Chapter 56: Cesare's Game of Poker

 "Oh, Shoot. She didn't stay nervous for too long before Lilian's pager rang and she checked the screen, "Honey, I'm sorry, but I have to go to the hospital right away, we have a group of patients with gunshot wounds in the hospital, and God knows how many of them will survive." "

 Los Angeles is not only home to Hollywood's gold dust, but it is also one of the most gang-infested areas in the United States, and the hospital where Lillian works is close to the downtown slums, Jenny can often hear that she treats patients with gunshot wounds who live near the slums, some may be victims of shootouts, some are just passing by the gangs and are concentrated by stray bullets, and some are unlucky passers-by who live on the edge of the slums and become the targets of the gangsters' votes. Although most of the time, American hospitals are not like Chinese hospitals, where doctors do not have to be on call after work, when a large number of emergency patients are admitted to the hospital, the head of the emergency room will still try to summon doctors to give appropriate treatment as soon as possible due to humanitarian considerations. Needless to say, Lillian was the most enthusiastic participant.

 "Good luck with your surgery," Jenny helped Lillian pack a carry-on bag, "It's good we didn't drink tonight." "

 If she had drunk, Lillian would not have been able to have surgery. She nodded hurriedly to Jenny, pointed to the balcony, picked up her bag and ran in the direction of the garage. Washington in the backyard was awakened by this action and barked twice in the yard.

 The tension just now has dissipated a lot after some precipitation, Jenny went to the backyard to play with Washington for a while while doing psychological construction, Demu has a very high IQ, although he hasn't seen Jenny for several months, but Washington still remembers her, and after being intimate with her, he ran to the entrance of the corridor and picked up the dog leash, looking at Jenny expectantly.

 "Oh," Jenny stepped forward and rubbed Washington's ear, "don't do that, Washington, I'm going back—but I'll help you ask your man, he's at home tonight, and he should walk you himself, isn't it, good dog?"

 Lilian's house is not very large, a single floor of 100 square meters, there is no swimming pool in the backyard, most of the area is allocated to Washington as an activity space, Jeanne still looked for a while to find Cesare in the small study on the second floor - he did not turn on the overhead light, so his whereabouts are not conspicuous, Jeanne still looked around, only to find Cesare sitting at the desk, he had a rare cigar in his hand, the phone between his head and shoulder, while making a phone while using his free right hand to draw on a document in his hand.

 "Okay, I see, you need time..." Cesare glanced at her, gesturing out the window, and Jenny mouthed 'emergency'.

 While she shouldn't have stayed any longer in terms of social politeness, Cesare was clearly on the phone about casting for "Pirates" right now, and Jenny really didn't want to leave, leaning against the door, quietly listening to Cesare's phone call — though he said he only needed a phone call to join the nervous trio, it was clear that it was just a lie.

 As he made the call, it was clear that new calls were coming in, and Cesare patiently kept them one by one, most of the time listening intently in the dim light, except for explaining that he had other calls and needed to end them as soon as possible.

 "So—" Jenny waited about ten minutes before Cesare finished all the calls, and she slowly walked into the study, "Do you need to charge your phone? You know, prepare for the next wave of calls or something." "

 "There won't be any more calls anytime soon. Cesare put the cigar to his lips and re-lit the match, "Sit?"

 Jenny found a place on the reading couch behind her desk, "I didn't know you smoked. "

 "Normally, I don't smoke cigarettes, and nicotine is the road to lung cancer. Cesare tossed the match into the ashtray and picked up the cigar and glanced at it, "But it's hard for a non-smoker to open up in the social arena, and you know, some habits are not so easy to control." "

 "Yes," admitted Jenny, "includes the habit of interrogating you—and though I know you don't understand why I have to get to the bottom of it, I must say that after I find out you're smoking, I'd rather interrogate you what you just called, and it's no better than a smoking." "

 "Always curious about brokers, aren't you?" a faint smile appeared on Cesare's lips, and Jenny realized that he wasn't in a very ordinary state tonight either—normally, Cesare's emotional response would not be so easy to squeeze.

 "You smoke, it's a sign of emotional stress. Jenny shrugged, "You were talking and laughing at that dinner and didn't give me a little nervousness, but you disappeared after getting Depp's call and now you're smoking a cigar again, I think, although for me the game was over after the audition, even after Johnny called, but for you, you didn't play the last card until just now, didn't you?"

 Cesare didn't deny it, but made a gesture that resembled surrender, with Jeanne saying, "You know, sharing in a way is very helpful in cultivating trust." "

 "Well, every actor is eager to know how much he has been juggling with his role," Cesare said, removing the cigar and placing it over the ashtray to let the long soot fall naturally. "

 Jenny smiled triumphantly, "It's worth it to get your concessions, and secondhand smoke." "

 Cesare let out another light puff of smoke at her, "It's retribution for ruining my cigar time." "

 Gentlemen and ladies generally enjoyed their cigars with little talk, but rather in an almost reverent silence, and Jeanne's presence apparently made Cesare less interested. However, he didn't mean to get to the bottom of it, and got straight to the point with a joke, "Actually, what I played tonight was the last three cards in my hand." "

 Jenny exclaimed, half-sycophantly, "I didn't even know you could still have three cards - but if you still have three cards, why did you choose to enter from Gore at the time?"

 "Gore is the can opener and the most important card, and there are actually only two characters who decide the heroine of Pirates of the Caribbean, Gore and Jerry. Cesare took a puff on his cigar, took another whiskey glass from the table, and took a sip, "Without Gore's support, you can't get past Jerry's review." "

 Jenny suddenly remembered Cesare's comment at the time about abandoning Gore for another route: You know there's nothing to be expected of a producer's route.

 "Johnny is a very good A-list actor, with good acting skills and strong style, he doesn't care so much about awards, but he always wants to choose a successful commercial blockbuster, and in my opinion, the most valuable thing about Johnny is that he realizes how much special effects will play in the future film world, and he wants to choose a commercial one." I persuaded him to take over "Pirates of the Caribbean", and so far he is quite satisfied with the preparation of the project, which is not a small favor. He'll give you limited support at the right time, but he's not too heavyweight after all, and he lacks box office and award recognition, and while Jerry loves him - inviting him to star in "Pirates" is Jerry's offer, he doesn't have much say in the overall situation, and he may not be very supportive of you. Johnny can only give you a fixed amount of support after affirming your acting skills with his own eyes, this is my second card, to use the poker metaphor, Jerry's opinion is a little ghost, Gore's support score is A, Johnny's support score is only 10. "

 So far, Cesare has said all that Jenny knows, and Jenny waited patiently for him to continue, "But I'm not just Johnny, I'm close to Josh Blanche's agent, and Josh will be more eager to support you than Johnny, even though he's only the second male, but you know, he's hot right now, and he's being used as the next Leonardo DiCaprio. In order to invite him to play the second male lead, Jerry also put a lot of effort, if it weren't for Johnny and Josh targeting the two major age groups of female moviegoers, "Pirates" is a tough and masculine theme, it is impossible for him to choose a third- or fourth-tier actress in the heroine to save the budget. The support that Josh can give you can also be counted as 10 points, but I think it's a killer feature, and there's no need to owe so much favor until the last minute. "

 Jenny didn't say anything - she had known about the unexpected casting progress of "Pirates" in the past two months, and the originally familiar Orlando Bloom, the charming elf prince of "The Lord of the Rings", did not take "Pirates" in this world, but chose to star in stage plays very artistically, and also took on independent films, announcing that it was intended to hone her acting skills. After learning about the casting change, Jenny curiously asked about his current situation, and it seemed that people were currently preparing a wild hike or something, in order to temper their minds.

 In Chen Zhen's previous life, Orlando's star path was actually not very smooth, although he had the two most profitable series in the world, and he also came out to play soy sauce in "The Hobbit", but whether it was a pirate or the Lord of the Rings, he was not the leading actor, it cannot be said that he provoked the burden of the box office, and it is difficult to say how much excellent acting skills he showed in the film, and his single-handedly blockbuster "Heavenly Dynasty" did not do well at the box office, although the director's cut version redeemed the disadvantage in word of mouth, but Orlando's acting skills as the leading actor were not affirmed. Since then, he has never received too good resources, and although he can still appear in blockbusters, there are not many opportunities to star.

 Because "The Lord of the Rings" has already gained enough popularity and box office for Orlando, Will Turner's style in the original film is almost completely overshadowed by Captain Jack, Jenny really doesn't know whether he chose to give up "Pirates" right or wrong, if he can still star in "Heavenly Dynasty" like her previous life, and he can really brush out his acting skills before, even if "Heavenly Dynasty" fails miserably, but if his acting skills are affirmed, he can still get a good opportunity. After all, everyone knows that a large part of the fiasco of "Heavenly Dynasty" was due to the very failed editing of the producers, and the director's cut version of this film is still listed as a classic.

 On the other hand, this may also be a good way to say that Orlando probably didn't fight Josh Blanche in the casting competition, so he said that he turned down the invitation - and this is not surprising, because Josh Blanche is really in the limelight in this world, he made a name for himself with "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones", playing the adult Anakin Skywalker who made him popular before the film was released, although the film has not yet been released, but he and Natalie Portman are in the trailer has made him a rising star that is talked about all over the country. Such a newcomer with excellent appearance, good acting skills, and destined popularity is on par with Orlando in terms of box office appeal, and the producers may choose Josh over Orlando because of various considerations. And Josh's voice may not be much lower, after all, he is already destined to be a popular star, although "Pirates" has a large investment, it still has a bit of an uncertain future.

 And the casting principles that Cesare was talking about also made Jenny feel eye-opening, but she was still a little skeptical, "Is Josh really so righteous? Just because his agent has a close relationship with you, he will support me so enthusiastically?"

 Cesare smiled back and continued, "But these are not a mortal threat to Jerry, he is a veteran producer, you know, he is a little king, although the score is not as good as the sum of these three cards, but it is enough to crush the individual cards." So, I used the last card. "

 "You won't go to Disney with the big ghost, will you?" asked Jenny suspiciously—in the case of the producer being a ghost, of course, the only one who can be a big ghost is the funder. "But you have to have the energy—"

 "If I had the energy, I wouldn't have to go the Gore route," Cesare said, "No, I called Eno Martin." "

 He waved his phone at Jenny, "The second call just now was made to him." "

 "And Eno Martin?" asked Jenny.

 "He is the CEO of CAA. Cesare gave Jenny a tolerant look, "Before being promoted to CEO, Jerry was Jerry's agent for many years, and Disney didn't have a packaging contract with CAA, but that doesn't mean CAA's producers need to treat all actors equally." Maybe when there are more than 10 candidates, he won't give anyone special treatment, but now we're talking about you and Kayla, the director supports you, the first actor supports you, the second actor supports you, and the CAA artist in these two is you. Martin may not know who you are, but he certainly has something to say about it. "

 He took another drag on his cigar, "Of course you know that agents are more of a service role for big producers, but in this case, if Jerry wants to support Kayla, the pressure he will be under makes him think about it." "

 Jenny was silent for a moment, then walked over to her desk and poured herself a glass of wine in a very rare way, "Should I cheer for your energy, or should I be terrified?" Even if I win this role, how much will I get paid? 300,000 yuan? In the end, it will only pay you a pitiful 20,000 yuan. "

 Although the CAA commission is 15%, the company will definitely have to draw again, and Cesare can get half of the commission.

 "Oh, you don't have to worry about it. Cesare clinked glasses with her, "Come on?" No?—— I've just chosen a little more complicated gameplay in this game, and in fact, if I had gone the other way, you might already be on a three-way contract by now. "

 "You mean?" Jenny took a sip of whiskey, feeling the fragrant bitterness burn down her throat.

 "Jerry is a CAA producer after all, and he doesn't want to be at odds with me," Cesare spat out a smoke ring, "and all he expects is a bow, a gesture of goodwill, and an apology." "

 "But you won't give it to him. Jenny said.

 "I don't want to give it to him. Cesare agreed, "I'm arguably 90 percent of the hardest part of the game that I made by myself, and I was playing with myself." "

 "I guess it has something to do with old scores," Jenny rolled her eyes, "and you won't admit that you did something wrong with Bell-Pearl Harbor, do you?"

 "I did nothing wrong, no one can deny that. Cesare said he filled his cup. "But what we're fighting for is not simply right and wrong. "

 His lips were wet with wine, but his eyes were still sharp, "What we're fighting for is power, Jefferson, in Hollywood, the word has nothing to do with money, it's a fluid vehicle, it keeps increasing and decreasing in people's hearts." Producers, agents, funders, producers, distributors, actors, we're all vying for this ethereal power, Jerry wants me to bow to him, and I want to stuff people into his film when he dislikes me — even if it's the heroine, I want to prove that I can do it, and it has nothing to do with Pearl Harbor, Jerry doesn't care that I object to Bell's participation, but he cares that I can influence his film, and he cares about sharing his power with me. "

 "People say that Hollywood has gone through the studio era, the star era, and now it's entering the producer era," Cesare said, "but I don't believe in the era, I just believe that at any time, a strong man can grab power in any position in Hollywood — and if you're good enough, it's a challenge for the strong." Without that determination, you'll never be able to sit at the table and become a player."

 "... It seems that I am just a pawn in your game. Jenny admitted, and she walked to the window and pushed it open to let out the smoke, "I can't care about the upper echelons now, anyway, in the case of Pirates, you've already played all your cards." "

 Cesare nodded. "Now, there's really nothing left to do but wait. "

 "OK," Jenny exhaled, "when will we know the results?"

 "It could be minutes, it could be hours, it could be days. Cesare said, turning his chair to face Jenny, the new orientation hiding his face in the darkness, but Jenny could feel Cesare watching her, "Now everything depends on Jerry's whim." "

 Jenny nodded wordlessly, took a long sip of wine, and frowned, "What are you looking at?"

 "I'll admit I was a little surprised. Cesare said he was still watching her. "You don't seem angry. "

 "Why am I angry?" said Jenny, who was a little taken aback now.

 "You see, I've just admitted to you that I can play this game in an easier way. Cesare said enlighteningly, "Remember? You could well have signed a three-way contract." "

 "Are you going around me?" said Jenny, "or do you think I have a bad memory? When you signed me, I asked you why you signed me - you have so many resources, you know so many stars, you can take over the successful people in this industry from others, easily match one big deal after another, and draw tens of millions of dividends." "

 Thinking of Cesare's answer when she signed the contract, she still couldn't help but thank her luck, "If it weren't for your ambition, you wouldn't have signed me, and I wouldn't have been able to attack the Pirates-level film today, in that case, why should I be angry about your ambition? "

 Cesaré didn't answer immediately, Jenny seemed to sense his surprise, she knew it was a good time to mend the relationship, "Of course, I understand that I haven't always been very good - sometimes I'm not so cooperative, sometimes I'm very bad tempered and can get angry for some reason, but you know that we actresses, always have to fight against appetite and erratic MCs, but never doubt, Chesa." "

 She walked over to her desk and took the initiative to clink glasses with Cesare.

 "I've always stood with you on key issues – never doubt that in my heart I've always been so grateful and respectful of you. "

 She said this very sincerely, without superfluous purpose or social elements, every word came from the bottom of her heart.

 After a brief pause, Cesare also clinked glasses with her, "Thank you, I want you to know that you have always surprised me - you know my standards are high, Jefferson, but you have never let me down. "

 "I hope I don't disappoint you this time. Jenny took a sip of her wine.

 "This time you have made me very satisfied. "I didn't expect you to win the lead actress of an A-grade production in one hit, that's too much for anyone." "

 Jenny laughed silently, "If only you were so reasonable when you're drunk." "

 She put her glass back on the table, "I should go, I don't think Lillian will be back that soon, wait for her to come back and say hello for me, by the way, Washington seemed to be tempted to go out for a walk-"

 Cesare stood up, "I'll take you downstairs - by the way, walk him." "

 When they all reached the door, Cesare turned back to get his phone, and the bell rang, and Jeanne, who had expected Cesare to answer the phone and walk out, stood at the top of the stairs and waited for a while, then turned back again.

 "yes, I see. Cesare said, "Good, good, then I'll be in touch tomorrow." "

 He hung up, and Jeanne glanced at him, making sure that Cesare's expression hadn't changed, and didn't ask about the call, most likely the rest of the client's work. "Can I go? If it's inconvenient, I can go down by myself. "

 "Wait a minute. Cesare said, in his usual tone, motioning for Jeanne to come in, "Is this your cup?"

 Jenny watched as he repoured the glasses for the two of them, her heartbeat began to speed up slowly, and her fingers trembled slightly as she took the glass.

 Cesare raised his glass, but did not toast, but raised his head and drank a large glass of whiskey, scooped up his tie to wipe the wine stain from his mouth, slammed the glass against the solid wood table, and showed a mouthful of white teeth at Jenny—a genuine smile, Wolfish, but not greedy, more wildly proud.

 "Cesare. Jenny urged impatiently.

 "Jerry just called," Cesare poured himself again, and he regained his absolute self-control and coldness, and gently clinked his glass with Jeanne. "Jennifer Jefferson, you're already the heroine of Pirates of the Caribbean. "

 The author has something to say: Note:

 1 I forgot to comment yesterday and my head was dizzy... Jerry is a real person, and really a Caribbean and Pearl Harbor producer, Khan. Almost all of the candidates who appeared yesterday were real actresses, and in those days, the star roads were almost the same, but now the difference is very big, everyone compares their records, and you can see that this resource is really limited, and there is really not much room for failure.

 2 Keira Knightley is really a very artistic and rebellious actress who doesn't like commercialization, and what I remember most is that she said that the Oscars were a dog show, and it seemed that she announced at the time that she would not go to such an awards ceremony in the future and be criticized...

 3 shoot is the nickname of shit, in fact, Jenny's spoken language is still influenced by the original body, and it is relatively coarse, so Lilian will say shit as shoot.

 4 I actually liked Orlando very much, but his performances in the Caribbean, Troy, and Celestial Dynasty were not well received, and it is true that he did not receive any blockbuster movies after that... The fact that all three musketeers are playing villains is a clear proof of the gradual reduction of resources. If you hone your acting skills, you might be able to take it to the next level!

 5 Anakin of the Star Wars prequel was Hayden in the original world, this pro-star road is called a strange one, and his role with Natalie is recognized as one of the most chemically unreactive on-screen couples in history, and Lucas's most failed casting. Here Harmony has been replaced by the original character Josh Blanche

 6 In addition, it is also true that the LA gang is rampant, if you are interested, you can Baidu the Los Angeles shootout or something, there are a lot of poor people who are killed casually.

 7 The four phone calls were: the office phone was made by the CAA CEO to Jerry, Jerry's cell phone was made by Josh's agent, Gore's cell phone was made by Josh himself, and Johnny was called by Cesare to inquire about the situation.