Chapter 101: Does He Really Love Me?

Because "My Blueberry Nights" was all night scenes, when choosing the filming location, they considered the issue of accommodation.

Over 100 meters away from the restaurant where they were filming, there was a motel called "Smith Family Motel." The production company booked the entire motel for the crew to stay in.

The Blueberry crew wasn't very large, and the rooms were quite ample. Unlike the time with Zhang Yi, Chen Nuo enjoyed the treatment of a single room this time.

Qi Yuntian was Chen Nuo's agent, not a crew member, so he had to pay out of his own pocket and stay next door to Chen Nuo. Next to Qi Yuntian was Emma Stone. Wong Kar-wai and several staff members from Hong Kong were also on the same floor.

Coming out of the restaurant, Qi Yuntian kept glancing at him from time to time. Chen Nuo finally lost patience and said, "Don't worry, I haven't gone crazy yet."

Qi Yuntian breathed a sigh of relief, "Hearing you can still talk to me in this tone, then I'm relieved."

Chen Nuo didn't pay any more attention to him.

He hadn't gone crazy, that was because his psychological endurance was indeed strong.

However, he had never been pushed to this point before. Since he started acting, everything had been smooth sailing, and all he heard were praises and admiration. This was the first time he had been in such a sorry state.

55 NGs!

Halfway through, he went to the restroom and heard two foreigners from the crew chatting at the restroom door.

One said, "My God, I was very envious of that boy at first, but now, I'm just glad it's not me doing this."

The other said, "Exactly, Wong turned kissing into torture. I can't understand what he actually wants? I feel like he's just torturing those two kids."

"Maybe that's why he was able to succeed in Hong Kong."

"Sigh, God bless those actors filming with him."

"Yes, God bless them. I bet 5 dollars that boy will eventually cry like a child."

"Haha, I also bet five dollars; he definitely will."

These Hollywood old hands couldn't stand it, which showed that Wong Kar-wai could be considered a pervert anywhere in the world.

Chen Nuo didn't believe in God, and God couldn't bless him either. If he wanted not to cry, he could only rely on himself.

Returning to the motel, as soon as his back hit the bed, he immediately lost consciousness. He slept soundly and had many bizarre dreams. There were past events from his childhood in Michigan, and there was also the girl he had recently broken up with, who he didn't know if was named Mary or Lucy. Finally, the scene in his dream froze on a face with lips stained with cream.

After waking up, Chen Nuo went to the restroom to wash up. Looking at the pale, helpless, haggard, and exhausted face in the mirror, such an expression wouldn't appear on Chen Nuo; this belonged exclusively to that NYU loser student, Jeremy.

While Chen Nuo was staring blankly at the mirror in the restroom, Darius Khondji asked quite helplessly in Wong Kar-wai's room, "Wong, how many more angles do you want me to find?"

Wong Kar-wai said, "Let's do as many times as yesterday."

Darius Khondji was dumbfounded.

Wong Kar-wai smiled when he saw this.

He knew very well that not only Darius Khondji, but Chen Nuo must be suffering even more now.

But there was no other way. Chen Nuo in the lens hadn't moved him yet, and through his observations yesterday, he also knew that Chen Nuo still had potential to be tapped.

As for why he said that?

Of course, it was because it was his first time filming his movie, and after 55 NGs and filming for a whole night, he hadn't cried or wanted to run away.

Then what was there to be afraid of? He could definitely continue.

Chen Nuo didn't know that Wong Kar-wai was using tears to measure an actor's psychological quality; otherwise, he definitely would have cried for him in a minute.

The Blueberry Nights crew started work every day after dinner at 8:00 PM and then filmed until 5:00 AM the next day. With a one-hour break in between, it added up to exactly 8 hours of work.

Because the American actors' union stipulated that anything over 8 hours counted as overtime. As long as the production side didn't want to pay several times the overtime pay, then even if Wong Kar-wai cursed a hundred times, he had to follow this duration.

New York time, January 6, 2006, 8:00 PM, a restaurant in New York.

"Blueberry Nights, scene 1, take 56."

The sound of the clapperboard rang out.

A few minutes later, "Blueberry Nights, scene 1, take 57."

"Blueberry Nights, scene 1, take 58."

"... 59."

"... 60."

... "... take 113."

New York time, January 7, 2006, 5:00 AM, a restaurant in New York.

Wong Kar-wai stood up from behind the monitor and said, "Cut, wrap."

At this moment, everyone in the crew looked at him as if looking at a devil.

A kissing scene filmed 113 times, for two whole days—if this director wasn't a devil from hell who specialized in torturing people for fun, what else could he be?

Yesterday, some people were still watching the joke, but today, no one in the entire crew was laughing.

Because no one had ever encountered such a thing. Hollywood professionals had practically never heard of this.

Halfway through, almost everyone was thinking, if the male lead's mind was crushed and he ran away or went crazy regardless of everything, would they still film this movie?

However, in the end, the male lead actually hadn't cried or gone crazy. Just thinking about it made it unbelievable.

Kissing someone 113 times in 2 days and being rejected 113 times in a row. How much psychological endurance did that require?

At least the foreigners present no longer dared to look down on this Chinese boy.

Darius Khondji was also exhausted, although there were other cameramen alternating with him, but after a whole night, he was still drained.

Darius Khondji walked to Wong Kar-wai's side with a weary face and gestured toward the display window, "Is this what you wanted to see?"

By the bar counter in the restaurant, his two leads were sitting on stools, staring blankly at each other.

Although there were four or five staff members around tidying up props and cleaning the venue to prepare for wrapping up.

But these two people seemed to be in another independent space, seeing nothing and hearing nothing.

They seemed to only see each other, eyes meeting, saying nothing.

Wong Kar-wai asked in surprise, "What's wrong with them?"

Darius Khondji shook his head and sighed, "Wong..."

Wong Kar-wai hid his eyes behind his sunglasses, his mouth twitched, and he said, "I don't understand what you mean; they seem to be just exchanging feelings with their eyes. Let's go back and rest; we should be able to finish filming this shot tonight."

Chen Nuo sat in front of the bar, the emotions surging in his heart made him want to say something.

The result of kissing 113 times not only gave him an unprecedented sense of huge failure but also made him familiar with every detail of Emma Stone's lips and even her face.

He knew where there were slight undulations on her lips, and exactly how many freckles were on her face, and where they were located.

In the end, he felt as if he could feel her heartbeat and emotions through kissing.

Chen Nuo knew this was an illusion, but at this moment, from Emma Stone's eyes, he discovered that the other party's feelings should be about the same as his.

In this extremely short and extremely intensive intimate contact, the two of them seemed to have a tacit understanding that couldn't be explained. It was as if they had truly become soulmates.

However, until now, they actually hadn't said a single word.

Because Wong Kar-wai wouldn't let him talk to her.

A shred of Chen Nuo's remaining sanity told him, leave quickly, shut your mouth, go back to sleep immediately, and let Wong Kar-wai go to hell.

So, he suddenly stood up and left.

Watching his back, a hot current like magma flowed in Emma Stone's heart, burning her body until it was hot. In her emerald-green eyes, tears were unknowingly filled.

On the way back to the motel, she took out her phone and called her agent again. Today, the voice on the other side was quite energetic: "Hi, Emma, how was today?"

Emma Stone's state was very bad. Although she had just been putting her head on the bar counter all night and hadn't even said much, her voice was actually hoarse. It was as if she had talked to someone, at some time, countless times.

She said, "Hi, Sarah. I don't know how I am either. On one hand, I feel very good, and on the other hand, I feel very uncomfortable."

Sarah asked in surprise, "Why? Oh my god, what's wrong with your voice? What happened?"

Emma Stone said incoherently, "I don't know what happened either. In any case, we filmed kissing scenes for another whole night, Chen and I. This scene still hasn't passed... By this morning, he had kissed me 113 times. My God, I don't know, Sarah, I don't know if it's my illusion, but now, I, I find that I seem to have fallen in love with him. And, I feel like he seems to love me too, but... but this is impossible, right?"

"WTF..." Sarah cursed, then suddenly fell silent. After a while, her voice returned to calm: "OK. Emma, listen to me, I will come over to accompany you to film tonight. You go back to the motel obediently now, take a hot shower, and then sleep, okay?"

"Okay." Emma Stone said, "Sarah... then do you think he really loves me? Or is it just my illusion? Is all of this just... acting?"

Fuck you, Wang, you son of a bitch! Sarah cursed in her heart, and patiently said, "It shouldn't be your illusion. I think he does love you, but, only limited to when filming. You have to distinguish the boundaries here. Think about what your teacher taught you in acting class; don't get too into character, let your reason come back to control your emotions. Alright, Emma Stone, go back to sleep quickly, you'll feel better when you wake up."

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 102 =====