The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1117 Preliminary Work
Regarding the contradictions and conflicts of faith, this is undoubtedly the answer that Johnny Cash has been searching for throughout his life. Some doubts and struggles cannot be gotten rid of easily. Like countless philosophical problems, human beings are always exploring in the spiritual world.

Only by truly understanding this can you understand Johnny's pulling and struggling——

He is a complex complex.

In him, there is both justice and evil, both light and darkness.

He was a disaster for Johnny's first wife, Vivian-Liberto. She met Johnny at an air force base when she was seventeen, and the two fell in love. When Johnny served in Germany, they maintained their love through letters; when Johnny returned, they immediately got married.

And in just five years, the two gave birth to four children.

Yet Johnny was always on tour, always on the road, and was rarely with Vivian.

Vivian knew about the women Johnny had been with on tour. She had raised four children alone at home, and she realized that their marriage had ended long ago, so she was willing to let go and let Johnny pursue his own happiness and let herself go, but Johnny kept avoiding her.

There was almost no affection between Vivian's children and Johnny. She was like an abandoned tool. She never really understood Johnny and never really owned Johnny, let alone entered Johnny's heart.

But for June Carter, Johnny was her salvation. She could see his struggles and his inner fragility.

It's still Johnny, but he shows completely different faces in front of different people and in front of different things.

This complexity is Johnny's charm, the essence of human nature, and also a challenge for actors.

Performance is not just about showing joy, anger, sorrow and happiness. Behind the simple expressions and emotions, there is a much larger and more complex system.

That’s the thing about spotlight.

When we sit in the audience, enjoying music or movies, what comes into our field of vision is a bright and beautiful slice, beautiful, gorgeous and desirable.

Therefore, we project our own image of perfection and happiness onto those images. What we see is a singer's brilliant three minutes on the stage, or an actor's perfect role on the movie screen. We rely on our own imagination to portray an irreplaceable idol or lover.

However, the reality is often not the case.

Those people in real life have their own truths, which may not be ugly or dirty, but there is no doubt that they are different from the image presented under the spotlight, and may even be completely different.

Johnny Cash may have been an excellent singer, and a brave black man who spoke out against poverty and injustice, but he was definitely not perfect.

In front of Vivian, in front of June Carter, in front of his own children, and in front of his parents, this legendary superstar has many faces that an ordinary person should or should not have.

Such complexity is embodied in Johnny Cash in a subtle way, which is precisely the biggest challenge for an actor.

Edgar and Anson had previously discussed not making biographical films for people who are still alive, because such works tend to avoid the darkness and struggles, and ultimately turn into a great man biography that glorifies the protagonist.

The script of "Walk with the Song", which was a project jointly promoted by Johnny Cash and June Carter, could not avoid such a dilemma.

In fact, Edgar was not wrong.

In a way, "Walk With the Song" is indeed a celebration of Johnny Cash, especially the love between Johnny and June Carter.

The script largely ignores Vivian's existence and portrays June Carter as Johnny's savior, relying on love to bring the prodigal son back to his rightful place.

In real life, this relationship might be more complicated, but in the screenplay, it's all about happiness and romance. But the script deserves credit for not shying away from Johnny's struggles.

As self-deprecating as Johnny is, the script brings out Johnny’s darkness and complexity, allowing people to see his wounds, and the demons hidden deep in his soul.

This takes courage.

From another perspective, the script is just a small incision, a glimpse into a small part of the complexity behind Johnny's two identities as an ordinary person and a top superstar.

What Anson needs to do is not to study Johnny's complexity, nor to criticize Johnny's life, but to follow the clues to find the roots of Johnny's complexity.

Only by experiencing those hurts can you understand where the darkness comes from.

Only after experiencing the pain can you understand how much struggle is hidden behind the sentence "I have learned all the principles but still cannot live a good life."

So, Anson was not in a hurry to delve into the role, but instead put on his guitar and embarked on a journey to Arkansas.

Anyway, there is enough time.

The preliminary preparations for “Walking with the Song” take some time.

The two Jameses were in a state of frustration for a long time. With an uncertain future, they did not dare to start the preliminary work easily. That was why they found Anson, hoping to leverage the film company with the participation of big-name actors. It was not until the formal contract was signed and the budget was obtained that the crew really started to operate.

Finding a suitable filming location and schedule, and making sets and costumes that match the characteristics of the era are all very time-consuming. If the two James insist that all the equipment in the film must be antiques from the 1950s and 1960s, then the pre-production time will be even longer.

At present, the crew is running at high speed, but there is no clear start time and shooting schedule yet, so everything still requires patience.

The crew has things they need to prepare, and the actors have things they need to prepare as well.

Reese also signed up for guitar and vocal lessons and received formal professional training. This training also takes time and the results cannot be seen in just ten days or half a month.

Anson took his guitar and started a road trip.

Not only Arkansas, but also San Antonio and Memphis - after he married Vivian, he went to Memphis and started his singing career there.

Wandering around the world.

In the first half of the year, Anson and Miles traveled mainly by train in Europe, occasionally hitchhiking along the way, which gave them the youthfulness and recklessness of a graduation trip.

This time, in North America, Anson took a road trip, with only natural scenery and his guitar along the way.

At the end of last year, Anson had already taken a road trip to promote a flash mob event for "Cat and Mouse Game", but at that time he basically slept the entire time and had no time to appreciate the scenery outside the window.

This time is different. Leaving the two coastlines on the east and west sides, and going deep into the hinterland of this continent, the sparsely populated natural scenery and rural scenes slowly unfold before our eyes.

Originally, it was just a preliminary assignment, but I never expected that it would become an escape journey.

(End of this chapter)