New beginning

Watching the palm trees and the old record store receding out of the window, the colorful billboards glittering in the sun, the promotional posters of the movie "Wayne's World" made the image of Hollywood in the 1990s vividly appear in the view. The houses on the Sunset Strip, which were dyed golden by the sun, also formed a beautiful picture. The road from downtown to Hollywood demonstrated Hugo in the simplest way that this was Los Angeles, a city that attracts the attention of the world because of movies and music.

Hugo took a deep breath, took his eyes from the beautiful scenery reluctantly, and fell back on the script between his knees. Last night, he did not have enough energy to read the script, and there was no fragment of the script in his memory, so he had to finish the work in a limited time. Otherwise, today's audition interview would probably fail.

Hugo had not seen the movie "A River Runs Through It" before, he had only heard of its name. When he decided to become an actor, he didn't have enough money for professional acting training, so he chose to watch classic movies to learn acting. Before his time-travel, Hugo had watched nearly a thousand movies and had a personal understanding of the role of an actor.

In fact, Hugo once wanted to watch "A River Runs Through It", but later he watched the "Legends of the Fall" with similar themes and better intentions. These two films were poetic and picturesque nostalgic works, and Brad Pitt played in both films and gave a wonderful performance. It could be said that Brad Pitt made a breakthrough in his career relying on these two films.

The movie "A River Runs Through It" depicts the story of a family led by priest Reverend Maclean from Missoula, Montana. The entire story is uneventful, with few ups and downs, more like a peaceful flowing river, naturally and smoothly unfolding, incorporating family, love and friendship into the beauty of nature and silently infiltrating every frame, like a flowing oil painting, or a touching lyrical essay. Beautiful to the point of heartbreak.

The story features two main male characters, Norman and Paul, who are the two children of the Maclean family. Joseph told Hugo yesterday that he was auditioning for the role of the first male lead, Paul. Paul is the youngest in the family, free-spirited, unruly, and carefree, living life to the fullest like a fleeting flash of beauty that quickly fades away.

Hugo could understand why Joseph found the role of Paul for him, or rather, why the role of Paul found him. There's a hint of a carefree and laid-back demeanor in Hugo's appearance. Although it's not a perfect fit for the role, the classical melancholy between his eyebrows did add some points. So, Hugo's performance as Paul could also be considered a natural one.

After the tragic defeat of "Hudson Hawk", it was definitely safe to play such a role. In addition, although the investment of "A River Runs Through It" was less than 10 million so it was absolutely a low-cost independent production, but the reputation of director Robert Redford was enough to attract people.

Robert Redford, as an actor, has acted in "Out of Africa", "The Sting", "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" and other works; as a director, his debut "Ordinary People" won him an Oscar for Best Director and Best Picture; he also founded Sundance Institute with the most influential independent film festival in the world, so he can definitely be said to be a top presence in Hollywood.

"A River Runs Through It" was Robert Redford's third directorial work after "Ordinary People" and "The Milagro Beanfield War". There were definitely a large number of actors who wanted to play. Joseph won an audition for Hugo, and that was for the role of Paul to boot. It could be seen that the latter was an excellent agent.

However, in Hugo's opinion, playing Paul was not necessarily a natural performance, because his uninhibited and unrestrained temperament was not as obvious. In addition, after the body and soul merger, the temperament had also changed. Therefore, to win the role of Paul, Hugo must show real strength, and Hugo had no absolute confidence in this point.

After all, although Hugo had experience in acting before the transmigration, he was always just a stooge and a supporting actor, and all his acting skills were just on paper. Now, after a thousand days of baptism, Hugo knew that the opportunity was at hand, and whether he could seize it depended on his own efforts. So for that, Hugo was reading the script carefully and thinking in his mind how he should play the role. He didn't want to miss the shot.

Joseph drove the car at a constant speed, bumping all the way to the Four Seasons at the intersection of Wilshire Avenue and Rodeo Avenue. He was surprised to see Hugo reading the script carefully in the passenger seat.

Joseph took over as Hugo's agent from Ron Meyer last year. As a newcomer, Joseph had limited control over Hugo's situation. Joseph believed that Hugo didn't need to attend the Golden Raspberry Awards, but Hugo asked for Ron's opinion and eventually followed it. In the past year, Joseph had seen Hugo's various ugly sides, just like the male version of Drew Barrymore.

Drew Barrymore, born into the famous entertainment family of the Barrymores in Hollywood, reached the peak of her career after appearing in "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial", "Firestarter", and "Irreconcilable Differences". Her rapid rise to fame at the age of nine caused her to lose herself and fall into alcoholism, smoking, marijuana, cocaine, and a nighttime lifestyle, leading her to hit rock bottom.

So did Hugo Lancaster. He also rose to fame in 1989, with his breakout role as Neil Perry in the Academy Award-nominated film "Dead Poets Society". This attracted the attention of major film studios, and he had a minor peak in his career with roles in "Desperate Hours" with Anthony Hopkins and Mimi Rogers, directed by Michael Cimino, and in the big-budget film "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane". He quickly became one of the most sought-after actors in Hollywood, with lights, flowers, and praise coming his way.

Unfortunately, "Desperate Hours" was a failure both commercially and critically, leading to Hugo Weaving's first nomination for a Golden Raspberry for Worst Actor. "The Adventures of Ford Fairlane" also failed to impress and earned him a nomination for Worst Supporting Actor, sending his once-promising acting career spiraling downward.

After taking over as Hugo's agent, Joseph saw that Hugo was immersed in alcohol and drugs all day. Even after a serious car accident caused by drunken driving, Hugo could not sober up. The later "Hudson Hawk" showed that Hollywood producers still had hope for Hugo, but unfortunately this project failed as well.

However, after the struggle between life and death last night, Hugo seemed to have turned over a new leaf. Joseph couldn't pinpoint the specifics, but he could feel that Hugo was different. Just like how Hugo was reading the script at the moment. Hugo must have read the script before, but today Joseph could feel Hugo's serious devotion right now, which had never been seen before. There was also... It seemed that Hugo's impetuous nature was settling down and the flamboyant aura was gradually fading from those eyes.

Was that a good thing? Joseph was not sure. He hadn't had many good memories in his nearly one year as Hugo's agent, but he was now a fledgling agent and needed to hone his craft a little. Ron Meyer's willingness to hand Hugo over to Joseph was in the name of "cultivating new people" - but most probably Ron was not optimistic about Hugo's future anymore. In any case, Joseph hoped that Hugo's career would improve.

However, recalling the morning's headline in the Los Angeles Times, "Tearfully Accepting Golden Raspberry Award, 'Thank you, Dreams Come True' - Hugo Lanchester", Joseph couldn't help but sigh. Having three consecutive flops and making such a big blunder at the Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony, Hugo's situation couldn't be worse.

"We're here, get off." While immersed in their own thoughts, they had already arrived at their destination. Joseph woke up Hugo who was reading the script. Hugo turned his head and saw the Four Seasons Hotel's vintage sign outlined by a shallow golden edge in the sunlight, beautiful and dazzling.

The valet at the hotel door quickly came over and opened the car door for Hugo. Hugo stepped out of the car and nervously shifted his feet at the hotel entrance, looking at the coming and going people at the entrance and unable to take a step forward. Only twelve hours had passed since the accident yesterday, and Hugo still couldn't fully adapt to his new identity.

At this time, there was someone walking towards him. Hugo thought it was Joseph at first, but turned around and saw a strange and familiar figure, with short golden hair, sexy features and a bright smile. This was Brad Pitt.

A character that was only seen on the big screens suddenly appeared in front of him. This was the first time Hugo saw the "real deal" appear after he woke up. He did not react for a while. It became increasingly difficult to distinguish between dream and reality.

Brad gave Hugo a bright smile. Hugo thought the other party was making a friendly gesture and was about to respond with a smile, but he heard Brad's words saying, "Dreams come true!" Then Brad gave Hugo a thumbs up and walked up the steps of Four Seasons Hotel with a smile.

Was this a provocation or a joke?