The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1079 Helping Others
"Anson..."

"Anson!"

The round-faced man shouted several times in succession, but was drowned out by the laughter and was unable to convey his message. It was with great difficulty that he finally caught Anson's attention.

Anson was a little surprised to see a completely unfamiliar face in the crew, but he still reacted in time. He took a step forward and used his body as a shield to intercept a bucket of water for the round-faced man. He turned around and shouted, "Hey, be careful not to hurt the flowers and plants."

Playing around is one thing, but it's not nice to hurt innocent people.

Amidst the laughter, Anson retracted his gaze and looked at the round-faced man again, "Is there anything I can help you with? Or are you lost and need some directions? Which crew are you looking for?"

The white-haired man who was two steps behind was watching this scene quietly.

Amidst the chaos, Anson always kept smiling, his eyes were bright, and he was approachable, without any superstar airs at all; but at the same time, his whole body was filled with a warm and bright aura. All the other noise around him was no longer important, and the focus of the whole world was completely on him.

One glance is enough.

In Hollywood, people always like to say, "I can tell if someone has superstar qualities at a glance." But real life is not a Hollywood movie. Actors who can really show superstar qualities at a glance are rare after all. Those nagging words are just to prove a point:
He is high above others and has foresight. He controls the fate of others with power and status.

That's it.

But sometimes, very, very sometimes, you do get a glimpse of Hollywood life, and before you know it, your eyes have already reached it before your brain has.

Only when these moments happen can one deeply realize that an actor's aura and star qualities are indeed an objectively existing halo.

In front of you, that's it.

Instinctively, the white-haired man took a step forward, squeezed in front of the round-faced man, interrupted the conversation, and asked in an urgent tone that he himself did not realize, "Do you know Johnny Cash?"

Anson could sense the aggression coming towards him. He did not answer immediately, but looked at the white-haired man and kept smiling. "Sorry, I can't help you. We don't have a Johnny Cash in our crew. At least, I have no idea. But you can ask..."

"No." The white-haired man interrupted Anson, "No, not just any Johnny Cash. There is only one Johnny Cash in America."

Anson raised his eyebrows slightly and searched his memory.

Judging from the other party's words, this Johnny Cash should be a celebrity; but unfortunately, Anson really has no memory of him -

After all, he is not a know-it-all.

Although it was a bit rude, Anson shook his head gently and spread his hands. "Sorry, I still can't help you. Are you sure you don't need help from others?"

This one sentence immediately made the white-haired man lose his soul. He stood there in a daze, surprised and stunned. He could inadvertently see a little anger in him, but he did not burst out. Instead, he laughed out of anger, revealing a strange smile.

In just one second, all the joy, anger, sorrow and happiness were written on his face and he underwent a change.

The round-faced man stood aside, scratching his head. He looked at Anson, then at the white-haired man, and spoke incoherently because of his anxiety. "We are here to find you. You, Anson Wood."

Things were jumping around a bit too fast and very abruptly. So, what was going on? Was it some scam gang? Or some prank show?

If he were to change the location, Anson might need to leave as soon as possible to ensure safety; but this is Sony Columbia's studio in Los Angeles, and there are at least six crews working around. Those who can enter the studio should be colleagues, so Anson was not in a hurry to leave.

Anson's first guess in his mind was "prank show".

For audiences ten or twenty years later, the variety of entertainment programs is dizzying, and some old-fashioned program formats have long disappeared; but during the turn of the millennium, prank shows that deliberately create accidents and surprises are extremely popular.

Pranking actors or singers, pranking passers-by, secretly filming in a documentary style, and recording the reactions to the pranks truthfully, such programs have unparalleled popularity; and, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the prank, the program crew will often work with the agents to conceal the artists.

Anson had reason to believe that this scene was arranged by Edgar, so, what show was it?
Anson remained patient. "So, are you ready to discuss work matters with me? You can contact my agent, he should be on the set today..."

The round-faced man also knew that things were a mess. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. "Sorry, Anson, please forgive our abruptness."

"I'm, uh, James Mangold, the director, and I have a project that I'd like to talk to you about."

"I know, I know. We should talk to your agent. Believe me, I know how Hollywood works. But before we start a formal discussion with your agent, we would like to talk to you face to face. Maybe you can give us five minutes. We just need time for a cup of coffee."

Wait, not a prank show?

This time it was embarrassing.

James Mangold, director.

The director of "Girl, Interrupted" and "Identity", the former won Angelina Jolie her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in her career; the latter was released earlier this year, and although its box office performance did not set off the market, it was widely popular in the DVD market and was hailed as a low-cost science fiction classic.

Of course, James Mangold's most famous film should be "Logan" released in 2017. This movie completely subverts the stereotype of superhero movies, vividly showing the struggle of Wolverine in his twilight years, and won him an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Few people know that James Mangold comes from an orthodox academic background. He was spotted by Disney in the early stage of his career and signed a contract with Disney. He created countless animation scripts for Disney, which became the starting point of his career. He did not switch to become a director until he was 32 years old.

Perhaps James Mangold is not a well-known and successful director, and his talent seems to be not wild enough due to the constraints of the academic school and has never been able to be fully displayed; but there is no doubt that he is an orthodox director who is full of enthusiasm and passion for movies.

Moreover, the biggest characteristic of this director is that no matter what type of work it is, he is good at digging into the inner world of the characters and relies heavily on the performances of the actors.

Anson was very familiar with the name of this director. "Identity" released at the beginning of this year was an independent science fiction work that Anson personally liked very much; but James Mangold was not high-profile, and Anson was unable to connect the face and the name for a moment.

Until the director introduced himself.

Then, the unexpected happened.

Anson looked a little embarrassed, and he did not hide his embarrassment. He did not give up, grasping the last glimmer of hope, "Sorry, isn't this a prank show?"

(End of this chapter)