Weintraub let out an inaudible exclamation, then began to mutter something.
"Are you sure this is Pat Morita? I always thought he was just a comedy buffoon, and Miyagi needs a real actor to play him."
"Yes, I asked him to shoot some material. If you think his performance is good, then we will find him back."
Weintraub finally relented, "Okay, this is really good. But I don't know if he can always perform so well. Is this the first time he has read a script? Or did you give him some pointers in advance?"
"When I read the script for the first time, he was pretty good. I thought we could bring him in to co-star with Danny, who we chose, to see if there is any chemistry."
"Okay, let's invite him to try."
A few days later, the audition director called the four candidates back, and this time they read the script with Pat Morita."
Weintraub and Susan attended the second round of auditions together. The four Danny candidates took turns reading scripts with Pat Morita.
"Sure enough, Ronald didn't lie to himself. Morita's performance was stable and excellent, and the temporary pairing of the four actors performed very well. The Japanese people's unique emphasis on speaking English, and regardless of grammar and word order, the object is often brought forward
The inverted sentences all have the characteristics of people born in Japan."
Weintraub was relieved. He had to admit that the original director Avelson was right in choosing Morita.
Ronald used this method to let Morita's performance appear directly in front of his eyes, which was more effective than talking about it a thousand times.
"Very good, that's it for today. Please go back first. We will notify your agent at any time if there is any further news." Ronald said to Morita.
"Thank you. Thank you Mr. Weintraub." Morita bowed slightly, then stood up to leave.
"Aren't you going to take this script with you? Maybe you will need it in the future." Ronald spoke up, and Morita turned around, handed over a complete script, and winked slightly.
Morita seemed to understand, and his lips were trembling with excitement. If there is no more roles, he will go back to Hawaii with his wife, host on-site canvassing activities for congressmen, sit in bars and do talk shows, and carry the TV series "Happy Hour" with him throughout his life.
” memories, I will tell my grandson’s stories about my grandfather’s past to live in the future.
The look in Ronald's eyes made him understand that this opportunity had opened a narrow door for him.
"Morita is really good. Now we have to consider the choice of Danny." Weintraub waited for Pat Morita to walk out of the room, stretched, and then said to Susan, Ronald and others.
"What's your choice?" he asked Ronald.
"I still like Ralph Macchio." Ronald rewound the videotape shot with the Sony video recorder, then connected it to the TV in the audition room, and found the part where Ralph was talking about Wintraut.
Bu said:
"Please see, even when Ralph was reading the script, his lines were very fluent. If he hadn't occasionally lowered his eyes to read the script, you wouldn't have noticed that he was reading the lines."
"But Charlie Sheen is also good. He's more photogenic and he doesn't look Latino."
"But he is a real Latino. His father, Martin Sheen, was originally named Estevez." Dupont, the audition director, interrupted.
"I know, but he doesn't look like him, and Ralph Mazio has a Latino face at first glance. And in your script, Danny Webber is of Irish descent."
"I know, this does cause trouble to the audience. So let's do this. Let's change the name of the protagonist to..." Ronald looked at Susan, "What are the names of ordinary Latinos?"
"Hmm... let's call him Daniel? Daniel, and then give him a Latino surname."
"Then let's call him LaRusso, it's the surname of my gardener." Weintraub continued, "Ralph may be more suitable, but it's not decisive. I think Charlie Sheen is also good."
"Jerry, but Charlie Sheen is not yet a minor. If we choose him, our shooting costs will become very high." Susan Akins remembered what Ronald said and was eager to show up in front of Weintraub. Show it off.
"You're right, Susan. I didn't expect you to get into the role so quickly, so let's choose Ralph Mazzio." Weintraub happily took a sip of coffee.
"Then there's the question of the heroine." Weintraub asked, "Do you have any suitable candidates?"
"These are the candidates we are optimistic about," audition director Penny Dupont handed over a pile of audition photos and resumes.
"Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Elizabeth Sue..."
Ronald also came closer and took the audition photos he had read through from Weintraub.
Gu Hao
Lea Thompson and Elizabeth Sue are both old acquaintances. Ronald prefers Lea Thompson in his heart. Her natural and smooth acting skills are more suitable for this role than Elizabeth Sue. There are some differences between Ali and Danny. Subtle emotions require someone with better acting skills.
As for Jennifer Gray (jennifer gray) and Sarah Jessica Parker (Sarah Jessica Parker), Ronald found one thing in common. They both have a big turn in the middle, like a hump. nose.
Ronald had met Sarah Jessica Parker, who had previously played the supporting role of Rusty in "Butterfly". Her big nose was even more eye-catching, and her already long face made her look even more ugly.
Jennifer Gray is okay, her nose is only slightly larger than the average, and the hump-like turn is not very obvious.
"I think Jennifer Gray and Sarah Jessica Parker are both pretty good, and so are the other two. Let's call them both for auditions." Weintraub quickly commented.
"Hmm..." Ronald touched his hair, knowing of course that Weintraub favored his own ethnic group. These two girls were at the bottom of all the candidates in terms of beauty.
"I think this one is pretty good too," Ronald pointed to another photo.
"Helen Hunt? I know her father, and we share a rabbi." Weintraub looked at Ronald's recommendation.
"Jewish again." Ronald looked at Hunter's nose. It was okay, not too big, and the hump was not obvious. And his appearance didn't have many Jewish features. It seemed to be similar to Helen Slater, yes. Mixed race, secular Jew.
Most of the devout Jews in the world come from Eastern Europe, especially Poland, where a large group of people live together in New York. The nose genes of these Eastern European Jews are particularly obvious.
With the key candidates in mind, audition director Penny Dupont began to mark the list. She suddenly remembered an important thing, "By the way, all of our candidates, except Elizabeth Sue who is studying at Harvard, were auditioning for John Milley at the same time. If they are selected for Erth's 'Red Dawn', they will probably have to sign an exception."
"Exception clause?" Weintraub actually didn't understand the ins and outs of filming these movies.
"That is, if they choose that place, they can refuse to leave here."
"Well, who called him Milius." Weintraub mentally gave Elisabeth Sue a higher profile. Milius is the screenwriter of many of Coppola's blockbuster films. Last year he directed "Conan the Barbarian" ", also achieved very good box office results, and is now the darling of Hollywood.
Rumor has it that his director's net worth has reached 1.2 million US dollars, plus a rifle of any style he likes.
Several people discussed the key candidates and said goodbye.
But the next day, Weintraub called Pat Morita alone and asked him to meet at the company.
"Hi, Pat, please sit down." Weintraub asked Morita to sit down in the office, and then chatted with him gently.
"I invite you here today. I want to tell you personally that you have been selected by the crew to play Master Miyagi. I may have made the biggest mistake in the world before and almost rejected you, a perfect candidate, so I want to let you know today. It would be most appropriate for me to tell you the good news in person in advance."
"Oh, thank you, Mr. Weintraub." Morita looked very touched and thanked Weintraub again and again for his consideration.
"By the way, why do you have an American name like Pat?" Weintraub asked.
"This is the name of the priest who raised money for me to treat my polio when I was a child. I am very grateful to him. In addition, it is difficult to pronounce my name in English, so I gave it an American name, Pat."
"Oh, what's your Japanese name? I think the actor who plays Master Miyagi has a Japanese name. In this case, the audience will find it very interesting."
"My Japanese name is Noriyuki Morita."
"Okay, then I will sign your name Noriyuki Morita in the subtitles of the movie. You can ask your agent to sign the contract."
Pat Morita walked out of Weintraub's company, found a phone booth, and quickly dialed.
"Hey, Ronald, it's me. Sure enough, Weintraub called me and said he wanted to formally sign a contract with me. Thank you." Morita choked up a little.
"Congratulations. If you are free next time, you can come and cooperate with the audition. We can discuss the details of the plot. You are of Japanese descent and there are some details about Japanese life. If what I wrote is wrong, you can correct it. "
"Okay. But there's one more thing. Mr. Weintraub asked me to sign my name Noriyuki Morita, saying that it would be more flavorful. But my name in the Screen Actors Guild is Pat Morita. It's very troublesome to change my name. Can I talk to him? Say it and don’t change it.”
"This?" Ronald thought for a while, but he still didn't want to go against the producer's small request. Anyway, Weintraub agreed with his opinions on the casting, although Ronald carefully disguised these opinions.
It became Weintraub's own idea.
"Let's do this. When the time comes, put a quotation mark on 'Zhi' so that the labor union and the tax bureau won't trouble you."
"Pat Noriyuki Morita?" In this way, Noriyuki became a nickname, which should meet Weintraub's requirements.