American sweethearts

The absurd news about "Hugo's suicide" was quickly clarified. After Hugo left, the reporters sought confirmation from many crew members, including nearby residents, and the results indicated one fact: the overnight celebration of the "Sleepless in Seattle" film crew two nights ago was joyful without any problems, let alone suicide.

Thus, the fabricated news of the National Enquirer became a laughingstock once again, but it was nothing new for them.

This ridiculous rumor came and went quickly, disappearing into the flood of news. However, it made many people remember the film "Sleepless in Seattle", which may be considered an unexpected gain. As for the inquiries from the reporters, Hugo didn't pay much attention because during this period, he had been contemplating his acting and merging his personal experiences with the character's journey to deliver a more authentic performance. That was what Hugo valued the most.

Actually, before this, Hugo's performance focused more on understanding the character, shaping the character's image through details such as expressions, eye movements, speech, intonation, actions, and gestures. However, during the performance when Sam showed genuine emotions that night, Hugo overlooked these details due to his internal emotional conflict. Instead, he approached it more from Sam's psychological and emotional perspective, savoring the bitter, melancholic, and sorrowful emotions. The performance naturally emerged as a result; Hugo didn't pay attention to how his gaze should be portrayed, how his expressions should be depicted, or how his tone should be adjusted. He simply followed his instincts and naturally expressed genuine emotions.

This natural performance lacked intensity, but it effectively conveyed the emotions, evoking resonance among the audience.

So, how can one combine emotions and technique to make the performance more three-dimensional?

In fact, every film genre requires exceptional acting skills, not just drama films. Comedy, action, horror, and other genres also demand acting skills. To give a simple example, in "Transformers", the main character constantly runs and expresses fear. It may seem like acting skills are unnecessary, but that's not the case. Portraying the character's genuine emotions on camera is indeed acting. It's just that action movies, horror movies, and comedies leave relatively less space for performances.

Veteran actors like Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep can deliver outstanding performances even in romantic and comedy films because they can integrate their acting into the character, blending their own personality charm with the role and conveying it through the story, influencing the audience.

In the acting experience of Hugo in the film "Sleepless in Seattle", he seemed to touch this level vaguely, but it wasn't clear yet. This realization made Hugo aware that such a process of performance was precious. Perhaps it was the path to further improve his acting skills. Therefore, Hugo cherished every opportunity to perform each scene and carefully contemplated the emotional changes of the character Sam.

Fortunately, Hugo's inner concerns had completely disappeared, allowing the performance process to gradually become an enjoyable experience. Moreover, Hugo could let go of unnecessary factors and immerse himself wholeheartedly in the study of acting. That was the best news.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Hugo is still far away from reaching that level. Not to mention combining emotions and techniques, even the aspect of presenting the character from his own psychological and emotional perspective is not clear to Hugo. He often appeared overly forceful, which made his performance on camera seem somewhat exaggerated.

Being overly forceful is necessary on a theatrical stage like Broadway because the stage has limited space while the audience seating is extensive. Actors must use slightly exaggerated and amplified performances to engage the live audience. However, the same situation appearing in front of a film or television camera would appear forced and artificial. Therefore, control is crucial.

How to control one's emotions and find a balance between oneself and the character had become Hugo's biggest challenge. Thus, the filming process of "Sleepless in Seattle" had become a very pleasant experience for Hugo, allowing him to enjoy it. He was making efforts to shape a completely different image of Sam from Tom Hanks's mature and steady character, utilizing his own abilities.

Joseph looked at Hugo, fully immersed in his performance, and all his internal worries completely dissipated. He could sense that the Hugo he was familiar with had returned. This was truly the best news. Moreover, Hugo unexpectedly found a new breakthrough in his acting in "Sleepless in Seattle", which was even more delightful. It finally lifted the heavy mood of Joseph and gradually became clearer. Perhaps the act of diving that night was indeed a wise choice.

The production team was working at full speed, and the filming of Seattle scenes quickly came to an end in the first week of March. Only one scene remained, where Annie comes to Seattle to look for Sam. This scene marks the first direct encounter between Annie and Sam, but Annie mistakenly believes that Sam's good friend is his date, so they only have a brief encounter before she retreats. However, the moment Sam sees Annie, he feels a special connection with her, a kind of love at first sight, but unfortunately, Sam fails to seize the opportunity.

At this time, Meg Ryan finally finished filming "Flesh and Bone" and rushed to the set looking disheveled.

Looking at Meg in front of him, Hugo couldn't help but feel a bit sentimental. In fact, when Hugo started to have a lot of exposure to movies, it was already the 21st century. At that time, Meg's career was declining rapidly, and the frequent emergence of new generation actresses almost drowned the once red-hot American sweetheart. Hugo's most vivid impression of Meg remained in a terrible comedy movie from 2008.

That movie was called "My Mom's New Boyfriend", a forgettable comedy film. Meg starred alongside the ever-diminishing Spanish dream lover Antonio Banderas, while Tom Hanks's son, Colin Hanks, played Meg's son in the film. In this movie, Antonio became more charming as he aged, and Colin possessed the handsome charm that his father had when he was young. However, Meg had aged, and her forty-eight-year-old appearance in 2008 was not impressive, leaving people feeling nostalgic and lamenting that time is much kinder to men.

But today, Hugo saw the thirty-two-year-old Meg, in the prime of her acting career. She had long golden waterfall-like hair, a pair of laughing eyes with a playful and girlish demeanor. Her rosy lips smiled openly, resembling a sweet macaron, colorful and delightful. With just one glance, one couldn't help but like her. Although Meg wasn't the stunning type, her sweet smile was beautiful to the heart, exuding the warmth of a girl-next-door and a smile as enchanting as cream, truly likable.

American audiences have always had an irreplaceable attachment to sweetheart beauties, from Mary Pickford in the silent film era to Audrey Hepburn, from Diane Keaton to Goldie Hawn, and then Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts dominating the 90s together. Sweetheart-style beauties have always held an important place in the hearts of American audiences. Even in the long river of film history, American sweethearts, like English roses, have had their brilliant moments.

Meg was hailed as the "Queen of Sweethearts" and "when she smiles, the whole world is intoxicated" became the best description of her. Today, Hugo truly felt Meg's charming sweetheart allure.

Hugo had previously met Julia at a lunch meeting at the International Innovation Management Company. Julia was known as the big-mouthed beauty, her hearty smile paired with absolute charisma, making her the most iconic beauty in Hollywood. Compared to Julia, Meg's smile was even sweeter, with a bit of girlish playfulness and coquetry, as well as a delightful charm that put people in a good mood, feeling like a breath of fresh air.

Hugo couldn't help but sigh once again that time is always gentler to men, while women shine so brightly in their prime. The image of Meg from "My Mom's New Boyfriend" gradually faded from his mind, while the image of Meg from "Sleepless in Seattle" became clearer and clearer.

"Good afternoon, Meg, nice to meet you." Hugo proactively extended his right hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Hugo." Meg shook Hugo's right hand, her face beaming with a radiant smile. Her rosy lips seemed to be coated with a layer of honey-like color, sparkling in the not-so-bright sunlight of Seattle. "I'm sorry for being so late and almost missing half of the filming. I'm really sorry."

Hugo smiled and shook his head. "It's okay because I'll also be absent for the second half of the film. I'm here to seek your forgiveness in advance." Afterward, the crew would move to Chicago and New York to film Hugo's remaining scenes, and then Hugo would finish filming first before the crew moved to Baltimore to film Meg's part. That's why Hugo said that.

"Oh, that's fair then." Meg paused for a moment, but then continued with a cheerful tone, "I hope our collaboration during this time goes smoothly."

"If you're not too tired," Hugo considerately remarked. Meg had just finished shooting on another set and rushed over immediately to start filming another movie. It wasn't an easy task, even for someone with outstanding acting skills, constantly switching between different roles.

Upon hearing Hugo's words, Meg appeared visibly happy. "I think our collaboration will be very pleasant." Her remark brought a smile to Nora, who was standing nearby. However, Meg noticed that the little boy who had been standing next to Hugo, holding his left hand, did not smile. She immediately looked at the little boy and said, "Hey, this must be our movie's biggest hero, right? Hugo, don't you plan to introduce me?"

Hugo gently rubbed the boy's head and lovingly said, "This is my son, Jonah. Jonah, wouldn't you mind saying hello to Annie?"

Ross, portraying Jonah, was the starting point of Sam and Annie's communication. Without Jonah calling the radio station, there would be no story later on. So Meg's words were naturally correct.

Ross then showed a brilliant smile. "Hello, Annie. Are you going to be my new mom?"

This innocent remark instantly made everyone around burst into laughter.