Rules

When February came, Levi's film officially announced its start in New York.

This start-up, and such a gathering of top stars, has attracted quite a lot of attention.

This movie is the first commercial movie that Levi made. Although Levi's movies had a good box office before, commercial elements have to be considered this time. The film invested tens of millions of dollars, invited a lot of big-name stars, and rented a building in New York, which was temporarily converted into a studio for shooting.

These methods are not comparable to previous low-budget films. Therefore, the filming did not start hastily. In New York, they also held a launching ceremony. On the one hand, it was publicity; on the other hand, it also showed their confidence in the film.

"Before the Oscars, Levi finally decided to start shooting his new film. At this moment, he found top stars to shoot the movie. In the awards season, Levi proved his influence, courage, and vision well.

Instead of preparing to win the Oscar, but to prepare a new movie, this approach is tantamount to announcing to the outside world: It is not Levi who needs the Oscar, but the Oscar needs Levi."

These comments from the media do not know whether they are praising Levi or making Levi annoy Oscar. But no matter what they said, it still played a role in publicity for the film 'The Departed.'

In the crew, Levi also seemed to show his determination. After the crew officially started, he called all the main actors of the team together and had a conversation with them.

"I am very happy to start working with you today. I hope that you can do three things during the filming. None of them are difficult things. I believe it is not a problem for you."

Although Levi said politely, it can be heard that Levi lectured everyone as soon as he entered the group, which is actually telling everyone to be obedient. Obviously, his expectations for the movie were really high.

"The first thing I want to say, I think everyone knows, is my request: in my crew, I hope that everyone will not drink alcohol or take drugs. This is the most basic requirement."

When the script started to shoot. Levi also reiterated his rules with the actors.

People in Hollywood still know some of Levi's rules. As long as he works, he pays great attention to work efficiency and is very disgusted with anything that may affect the shooting process.

But generally speaking, actors are also very clear that filming for a big director requires hard work and seriousness. Whether they like wine or drugs, they can wait until the filming is over.

Unless it is a person under too much pressure, no one takes drugs when filming - so all actors can accept Levi's request.

"Secondly, I hope everyone can perform their character as you understand. You have to follow the guidelines of the script, but I hope to have individual characteristics in their respective characters."

In this movie, in many places, he has to let the actors play by themselves, find out the difference between themselves and others, and bring out their charm to shoot a good scene. What Levi hopes more is to let these actors perform differently.

And this request, the actors are very willing to accept: it is better to have their own space to play than to blindly stick to the script.

"And the third one, I think everyone can do it - I hope that during the filming of this movie, everyone in the script can be treated equally, and I don't want there to be big names among us. There are too many stars in the crew; if things like playing big names happen among us, then the movie will not be able to be made."

This is also what Levi must emphasize, and one of the most essential things when making a movie with a group of stars is they must be careful not to have a big-name temper.

Levi didn't want to have a headache for such a trivial matter; he hoped these actors would be conscious. In the past, he could stare at one star in a group, but now he can't do the same in a group of three or four stars.

"Please don't worry about this; we are all professional actors." Regarding Levi's words, Brad Pitt took the lead in making guarantees. He knew that Levi said these words to make the movie better. He also knew that Levi would appreciate a response.

***

And he did.

After the filming started, as long as there was nothing to do, he would help the staff move the props and do chores on the set. It can be said that he really did not have any celebrity airs.

Brad Pitt believes that only in this way can Levi look at him differently.

He has always felt that Levi doesn't like him, and finding him to film is just a choice, not an appreciation for him. This feeling made him somewhat uncomfortable.

He has always asked himself if others don't like him because he is too handsome, which he finds unimaginable. However, this is not a problem; he believes that as long as he works hard, he can quickly change the way others see him.

As for why it is necessary to reverse Levi's opinion - this is not without reason.

After entering the crew, Brad Pitt soon discovered that if nothing else happened, he was the protagonist with the worst performance in the crew.

In this regard, Brad Pitt also has some self-knowledge. Robert De Niro, he has no courage, and Liam Neeson, a drama actor with a Tony Award, he is also incomparable. Even Edward Norton, who debuted much later than him, seems to surpass him by a lot in acting talent.

He has seen Norton's performance, and although he has never praised it aloud, he has to admit in his heart that this is indeed a very talented actor: being able to pay attention to various details in the performance is the most difficult thing.

In contrast, he doesn't have De Niro's genius, Liam Neeson's experience, or Norton's madness and earnestness. If the director doesn't like him, then he will be in tragedy.

However, although he doesn't have these, he has his own efforts.

He didn't want to be regarded as the one who was completely suppressed when the four of them played against each other after the film was made. He was very concerned about how to shoot better and make his characters glow with charm.

Although Levi said it was a gangster movie, and some people in the crew thought it was a police movie, Brad Pitt always felt that it was more like a spy movie. There are many places where wisdom needs to be shown in the film, and acting skills are most needed to reveal inner thoughts.

It is precisely because of the pressure of performance that he intentionally pleases Levi, hoping that Levi will give him some advice so that he will not be overwhelmed by others.

His efforts seemed to have worked, at least, when he went to ask Levi for help; Levi's advice to him was still very pertinent.

"The best time to act is when you bring the character to life. You can't dress up a character who is too hippie; you lack a wretched temperament. You can't dress up as Clooney, either. You also lack that kind of refined temperament.

What you can play is a real-life-like person, and you can play any role that starts from real life. This is the starting point of your performance, and you need to think about it."

When discussing the play with Brad Pitt, Levi also pointed out the points he needs to pay attention to in acting, "At the beginning of the movie, we set up the scene for you: the character you play, William, in the police academy. Inside, you are playing football with your teammates. The purpose of this shot is to illustrate your charisma as a leader. You can consider the interaction with the policemen around you more and reflect your characters through these interactions."

In the movie, for the two protagonists' names, Levi directly used William and Colin - anyway, no one except him knows what this means - and for William, the policeman played by Brad Pitt, Levi added some American versions in the plot. The judicial systems in the United States and Hong Kong are different. Naturally, they cannot be copied when filming. Some things must be changed to be rationalized.

Brad Pitt nodded and accepted his suggestion.

"Start from yourself; let yourself show the temperament of some successful people instead of imitating others forcibly. This is your strength; you can do it."

Brad Pitt and Andy Lau are different; their temperament is very different. Therefore, when acting, he must also pay attention to starting from himself. Although Levi had an impression in his heart, it did not prevent him from advising Brad Pitt to pay attention to his acting skills.

Brad Pitt also quickly found out these suggestions: starting from himself, giving himself confidence, and making himself glamorous instead of imitating others - these things are not difficult to do.

"Thank you for your guidance. I believe I will perform well." Brad Pitt nodded and expressed his thanks to Levi, "I am very confident in my own charm."

"I am also very confident, as long as you put your charisma in the right place, which is definitely a good thing for the movie."

Levi nodded and looked at another place, intentionally or unintentionally: the actresses were preparing there.

*****

Thanks and kudos for my patreons

Cherif Doghri

Scott DePaepe

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Britanna

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Adam LV

The Main Man

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