The King of Directors 2000

Joaquin Phoenix is ​​a very characterful person.

In 2008, he suddenly announced his "retirement" and wanted to pursue his dream of becoming a "hip-hop singer". So he found the deer. No, he started flying leaves every day, drying money and wearing gold chains. He also often looked for Whore, he talks nonsense, pees and drinks in public.

As a result, he was arrested and taken to the police station several times.

Hollywood stars thought he was crazy and stayed away from him.

Until 2010, he released the pseudo-documentary "I'm Still Here", which recorded his absurd life over the past two years.

The purpose is to satirize the chaotic private lives of Hollywood stars.

He was very disgusted with the publicity promoted by Hollywood stars.

All of this was because his beloved brother died when he was young.

Joaquin Phoenix lives in a big family with five brothers and sisters. His brother is River Phoenix.

Ruifan is a handsome guy who was once a Hollywood A-list star.

As a result, he overdosed on drugs and died at Johnny Depp's party.

Since then, Joaquin Phoenix has been extremely disgusted with the star life.

He doesn't like parties, banquets, or TV shows.

"Joker" won him the Oscar for Best Actor. This honor was well deserved, and he was dubbed by many media as the most valuable actor.

As we all know, the Oscar awards are selected by nearly two thousand judges. Each Oscar has a lobbying group. These people are like lobbyists in ancient times, persuading the judges to vote for that work and that star.

To compete for awards, producers or stars need to spend a lot of lobbying money.

It can range from millions of dollars to tens of millions of dollars.

When Joker was released, he only attended five movie promotions and did not go to any other promotional events.

He rejected the producer's proposal to lobby for him. He was able to win the Oscar for Best Actor only because the judges voted for him spontaneously that year.

An actor like this can still keep getting film appointments simply because he has superb acting skills.

In Lee Sheung Yew's previous life, Jacques initially rejected the invitation from the crew of "Joker". Later, the director and producer came to visit him again and again, and this was when Jacques was moved.

The reason why Joaquin refused was because he was afraid of playing this role.

Joaquin is an experiential actor. After he performs, he will definitely bring himself into the role.

On YouTube, there are many videos of Joaquin breaking down and crying on the set of "Joker". This is not a hype, he really got into it.

Li Shengyao knows very well about Joaquin.

After all, Joaquin is known as the "Hollywood Freak". When he was studying in his previous life, he had seen a lot of news about Joaquin.

But whether he can successfully invite Joaquin to agree to perform, he actually has no confidence.

Joaquin is now working with the intensity of one movie a year, and this spring he has completed the movie "Inherent Evil".

Li Shengyao invites him now and hopes to start filming in September, but others may not agree.

After all, Joaquin might already have a life plan.

But the filming of "Joker" was not easy. The story in the movie takes place in the autumn and winter.

The sky in autumn and winter, the intensity of light, the brightness of objects, and the mist sprayed by the characters when speaking, cannot be simulated in spring and summer.

If we don’t shoot this year, we’ll have to wait until next year.

Of course Lee Sheung Yew doesn't want to delay a whole year. He wants to complete the filming on the set by the end of this year.

At nine o'clock in the morning on this day, a fiery red sun hung in the sky of Los Angeles, with white clouds floating in the air.

The summer wind blows.

There are tourists from all over the world on the streets. The ladies wear bowler hats and the gentlemen wear trousers and slippers.

Standing in the kitchen, you can smell the smell of seafood. It's not the seafood bought at home, but the smell of the sea breeze.

In a coffee shop in Inglewood, Li Shengyao, Emmerich, and Joaquin sat around a small round table.

Li Shengyao didn't order coffee, he just ordered a glass of water.

Emmerich ordered a cup of coffee and Joaquin ordered a glass of orange juice.

Joaquin has long hair at this time. When he was young, he had blond hair, which has now become black.

His face was greasy, his eyes were dull, and there was an indentation on his lip that looked like a scar.

Wearing a long gray sweatshirt on the upper body, paired with a pair of black pants and a pair of bright green slippers.

He looks very ordinary, like a greasy uncle you can meet at any time.

Joaquin, DiCaprio, Keanu Reeves, these people seem to have no burden when they are not acting, and they don't care about their image at all.

At this time, Joaquin was telling his thoughts on "La La Land".

This movie has been released in Europe and the United States, and the box office is average. It should be 20 million in beautiful countries.

It relied entirely on Lee Sung-yew's past reputation to promote the film.

After all, the movie was shot in China, it is a musical, and the actors are all Chinese. We cannot expect high box office for such a movie.

However, the movie has a good reputation and has high ratings on Rotten Tomatoes and Yahoo.

Many film critics gave it high praise.

Woody Allen has publicly praised the film.

Li Shengyao listened quietly to Jacques' words. He observed Jacques, wanting to see if Jacques was who he said in the entertainment media.

"He is a psycho, no one knows his thoughts, the only thing we can be sure of is that he is a theater maniac.

Li, his acting skills are indeed great and he is very dedicated when performing.

But he is difficult to deal with. I think it is difficult for us to invite him. We might as well find someone else. It is a complete waste of time on him.

He makes one movie a year and won't be working again this year. "

This is Emmerich's view.

Finally, Joaquin finished his thoughts on "La La Land".

Emmerich took the lead and said: "Man, we are here this time to talk to you about our next movie project. We have a new movie called "Joker", which is the clown in the DC universe.

But the movie is not about a crazy and sick villain at all, this is a completely new story.

I wonder if you are interested?"

Jacques looked at Li Shengyao and said, "Li, when do you plan to make this movie?"

"The filming will start in September and we will try to complete the filming this year."

Jacques nodded, and then Youyou said: "I shoot one movie a year, and I have already worked this year. I need more time to enjoy life, so I can't take your new movie.

Of course, if you can wait until next year to shoot, then I can consider it. "

Li Shengyao smiled and said, "If you acted in "Joker" and acted in next year's movie in advance, wouldn't you be able to take a whole year off next year?"

When Joaquin heard this, he laughed, "That little old man Woody Allen said the same thing, but I refused.

He said he could wait for me and push the filming to next year. "

Emmerich and Li Shengyao looked at each other.

Joaquin is definitely not crazy, he knows how to fight for his own interests.

However, Woody Allen has to be postponed to next year, and Lee Sheng Yew cannot wait.

He picked up the glass, took a sip of water, and said seriously: "Phoenix, I know Woody Allen's new movie. It is a light comedy. To be honest, he is a film master, but I don't think he will act in such a movie. , helpful for your career.

But my movie is different. This movie can help you and elevate your historical status to a higher level. "

Joaquin waved his hand nonchalantly, "Li, those things are important to other people, but I never take them to heart."

If Xiao Lizi said this, Li Shengyao would not believe it 100%. But Joaquin Phoenix does have this attitude.

He thought for a while and then said: "Man, this is a movie that reflects the division of society, the luxury and chaos at the top, and the suffering and despair at the bottom. You can read the script, I guarantee you will definitely like it."

Li Shengyao's eyes were confident and firm, his voice was not loud, but he was very sure.

Joaquin tilted his head and said, "Okay, show me the script."

Li Shengyao then handed over the script.

Jacques opened the script and started reading it.

Emmerich winked at Li Shengyao, and the two of them left the coffee shop together.

Emmerich took out a cigarette and held it in his mouth, but did not light it.

He just pretended to be smoking and said, "Li, in the past few years, he has been making one movie a year. Many producers in Hollywood have tried to invite him and agreed to various conditions, but in the end he didn't." Success, I don’t think we should have too high hopes.

And his acting skills are indeed very good, but he is not an attractive actor.

Lee, maybe we could consider someone else, George Clooney, Tom Hanks, maybe Brad Pitt.

These people have great images before. If they perform the role of clown, it will be a subversive performance that can create a dramatic contrast, which will make it easier to attract the audience.

Phoenix has no such effect. "

When Emmerich invited Lee Sing-yew to come to the beautiful country to make a movie, he promised Lee Sing-yew that except for promotion and distribution, he would do everything else.

Now regarding the selection of the male lead, Emmerich has different opinions.

He used a consultative tone, hoping that Li Shengyao would consider his suggestions.

Hearing this, Li Shengyao patted Emmerich's arm and said, "Toby, I understand your thoughts. According to your thinking, it is indeed very contrasting.

However, the result is that the audience pays more attention to the movie stars rather than the movie content.

You believe me, this movie will spark a huge discussion in the beautiful country. We can use the movie content to attract audiences, and it will definitely have a high box office.

Using Phoenix would make the quality of this movie look even higher. "

Emmerich heard this and sighed, "Okay, I will always support you, but what if Phoenix doesn't agree?"

Li Shengyao thought for a while and said, "Give me half a month. If he still doesn't agree, we will choose other actors."

Hollywood attracts talents from all over the world, and there must be actors who can play the clown.

If Joaquin Phoenix really doesn't want to cooperate, Lee Sheung Yew will invite other actors.

The two men then returned to the coffee shop.

Jacques was still reading the script. He read it very slowly. It could be seen that he really took in every word.

By lunchtime, Joaquin still hadn't finished reading.

Lee Sheung Yew did not wait for Jacques on purpose, but asked. Joaquin said that he wanted to continue reading the script, so Lee Sheung Yew and Emmerich took the lead to find a Mexican restaurant for dinner.

After dinner, we stayed until about three o'clock in the afternoon.

Jacques just finished reading the script. He drank a cup of coffee for almost half an hour and ate it as a meal.

"Lee, this is a great script. I like this story very much. It is completely different from the cliché superhero movies. Who wrote it?"

Li Shengyao smiled and continued: "I wrote it."

"Oh, great, you are a talented person. If this movie does not win the Oscar for Best Screenplay the year after tomorrow, then the Oscar judges are blind."

Emmerich's eyes became brighter after hearing this. He felt that Joaquin Phoenix was willing to cooperate.

At this point, Joaquin continued: "But I don't want to perform."

"why?"

Emmerich couldn't help but ask.

"It's a great story, I like it very much. If I join the crew of "Joker", I will definitely give my all and perform seriously, but it will be too tiring.

Toby, I am very tired now. I think a lot about it, should I be so tired?

I thought I'd give myself a break, and I'd take on some lighthearted, enjoyable movies, like a Woody Allen comedy. "

Emmerich was stunned when he heard this.

Such an answer left him unable to refute.

Li Shengyao naturally heard what Jacques said. He immediately tried to persuade Jacques from the film awards, film industry honors, social effects, and the difficulty of acting. However, at the end of the conversation, he still did not persuade Jacques.

"That's it, Lee. It's a pity that we have the opportunity to work together again."

Jacques Fenix ​​then drove away, and it was almost half past four.

The temperature is still very high, there are more tourists on the street, and there are many handsome men and beautiful women.

Those fashionable girls wear very little and show off their excellent figures.

Many men were sitting on the roadside, looking excitedly. Someone invited the girls, and when they got permission, they laughed excitedly.

Everything is so beautiful.

Emmerich looked at Li Shengyao, only to find that Li Shengyao was staring blankly at the sea.

"Lee, let's go back, find other people, and ask Phoenix about his preferences."

Li Shengyao shook his head, "Toby, let's go find Phoenix now. I thought of a reason to convince him."

"What?"

"His brother, his family."

River Phoenix had a great influence on Joaquin, and thirty years later, he still misses his brother.

In Lee Sheung Yew's previous life, Joaquin's son was born in 2020. In memory of his brother, he named his son Ruifan.

As for Joaquin Phoenix's family, it also has a major impact on him.

When Joaquin was a child, his parents actually joined a shoe cult. Their children never had a meal and lived a very miserable life.

Moreover, Ruifan was forced to have sex with a little girl at this time, and it was said that many adults were watching.

This kind of thing deeply affected Joaquin Phoenix.

He is extremely disgusted with the flashy life in Hollywood. There must be related reasons for his unique character.

Soon after, Li Shengyao and Emmerich came to Joaquin's house.

This is a small single-family courtyard that looks very ordinary. There are some books on the sofa. It is not very neat, but not very messy. It is like an ordinary person's house.

Li Shengyao said seriously: "Phoenix, when I wrote the script, I thought of you. I think you are the most suitable actor for this role in the world.

I hope you can finish this movie with us.

This is a story of suffering at the bottom, don’t you think it’s happening in our world right now?

By completing this film, we can alert more people, let more people see the hypocrisy and exaggeration of the rich, and let more people understand the true meaning of life.

I've heard about some of the things that happened in your family that were completely avoidable and would definitely inspire more people if there were more movies like Joker. "

When Joaquin Phoenix heard this, he was stunned for a while, and then shook his head, "Li, this movie is very meaningful, but I am not the lead actor. I don't want to be so tired."

"Phoenix, it belongs to you. When I wrote the script, I thought of you. Please believe me. You can ask Emmerich. You can ask other people at Warner. I never considered other people. I decided this story belongs to you.

Your story inspired me and I hope we can do it together. "

As the sun set, the red rays of light fell on Li Shengyao's face. His tone was calm and his face was natural.

Emmerich sat aside, his expression unchanged.

They didn't lie.

Joaquin Phoenix was slightly stunned, a little unsure. Is this movie really so suitable for him and is it his work?

(End of this chapter)