Harm of Drugs

"What do you think it would be like if we let Robert Downey Jr. star in this role?"

Looking at the last name of the four Wallfacers, Levi thought about it for a long time, and with some hesitation, he mentioned a name to Clark.

This name came to Levi's mind after thinking about it for a long time.

The character Luo Ji is different from the other characters. He is an ordinary person who lives a dissolute life and has a somewhat eccentric personality. 

If his life is shown too directly, it might be hard for people to buy into him saving the world. Even if the audience doesn't have to love him, his positive traits should outweigh his negative ones. Movies need to make the positive side more likable, especially if the character is meant to save the world.

Hence, if the director aims to portray him effectively, he has to carefully use the lens, paying attention to what is captured and ensuring the character is portrayed well. How to shape a character well is something Levi has to consider.

Hence, in Levi's vision, he naturally aspires to diminish the prodigal aspects of his life, temper his shameless demeanor, and enhance his sense of humor, knowledge, and literary prowess, aiming to accentuate a different and more commendable facet of his character.

This person may be a gangster, but he should be photographed as a romantic; maybe he is just cheating money, but he should be photographed as a talented person; perhaps he is just using United Nations funds to pick up girls, but he must be photographed as a genius. 

To put it simply, what Levi wants to do is to film this person as a romantic and yuppie - an image that the audience can accept.

And Levi got the name after thinking about it. To be able to play such a romantic yuppie well, Robert Downey Jr. is definitely a suitable candidate.

But just as he expected, Clark's eyes widened as soon as his candidate was proposed.

"When it comes to ability, I naturally have nothing to say. But his condition, can he really act well in a movie?"

Regarding this name, Clark hesitated for a while. And his hesitation is not without reason - after all, Downey is now considered a disreputable figure in Hollywood.

People believe in his ability. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1992 but lost to Al Pacino. 

It can be said that he is a figure who became famous at a young age. 

In 2001, he also made a movie and won a Golden Globe Award. His talent has not been exhausted. Coming from a family of entertainers and with good enough talent, he has long used his actions to prove he is very capable. 

Moreover, his image is very good, his temperament is outstanding, his appearance is good, and he can adapt to a wide range of movies. Clark has no doubts about the quality of this actor.

But he is helpless. It's his private life.

Downey's career is very good, but he can be said to be very bad in life in a sense. 

This is another gift his father gave him: his father taught him how to face the camera, gave him the opportunity to perform, and gave him the opportunity to get involved in this circle. 

However, his father also gave him the opportunity to live a corrupt life. Growing up with such a disorderly father who even smoked marijuana for his six-year-old son made it challenging for him to learn valuable lessons.

Clark questioned Downey's choice; it was because he was overmedicated.

In Hollywood, drug use is not particularly uncommon. Many people here take medication, some even openly. It has been reported by the media more than once. 

For many people in Hollywood, marijuana is not considered a drug. This is normal. 

However, even in this environment, Downey still established a reputation for his own medication, which was extremely difficult. Here, it is not strange for a person to just play with drugs, but it has been repeatedly reported, which can only mean one thing: he is already dependent on drugs. This kind of dependence is no longer just for fun but has reached the point where it affects his life and career.

Throughout the 1990s, he was basically immersed in the effects of drugs, and going to jail became a common occurrence. Although he has a good father who can take care of his career, no matter how hard he takes care of him, he still has to work hard on his own. 

When he consistently takes medicine to the extent that he can never arrive on set on time for filming, and regardless of the director or the movie, he boldly skips work in a daze, it's only natural that he can't expect to maintain employment in this condition.

After all, which directors like to go to the police station to bail out their leading actors? There are so many actors in Hollywood, and there is no shortage of talent to choose from.

And after entering the 21st century, the reputation he accumulated in the past has basically been exhausted. At this time, he also realized that if he did not repent, his life would really end like this. 

Therefore, he declared that he would quit drugs and return to work in Hollywood - but he had made such a declaration more than once, and people did not particularly trust him.

At this time in 2005, Robert Downey Jr. could be said to have just completed his drug rehabilitation career. He wasted more than ten years of time. 

When he came back again, his face was already wrinkled because of the drugs and time. Moreover, his acting career almost missed the entire golden period of film development in the 1990s. 

When Pitt, Depp, and others who were about the same age as him were worth tens of millions, his worth had dropped to hundreds of thousands.

He missed too much - in fact, even in Levi's memory, when his career recovered again in the future, he would no longer be able to compete with those of his age. 

Compared with Pitt, who has already embarked on the path of producing, he is much inferior and can only be compared with Depp, whose acting skills are obviously not at the same level as his.

Clark has no doubt about his talent: this man is indeed one of the top talents in Hollywood. But Clark didn't trust his condition at all: a man who had been taking drugs for more than ten years claimed that he was fine, which was not very credible.

The story of the prodigal son turning back is certainly very good, but whether the prodigal son can turn back is a big question. There are many people in Hollywood who have been fooling around on stage when they were young. Some of these people can turn around and achieve success in their careers, but most of them have failed to recover.

If nothing else, when it comes to Martin Sheen, then his son Charlie Sheen can be mentioned. This is the same libertine who, at the peak of his career in his early years, could earn tens of millions a year. 

However, he repeatedly acted recklessly, to the point where he could only film TV series. Even so, he is no longer particularly peaceful now. 

Robert Downey Jr. is also a similar person. How can Clark trust him?

"I think, even if you genuinely want to find a degenerate prodigal son to play the authentic role, you don't necessarily have to choose him. His issues are too big, and I doubt we can fully understand them. It's better to steer clear and find someone else."

Clark's worry made Levi hesitate: he knew the dangers of drugs, although he could not remember them. Robert Downey Jr. stepped out of the shadows, but that was only a few years later. Levi doesn't know what kind of virtue he has now.

Levi believed that he could awaken. After all, in his memory, Downey had indeed awakened. But has he realized it now? Has he gotten rid of his dependence on drugs? Levi did not dare to draw conclusions lightly on these issues.

After all, he is quite good at playing.

However, taking into account his ability. Levi was still determined to try.

"Let's give it a try. Then, invite him to audition and see if he has corrected himself. If not, we will replace him with someone else." Levi still made such a decision.

"I don't think it's effective. No matter how much money you give him, he will only use it as drug money." Clark muttered.

Is Downey able to do this? Clark was also a little skeptical. However, there are still auditions anyway, so we'll just have to wait and see when the time comes.

"Don't always be so absolute. Didn't Angelina Jolie also have a lot of negative news at the beginning? Isn't she struggling now? Sometimes, people can still work hard to change some things."

Levi advised again and gave an example. It also made Clark say nothing more. 

Although he acknowledges that Angelina Jolie has not been repentant in recent years, he recognizes her genuine dedication to her career. While discussing private life can be frustrating, from an actor's perspective, it is definitely good.

They have finally decided on this role. After this role was confirmed, the only main role left was Zhang Beihai.

As for this role, it reflects the Eastern style of doing things, and Levi had already made the decision; even if he ignored this, the Chinese box office market for movies must also hand over this role to Chinese people. 

In Levi's view, this image of a soldier is also very suitable: in terms of appearance, he is quite upright and manly, and his voice is excellent, which fits the image of a soldier - and, in this story, he can be said to be a hidden Wallfacer and his true purpose was revealed at the last moment. Such a person, with a decent-looking person, will have even more shocking power.

He was one of the actors introduced to Levi by Director Zhang. After arriving in the United States, he took the initiative to learn to act independently, improving his acting skills quickly. 

Now, in that kung fu TV series, he plays a kung fu master with a mafia background. Although he only appeared a few times, he still left a deep impression on people.

This actor is also the candidate that Levi finalized.

"This role can be given to Zhang Hanyu."

Clark nodded; he had no objection to this. He knew Levi did not want the images of Asians in his movies to be distorted and cunning. That would not be respectful enough to the movie - in science fiction movies, non-human races must be treated with an equal heart. What's more, it's just a matter of skin color and race.

"I don't have much objection to these leading actors. I believe they can perform well." Looking at the list, Clark nodded with satisfaction again, "I will go and convince them. The rest will be left to you. You have to know how to shoot this movie. After all, this is not an ordinary movie, and the shooting techniques will not be the same as before."

*****

Thanks and kudos for my patreons 

Marcelo Maia

Britanna

Mandy G

Scott DePaepe

Oluwatimileyin Olayemi

Herylle Ian Gloria

You can read advanced chapters on my Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.