The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 562: Discovering Characters
Anson believes that just because the characters in "Butterfly Effect" have developed a ferocious, profound and complex character comparable to "There Will Be Blood" does not mean that it can really happen.

After all, it depends on the director's play and the space of the script.

From the beginning, the focus of "The Butterfly Effect" and "There Will Be Blood" were different; but it is undeniable that the character of Evan has more potential to be explored.

In his previous life, the leading actor in "The Butterfly Effect" was Ashton Kutcher. This actor born in 1978 is a typical idol.

But there is no doubt that Ashton has had a legendary career.

At first, he debuted as a model. Not only did he shoot a lot of magazine posters, but he also took on CK ads and went to Paris and Milan to walk shows.

When he was twenty years old, he went to Los Angeles and it didn't take long for him to get a performance opportunity in the TV series "That 70s Show" with his handsome and sunny appearance.

Ashton's career has been smooth sailing, with few setbacks. Later, he relied on "Newlyweds", "Who's Coming to Dinner", "Valentine's Day", "Reorganized Agents", "No Repayment" and so on. The series of chick flicks became a popular favorite, and later she starred in "Two and a Half Men" to replace Charlie Sheen, who was fired from the crew due to negative off-screen press. Her career can be said to have been stable.

However, in his more than fifteen years of acting career, Ashton has never been able to break the image frame. His terrible facial paralysis acting skills and slightly exaggerated soap opera performances have prevented him from challenging other roles, and he is not as good as Adam Sander in the comedy industry. Like Adam Sandler, he has been repeating the same role for thirty years.

The point is that in 2019, Adam Sandler completed a major turnaround with the low-cost independent film "Uncut Gems" and became an acting powerhouse; but Ashton Kutcher failed in the 2013 biographical film "Steve Jobs: The dramatic transformation of his acting skills "Episode" ended in a critical failure.

In November of the same year, Ashton joined Lenovo Group as a product engineer——

This turn of events was also unexpected.

In fact, although Ashton is an actor with mediocre talent, he is an excellent product manager in private. He has his own venture capital company in Silicon Valley and has invested in Uber, Airbnb, Skype, etc., in just a short time In six years, he turned his US$30 million into a net worth of US$250 million.

Maybe people complained about his acting skills, maybe people gossiped about his marriage to Demi-Moore (Demi-Moore) when they were 2013 years old, maybe people gradually started dating Mila-Kunis (Mila-Kunis) in . He has faded away from Hollywood, but he has his own life and has always lived carefree.

Let’s return to the “Butterfly Effect”.

In this movie, Ashton performed his usual performance in a regular manner, with almost no extension and exploration of the character, just like a marionette on a string to complete the tasks given by the director.

Judging from the finished product, the focus of the movie was not originally intended to be on the character's growth arc. The dramatic tension of the plot itself completely attracted the audience's attention, which was enough for the audience to ignore Ashton's facially paralyzed acting skills.

Ashton made no mistake, but it also meant that the possibility was eliminated.

Involuntarily, Anson began to think:
If it were up to him to perform, how would he perform? How should it be performed?

In terms of mentality, Anson is a perfect fit. He thinks there should be no one more suitable for this role than him——

In his previous life, he had indeed fantasized more than once if he could change the past.

At the same time, he has indeed won a second chance to write his life. Although it is not an overthrow of his previous life, his current actions are indeed producing a butterfly effect, changing the world he was once familiar with and entering a new parallel time and space. He is in Experience everything in the movie.

To be narcissistic and bold, this movie is tailor-made for Anson——

Although no one should know that the soul under this skin has traveled through time, otherwise he would not be able to sit here peacefully now. But here’s the key: going too far is never enough.

Not only his acting experience in "Elephant", but also the several commercial films Anson has participated in so far -

For a commercial film, if it wants to win widespread market recognition, rhythm is crucial. How to find a balance between character creation, plot advancement, and depth exploration is always a difficult problem.

If an actor only drags down the plot in order to explore the role and show off his acting skills, the result will be to destroy the rhythm of the movie and break the overall balance of the movie, and then the gain will outweigh the loss.

In other words, Anson believes that he is 100% suitable for this role. If he tries too hard to express himself, too hard to make a voice, too hard to explore the character, the final result may ruin the work.

No one likes "Mr-know-it-all" for this reason. When someone like Ashton has no idea about the character and plays a marionette according to the director's vision, sometimes it's the opposite. Good thing——

Alfred Hitchcock publicly stated more than once that he hated method acting, and he required actors to perform according to his own requirements.

Therefore, Anson needs to explore the characters while avoiding damaging the film frame and narrative structure as much as possible within the limited space of the plot, and appropriately control his impulse to point out the country.

Anson has successfully accomplished this in "Princess Diaries" and "Spider-Man" before, so the "Butterfly Effect" should not be difficult.

No, that's not the case.

The plot of "The Butterfly Effect" is very dense. One plot promotes the other, and it is interlocking with each other. It does not give the audience time to think, and it also leaves no room for the actors to perform.

If Anson wants to capture the character's characteristics, he must understand the character's status at every plot and time point, and rely on his own understanding of the character to connect them together. Finally, he can complete the connection through performance and build an arc.

Once Anson is completely immersed in the scene and even unable to extricate himself like in "Cat and Mouse Game", or if he exerts too much force like in "Elephant" at the beginning, he may disrupt the director's rhythm.

difficult!
Even if Anson is mentally prepared and has preset scenarios, the actual situation may be more difficult than expected.

After all, it’s always easier to talk on paper.

Moreover, Anson did not forget what Edgar just casually added——

The director has not yet decided on the ending.

Does this mean that the current version is different from the version Anson saw in his previous life? Is the potential butterfly effect of Anson trying to replace Ashton's performance also affecting "The Butterfly Effect" movie itself?
Anson felt that he did not need to rush to the conclusion, but should calm down and read the script before telling Edgar his decision.

For the first time, Anson had options on the project.

After putting away the script, Anson returned to the room. Charles and Nora immediately looked away and continued to pretend to be busy with their own affairs; but Lucas did not hide it at all and stood up and looked at Anson.

"What, your agent is suing you?"

(End of this chapter)