Chapter 373: Stealing the Show

In fact, Lorne Michaels was not the only big shot who didn't know who Chen Nuo was.

Luo Bote Pritzker was the same.

Even his most beloved eldest son, James Pritzker—born to his second wife, Irene Dryburgh—questioned him indignantly over the phone: "... How is that possible?"

The 84-year-old man, suffering from Parkinson's, leaned back against his walnut headboard—inlaid with gilded carvings and draped in handmade Italian velvet—and said faintly, "How is it not possible? I've played golf with Marlon Brando, and I was in the same club as Marilyn Monroe. I don't think not knowing a Chinese name is a big problem."

"Dad, he's really famous. He's going to be on SNL soon; you'll be able to see him on TV right away. Dad, he really is a hot topic..."

Luo Bote Pritzker scoffed, his gaze sweeping over the lamp on his nightstand, encrusted with Swarovski crystals, and the limited-edition Patek Philippe pocket watch beside it, which he had bought at a Swiss auction in the 70s.

Then, through the room's massive floor-to-ceiling windows, he looked out at the artificial lake surrounded by his private gardens, its surface shimmering, with a few white swans gliding elegantly across it.

The old man waited patiently for the voice on the phone to fade before saying slowly, "Back when Brando and I were on the golf course in Palm Springs, he got a hole-in-one—that was a topic. When Marilyn danced at the club, everyone in the room stared at her, even the waiters forgot to serve drinks—that was also a topic. Now, I'm old, James. I'm not interested in a topic created by a Chinese man, and I don't think he's any kind of hot topic."

"... Forget it. But he really is a good actor. Please, Dad, just this once, this is the last time, I swear, I will succeed this time! If you had ever watched his movies, you would acknowledge that too. 20 million, I only need 20 million USD to cover his salary; I'll figure out the rest of the money myself. Dad, please, this is my first feature film production, and I've already got the script ready... 20 million, okay? Just 20 million. If it's a go, I'll fly back to Chicago tomorrow."

Luo Bote Pritzker said with a flat expression, "James, there is no 20 million. I told you last time that was the last time. And now, apart from the money the family trust gives you every month, you won't get another cent from me. If you truly need money, I suggest you sell your house in Canada and move back to the United States."

"Luo Bote, no, I told you, I'm not going back. What did Jennifer say about me back then? No, Luo Bote, no! I will never walk back into that damn house like a loser and face her damn questioning."

"She is your sister!"

"No, she isn't. She's a sharp-tongued bitch!"

"Forget it. I'm tired. I don't want to argue about this anymore. I just want to tell you that Jennifer, like me, doesn't like movies—that's all. And as for you, I advise you to give up your unrealistic dreams, and don't give so much money to a Chinese con artist..."

Luo Bote Pritzker didn't finish his sentence before the phone was hung up. He listened to the "beep-beep" sound from the receiver and was silent for a while.

Then, he signaled with his eyes.

A housekeeper in a dark gray uniform, who had been waiting quietly by the bed, immediately walked forward, took the heavy, gold-plated, ivory-handled vintage receiver from his hand, and placed it back on the landline phone—which was also gilded and featured intricate Baroque carvings on its base. Beside the phone was that same lamp shimmering with Swarovski crystal light.

Luo Bote leaned back against his pillows, closed his eyes, and sighed softly.

The housekeeper spoke softly, "Sir, shall I help you up? Shall I push you out for a walk?"

Luo Bote shook his head. "No need. I'm a bit tired; I want to sleep for a while."

"Very well." The housekeeper hurried forward to help him lie down slowly on the bed.

Luo Bote Pritzker did not fall asleep.

His body kept trembling slightly; his hands twitched involuntarily under the covers, and his legs spasmed as if trying to straighten out but remaining soft and powerless.

Even his every breath seemed somewhat heavy, as if his chest were being suppressed by an invisible force.

His thoughts also began to grow chaotic; in his mind, images of his past glory alternated with the angry words from the phone call just moments ago.

Various sounds and images intertwined, giving him a splitting headache, yet he couldn't stop these jumbled thoughts from rushing in like a tide.

I don't know how much time passed, but when he opened his eyes again, it was very late. Outside the window, it was pitch black, with only a few faint lights visible in the distance.

He reached out his fingers with difficulty—his knuckles stiff and trembling from Parkinson's—and pressed the gilded butler bell placed by his side.

A minute later, the same housekeeper entered, followed by a private doctor in a white uniform and a nurse.

After the routine evening medical checkup ended and the doctor and nurse withdrew, a servant pushed in a small cart with a bowl of steaming oatmeal, a small plate of sliced fruit, and a piece of freshly toasted whole-wheat bread.

Seeing that the old man was in a bad mood and had no appetite today, after feeding him two spoonfuls of oatmeal, the housekeeper asked softly, "Sir, would you like to watch some TV?"

"Hmm." Luo Bote Pritzker gave a soft grunt.

The housekeeper walked to the mahogany cabinet by the bed, picked up a remote control, and pressed a button. A hidden panel on the wall slid open, and a 65-inch TV slowly rose, its screen lighting up.

Because Luo Bote had watched the "NBC Nightly News" last night, the screen was currently showing the NBC channel.

And at this moment, NBC was playing a very noisy, dazzling program intro.

The housekeeper immediately changed the channel to the CBS financial news channel.

Then, she picked up the oatmeal again, scooped a spoonful, and brought it to Luo Luo Bote lips.

The old man looked thoughtful, as his still-sharp hearing had caught a peculiar name in the intro just now.

So he didn't open his mouth right away; instead, after a while, he said, "Change it back. NBC."

The housekeeper didn't ask why and immediately picked up the remote to switch back to the previous channel.

At this moment, on the screen, the iconic SNL opening had transitioned to the live stage.

The camera swept across the 30 Rock building at Rockefeller Center in New York; the stage lights flared, and accompanied by jazz music with saxophone and drum beats, the hundreds of people in the audience erupted into enthusiastic applause and cheers.

The camera cut quickly across the front-row audience—there were college students in hoodies, middle-aged men holding beers, and several stylishly dressed young girls waving and screaming.

In the center of the stage, a black-haired man stood under a spotlight, wearing a black suit, nodding and greeting the entire room.

"Help me sit up straight. Get me my glasses," Luo Bote said.

Once the housekeeper put his glasses on, Luo Bote finally saw the man's appearance clearly.

And in that instant, a deep sense of jealousy welled up in Luo Luo Bote heart.

Unlike him, who was riddled with disease and on the verge of death, the young man on TV was full of vitality.

His black suit was tailored perfectly, outlining his broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted physique; he stood tall, and every movement of his nod exuded a natural charm.

His black hair was neat and stylish, his face had sharp, defined angles, and his features were deep and three-dimensional—especially those eyes, full of agile confidence, as if they could pierce through the screen and grab the gaze of every viewer.

Luo Bote felt as if he were seeing the shadow of his younger self in him.

Yet, no matter how much money he had now, he couldn't buy back that time which had already passed.

Participating in a show like "Saturday Night Live" was completely different for Chen Nuo than guest-starring on "The Big Bang Theory."

For him, the latter was like a level 60 warrior character going into a level 20 dungeon like Shadowfang Keep... so what if there were three cameras?

Wasn't his specialty this kind of multi-camera, continuous-shot performance style on set?

James Pritzker had even talked about using a one-shot filming style when discussing the new movie with him this time.

However, "Saturday Night Live" was different.

The opening monologue was live.

Although it was reading from a script and there was a teleprompter,

he lacked experience in this regard after all.

Before going on stage, that skinny director named Tang something had patted him on the shoulder and told him to relax.

But when he walked onto the stage through the curtains amidst the accompaniment, facing the noisy applause of about 700 people across two levels, he felt very uncomfortable for that instant.

But Chen Nuo calmed down immediately.

Just like during rehearsals, he realized that in this situation, what he needed to do wasn't to be a host, but to be an actor playing a host.

And without a doubt, doing so was truly very effective.

"Thank you, thank you." He stood politely on stage, greeting the crowd in all directions.

Once the applause died down a little, he threw out his first joke of the night: "Thank you for your applause. It reminds me of when I first came to America to audition at Warner Bros."

"At that time, the Warner executives clapped and told me: either prove yourself in 5 minutes, or get the hell out of here."

"I know, you guys are the same."

Not bad; the audience's reaction to this warm-up joke was good, and low laughter erupted.

"Actually, I'm very nervous right now, although you can't tell."

At this moment, Chen Nuo used a voice that was hoarser and more mature than his usual speaking voice. Because that was how the 40-something Dave Chappelle, who had returned to the stage, spoke.

"... Because just like back then, I'm facing a problem, which is that I need to prove myself with a performance in the time ahead."

"The difference is, here, I'll get the recognition of over 10 million Americans. While back then, I would have gotten over 10 million dollars as recognition."

"So, I had to try much harder back then."

The second joke wasn't bad either; laughter erupted everywhere.

Chen Nuo completely relaxed.

"Just kidding, my salary wasn't that high back then."

Chen Nuo restrained his smile and, with a slightly nonchalant expression, said slowly: "I was nothing back then. I was just a young actor from China who came here—a place where no one knew me—with only my agent by my side."

As he spoke, he pointed to Qi Yuntian in the front row of the audience. "His name is Chris, and he's sitting right there."

The audience looked in that direction and began to applaud.

"He told me back then that this was a superhero movie. Even though it was a villain role, the character was very important. He said as long as I played this role, I could become a big star, and when I walked down the street, everyone would recognize me and ask for my autograph."

"And then I played it."

"That movie was 'The Dark Knight,' the third-highest-grossing film in history, seen by hundreds of millions of people around the world."

The entire room suddenly erupted into applause and screams.

"The Joker I played was also praised by many."

The applause and screams on site grew even louder, accompanied by whistles.

Then, Chen Nuo showed a helpless expression and said, "The movie was a success, and the character was a success, but if I want to be recognized on the street, I have to brush a layer of mud on my face first."

"Hahahaha."

This joke, which had been set up for a long time, landed, causing the biggest round of laughter on site so far.

The camera on site gave a perfect shot of Qi Yuntian at this moment. Seeing him laughing along, the over 12.1 million North American households watching this episode on TV were even more amused.

Indeed, many of them didn't know who Chen Nuo was. But there were very few who didn't know the Joker from "The Dark Knight."

And Chen Nuo's joke stemmed precisely from that.

So, these viewers were the ones who could best appreciate the punchline, especially seeing Chen Nuo's helpless expression, which made the laughter even louder.

Fan Bingbing in her bedroom in Canada was the same.

The little thing had started fussing in the middle of the night, crying in her arms.

The woman laughed while walking back and forth, rocking her arms.

After a while, she lowered her head and kissed the little thing's forehead, saying gently, "Look, that's your dad. He really knows how to act; you should learn more from him later."

Chen Nuo on stage also laughed along for a while.

Once the laughter died down,

he continued: "I was very angry at the time and went to ask my agent. I said, 'Hey, Chris, what's going on? How is this different from what you said? Why do I have to wear a mask to be recognized?'"

"He said: 'Don't be angry, I'll take you to a place.'"

"Then he took me to a very grand party. There were many stars there—guys you'd recognize the moment you saw them on the street, like Leonardo DiCaprio, like Kate Winslet, like Angelina Jolie..."

Every time Chen Nuo said a name, the audience erupted into applause.

"... I didn't know them at the time, but every one of them was very nice to me," Chen Nuo said to himself. "Leo asked me what I wanted to eat, Kate smiled at me, and Angelina talked to me for a long time."

"In short, I thought they were all very lovely people at the time. Midway through, my agent went to sleep, and after that, I had a very wonderful night."

"The next day, I asked my agent, I said, 'Chris, thank you for taking me to that party, but I'm still very angry at you.'"

"Chris asked me, 'You're angry because you need to wear a mask to count as a Hollywood star, right?'"

"I said, 'Yes.'"

"Then he said something very philosophical. He said: 'Then do you think any of those big stars you met last night are any different?'"

"I said, 'What the fuck are you talking about? Of course not. After you went to sleep, every one of them started smoking weed like crazy in the second half of the night. I could still recognize who they were then, goddammit.'"

"Hahahahahaha."

Amidst the laughter, the ratings for this episode of "Saturday Night Live" began to climb once again.

The control room backstage received data from Nielsen showing that after the two jokes in the opening, the number of viewers had already exceeded 12.4 million, surpassing Ryan Reynolds' 12.3 million, becoming the third-best result of the year, second only to Alec Baldwin's 13.7 million and Justin Timberlake's 12.5 million.

This immediately alarmed Lorne Michaels.

And by the time the old man arrived at the control room, Chen Nuo had already continued speaking and was almost finished.

"I'm telling this joke not just to prove how my agent deceived me, but also to say how hard it is to be a Hollywood star."

"They even have to wait until the second half of the night just to smoke some weed." "Hahahaha."

"Tang, what's going on?" Lorne Michaels asked in surprise, hearing the intense laughter from the speakers. "What's with the laughter on site? Is this guy's performance really that good?"

Tang Luoyi King said while laughing, "Lorne, you really should have come sooner. This guy... I don't know how to describe it. I feel like he's practically a stand-up comedian. Look at his expressions and movements; they're so practiced. I'd believe it if you told me he'd toured 100 shows."

Lorne Michaels shook his head. "Don't kid me."

"Then see for yourself, Lorne."

Chen Nuo was getting more and more into the zone; at this point, he had even moved away from the teleprompter.

In this era, no one had seen what Dave Chappelle looked like after returning to the stage. Back then, he had watched the 6 stand-up specials he recorded for Netflix back and forth countless times on international flights. Now, simulating it, one could say it was vivid and lifelike.

He even started looking around and asking, "Anyone smoking? Give me a cigarette."

"Wow!!!!"

With this, the whole room erupted.

By the time he lit a Marlboro with an excited lady and walked back onto the stage, the atmosphere in the room was incredibly heated, with even more than half the audience standing and applauding.

Lorne Michaels was stunned. Because in his comedy career of over 40 years, this was absolutely a rare sight. He turned and asked Roy King, "Was this designed by you guys?"

King also had a dumbfounded expression and shook his head. "No, how could it be? Look at his movements; I bet he doesn't even smoke at all."

"Then what is he doing now?"

"... I don't know," Tang Luoyi King muttered.

But in fact, as a veteran live director, he knew why Chen Nuo's act of lighting a cigarette caused such a sensation.

It was because he broke the audience's inherent expectations of him.

The American audience knew him as that bright, perfect Asian hunk from "Twilight." But now, he stood on the SNL stage, and with a cigarette, he completely overturned his past labels.

You have to know that SNL's audience can be said to be people who value spontaneity and rebellion.

They love surprises; they love contrast.

The act of asking for a cigarette wasn't important; what was important was that it gave the audience a strong signal—this man wasn't here to put on airs and recite a script; he was here to "play" with everyone.

The moment he lit the cigarette, Chen Nuo transformed from an unreachable screen idol into a regular good friend.

Tang Luoyi King didn't know if Chen Nuo was intentional or unintentional, but in any case, the sense of closeness he was showing now truly ignited everyone on site. And he also believed that the audience in front of the TV would be equally infected.

The subsequent ratings performance also proved all of this.

When Chen Nuo took two puffs of the cigarette and said, "This doesn't smoke as well as weed," triggering loud laughter, the number of viewers for this episode of SNL exceeded 13 million.

That's right, only 500,000 away from the highest ratings of the year, and this was only the opening show.

Just as the whole room was laughing, Chen Nuo added, "Just kidding, I've never smoked weed. Because in our country, it's illegal. So I often tell Leonardo, don't bring his treasures to China. Otherwise, he'll act out 'Shutter Island' again, and this time, no one will play any crazy games with him inside."

"Hahahahahaha."

This joke was improvised by Chen Nuo.

In a hilltop mansion in LA, Leonardo DiCaprio, with a beauty in each arm, laughed along.

A model beauty on his left laughed, "Leo, you and Chen have such a good relationship."

Leonardo DiCaprio chuckled, "No, I'm planning to send him a lawyer's letter tomorrow morning."

Although he didn't know Leo was going to sue him, Chen Nuo didn't continue to roast him and started a new joke.

"Although it's not easy to be a star in Hollywood, everyone wants to be them."

"Me too."

"The failure of 'The Dark Knight' made me very sad, and I was determined to find a new role to make me famous."

"I was crazy back then; as long as I could get famous, I didn't give a fuck about anything."

"So, when Summit Entertainment's CEO Luo Bo found me and asked me to star in 'Twilight,' I said, 'That's great, I love this role that doesn't require a mask, I love it to death.'"

"To play him, I was willing to take zero dollars."

"I only wanted a share of the box office."

"Hahahahahahaha!"

The whole room burst into laughter. This 120-million-dollar salary joke pushed the already incredibly heated atmosphere to a climax.

An audience in this state is what every comedian dreams of; any small joke would be infinitely amplified by their emotions, keeping them laughing non-stop.

Chen Nuo laughed along with them: "Luo Bo agreed impatiently! I remember Luo Bo's expression at the time; he must have thought I was a philanthropist."

"Hahahahahaha!" Another burst of laughter.

Once the laughter died down, Chen Nuo took a puff of the cigarette and said, "After that, the next time I heard from Luo Bo, it was that he had been fired by the board of Summit Entertainment."

"Hahahahaha..." The laughter that had just subsided erupted again.

Chen Nuo said seriously, "However, no matter what, 'Twilight' did give me what I wanted. I became a star."

"Many critics said my performance in 'Twilight' was exaggerated, ridiculous, and superficial. Almost every time one came out, I'd get scolded once."

"Look at me!" Chen Nuo suddenly roared.

"Do you think I wanted to?"

"Do you know? Actually, before 'Twilight,' I had already won Best Actor at the three major European film festivals, and I had won several acting awards in Korea and China. I even won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor..."

"But so what?"

"I've made so many movies, and my total salary doesn't even add up to a fraction of 'Twilight.' The people who recognize me after filming are probably just the neighbors around my house."

"Answer me!"

"If you were me, and you could make 120 million after two movies, would you not play it?"

"Every day, newspapers and blogs are saying, 'Oh, Chen has fallen, he's finished, he's given up his acting career.'"

"Look at me!"

"Do you think I don't want to act in good movies? Do you think I don't want to act seriously? Do you think I don't want to win an Oscar for Best Actor?"

"Answer me!"

"Motherfucker, I'll just ask one thing. If you were me, in front of 120 million dollars, what would you do?"

While Chen Nuo was saying this, the laughter on site never stopped.

This wasn't because the joke was funny, but because Chen Nuo's performance was too funny.

That crazy, manic look, roaring one moment and quiet the next, made the audience on site laugh until they were almost dying.

Including the audience in front of the TV, they erupted into the biggest and most sustained laughter since the opening, with many laughing until their stomachs hurt.

This joke didn't involve anything that couldn't be understood or required knowing a specific reference.

His exaggerated, funny performance combined with the crazy lines was like scratching your soles; you couldn't help but laugh.

Even Luo Bote Pritzker laughed, trembling.

The housekeeper said from the side, "This young man is very interesting."

Luo Bote Pritzker's smile slowly faded; he continued watching the TV screen and didn't respond.

Chen Nuo took two more puffs of the cigarette, then stubbed it out, held it in his hand, put it in his pocket, and said quite seriously, "Doesn't smoke well."

"Hahahahahaha."

This wasn't a joke, but the atmosphere on site was already too hot; his every move could make the whole room burst into laughter.

"Seriously, I don't actually smoke, and I don't think smoking is a good thing. I just tried it a moment ago. In the end, I still feel I'm not suited for this."

"Rather than smoke a cigarette, I'd rather go act in three more 'Twilight' movies."

"Hahahahaha."

"'Twilight,' 'Twilight.' Seriously, I love this movie very much," Chen Nuo said seriously. "Although I said just now that I acted in it because of money, in fact..."

"Okay, in fact, that's also true."

"Hahahahahaha!"

This time, once the laughter slowly calmed down, Chen Nuo said with a sigh, "'Twilight,' I really don't know how to face it sometimes. Because it made me a celebrity. It fulfilled a dream I had been pursuing for a long time. It did what 'The Dark Knight' didn't do—it made people recognize me without me having to wear a mask."

"But it also caused a lot of trouble, made me get scolded a lot. It made me lose a lot of free time, lose a lot of time accompanying my family, and lose some of the life I was accustomed to."

"And these things are only things I feel are precious after becoming famous."

"Before that, they were actually worthless."

"Eh, come to think of it, 'Twilight' seems to have made me another fortune."

"Hahahahaha."

"In short, I'm famous. I'm living the life I wanted when I first came to Hollywood."

"And how did I achieve it?"

"Actually, there's always someone constantly asking me this question."

"So here, at the end of this opening show, I want to use one sentence to answer this question."

"That sentence is: If a person advances confidently in the direction of their dreams and endeavors to live the life they have imagined, they will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

"... Don't look at me like that. This isn't some hard-to-understand joke."

"It's just what you heard; it's just... uh, a sentence."

"Hahahahahahaha!"

Amidst the final enthusiastic laughter of the whole room, Chen Nuo suddenly raised his voice and said loudly, "Thank you, thank you all for coming to 'Saturday Night Live.'"

He threw the microphone onto the floor.

He bowed somewhat exaggeratedly, his right hand pretending to throw a non-existent hat.

At this moment, the stage lights flashed suddenly with his movement, and colorful spotlights swept across the room.

The hundreds of people in the audience immediately stood up, applause rushed in like a tide, several girls in the front row jumped and screamed while waving, and the audience in the back row whistled.

The band played cheerful jazz music. Chen Nuo stood in the center of the stage, smiling and waving a few times, then turned and walked toward the back of the stage.

The curtain slowly fell behind his figure.

The iconic SNL logo popped up on the TV screen, accompanied by the classic slogan, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", officially entering the commercial break.

Lorne Michaels only came back to his senses at this moment.

The well-informed old man didn't know how long it had been since he had been so intoxicated by such a performance; he had even forgotten the passage of time.

As the show's general director, this was absolutely a dereliction of duty!

Lorne Michaels took the fresh ratings report, looked at the 13.5 million viewers on it, raised his head, and asked, "Remind me, what was the name of that Chinese kid who stole the show? I bet he'll be in a lot of news tomorrow."

"Nuo Chen. Lorne, actually, he's in the news every day," Tang Luoyi King laughed.

At the same time, Luo Bote Pritzker mumbled with his lips, silently reciting the sentence Chen Nuo had said at the end.

That was a famous quote from the renowned American author Henry Thoreau, who wrote "Walden."

Luo Bote Pritzker was very, very familiar with this passage.

Because it was a passage that his brother, who passed away in 1999—the founder of the Pritzker family and co-founder of the Hyatt Hotel Group, the great Jay Pritzker—loved very much.

99% of Chen Nuo's performance before that hadn't moved him.

But this last sentence touched him, a man with a heart of iron.

He hesitated for a long time, then finally said to the housekeeper, "Go call James and tell him I can offer him a betting agreement here, the content is..."

PS:

The previously owed chapter has been made up.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 374 =====