Chapter 198: Oscar Night, They Really Know How to Have Fun

After Martin left, Li An sat down with a feeling of awe.

On the other side, Zhou Dafa said, "Now even the foreigners are starting to flatter you, Director Li An. Looks like you're going to get famous!"

Li An quickly waved his hand, "Not at all, we're probably just discussing the script. Mr. Martin is a very talented individual, a famous genius from America. You may not know, but he's only fourteen years old and has already published multiple best-selling books. He has written and directed several box-office hits, such as…"

"What? He wrote Harry Potter? That fantasy novel was hugely popular in China!"

"Wait, The Sixth Sense and Hide and Seek—he acted in those? Now that I think about it, his features do resemble him, but his temperament is completely different!"

"To be able to break free from his own image—now that's Martin's brilliance!"

"He's really only fourteen?"

...

In front of the Grand Hall, the academy had specially set up a giant screen so that fans and journalists who participated in the red carpet ceremony but couldn't enter the hall could watch the award ceremony.

In America, everything is commercial, and the Oscars are no exception.

This award ceremony, which is marketed as the world's biggest film event, is, in reality, very commercially driven.

This year, due to the effects of the internet bubble, the economy in North America was declining, which would inevitably affect the awards ceremony. The academy had gone to great lengths to boost viewership.

In addition to the giant screen, inviting Martin to participate in the ceremony was one of the academy's strategies to attract viewers.

You see, even though Martin didn't make any films last year, his popularity hadn't decreased—he'd rescued people at Michael's concert, the New Zealand elf incident, and, not to mention, the release of his new book. This young American idol was in the spotlight.

According to data companies, Martin's appearance could bring at least one point of viewership to the Oscars.

That's right, Martin is this popular now!

In Los Angeles, the day is always longer than the night. It isn't until after 8:30 that the sky completely darkens.

After a brief opening segment, the screen showed the host, Steve Martin, standing below the "Oscar Man" sign on stage.

After the endless cycles of Billy Crystal and Whoopi Goldberg, the new century's Oscars finally welcomed a new host, the comedic actor, known as Hollywood's "old man with white hair." His hosting style leaned more towards—well, lowbrow.

Yes, lowbrow!

As usual, the Oscars started with jokes.

The "federal government" was the first target of mockery, as always.

"Oh, I've got some bad news for everyone. The long-awaited tax cuts in Hollywood have fallen through. We can all go back and start preparing to pay taxes," Steve Martin's joke elicited laughter from the audience.

In America, there's a hidden rule: you can mock the government and politicians, even calling the person in the White House a pig, and no one will come after you—because the American government's job is to absorb the public's negative emotions.

But you can never criticize capital or special groups, like LGBTQ+ or feminist causes—doing so will bring big trouble.

Steve Martin, perhaps due to inexperience, clearly made a mistake in his third joke when he made fun of the LGBTQ+ community.

Martin could imagine that after the Oscars, this would definitely lead to protests and threats from LGBTQ+ groups.

Of course, that wasn't Martin's problem.

He was just here to play a minor role and, by the way, present the Best Actor award.

...

In the end, Gladiator became the big winner of the Oscars, taking home five awards.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Traffic each won four.

Miramax's Chocolat came away empty-handed, without a single win.

After the Oscars, Martin saw that Harvey's face looked grim.

This made Martin very happy.

...

The Oscars ended, but Oscar night wasn't over.

In 1994, Vanity Fair magazine held its first Oscar party.

From then on, this party became a regular post-Oscar event.

As the big post-Oscar party, it was full of unspoken rules, PR, and deals.

At this celebratory evening banquet, almost all the Oscar nominees attended, whether winners or losers, everyone made sure to show up.

On the surface, they'd say it was to reward themselves for their hard work over the past year, but in reality, they were looking for their next big "fame and fortune" opportunity.

For this reason, many big stars who hadn't attended the Oscar red carpet still showed up at the party, held at the "Sunset Tower Hotel."

At this party, you could see the newly crowned Best Actress Julia Roberts proudly flaunting her Best Actress Oscar, her satisfaction evident in her demeanor.

You could also see that those who didn't win weren't as gloomy as expected. For example, Tom Hanks was having a lively conversation with Spielberg, and Meryl Streep was happily chatting with the visibly annoyed Harvey. Before long, Harvey was smiling and had his hand on Meryl Streep's waist.

"They say this pair is longtime lovers!"

A familiar voice sounded behind Martin.

Martin turned around and saw Leonardo DiCaprio.

He looked at Leonardo's side and asked curiously, "Leo, where's Gisele?"

Leonardo shrugged and said, "You probably don't know, but she's a workaholic, so I came alone today."

He then added, a little disgruntled, "Now I kind of regret it. I moved so quickly to define our relationship. I'm crazy. I've tied myself down!"

Martin laughed and changed the subject. "You say Meryl Streep and Harvey Weinstein are a couple? I thought Meryl was already married?"

"Yes, your memory is correct. She's married, but so what? She not only had an affair with Harvey, but also with Jack Nicholson. This is no secret in the industry."

He continued, "You might not know, but I worked with Meryl in 1995. I saw some things."

Martin thought for a moment, uncertain, "1995? Marvin's Room?"

"Exactly, that movie."

"You know, halfway through the shooting, Meryl suddenly left. Three days later, Harvey personally drove her back. They'd had such a wild time that when she came back, Meryl could barely stand."

"It didn't end there. After Harvey left, about three days later, Jack Nicholson came over. Meryl and he got together in the trailer, and they didn't even try to hide it!"

Martin was very interested in the gossip and suddenly asked, "I heard Judy Dench had Harvey's name tattooed on her butt. Is that true?"

Leonardo laughed. "You know about this too? Haha, it's probably true. Harvey himself said it—this old guy is so arrogant, let me think…"

"Oh, it must've been on a talk show two years ago when Harvey confirmed it. He described it like this:"

Leonardo mimicked Harvey's voice: "That day, she invited me to the Four Seasons restaurant and said she had a surprise for me. She said, 'You're a man who has everything. I don't know how to express my gratitude.'"

"Then, she unbuttoned her pants, showed me her (butt), and everyone could clearly see that she had 'JDLovesHW' (Judy loves Harvey) tattooed there."

"She said, 'I got your name tattooed on my butt to show my thanks.'"

"At the time, my brother Bob was there, along with some other stars. I was stunned."

Even Harvey was stunned, showing just how outrageous Judy Dench's actions were.

Even Martin, this charmer, couldn't help but admire. This British old woman really knows how to play, and she's not afraid to go all in!

[•———•——•———•]

𝙥𝗮𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙤𝙣(.)𝙘𝙤𝙢/𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙊𝙛𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧