"Very good, much better than yesterday's sample..."
A few days later, Ronald got up early in the morning to look at the dailies from the first two days of shooting. Because there was no lab in Memphis, the film would be sent to a lab in a nearby state for development, and then sent back every two days for Ronald and the crew to watch.
Tom Cruise was on the set and suffered a lot in the past two days. Ronald asked him to act many times for each scene. The most annoying thing was that the director didn't tell him how to act or where to act.
It was not good. It made him feel like he was back when he first debuted ten years ago, when his performances were often criticized.
However, the second batch of sample films was still approved by Ronald, which made Tom Cruise feel relieved. It seemed that filming a film directed by Ronald was more difficult than that of the famous directors he had worked with before.
"Remember this shot. All future performances must be based on this emotional intensity. Don't act beyond it." Ronald saw the dialogue between Bridget Fonda and Cruise on the screen. Because it was necessary
Before deciding whether to come to work, the couple went to the law firm to experience it for themselves.
When they arrived in Memphis, Mitchell and Abby were picked up by a limousine and taken directly to the hotel. This shot was a shot inside the car. The two of them intertwined their fingers and timidly looked at the various supplies in the car.
Free brandy, and a small TV where you can watch the real-time broadcast, all reveal a kind of treatment that a newly graduated lawyer has never thought of.
"Having been in a luxury car, you know they are all the same." Bridget Fonda made a comment in the manner of a country girl going to the city.
There was also a hint of shyness on Tom Cruise's face, and then he felt relaxed after his wife's wise words. It was not so luxurious...it was all within the expectations of the benefits that the top five percent of Harvard graduates could get.
within the range.
"Can't go beyond this shot? Wait...Ronald, hey, director, director?"
Tom Cruise was a little confused. This scene was not a very dramatic scene in the first place. He deliberately acted it out at Ronald's request. If the rest of the scenes were played like this, how could he still do it?
Is there any acting skill left?
"Paula, I have to talk to Ronald alone. Am I disrespectful to him? Or is there any special arrangement? I can't stand acting like this..."
"Relax and calm down. When has Tom Ronald ever disappointed you? I can help you ask him, but the first thing you have to do is respect him, just like you respect Scorsese and Coppola.
, Barry Levinson, and Oliver Stone..." Of course Paula wanted to calm down Cruise on one end, and on the other end she was also ready to argue with Ronald.
"I..." Tom Cruise let out a long breath. He has been in the industry for so many years, and all the famous directors before him have specific requirements for him and affirmation of his passionate performance. No one has
Nothing like Ronald…
Could it be that for so many years, those directors have regarded themselves as a star with guaranteed box office performance, instead of treating them like actors with excellent acting skills? If they have achieved this level, they will say yes, but when they treat real actors
, such as Paul Newman and Dustin Hoffman, they put forward higher requirements?
No wonder they both won Oscars. Is that really the case? Is he just a box-office attraction? Knowing that Ronald is unlikely to deliberately suppress himself, Tom Cruise thinks too much. For the first time, he
I have doubts about my talent.
…
"Tom..."
The day's filming was completed. Ronald specially ordered takeout from the "World Famous Fried Chicken Restaurant" (that's what the fried chicken restaurant was called) and invited Tom Cruise and Paula Wagner to have a meal at the hotel.
Eat fried chicken together in the room.
"Sorry, I have to keep my calories..." Tom Cruise did some mental building before he came. By then he discovered that he was not a person with acting talent, and he could do it without losing his temper on the spot. But eating fried chicken was still more than enough.
His psychological bottom line...
"Paula, would you like some?" Ronald grabbed a chicken wing himself and his mouth was full of oil. "It is indeed the best black food in Memphis..." Ronald also took a sip of the grape juice drink.
"I think you'd better eat one. This can help you better understand the problems in acting..." Ronald ate happily and looked at Cruise, who couldn't eat junk food because he wanted to stay in shape.
Looking uncomfortable, I handed him a piece.
"Can eating this help me understand my acting skills?" Tom Cruise gritted his teeth, put the fried chicken to his mouth and bit into it hard. Under the crispy golden skin, there were tender muscles full of juice.
The taste of top-notch food exploded in his mouth.
Tom Cruise immediately recalled the taste of delicious food he ate before he became an actor. Fried chicken was like an old friend he hadn't seen for many years, which soothed his taste buds and nerves...
"More grape juice?" Ronald handed over a glass.
"This is too sweet..." A piece of fried chicken is already very indulgent, plus a glass of high-sugar drink...
"How about some beer?" Ronald asked seductively.
"Oh..." The cool beer cooled down the heated mouth of the fried chicken, and Tom Cruise felt extremely comfortable.
"Do you feel that the requirements I gave you are not enough to demonstrate your acting skills?" Ronald wiped his shiny hands and asked Cruise.
"Well, that's not what I meant. I just want to dedicate everything I have to the role of Mitchell..."
"Bingo, that's why I made you watch Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant's movies. Didn't you find that their acting skills were a bit mediocre?"
"This?" Tom Cruise suddenly frowned, looking away from the halo of the two most famous male protagonists in old Hollywood. The two stars indeed acted a bit mediocre.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! They don’t have any exaggerated movements or expressions, just like someone you will encounter in daily life, who is better looking than you and has better abilities than you.
But not a very jealous friend.
"Do you remember the supporting roles in the movies they starred in, right?" Ronald picked up another grape-flavored soda and took a sip. It tasted really good with fried chicken.
"Yeah..." Tom Cruise remembered some details again. The main supporting characters in those movies, especially the villains, all seemed to have better acting skills than the protagonists, and they were unforgettable.
"If the movie is compared to a dream adventure, then the audience actually gets to be in the protagonist's body through the lens of the camera, and experiences this two-hour adventure by empathizing with him..."
"You mean...Tom is the object of the audience's surrogate?" Even Paula understood it now.
"Yes, just like fried chicken, it is a food that every housewife in the South will cook. You don't need to put too much emphasis on the crispiness of the chicken skin, the tenderness of the chicken, or the amount of juice. They often eat home-cooked food.
I have long known how to adjust the proportions to achieve the most delicious food.
All you have to do is tell them that this is black fried chicken from the South and show that it tastes good, and the audience will mobilize their daily experience to complement your emotions."
"As for the supporting roles, there are many areas that cannot be covered by daily experience. Do you need to be extremely exaggerated to achieve 120% in order to mobilize the audience's emotions?" Tom Cruise suddenly felt that all his acting experience in the past ten years was incomparable.
This was the moment when everything came together.
"Yes, in addition, they feel the supporting character through empathy with you. Therefore, the supporting character's emotions are expressed through the reaction of the protagonist. If they don't act out of the ordinary, they will lose. And the protagonist's acting,
Then you need to leave a certain amount of space for them to use their imagination." Ronald nodded, indicating that Tom you have understood.
"Remember when you first took an acting class, an acting teacher said that when playing a drunk person, you don't have to walk in a zigzag manner, but you have to walk as straight as possible? When you play a crying person, you don't have to shed tears like rain, but rather
Try your best to hold back the tears coming out of your eyes..."
"Yes, yes..." Tom Cruise was stunned and could only murmur in agreement.
"But then, those acting teachers will teach you how to mobilize your emotional memory and how to make your emotions explode as much as possible... Isn't this a contradiction?" Ronald drank a grape juice drink. It was really comfortable to be an inspirer.
.
"Yes, yes..." Tom Cruise was already a little sluggish. What he said made so much sense.
"Because most of the people who take acting classes are those who have to play supporting roles or even background actors. They don't have the opportunity to try the leading role... Think about it, whether it's Francis (Coppola), Marty (Scott)
Cosese) and Barry (Levinson), are they all asking you to act in a fuller direction?"
"Yes, yes..." Tom Cruise sat down slowly and hit his head with his fist, "Why didn't anyone tell me, why?"
"Because you are a star, Tom. They still need you to apply for a loan from the bank to let the audience into the theater, but if you want to reach the level of Jimmy or Gary in acting, you still have to take this road sooner or later to make it easier for the audience.
Put yourself in your situation and see the world in the movie."
"I have to go back, I have to think about it..." Tom Cruise said hello quickly and went to his room. He wanted to watch Jimmy Stewart's movie again and think about how he should act.
.
"But, Ronald... Tom is the protagonist in Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July, and Oliver also allowed him to express his emotions in a stronger direction on the set."
After all, Paula Wagner was not easily persuaded. She closed the door and asked Ronald this question.
"Yes, there are indeed some actors who can play the protagonist in a supporting role, and the audience can accept it, but..."
Ronald crossed his legs and put his hands behind his head relaxedly, "But first, there are very few actors who can do this..."
"You mean Tom's acting skills are not good enough?" Paula Wagner frowned.
"On the contrary, I think Tom's acting skills are very good. He actually played (better) than Dustin in Rain Man, but he is not Robert De Niro or James Cagney..."
De Niro is a star who often collaborates with Scorsese. James Cagney is not very familiar to the new generation of audiences. He is an acting master as famous as Jimmy Stewart, and his method is very unique.
It's particularly full, but there's no problem for the audience to step into his perspective.
Maybe it's because Cagney has a particularly good sense of rhythm. He always leads the audience halfway through the ups and downs, turns, and climaxes of emotions, and then waits for them there. Director Kubrick thought Cagney was the most talented
He is the Hollywood male star with the best acting skills.
"So the acting skills are still not up to the top standard?" Paula Wagner also didn't care. Not everyone can act to the level of these two.
"Secondly, think about it, has De Niro ever acted in any commercially successful movies? Tom Cruise is a star. Even if he acted like Harrison Ford, the audience would go crazy for him...
…”
Paula was also persuaded and nodded repeatedly. Harrison Ford was indeed famous for his lack of acting skills. Looking at it now, it was also because he always played the leading role and intentionally or unintentionally lowered the intensity.
After all, if you act too full, the audience's sense of immersion will be greatly damaged. The protagonist is responsible for leading the audience to explore the dream world, which is why the protagonist is called "Leading Man".
"Then why now?..." Paula Wagner has another question. It seems that in the current Oscars, there are not many actors like Jimmy Stewart winning awards for Best Actor and Best Actress.
Woolen cloth?
According to Ronald's theory, the acting styles of protagonists and supporting actors are completely different. Shouldn't actors like Harrison Ford be soft on awards? Why in reality, only "Witness" in 1986 has been nominated once?
"Today's judges are all those who played supporting roles. There were not so many judges back then, and producers, directors and screenwriters accounted for a much higher proportion than they do now. You see, in the 1960s and 1970s, a large number of actors were added to the judges' panel.
, the Oscar-winning actor and actress began to prefer movies with characters that are difficult to encounter in real life."
In order to win the award, Ronald studied the Oscars very deeply.
"You convinced me, Ronald. When I choose a script for Tom in the future, I will give priority to how to bring out the aura of his protagonist..." Paula Wagner left with satisfaction. Indeed, Ronald was the first to support Tom.
· Cruise, so he will not shy away from these things when speaking, nor will he try to use his star status to achieve success, so he can speak out and point out the misunderstandings that Tom Cruise has fallen into in his career development.
You are a star who plays a leading role, so don’t act like a supporting role!
…
"Action!"
The filming continued the next morning. On the set of the filming location, a scene where the law firm welcomed Mitchel was being filmed.
The camera slowly panned down from the bookcase on the ceiling in the background. This large bookcase for storing legal documents is a standard feature of good law firms in America.
The camera zoomed in to a close-up, showing an old lawyer holding Mitchell's shoulders:
"He is our first choice. Law firms in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and even Washington are all competing with us for him, so we want him to feel our sincerity and strive to retain this man who will soon be admitted to Harvard.
The top five students in the class who graduated with excellent grades."
At this time, Tom Cruise showed some pride, some shyness, and some shyness just right. All the expressions were not stretched to the fullest like his previous acting methods, but left a little space.
Let the audience discover his mental state for themselves.
The camera continued to pan to the left, where a group of supporting actors were listening, smiling, showing their teeth, or pouting at the corners of their mouths, trying their best to create an exaggerated effect, so that the audience could remember themselves among the actors.
This face.
"Cut!"
After Ronald confirmed it with the director of photography, he was happy to keep it. After Tom Cruise lowered the intensity of his performance, it became easier for the audience to get involved with his character. This time, the roles of Mitchel and Cruise
There is no longer the problem of overly emotional performances like before.
"Not bad?" Tom Cruise also felt the value of this kind of acting. He was originally a smart man, but he saw that he looked at Jimmy Stewart, one of the greatest actors in Hollywood.
possibility.
"Very good. Then what, we have to reshoot the scenes we shot before, otherwise there will be a big difference in your performance before and after, and the quality of your acting skills. Well done, Tom..."
"Yeah..." Everyone at the scene clapped and cheered for Cruise.
"Yeah, yeah..." Holly Hunter, a supporting actress with a role, also came over and hugged Tom Cruise, "You finally got it...man."
"Thank you, thank you..." Tom Cruise bowed to everyone and cast a grateful look at Ronald. Now he really understood how to play the leading role.