Chapter 852: Chapter 258: Another Film Wraps
“Have you read this person’s book, this Charles Jourian… a psychology professor? In his work, he claims that having a Lolita complex suggests that a person’s psychological age is aging, and they’re starting to become infatuated with youthful bodies,” Adrian flipped through the pages in front of him, “Do you think I’m old, Innie?”
“What, do you want me to start calling you old man?” Ivanka replied without looking up, her back to him, as she leaned over the desk sorting through documents with her hips raised.
Typical Charli-Innie style of response, Adrian thought with a chuckle, then sighed inwardly. Although Little Emma’s scent was delightful, it ultimately happened under her calculated moves, and he wasn’t sure how to explain it to Kate and the others later. But once he returned to the United States, his mind was filled with the petite figure of the little devil, especially her Lolita aura wrapped in fierce passion, making it hard to resist the temptation to get lost in it.
“No, it’s not just that, there’s also the thrill…” Adrian mumbled. Indeed, whether it was Kirsten, Leighton, or Britney, they were all young girls by the time he went after them, and Little Emma…
This chaos has thrown his entire life out of order, it’s truly troubling. No wonder she’s called the little devil; he shouldn’t have indulged her so much initially. He thought sorrowfully.
“What’s wrong?” Ivanka turned her head at this point, scrutinizing him with a perceptive gaze.
“Nothing—I think you should keep that posture.” Adrian said, waving his hand in a circular gesture towards her raised hips.
Ivanka rolled her eyes and casually lifted her short skirt, revealing the purple panties underneath, and then stretched them into a taut line, shaking her hips: “Satisfied now?”
“Oh, Innie,” Adrian covered his forehead in frustration, “How could you do this? Didn’t I tell you that when your short skirt rounds your hips, that curve is the most enticing.”
Ivanka rolled her eyes again, set down her skirt, quickly organized the items in her hands, and then straightened up, placing them in front of him: “These require your signature, and the remaining ones I’ll hand over to Claude as per your instructions—hurry up, Ed, don’t waste time. Once you’ve signed them, I can leave, and you can continue with your filming.”
“Are you in such a hurry to leave?” Adrian brought the documents to the desk, glancing outside at the Brokeback Mountain crew members gathered in small groups, either chatting or preparing. He quickly signed the documents and wrapped his arms around Ivanka’s waist: “Can’t you stay with me a few more days?”
“Come on, Ed, you always have someone keeping you company, why insist on having me by your side?” Ivanka said, pointing outside where a young woman was passing by with a nervous expression, “Besides, I’ve promised Charli to go see a Vogue fashion show in New York together.”
“Oh?” Adrian raised his eyebrows high, then pulled Ivanka close, lifting her hips against him, “It truly saddens me that you’d rather accompany Charli to New York than stay here with me. Maybe I should call Charli and have her come here for a vacation—many places nearby have beautiful scenery.”
“…Alright,” After a couple of futile struggles, Ivanka had no choice but to concede, “Just for one night, and don’t think about inviting that woman as well.”
“Oh, don’t worry, Innie, you know how I draw the lines.” Adrian laughed and gave her a playful squeeze on her raised hips.
But Ivanka wasn’t one to give in easily, so after a pause, she suddenly squinted her eyes, with a smile that was hard to define: “Speaking of which, you seem to be hiding something, Ed, since coming back from London.”
Alright, regarding the Little Emma matter, Adrian hadn’t told anyone, including Ivanka. If she found out, then Kate, Charli, and Sarah would certainly know too. They’ve shared the bed more than once or twice already, and while they’re not without secrets, a topic like this wouldn’t be kept under wraps.
Adrian hadn’t thought of how to explain it yet, and it wouldn’t be good to cause some unnecessary trouble by letting Kate and the others know rashly.
“It’s nothing, just some personal matters, considering how to resolve them.” Adrian said vaguely without changing his expression, and Ivanka couldn’t probe further, letting it go temporarily.
Putting this aside, and not mentioning how Adrian handled Ivanka in bed that night, with his return, filming resumed for the remaining quarter of Brokeback Mountain. This section primarily describes Jack Twister’s life, such as what he does for a living after he can no longer go back to herding, how he meets his future wife Norine Newsom and gets married, and so on.
For Brad Pitt, who had done his homework, getting into character wasn’t difficult, but for Anne Hathaway, playing Norine, it wasn’t so easy.
“Your expression is always a bit stiff, relax a bit, try to feel the emotions of this character, just like you did in The Princess Diaries and Monster.” Adrian tirelessly explained to Anne.
“Sorry, Ed, I’m just… a little nervous.” Anne lowered her head, like a child who had done something wrong.
“Alright, then…” Adrian rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment, “Let’s skip this shot for now, and move on to filming the later scenes.”
After about three days of filming, the progress on Anne’s scenes was less than a third of the original plan. Although Adrian wasn’t very pleased, he didn’t say much. He understood her feelings; this was her first role in Adrian’s film since that incident; even though for several months, she had eagerly sought favor under him, dutifully completing the tasks he assigned, even delivering the Duff sisters to his bed, Adrian’s attitude towards her hadn’t changed much. Previously, no matter what, caring and gentleness were a constant, but now, only manipulation remained, yet Anne had to maintain a forced smile to accept it, along with some other matters, nervousness was inevitable.
However, although this state wasn’t suitable for portraying Norine’s enthusiasm while dating Jack, it was perfect for the cold war and family issues with Jack later, as well as conveying the news of Jack’s death to Ennis over the phone.
“Very good, let’s go again.” Adrian clapped his hands as a sign of approval and encouragement for this take, then added for Anne: “You can make yourself seem more indifferent, of course, if it feels difficult, just maintain the previous state.”
This scene depicted Jack preparing to go to Brokeback Mountain to see Ennis, looking for that jacket he wore every visit, symbolizing their relationship. He couldn’t find it, so Jack ended up in his wife’s office, leading to a small quarrel over this and the children’s education.
The couple was very cold to each other, showing that Jack, like Ennis, had formed a not-so-happy family, but in contrast, Jack wasn’t as sullen as Ennis, attempting to sustain his marriage by any means. This scene wasn’t long and didn’t require high acting skills; Anne just needed to convey a feeling of indifferent frustration, so it was relatively easier to shoot.
There is no doubt that the role and her current mood share some similarities. Adrian watched the video once more and smiled inwardly. Just as he was about to go over and say a few words to her, he saw Pitt talking to Anne.
“You see, you’ve been performing well these past few days, so the key is to be patient. This is also a common issue for young actors,” Pitt was sharing his experience with Anne.
“Thank you, Brad, I’ll do my best,” Anne said with a grateful tone, although her eyes wandered as if her mind was elsewhere.
“If you like, once this movie is completed, we can find some time to have a good chat,” Pitt continued.
“Uh… there’s no need for that,” Anne showed a visibly startled expression and refused without thinking.
Pitt was taken aback. Generally speaking, even if the other party is unwilling, they wouldn’t refuse so directly.
Adrian, who was watching from the side, chuckled to himself and immediately walked over, saying, “Hey, Brad, Anne, what are you guys talking about?”
“Nothing much,” Anne quickly replied and gave him an enthusiastic smile without any hint of concealment, “Brad was giving me some reference tips for acting, that’s all.”
“Good, such communication can be more frequent since you two are almost 20 years apart. Coordinating might inevitably feel a bit awkward, so don’t miss any means to enhance the rapport,” Adrian smiled and said, showing no sign of any other implication, which made Anne a little uneasy.
So, just as he was about to leave, she immediately said, “Oh, Ed, can we talk later in private?”
Next, because Adrian has had cameo roles in every one of his movies, most famously as the regular white-collar sitting with Forrest Gump and as the greasy-haired Frenchman appearing with Sophie in The Matrix, Brokeback Mountain would be no exception. However, his role was quite wickedly amusing.
“Listen, what I want to say is that I spent a lot of effort and cost to make up like this, so if you keep breaking into laughter because of it and can’t complete the shoot, I promise I won’t let you off easily,” Adrian warned the actors, including Pitt, who were covering their mouths trying not to laugh, as he sat beside the dining table.
He not only had a big belly but also had lots of silicone applied to his face. His sideburns were almost reaching his mouth, and his hair was a bit messy, making him look like a rough old man in his fifties or sixties, completely unrecognizable as the Miracle Director if you didn’t inspect closely.
Norine Newsom’s father, that’s the role Adrian played a cameo for, and he only had one scene in the whole movie, the Thanksgiving turkey-splitting scene. Norine’s father had always been dissatisfied with Jack, never respected him, nor took him seriously. In a traditional American family, only the head of the family can be in charge of carving the turkey during Thanksgiving, but whenever Norine’s parents visited for Thanksgiving, her father always took charge.
But this time, due to accumulated conflicts, Jack exploded and gave his father-in-law a serious scolding, even warning him to be careful about getting kicked out. This scene perfectly echoed Ennis visiting his ex-wife’s house to see his daughter during Thanksgiving, depicting the misery of two people in love who cannot be together and their resistance in such hardship.
Jack was somewhat better off than Ennis; his father-in-law succumbed, sat back quietly, and handed the turkey carving rights back to him.
This role posed no difficulty for Adrian. Although his acting skills are not deemed extraordinary, after having so many cameo roles, he does have some experience. Of course, perhaps this role wasn’t quite suitable for him; in fact, everyone said so, but to Adrian, it didn’t matter because that’s where the fun was.
For instance, the guard he played in The Lord of the Rings, or the lawyer assistant in Erin Brockovich, or the fan in Walk the Line — these roles are either unrecognizable, only have a few shots, or flashes by in an instance. These appearances served no particular benefit, but putting oneself as a mascot in a self-directed movie is a very interesting thing, much like how Hitchcock always played a live prop in his own films.
So it didn’t matter if the father-in-law role was unlikable; after all, it was hard to recognize him after all the makeup. Of course, Adrian was a little frustrated. If only his acting could be as good as his life skills, playing the ranch owner would have been a good choice.
This scene went through about more than ten takes before it was completed, Adrian’s performance was up to standard, and nobody actually broke character because of his warning, except for the little actor playing Jack and Norine’s son.
“Seems alright, maybe I should really consider directing and acting in my next movie,” Adrian said half-jokingly after reviewing the footage.
Everyone laughed along with a few words, but no one took it seriously. He had privately expressed more than once that directing and acting is difficult to grasp; human energy is limited. If you lean more towards acting, directing will inevitably be somewhat lacking, and vice versa.
So, for a self-directed and self-acted work to be a masterpiece, either you’d have to have an outstanding assistant director or be filming something you’re extremely familiar with, like Woody Allen’s Annie Hall.
As the scene ended, the filming was almost wrapped up. After being thoroughly entertained by Adrian for several days, especially after Adrian’s cameo, which gave her yet another role-play, Anne finally managed to capture the initial passion Norine had when she first met Jack, and thus the filming of Brokeback Mountain also came to an end.
However, for the final scene, Adrian put in some effort. He left the script’s last scene, where Ennis, facing Jack’s coat hung inside his own jacket, tearfully tells the deceased Jack “I swear,” until the end, forcing River, who had nothing left to do, to once again travel from Los Angeles.
For this, Silver, who accompanied him, couldn’t help but complain for his brother: “This is simply a waste of time, it could have been finished earlier, but it had to be kept until now.”
Thus Adrian warned him, “If you don’t take your words back, Silver, next time I promise to have you kiss Leonardo in the film.”
“Absolutely not!” Before Silver could speak, Lindsay, who came along, screamed, making Silver roll his eyes amidst the laughter. (To be continued. If you like this story, please feel free to visit Qidian () to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.)