Chapter 317: Not Good Enough

To be honest.

When he heard the field director call "Pass," Chen Nuo really felt a sense of relief.

The moment he threw the goggles into the sky, it was almost comparable to the moment he walked out of the exam room after the college entrance exam.

Three whole days.

As a person from Sichuan, he endured three whole days in the outdoor ice and snow at minus ten or twenty degrees, facing the biting cold snow wind.

He didn't even know how he held on.

Every day when he returned to the hotel, his feet were almost numb, and it would take several minutes of soaking in boiling hot water to slowly regain sensation.

Riding this snowmobile was much harder than riding a horse, and the key was that two cameras were filming at the same time. Every time he deviated slightly from the movement line, he had to redo it.

In these 70-plus hours, with less than five hours of rest every day, from morning to night, he didn't know how much frostbite cream, moisturizing cream, and various skincare products were applied to his face, hands, and legs.

Whenever he saw Michelle, the little black girl who grew up in the City of Sunshine, wrapped like a rice dumpling, running over during the break to apply makeup, frost protection, and sunscreen for him, he felt that these days were truly hard to endure.

Now that he had finally passed, he really wanted to roar at the sky twice.

However, he didn't forget that he wasn't the only one suffering these past few days.

Turning around, he high-fived and hugged the three stunt actors who had been rolling and crawling in the snow with him for these three days.

"Harry."

"Milton."

"Sherry."

"Guys, thank God, well done, thank you."

These three Canadian snow stunt actors also grinned and laughed.

"It's nothing. To be honest, I didn't expect you to really be able to do it."

"We were all betting on how long you could hold on, and as a result, you surprised us all."

"You're too hard-working, Chen, you're already a superstar, there's no need for this, really. This will make us lose our jobs."

"Hahaha."

"Hahahahaha."

Several people laughed, and Chen Nuo laughed along with them.

But only he knew how much bitterness was in his heart.

And there was nothing to complain about.

What superstar, not to mention he hadn't stepped into the threshold of the 20 million club, and hadn't received any serious 20 million film contracts from any of the six major film companies.

Even if he really was one day, look at Tom Cruise.

In his forties or fifties, he still has to ride a motorcycle and jump off a cliff, and climb the world's tallest tower.

What does this explain?

This fully explains that to succeed in this kind of commercial action blockbuster,

the first requirement is not how well the protagonist can act,

but how hard they work!

Even if the acting is terrible, as long as the person is handsome and willing to work hard, they can be Tom Cruise.

If the person is not handsome but willing to work hard, they can also be Jackie Chan.

If the person is handsome, willing to work hard, and can act, then...

It seems there is no such person yet.

Chen Nuo decided to risk his old life.

Absolutely couldn't let the group of monsters and ghosts that Nolan picked out ruin his big plan.

The next day.

Chen Nuo held a sniper rifle, lying on the ground, looking at the opposite side with a solemn face through the scope.

The next second, his eyes moved away from the scope, looking a bit stunned.

His dense, slightly curved eyelashes trembled, and his pupils seemed to enlarge, as if he saw someone he couldn't imagine from the scope.

Ariadne whispered: "Cobb, no, she, she is not real."

"How do you know?" Chen Nuo's eyeballs moved to the side, looking at her with his peripheral vision.

Ariadne shouted anxiously: "She is just a projection of your psychology. Fischer, Fischer is the real one!" Fischer was the object they were protecting.

Chen Nuo put his eyes back on the scope again.

Yes, in his field of vision, Fischer had just walked into the room opposite.

And behind Murphy, his wife Mal suddenly hung down from a gap in the ceiling onto the floor.

Just as he hesitated, Fischer heard the sound and looked back.

Mal fired.

Fischer fell to the ground immediately.

Chen Nuo subconsciously pulled the trigger of the sniper rifle.

The next instant, two blood flowers bloomed on Mal's body, and she crawled on the ground.

She was dead.

Chen Nuo moved his eyes away from the scope, breathing heavily.

Although he only pulled the trigger twice, it felt as if he had run 20,000 meters.

The two 3D IMAX cameras were like a person's left and right eyes, magnifying every micro-expression on his face very clearly.

His brows were tightly knitted into a "chuan" shape, forming a deep gully between his eyebrows.

His eyes were wide open, his pupils full of shock and pain.

His nostrils flared rapidly, every breath was trembling, his lips were also slightly shivering, and the corners of his mouth drooped, as if he wanted to say something, but it was stuck in his throat.

So, he could only squeeze out a few heavy gasps from his throat, as if the choice in that instant had drained all his energy.

Nolan sat in front of the monitor and called into the intercom: "Cut! Let Chen rest for a while."

The field director immediately shouted: "Cut! Chen, Christopher wants you to rest for a while!"

Chen Nuo woke up as if from a dream.

Everything in front of him disappeared.

No Ariadne, no Mal, no Fischer.

Because Ellen Page, who played Ariadne, Keira Knightley, who played Mal, and Cillian Murphy, who played Fischer, he knew, were now beside the monitor, watching him act with Christopher Nolan.

Chen Nuo turned over, sat on the ground, and turned to ask: "What's wrong? Is something wrong?"

One of Nolan's favorite photographers, Wally Pfister, an old partner who had worked with him on *The Dark Knight*, revealed half his face from behind the huge 3D IMAX camera, with a smile: "Maybe he thinks your acting ambition is too strong. Chen, relax, I don't think it's necessary to be so serious. You can't expect those Oscar judges to give you Best Actor for this movie, right? Unless you are willing to sell only 20 million at the box office."

Chen Nuo smiled, "Then I can only fuck the Oscars. Wally, I just want money."

Wally Pfister also laughed, "Christopher should think the same as you. Alright, move quickly, Chen, this damn weather is too cold. I don't want you to look more and more like Edward in the lens later, that's a good thing for female audiences, but for our movie, it's absolutely terrible."

When Chen Nuo started swinging his arms and moving his legs on the set to warm up,

Nolan said to Cillian Murphy and Keira Knightley beside him: "See, this is the difference from ordinary movies."

Cillian Murphy and Keira Knightley looked at each other.

Keira Knightley squeezed out a smile and asked: "Director, what do you mean? Which aspect?"

Christopher Nolan spread his hands and said: "Every aspect. We only have two cameras, guys. You can think of these two as one. In this way, this movie cannot be laid out with multiple cameras like conventional ones, shooting the positive and negative shots in dialogue scenes synchronously at once, and achieving two people in the same frame."

"This returns to the original way of filming movies." "For single-person shots, if the actors in the same group are not there, you can only perform facing empty space, interpreting characters and spitting out lines facing a void. Undoubtedly, this requires your imagination,"

For professional actors, these are basic skills. Keira Knightley was not surprised by this, just said "Oh" and nodded: "Got it."

However, she then asked: "So, do we all have to act like Chen just did? I mean, in this case, shouldn't it be shot one shot by one shot? Is it necessary to be so... continuous from beginning to end?"

Nolan shook his head and said: "No, no, no. You don't have to at all. You can say your lines sentence by sentence and perform according to your own rhythm. Anyway, no matter how continuous and smooth the process is, in the post-production stage, I will cut it into a series of short shots, and then embed other people's dialogue as needed to complete the final lens assembly."

Ellen Page noticed that Keira Knightley was clearly relieved, and Cillian Murphy's serious expression also softened instantly,

she couldn't help but smile in her heart.

Keira Knightley spread her hands and asked: "Then, Christopher, why does Chen have to do this? This is not an acting class for non-object performance."

Nolan coughed lightly and said: "Keira, everyone has their own habits, and this is his acting habit. Chen is relatively... unique in this regard. You don't have to worry about him, just focus on your own performance."

Ellen Page didn't know if Keira Knightley understood, but she had already automatically translated this sentence in her heart.

She thought Director Nolan was saying, you damn vase actress, stop asking so many questions. Please straighten out your position. Don't worry about how others act, that's the business of an Oscar winner. Be honest, don't make things difficult for yourself, OK?

OK. She said to herself.

"So, are there any other questions?" Christopher Nolan asked.

"No, thank you." Keira Knightley said.

Several actors were shaking their heads, so Nolan said: "OK, that's it, I'll go up and communicate with Chen, and shoot the second take immediately. After this take is finished, it's your turn."

Nolan left.

The remaining three looked at each other, Cillian Murphy nodded to the two girls, and followed without a word.

Keira Knightley opened her mouth behind him. But in the end, no sound came out.

She cursed in her heart.

She had just watched the male lead's acting style and felt a bit uneasy. She originally wanted to check the positions with this person.

As a result, fuck you, Irish freak.

Keira Knightley had to turn her head and smile at Ellen Page, "Ellen, how have you been here these past few days?"

Ellen Page's mouth lifted slightly, revealing a row of shell-like teeth, her smile pure and cute, with shallow dimples on her cheeks, her eyebrows curved, and anyone who saw it would think this was a well-behaved lady.

But who could have imagined that her heart was screaming wildly at this moment: Why don't I want to fuck her now? What is going on? Damn it, what the hell is wrong with me?

"I think it's quite good, how about you?"

Keira Knightley squeezed out a smile and responded muffledly: "Me too."

The situation Chen Nuo was worried about didn't happen.

Nolan wasn't dissatisfied with his inner drama, just came over to adjust the camera position, corrected his aiming action, and after shooting again, it passed cleanly.

Now he had about half a day of rest, and he could go back and have a good sleep. These few days had really exhausted him.

But speaking of which, an even more tiring thing found him again. Qi Yun, this year's Spring Festival Gala program team contacted here again, still wanting to invite him to sing a song.

Time and everything else were not mentioned.

Singing?

He would rather ride a snowmobile in Yili for a month than pick up a microphone and make a fool of himself in front of the whole country.

After this scene was filmed, he didn't intend to be Ellen Page's acting partner here. Just as he was about to remove his makeup and leave, Nolan pulled him aside and asked: "Do you not like Keira Knightley?"

Chen Nuo was stunned for a moment and said: "What do you mean?"

Nolan said: "I noticed that you have almost zero contact with her these two days. Chen, what's going on?"

Okay, it's here after all. Chen Nuo rubbed his nose and said: "Uh... really?"

Nolan looked at him and said seriously: "Yes. Chen, your performance today is great, but to be honest, compared to the you before, I think it's not good enough. At least that's the feeling it gives me."

"But it doesn't matter, this is not a realist subject, it's an action movie, and it's good enough compared to others. So I can pass it. However, compared to yourself, compared to the Joker..."

"Chen, I know you, I know how you like to act. You need to substitute, you need to immerse, you need to put yourself and others in their respective places. However, now Keira has become your obstacle, right? I don't know what reason makes you so repulsive to Keira, but this won't work."

"I hope you can adjust as soon as possible before the big scenes between you two later. If there is any problem, communicate with her, okay?"

……

……

"Fuck, fuck, Oliver, can you come and take me away from this damn ghost place, I really can't stay here anymore."

After work that day, in the best three-star hotel in Yili Xibe Autonomous County, Keira Knightley's eyes were red, and she was calling her agent Oliver far away in England, with a bit of crying in her tone.

This scared the person on the other end of the phone: "What? Keira, don't scare me, what happened? Where are Emma and the others? Are they with you? Now."

"No..."

"WTF! You wait, I'll book a flight immediately... No, no, no, I'll contact the embassy immediately, now, tell me your location..."

"Wait, Oliver, what are you doing? No, it's not what you think, it hasn't reached that level yet." Keira Knightley said.

"Not... cotton?"

"What cotton, what are you thinking? No, it's not."

"Phew, you scared me to death. Then what's wrong? Is someone in the crew bullying you?"

"Yes!"

"Who?"

"Fucking everyone!"

Keira Knightley said fiercely!

She wasn't talking nonsense.

Because ever since she joined the crew a few days ago, she discovered that many people in the crew looked at her with strange eyes.

That kind of look wasn't the usual lustful look of men, nor was it the look of passersby looking at stars, but rather like looking at some monster. When they saw her, they always looked up and down, making people feel very uncomfortable, a bit creepy.

"Keira." Oliver sighed softly on the other end of the phone, "I often say, don't be so sensitive. You are a celebrity now, not just in England, walking in any corner of the world, others will look at you."

Keira Knightley said: "No! It's not like that! When Chen first met me, it was like that too! Do you know which part he was secretly looking at? Pussy! Is this also because I'm a star?"

Oliver laughed and said: "Maybe not a star, but, definitely a beautiful 24-year-old woman. Come on, Keira, relax. Remember what we said before? This is a big opportunity for you. Because *Pirates of the Caribbean*, you can become a star, if you film this movie, you are very likely to become a superstar."

"Bullshit superstar. I NG'd seven times today."

"What?"

"Seven whole times! Christopher Nolan, I think he is deliberately fixing me, he hates me very much."

"How is that possible, haha. If so, then how could you pass his audition? Seven times, is that a lot? I think..."

"I only had those two shots, walk over, and then fire!"

Keira Knightley said loudly, "Oliver, seven times! An extra could do this action, and I filmed it seven times. You don't need to tell me it's possible or impossible, I only believe what my eyes see!"

"Not just him, but Nolan Chen too."

"Shit, yes. What beauty, he definitely doesn't think so. I think he hates me to death. But I don't know why. It was clearly the first time I met him. Do you know how many sentences he has said to me since we met?"

"Two! One is 'Hello Keira, welcome to China', and the other is 'Good luck'... Wait, the doorbell rang. I'll go see who it is."

Keira Knightley walked over with her phone, looked out from the peephole, and was stunned.

Then, she subconsciously pressed the hang-up button on her phone and glanced at the time, currently 9:30 PM Beijing time.

Keira Knightley looked at the mirror by the door, quickly tidied her hair, opened the door, and smiled: "Uh, hi."

"Hi, Keira, are you free? Do you want to have a cup of coffee together?" Chen Nuo smiled.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 318 =====