Chapter 173 A Unexpected Encounter
"The Oscars are where you get to meet the most stars and don't have to donate money to the Democratic Party." After interviewing Lin Ming Yang, John Stewart made a very exaggerated face to the camera's lens, "Don't go away, we just interviewed Felix, whose turn is it next, hmmm... let's see who else is on the red carpet right now?"
He raised his hand and made a gesture of looking off into the distance, and as he searched, his mouth teased, "Hundreds of millions of people are watching this year's Oscars live, don't pirate it! Look at the stars, you're stealing from them! Look at the actresses, they're so poor they can barely cover their boobs!"
Finally he finally he spotted his new target: Rachel Weisz! By this time the camera had long since moved away, and Lin Ming Yang was about to leave when John Stewart pulled him along with him and rushed over, shoving a microphone in his hand as he did so, "Come on Felix, I'm going to need your cooperation for this interview!"
"Hi, Viz!" From a long distance away, John Stewart waved vigorously towards Rachel Vyse, who was walking down the red carpet, and when the other party came to his heels, he pushed Lin Ming Yang up.
Rachel Vyse knew Lin Mingyang, but they weren't very familiar with each other, and the two greeted each other somewhat awkwardly in front of the camera before John Stewart signaled Lin Mingyang to put the microphone between them. It turned out that his so-called cooperation was to let Lin Mingyang stand next to Rachel Vyse and be interviewed by him together.
After doing this, John Stewart began to ask questions in his usual exaggerated tone, "I've heard that The Mummy is getting ready to make a third episode...it's really something to look forward to...Felix, this must be your first time working together...what's your impression of Vyse?"
"Actually, I think you should save that question for Brendan Fraser, none of our collaborations with Vyse have even begun yet, and I'm only the executive producer of the movie, technically today is the closest I've gotten to Ms. Vyse!" Lin Ming Yang looked at Rachel Vyse who was standing right beside him, and shrugged helplessly, expressing regret at not being able to justify answering John's question.
"So have you seen any of the movies she's been in?" John asked relentlessly.
"Sure. I was a regular high school student when the first two parts of The Mummy were released. At that time, I was thinking how nice it would be if the male lead in the movie was me!"
"But in the sequel, your wish still didn't come true." John interjected, "Do you feel sorry?"
"Because I've shifted between being an actor and a screenwriter from time to time, and there's probably no one in Hollywood who understands the different feelings of those two identities better than I do. I just want to say that I feel very honored to be able to write and executive produce a sequel to the Mummy series!"
John winked at him, "And you're really not sorry at all to be standing next to our beautiful Viz?"
"Actually, I wasn't too sorry at first, but now I really have some regrets!" Lin Ming Yang nodded and "honestly" admitted this.
Taking advantage of John's focus on Rachel Weisz, Lin Ming Yang finally managed to escape that guy's "clutches". There was still some time before the awards ceremony, in order to avoid the interviews of reporters, Lin Ming Yang could only busy around the periphery of the venue, and happened to meet Keira Knightley, who was also hiding with reporters. Coincidentally, since the end of the filming of "Pirates of the Caribbean 2", the two had not met for a long time.
After a brief moment of surprise at the sudden meeting, Lin Ming Yang suddenly laughed, "You're not hiding from those reporters, are you?"
"Could it be that you are too?" Keira Knightley blinked her big beautiful eyes, her smoky makeup today was indeed very chic, even Lin Ming Yang couldn't help but take a few more glances.
"You're so pretty today!" He exclaimed heartily, "I can be sure that you were certainly radiant on the red carpet just now!"
"But I don't find that interesting at all!" Keira Knightley made a bitter face, "Walking down the red carpet at the Oscars, I felt like a poodle that won an award, all the people would give me grades based on my clothes, and no one would care about what kind of talent I actually have. The Oscars are practically a hilarious dog walk, and it seems to me that who is likely to be the biggest winner of the night is somehow entirely dependent on whether or not the clothes you wear and the jewelry you wear that night happen to cater to the tastes of the critics. It's a really horrible feeling."
Lin Mingyang nodded heartily, "Looks like the tacit understanding between us is still there, how have you been doing?"
"Don't you even read newspapers these days?" Keira Knightley frowned at her words, about her and her new movie Pride and Prejudice, because of the Oscar nomination, it was already being hyped up by the media, as long as people who had paid a little attention to the news in this area, they wouldn't have asked such a "stupid" question like Lin Ming Yang.
Lin Ming Yang helplessly spread his hands: "Well, what I mean is, has acting in a literary movie made any difference to you?"
"In Pirates of the Caribbean, I was always just a pretty chick, while Pride and Prejudice got me an Oscar nomination." Keira Knightley clasped her hands together, "I don't think that Blood Diamond movie of yours was a completely commercial movie either, you seem to be enjoying making movies with such sensitive subjects lately."
"Anyway, Blood Diamond still has a lot of commercial movie elements in it, unlike Pride and Prejudice which was so thoroughly literary!" Lin Mingyang laughed.
"I think you have high hopes of winning an award this year!" Keira Knightley's smile was more or less bitter, "Unlike me, I'm basically just here to make a scene."
"Everyone who meets me says this, 'Hey Felix, I've got my eye on you this year', and I know that people mean well with their well wishes, but the problem is that I don't think I'll be able to take home the Oscar for the movie star this year." Lin Mingyang spoke with a serious expression, but Keira Knightley snorted with laughter.
"When did you learn such a lame way of comforting people?"
"You feel so pathetic that you need someone else's comfort?" Lin Mingyang looked at her in a serious manner and said, "I don't think a brave girl who dares to perform dangerous sea jumping maneuvers on a board less than 30 centimeters wide without using a body double would agonize over this little thing!"
Keira Knightley stared at Lin Ming Yang thoughtfully for half a day, "You haven't suffered any excitement recently, have you?"
Her question made Lin Ming Yang depressed, "Do I have to make a high-profile announcement that this Oscar winner is not mine in order to seem normal?"
"Just kidding!" Keira Knightley reached out and patted Lin Ming Yang's shoulder, he had grown taller than before, and now Keira Knightley had to stand on her tiptoes and raise her arm to touch Lin Ming Yang's head. But that kind of intimate behavior in today's occasion seems a little inappropriate, the main reason is that Keira Knightley wearing a low-cut dress, Lin Mingyang "towering", if she does that will easily be naked.
"In fact, you haven't found your true strengths, towards your such a young age, to be able to get nominated for an Oscar, it's already not easy!" Lin Ming Yang could see that Knightley still had some loss in her eyes and spoke out to comfort her.
"You're the same age as me, didn't you also receive a nomination for Best Actor?" Keira Knightley stubbornly shook her head, "Mary Matryoshka has been deaf since she was a child, but she won the Best Actress crown at the age of 21 with her movie 'Speechless Love', with a year to go, do you think it's possible for me to surpass her?"
"Mary Matryoshka is a special case, the subject matter of that movie and her own special identity added together, and that's what made her win that award." Lin Ming Yang shook his head, he felt that Keira Knightley's thoughts were a bit too strong, "Most Oscar winners have held that trophy after the age of 30. And you have the age of youthful invincibility, that's your greatest capital!"
"The youngest Oscar winner Adrien Brody was almost thirty when he won the award, and you're not even twenty now, you still have ten years left, of course you would say that!" Keira Knightley pouted in dissatisfaction.
"I'm aiming for more than just Best Actor!"
Before Lin Ming Yang could finish his sentence, Keira Knightley grabbed it and interrupted, winking mischievously at Lin Ming Yang as she said in mock seriousness, "Of course, you'll have to get a sex change operation if you still want to get the Best Actress trophy. In fact, you don't even need a lineup to charm a large number of men with this face, I'm optimistic about your potential, so that way we can be good sisters!"
Lin Ming Yang froze there, unable to speak for half a day, Keira Knightley smiled at him and then pointed behind him, "Someone's coming this way, it looks like they should be looking for you. I'll leave first, we'll talk again later when we have the chance!"
After saying that, she carried her dress and left like a purple butterfly. With such a hasty gathering and hasty departure, for some reason, Lin Ming Yang's heart was very inexplicably filled with a trace of melancholy. Before he could lament the unpredictability of life's gatherings and dispersals, the great director Spielberg had already come closer.
With a smile on his face, Spielberg shook Lin Ming Yang's hand, "We don't need to introduce ourselves to each other!"
"Of course!" Lin Ming Yang nodded, for someone of Spielberg's level, a shorter introduction would be superfluous. In the United States it was estimated that there were people who didn't recognize who the current president was, but there was no one who didn't recognize Spielberg.
"The one you were chatting with just now, that's Ms. Keira Knightley who was shortlisted for Best Actress, right!" Spielberg asked curiously, "I saw you guys chatting happily, but she seemed to have left early, was it because I took the liberty of walking over?"
"We were just chatting about some life topics, she thought you might have something more important to say to me, so she left early!"
Spielberg nodded, "If you see her next time, please be sure to pass on my thanks!"
"No problem!"
"Well, the awards ceremony is going to start soon, leaving us little time, so I'll try to keep it short and sweet!" Spielberg didn't beat around the bush and got right to the point, "Did you like watching Transformers when you were little?"
"I was sad for a long time when Optimus Prime died in battle in the comics!" Whether it was in his previous life or in this life, Lin Ming Yang loved the comic. His knowledge of the Autobots had first started from a single drawing that people had slapped around in their hands when he was a child in his previous life, and only later did he come into contact with the cartoon, and only then did he slowly familiarize himself with the entire Transformers' massive system.
It was said that Spielberg himself was also a Transformers fan, but his coming to Lin Mingyang at this time was definitely not for the purpose of coming to discuss a common hobby with Lin Mingyang. As soon as he mentioned Transformers, Lin Ming Yang had actually guessed his intentions in his heart.
Back in July 2004, two major Hollywood companies, DreamWorks and Paramount, announced that they had bought the rights to the movie adaptation of Transformers. Tom DiCinto, the executive producer and screenwriter of the X-Men series, was said to have planned a movie version of Transformers, but it never worked out. In contrast, Spielberg's face is still big, rely on personal charisma to persuade the "Hasbro" company, and Tom DiCinto co-producer.
"Since the 1980s cartoon" Transformers "since the broadcast, I have been its most loyal supporters, I also buy Transformers toys to play. I've always wanted Transformers to be brought to the screen, and I'm so glad we've finally started work on the first Transformers movie. The script is now written, but the casting has not yet been finalized."
Spielberg's words stopped here, during which he had been observing Lin Ming Yang's expression. He was certain that Lin Ming Yang had guessed his intentions by this time, but the young man in front of him reacted even more flatly than he had imagined, something that made him more and more certain of his judgment.
After a moment of silence, seeing that Lin Ming Yang didn't give any indication, Spielberg could only open his mouth to break the silence, "You're the most suitable leading man in our minds, are you interested in giving it a try?"
"Since the movie is about Transformers, I think the real protagonist of the movie should be a robot!" Lin Mingyang didn't rush to reply to the other party, instead he started a discussion with Spielberg about the filming concept of the movie, "I'm curious to know how much of the human character's performance will be in this movie?"
Spielberg's expression became grave, he instinctively regarded the young man standing in front of him as an actor, ignoring the fact that the other party was also an excellent screenwriter, and the construction of the plot was precisely Lin Ming Yang's strong point. This trait determined that Lin Ming Yang would have more requirements than other actors when it came to choosing roles.
"You're right, humans aren't really the main characters in the entire movie, but your character will be the thread that ties the entire plot together, and all the stories will revolve around this character!" Despite not being directed by himself, Spielberg knew no less about the movie than anyone else.