The black Chrysler sedan turned from California Coastal Highway 1 into the widened four-lane entrance of Malibu Daenerys Studios and followed the U-shaped asphalt road to the gate of the studio halfway up the mountain. The guard came forward to check and waved to let him through.
Entering the park, an open parking lot first appears on the left hand side of the main road, extending to the cliff on the south side.
Less than a week after it was officially opened, the parking lot is already packed with vehicles, which shows how busy the cinema is.
The destination was the administrative area on the top floor. Chrysler passed through the busy studio area. The Hollywood actress Joanna Cassidy in the car looked around curiously. All in all, at least since she debuted in the late 1960s, there has never been a large movie theater of this scale in Hollywood. Instead, many old movie theaters have been sold and used for other purposes.
Just for this point, it is difficult for the young man who created all this in just a few years to be surpassed.
Thinking of Simon Westeros, Joanna Cassidy retracted her thoughts and began to think about the upcoming audition.
Joanna Cassidy came to play the role of Queen Hippolyta, the mother of Diana Prince in "Wonder Woman."
The casting of the DC Cinematic Universe is the most high-profile event in Hollywood in recent times.
According to Hollywood media reports during this time, Daenerys Entertainment first approached Sigourney Weaver for the role.
Sigourney Weaver had just given birth to a child and planned to take a year off. This was not a big problem originally. "Wonder Woman" was scheduled for 1992, and it happened to start filming next year. However, because Sigourney Weaver refused to sign multiple film contracts and demanded high salaries and other additional conditions, Daenerys Entertainment directly chose to give up.
Joanna Cassidy has been in the industry for twenty years and has some sources, so she knows that Sigourney Weaver actually wanted this role.
An actress like Sigourney Weaver, who is 6 feet tall, has successfully risen to the top with the "Alien" series and the "Ghostbusters" series over the years, but due to her height, her acting career is actually very narrow, and most of her She could only play supporting roles, and the pay was never high. Even for "Alien 2", which was entirely supported by her alone and had a global box office of over 100 million a few years ago, she only received a salary of 1 million US dollars.
The movie "Wonder Woman" happens to need a tall actress. The minimum height standard for the Amazon female warrior released by Daenerys Entertainment is 5 feet 9 inches (175CM), which is perfect for Sigourney. Weaver though.
The great success of "Batman Begins" and the grand vision of the DC movie universe are enough to ensure that even the supporting characters in the series can gain high popularity.
If she gets the role of Queen Hippolyta, Sigourney Weaver can not only consolidate her position in Hollywood in the next few years, but also avoid being overtaken by other actresses of the same type.
However, compared to the past, when A-list stars revealed their participation in the film, Hollywood studios would definitely accommodate them in every possible way. Daenerys Entertainment has shown a more sophisticated approach to the casting of the DC Movie Universe series than in the blockbuster era. Be strong.
Sigourney Weaver refused to relent on core conditions such as long-term contracts, and Daenerys Entertainment simply chose to give up.
Joanna Cassidy can actually roughly understand why Daenerys Entertainment does this.
The development of sequels to many well-known Hollywood films has been stalled because the main creative contracts could not be negotiated. Some sequel projects that were barely launched often lost popularity due to delays for too long, eventually leading to failure. The DC Cinematic Universe is a super-large series involving multiple films. If the sequel contracts of some actors cannot be negotiated and cause delays, the entire cinematic universe plan will be affected.
Therefore, the opportunity fell on second-tier actresses like Joanna Cassidy.
Joanna Cassidy is 45 years old. She debuted in the late 1960s. Over the years, she has appeared in dozens of films and TV series of various types. However, she has never had the opportunity to become popular. Her most famous role is Ridley. ·Sora, the snake charmer in Scott's "Blade Runner". In that movie, her screen time was less than 5 minutes.
Her agent told her that she got the audition for the role of Queen Hippolyta because a young man admired her for punching Harrison Ford in "Blade Runner."
Yes, that's what Wonder Woman casting director Linda Vargas revealed when she contacted her agent.
Linda Vargas was originally just an inconspicuous figure in Hollywood. However, she was lucky enough to participate in Simon Westeros's first film "Run Lola Run". She was also the casting director at the time, and subsequently gained much trust. He has been the casting director for many films in Westeros and is now very popular in Hollywood.
However, Linda Vargas, who had nothing to say about her treatment of others, was very loyal to Simon Westeros, and those who tried to get through to her basically failed.
This is probably why she became Simon Westeros's go-to casting director.
Joanna Cassidy felt that if it were herself, she would definitely do the same.
The longer you stay in Hollywood, the more deeply you will realize how difficult it is to climb up in this circle. Most people may not encounter an opportunity to rise to the top once in their lifetime. Cassidy himself is such a typical example. Linda Vargas is clearly the kind of person who seizes an opportunity when it comes her way.
It’s just that Westeros enjoyed beating up Harrison Ford in Blade Runner.
this…
Isn't it a hint
The young man's preference for women was well known throughout Hollywood.
Unknowingly, she had some misconceptions and even had some expectations deep down in her heart. After her first marriage in the 1970s, she had been single. If something could really happen with that little man who makes countless women in Hollywood envious, it would be an irresistible thing.
With this in mind, Chrysler walked through the second-floor office park and quickly arrived at the administrative area on the top floor.
Get off the car in the parking lot and look around. Several minimalist-style office buildings surrounded by glass curtain walls are scattered all around. Although the office buildings have different shapes, the overall layout gives people a very comfortable sense of order.
I am used to seeing bungalows or small buildings in traditional studios, but this modern studio office building really gives people a refreshing feeling.
Joanna Cassidy walked to the five-story office building on the northernmost side, entered the lobby, and after a brief communication with the reception desk, she was quickly taken to the third floor. Linda Vargas was already waiting for her, and the other two An actress who will also participate in this audition has arrived early.
After greeting everyone warmly, they were taken to the dressing room to put on makeup and change clothes.
The audition scale for important supporting roles like Queen Hippolyta is very small. The three of them are now the last three candidates and need to wear makeup for the audition.
Arriving at the studio at nine o'clock in the morning, after an hour of busy work, Joanna Cassidy and two other actresses finished dressing. Martin Campbell, the director of "Wonder Woman" who had been publicly confirmed, had already arrived, as well as the film's Several other creatives behind the scenes.
After that, they spent more than half an hour taking photos, and finally everyone came to an audition room downstairs with a blue screen.
After waiting for a while, at 11 o'clock sharp, Simon Westeros himself finally appeared and came forward to briefly greet the three actresses before starting the audition.
The three candidate actresses have all been carefully selected, and their basic acting skills are beyond doubt. Simon not only met with the three of them in person this time, but also wanted to see their on-screen performance capabilities in a virtual environment.
The DC movie universe series will use a large number of virtual shooting technologies. In order to improve these, a studio has been specially opened in the studio park for the Daenerys special effects team to conduct various types of virtual shooting experiments in real time.
20 minutes each, Joanna Cassidy happened to be ranked last.
Entering the audition room, there were only a few simple chairs in the spacious room except for the propped up blue screen. Westeros and others stood up politely.
Joanna Cassidy stepped forward and shook hands with the young man, said hello, and the others sat down again.
Simon held a notebook in his hand, without any trivial self-introduction, and said succinctly: "Ms. Cassidy, the plot is like this. Steppenwolf invades Paradise Island and wants to seize the Mother Box guarded by the Amazons, Queen Hippolyta. Encountering Steppenwolf, you only have a brief confrontation and are quickly defeated. Then you question Steppenwolf's purpose. Note that this is a virtual shooting performance. Steppenwolf is 10 feet tall. It is planned to use a combination of CG and motion capture technology to shoot. There is no one. Playing with you, OK, please start your performance."
Completely open to the air.
Joanna Cassidy didn't pay attention to the slightly weird ridicule in the young man's voice when she said the last words. She quickly brewed her emotions, then drew out the sword from her waist and slashed to the right side a few times. In the blink of an eye, she felt as if she was being attacked. He fell backwards to the ground like a heavy blow, barely supported his body with his sword and asked: "Who are you?"
Normally, in an audition, someone needs to coordinate with the script.
This time no one responded.
It was just that everyone in the room and the camera responsible for recording were watching her.
Joanna Cassidy did not lack this kind of adaptability. Recalling Simon's introduction just now, she matched Steppenwolf's lines in her heart. She paused briefly, with a knowing yet pretending to be calm expression on her face, and said: "Steppenwolf, why did you come to Paradise Island?"
“…”
"No matter what you're looking for, you won't find it here."
“…”
Apart from the naughty phrase "please start your performance" just now, Simon has been observing Joanna Cassidy's performance professionally and occasionally making a few notes in his notebook.
After a free period, Simon asked Joanna Cassidy to try out a few more shots.
The short twenty minutes passed quickly, and the time came to 12 noon.
Simon closed the notebook, stood up again, shook hands with Joanna Cassidy, and said: "Thank you very much for taking the time to come, Ms. Cassidy. By the way, it is already noon, if there is nothing urgent, you can stay Have lunch before leaving.”
When Joanna Cassidy heard Simon's 'invitation', she smiled and nodded calmly: "Of course, thank you."
After saying that, she was taken away by the staff to remove her makeup. This time it was easy. More than twenty minutes later, Joanna Cassidy arrived at the small restaurant in another office building.
I originally thought that a young man invited me, but I found that the other two actresses who participated in the audition had also stayed until now. Not only Westeros, but also Martin Campbell and Linda Vargas were there, so we had lunch It turned into a working dinner, and everyone was still talking about "Wonder Woman".
Seeing another actress participating in the audition talk to the young man who was the focus of everyone's attention from time to time, almost unabashedly, with obvious teasing in her words, Joanna Cassidy realized that she was still a little conservative.
Perhaps it should be more proactive.
However, since she had been taken advantage of, even though Martin Campbell and others seemed to turn a blind eye, she still failed to muster the courage.
I started out as a model, and I know that my maintenance over the years has been very successful.
However, it still makes people feel a little uncomfortable to be courteous to a young man who is enough to be his son.
Thinking about it this way, I can't help but envy the men in Hollywood. Or, to be precise, the powerful men in Hollywood. No matter what kind of woman you like, it seems natural to outsiders.
Women don't have this privilege.
Today is already Wednesday, May 16th.
Although he did say that he admired Joanna Cassidy for beating Harrison Ford in "Blade Runner", Simon had no thoughts about the other party. His whole day's work schedule was full, so how could he Time is spent chasing beauty, no matter whether the people around him are good or not, he basically won't give it a thought in this kind of workplace.
After having lunch with everyone, the three actresses left, and Simon discussed the results of the morning's audition with Martin Campbell and others.
Among the three actresses participating in the final competition, Joanna Cassidy was originally ranked last because she was the shortest and had just reached the 175cm height limit required by Simon for the Amazon female warrior. The other two actors were both taller than Joanna. ·Cassidy is taller.
However, Joanna Cassidy has more acting experience in the end. Although she has never been able to become popular, after twenty years of training in Hollywood, even a piece of wood is enough to enlighten her.
Therefore, the morning makeup photos and shooting shots were re-examined. Everyone, including Simon himself, felt that Joanna Cassidy was more suitable for this role.
As for height, you can completely compensate for it with high heels.
Then we discussed the audition arrangements for other roles and some of Martin Campbell's ideas for the movie. At three o'clock, there was another audition for Antiope, the sister of Queen Hippolyta, another character in "Wonder Woman" , the character was played by Robin Wright in the original film.
This time, Simon has taken a fancy to Linda Hamilton in advance.
In "Terminator 2", Linda Hamilton's image of a tough woman wearing a vest, trousers and combat boots, holding a gun in one hand and holding a cigarette in the other is a classic.
Of course, "Terminator 2" is still in the final preparations and will not start filming until the second half of the year.
"Wonder Woman" is scheduled to start filming next year, and there is no conflict with Linda Hamilton's schedule.
However, the team did not completely place their bets on Linda Hamilton. There were still three people participating in the audition, so that if something went wrong, a backup candidate could be found as soon as possible.
In fact, the same goes for Queen Hippolyta's character.
The filming of "Wonder Woman" will involve many horse-riding battle scenes. Although the crew will try their best to ensure the safety of the filming, if anyone really appears in Simon's memory, Sean Young, who broke his arm while riding a horse in "Batman" and had to withdraw from the crew, In such an accident, the crew can come up with a second plan in time.
In short, all of this is to ensure the smooth advancement of the DC Cinematic Universe.