Chapter 237: Not Your Pregnancy

When Link arrived at the movie theater lobby, most of the crew from "The Fighter" were already there, including producer Darren Aronofsky, director David O. Russell, and Christian Bale.

Link hadn't seen them since leaving the set in April, and now that they were together, they had a lot to catch up on.

"Link, when is your next album coming out? I'm a fan of your music now."

Christian Bale said with a smile.

"Really? Probably around March or April."

Link smiled slightly and introduced Selena to Bale.

Selena said she loved Bale's Batman and was a huge fan. Bale laughed and complimented Selena on her beauty and charm.

Link then chatted with director Darren about his new film "Black Swan" and asked if there were any suitable supporting roles for him.

Director Darren jokingly said that if Link was willing to put on tights and learn ballet, he might consider giving him a supporting role.

Link thought about it and decided against it. A boxing champion doing ballet would look strange.

He then found director David O. Russell and asked about his new projects.

He remembered Russell had a movie called "Silver Linings Playbook," which was well-received and helped "The Hunger Games" actress Jennifer Lawrence win an Oscar for Best Actress. He wondered when it would start filming.

He gave Russell a heads-up, saying that if he needed a male lead, he could try out for it, and if he lacked funding, he could invest.

After chatting with everyone, he noticed someone was missing, the female lead Amy Adams.

He hadn't seen Amy since filming "The Fighter" and had only seen news of her marriage to her boyfriend in the newspaper. He was about to ask director Russell about Amy when he saw her slowly walking in from the aisle, wearing a loose green dress that couldn't hide her protruding belly.

Seeing the pregnant Amy, Link was stunned for a moment. He thought of what happened between them that night and couldn't help but feel nervous.

But then he remembered that Amy Adams seemed to have gotten married and had a child this year, so it probably had nothing to do with him.

"Hi, Amy!"

Seeing everyone else greeting her, Link also walked over and said hello to Amy.

Amy Adams saw him and smiled warmly, "Link, you're really popular this year. I can hear your songs everywhere."

"Not bad. Congratulations on becoming a mother."

Link said, looking at her belly.

"Thank you!"

Amy Adams caressed her belly with a gentle smile on her face. Combined with her fair and tender cheeks, she looked radiant.

The premiere ceremony began. Link and the main cast and crew talked about the filming process on stage, answered a few questions from the media, and the movie started playing.

The opening scene showed Link training in the boxing ring with Bale, who played his brother Dick, giving instructions.

The HBO director kept interrupting, saying he wanted to make a documentary about Dick.

Dick thought it was to promote his comeback and was very excited, telling everyone he was about to make a comeback.

In reality, it was a documentary about the dangers of drugs, and former professional boxer Dick was a negative example.

Link's character, Micky, also worked as a road paver, repairing roads with tools. His mother, who used to be his brother's boxing manager, was now his manager.

But his mother was more concerned about Dick's comeback and didn't care about his development in boxing.

In one match, she arranged an unequal fight for Micky, and he was badly beaten.

Because of this, Mickey had a disagreement with his family and met the female lead at a bar, falling in love. Encouraged by her, Mickey found a new manager and won several consecutive matches.

This also led to dissatisfaction from Mickey's family, who believed his girlfriend was a bad influence and that he was choosing her over them. The two sides had a heated argument, and his mother asked him to choose between his family and his girlfriend.

The protagonist Mickey faced a serious crisis: whether to choose his career or his family.

This kind of plot is David O. Russell's forte, and he made the movie very exciting.

Link, Bale, and Amy's performances in the film were all excellent, and they had great chemistry, especially the emotional scenes between him and Amy Adams, which were very captivating.

Before, Link felt that he was a bit far from winning the Oscar for Best Actor.

After seeing this movie, he felt that he had performed very well and wasn't without a chance of winning the Oscar.

"Selena, how do you think I did?"

Link casually asked but didn't hear a response. He turned around and saw Selena asleep in her seat, sleeping soundly with drool at the corner of her mouth.

"."

Link shook his head. Last time at Selena's movie premiere, he fell asleep, and now at his own premiere, Selena fell asleep. It was like getting even.

"Link, you did great!"

Amy Adams smiled slightly beside him.

"Thank you. It's all thanks to your guidance on set. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to perform at this level."

"You're welcome."

Amy Adams shrugged and suddenly let out a soft "ah," covering her mouth with her hand.

"What's wrong?"

Link asked, puzzled.

Amy Adams smiled slightly and said, holding her belly, "The baby just kicked me."

"How many months along are you?"

Link asked, looking at her protruding belly.

"Almost six months."

Amy Adams glanced at him and said softly, "Don't get any ideas. It has nothing to do with you."

"I... okay. I did think about that possibility."

Link spread his hands and breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, what happened that time didn't lead to any major mistakes or damage the relationship between Amy Adams and her husband.

But after the relief, he felt a bit disappointed for some reason. It was a strange feeling.

Clap clap clap!

The movie ended, and there was a round of applause from the audience.

Selena was startled awake by the applause and immediately sat up straight, staring blankly for a few seconds. She looked around, then suddenly jumped up, clapping and shouting, "Wow, that was amazing! This movie is so good! Link, you did an amazing job! Oscar-worthy acting, definitely Oscar..."

"Enough! That's too exaggerated."

Link shook his head. If he hadn't seen her sleeping and drooling earlier, he might have been fooled by her.

"Honestly, what were you doing last night?"

"Umm, reading!"

Selena blushed and stuck out her tongue.

"Reading?! Do you think I'd believe that?"

Link pointed at her forehead.

There were two reasons why Selena was in Los Angeles. One was to promote her new album. The record company she signed with was Hollywood Records, a subsidiary of Walt Disney, headquartered in Los Angeles, and most of her promotional activities were concentrated there.

The other reason was that Catherine and Mandy's work was centered there recently, and Mr. Gomez was busy with his business, leaving her alone in New York, where she was addicted to online games and TV shows.

Mandy brought her over, also with the intention of supervising her studies.

But Selena's current state showed that her bad habits were hard to break and needed more supervision from Mandy and Catherine.

"Catherine and Mandy have been busy these days and don't have time to take care of you. Come live with me, and we'll go running together every morning."

"Huh? Run every day?"

Selena frowned, feeling a bit troubled.

"Besides running, there's also boxing practice. You're so pretty, how can you protect yourself without learning boxing?"

"OK!"

Hearing him compliment her beauty, Selena didn't care about anything else and readily agreed.

After the premiere, the film was screened in six theaters in the United States that day, earning $28,000 at the box office, with an average per-theater gross of $4,667 and a 68% attendance rate. For an art film, this was a good opening result.

The media's reviews of the film were also very positive.

Some praised director David O. Russell for once again using his unique style to tell a captivating story, calling "The Fighter" a movie worth watching.

Some newspapers praised Bale's explosive acting, saying he was likely to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor next year, and Amy Adams' performance was as excellent as ever, proving her talent as an actress.

Since Link was a popular star, there were even more comments about him in the media.

Famous film critic Adam Simmons wrote in the Los Angeles Times: "When I first heard that the crew of 'The Fighter' was planning to cast Link Baker as the lead, I thought director David O. Russell had made a huge mistake.

Link is a world champion boxer, but not a world-class actor. Having him play the lead in an art film, I didn't think the film would have a high ceiling. With this in mind, I waited from the start of filming until the movie's release, just to see if Link would mess up another movie...

This Friday, I couldn't wait to go to the cinema and watch 'The Fighter.' After watching it, I was surprised to find that Link wasn't superfluous at all. His performance in this movie wasn't outstanding, but he definitely didn't waste the role or affect the quality of the film...

Link's performance in this movie is an improvement over 'Into the Blue,' but there's still a lot of room for growth. I give him a three-and-a-half-star rating."

The New York Post commented, "This movie is full of David O. Russell's signature style, with a rich plot that showcases the inner emotions and outbursts of a strong boxer... The lead actor Link is also a pleasant surprise. He delivers a remarkable performance, holding his own against Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo, which is very rare and successfully shuts up those who doubted his acting skills."

Variety commented, "There's no doubt that Link has made a comeback with his outstanding performance in 'The Fighter.' However, Christian Bale's performance in the film is even more impressive."

Besides the praise, there was also a lot of criticism.

The New York Times said his performance in the movie wasn't as good as Christian Bale's, and the character he portrayed wasn't as well-rounded as Bale's Dicky. They also said he was still ten movies away from becoming a skilled actor.

The Hollywood Reporter said he chose the right role but not the right teammates. As a newcomer, daring to act alongside powerful actors like Christian Bale and Amy Adams in this movie was undoubtedly "asking for trouble."

Rolling Stone and The Ring criticized him for not focusing on his main career, advising him to spend more time on his new album and boxing matches. He was only twenty years old and had plenty of time in the future. Even if he wanted to become an actor, there was no need to rush.

Overall, positive reviews accounted for about 60%, and negative reviews for 40%, which was an improvement over the 70/30 split for "Into the Blue."

"Link, you did well in this movie and received a lot of recognition. If we increase the PR efforts, there's a chance to win some film awards. Do you want to try?"

Eva called and asked.

"Is there a chance of getting an Oscar?"

"Of course not!"

Eva said bluntly.

"Okay, I was joking. If I can't get an Oscar, then forget it. My goal as an actor is to win an Oscar, or a Golden Globe. I'm not interested in other film awards for now. Besides, my acting still has a lot of room for improvement. We can talk about PR for awards in a couple of years."

Link thought for a moment and said.

"Also, for the American Music Awards this time, because of MJ, you probably won't win many awards. You need to be mentally prepared."

Eva said.

Link nodded and said he understood. Seeing Taylor and Selena coming down the stairs hand in hand, he said goodbye to Eva and hung up the phone.

(End of Chapter)