibly be completed in 6 weeks.
Nonetheless, it would only be possible if Dennis remained in the right condition, and if another person cooperated well.
The bright and spacious departure lounge at Los Angeles Airport was constantly crowded with streams of people. Once in a while, anxious people were seen hugging their family members, friends, or lovers excitedly, happily, or sadly.
Adrian crossed his arms as he watched from the exit like an emotionless onlooker. Before long, a scream was heard, then a hot lady hugged and kissed him right away.
He returned the kiss immediately, and the two of them separated after a long time.
“You’re not like a British lady at all, Kate.” Adrian joked.
“I don’t care if I’m being a lady or not… I miss you, Eddy!” Kate blushed as he looked at Adrian, then she wrapped her arms around his neck to kiss him again.
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