Opportunism

Watching Joseph's embarrassing appearance, Hugo burst out laughing as he sat in the co-pilot seat, flipping forward and backward, brimming with joy. This was the happiest moment for him since he crossed over.

Of course, Hugo was joking, although he was not a justice enforcer to fight against all hidden rules, he knew this was the industry rule and there was nothing to complain about. However, as far as Hugo was concerned, he never wanted to take shortcuts and there was no shortcut in the path of art.

In pursuit of his musical dream, Hugo left home resolutely and rolled in the underground rock music scene for a full ten years. If it weren't for his passion for chasing his dream, he could never have lasted so long. So, compared to the shortcuts of the hidden rules, Hugo still hoped to stand at the peak with his own strength.

Just now, Hugo made a joke and he couldn't say "Joseph, do you know where there is a time machine that can send me back to 2014", so he could only relax using self-mockery and he was surprised at the unexpected result.

Joseph patted his chest and took a deep breath after he stumbled. Luckily it was a traffic jam and the car was not moving fast, otherwise, the scare would have caused an accident. He turned his head to look at Hugo who was sitting in the passenger seat. His brilliant smile shone brightly in the golden sun of Los Angeles. Joseph always knew Hugo was handsome, but at this moment, he was so vivid and like a ray of sunshine that it was dazzling. Unlike Hugo's appearance, the aura revealed by his smile was the most fascinating thing. Now, Hugo was even more dazzling than he had ever been in any other moment in Joseph's memory.

Joseph put his gaze back on the road ahead and said, "Hugo, in fact, you don't lack audition opportunities."

Hugo supported his right hand on the window and opened his palm, feeling the sun gently touching his fingertips. The gentle touch and the breeze blowing through his fingers, he felt the delicate sensation sliding in the crevices of his fingers, very subtle. "Hmm, it seems that I am still in high demand," said Hugo, who was now more proficient in using the first person. Although he still had the thought of "who is this" when he saw his face in the rearview mirror, at least he was no longer awkward in his language, which may be a change, meaning that Hugo could never go back.

Joseph listened to Hugo's self-mocking words and pulled the corner of his mouth, "No, it's my agent's ability that's good enough to get you these opportunities."

"Then your fee shouldn't be cheap." Hugo leaned his head on his arm, feeling the comfort of the wind floating between his hair strands, which made his mood settle down and not be agitated or complaining because of the heavy difficulties.

Joseph replied, "I only take cash." implying not to compare him with Tracey. This made Hugo laugh out loud, "But your situation isn't good now, you have to find a job as soon as possible and find another place to live."

Hugo thought about it, that's right. It seemed that Hugo was driven out by Tracey and became homeless, so he had to live with the agent. From Joseph's place of residence, it was apparent that Hugo's life had been very bad in the past year. The agent lives on the commission from the artist's work, and Hugo's career downturn naturally affected Joseph.

From here, it was possible to infer that Joseph was not an experienced agent, and his only artist at present was Hugo. Then Hugo remembered that he was given to Joseph by Ron Meyer last year. It seemed that Ron saw Hugo's unavoidable downward trend in advance and made a wise decision early. Indeed, this was the vision of a seasoned agent.

Joseph turned his head and saw Hugo relaxing, clearly seeing the aura of frustration and disappointment emanating from Hugo, which was slowly spreading in the sunlight. Joseph knew that Hugo was probably still affected by the failed audition for "A River Runs Through It". Joseph wanted to say something to comfort Hugo and said, "Hugo, you always have a chance, you need to know this."

"Chance?" Hugo slightly lifted his head, leaned his head against the window frame, and at this moment, the road had begun to smooth out, the speed of the car gradually increased, and the wind that came was also growing stronger, making Hugo close his eyes involuntarily, feeling the comfort of the wind and sunshine caressing his cheek.

"Yes. Before "Desperate Hours", every performance you appeared in was highly praised, maybe they were all small productions, but every one of them had a solid reputation, and your performance was also well-received, this was also the reason why Ron had high hopes for you in the beginning. You have talent, outstanding talent actually." Joseph drove and organized his language at the same time, his speech wasn't fast, but Hugo listened attentively. "And you also have an outstanding appearance, this is something that will never be outdated in Hollywood."

Hugo's mouth revealed a bitter smile. In fact, in Hollywood, there are countless actors with both looks and talent, but the number of actors who can break through and achieve greatness is very limited. Whenever professional magazines and newspapers selected the top 100 people in movie and music history, Hugo always thought that even if they select 1000 people, there were still tens of thousands of unknown extras outside of those 1000 people. He also wanted to be in the front 1000, but reality told him he was just one of the tens of thousands on the sidelines.

What is the most critical factor to make a difference in the entertainment industry?

Appearance is not the key to success in Hollywood, as it was not just a matter of different aesthetic views but also because good looks were often the least valuable commodity in the industry. Although the entertainment industry relies heavily on looks (80% of the time), appearance is just a tool, and winning attention is not that simple.

Talent and skill are not the deciding factors either. The chances of a fleeting genius standing out in a sea of people are slim, and only a few people in the hundred-year history of music and movies can be considered true geniuses. Even if someone has talent, such as a performer with exceptional abilities in Broadway or West End, it doesn't guarantee success. Hugo was actually a talented musician and performer, and his ten years of hard work in the industry gave him an advantage over his peers, but unfortunately, he still couldn't make a name for himself in music or movies before he traveled back in time.

Hard work alone doesn't guarantee success either. There are countless people who are willing to sweat for their goals, but the law of diligence supplementing clumsiness has a minimal impact on the artistic field. "Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% sweat," but in the world of art, that 1% inspiration often determines success.

So, can a person with looks, talent, skills, and hard work succeed in the entertainment industry? Not necessarily. In the entertainment business, the decisive factor is opportunity, or to say crudely luck.

Jack Lemmon was one of the greatest actors in American film history. He was the first actor to win the best actor award at the Cannes, Berlin, and Venice film festivals, and the Oscars. He gave a brilliant performance in his third film, "Mister Roberts", and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

After winning the award, Lemmon was overjoyed and shared the joy with his acting teacher, but his teacher pointed to the passing people on the street and said, "There are probably six people among the people passing by who could perform this role as well as you, but the most important difference between you and them is: you got the role, they didn't."

Or another more common example is the film "Transformers" released in 2007, the real protagonist of the film was the robots, not humans. So Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox's roles could have been successfully played by others, but in reality, they got the roles and succeeded.

So chance or luck was the most important aspect in the entertainment industry. People are more willing to say that luck is also a part of strength and that's the whole point. Of course, without enough "real" strength, conditions, and sweat to support it, luck can make things worse.

With this in mind, Hugo started to re-think his thoughts from last night. This time, the journey through time was an opportunity and a stroke of luck for him. The failure of "A River Runs Through It" was just a stage, and his life after traveling through time had just begun. There were plenty of opportunities ahead that he had never encountered before. If he could seize this chance, he may be able to create his own world and realize his dreams. If not, he will simply return to the beginning, nothing to be afraid of, right?

Hugo slightly opened his hands, allowing the breeze to quickly glide through his fingertips. The sun was shining and sparkling in his palms, and he slowly closed his hands. He didn't catch anything, but the warmth in his palms was so clear, maybe there was invisible sun, wind, and opportunity.

Victor Hugo once said, "I prefer to open my future with my own strength, rather than asking for the favor of the powerful." Hugo had always believed in this, so since it had started, he wouldn't give up. When he reached the end of the road, he would take a look at the scenery, so as not to waste his life.

The name "Hugo" was easy to associate with the great writer, but the name itself had a deeper meaning. Hugo originated from the ancient Latin language, meaning heart, thought, and spirit. It was later extended to ancient English and German, meaning wise and sanguine with optimistic personality, and often pleasing people around.

Initially, Hugo's father named Chen Yuguo as such under the mother's insistence, but the father also hoped that Hugo would have an optimistic and broad heart and be able to create his own miracles. Thinking of this, the bitterness, depression, and sadness on Hugo's body slowly dissipated under the rays of the sun accompanied by the warm smile at the corner of his mouth, "Come and shock me, what other opportunities are waiting for me to work hard?"

Joseph looked at Hugo's face with a dazzling smile brighter than the sun and unconsciously showed a faint smile, with a hint of open-mindedness. After yesterday's unexpected events, Hugo was much cuter than he used to be, and before, Joseph only did his duty as a matter of professionalism and had no intention of having too much communication with Hugo. But today, Joseph took the initiative to guide Hugo and also became cheerful because of Hugo's energetic smile.

Joseph realized that this might be a good start.

"Don't be so playful. Laughing wildly can easily be misunderstood by others." Hugo's words came from the side, directly freezing the smile at the corner of Joseph's mouth.