Chapter 457: Intermission Time

After Chen Nuo finished speaking, he did not leave the stage immediately. He stood on stage smiling, turned slightly, and looked back toward the curtain.

Amidst the applause and cheers of the entire audience, Johnny Depp walked onto the stage wearing light-tinted dark green sunglasses, moving with that slightly odd yet highly personal gait. He waved to the audience while walking steadily toward the center of the stage.

At this moment, Johnny Depp was in the golden age of his acting career. The 2011 release *Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides* had a global box office of as high as 1.011 billion dollars, and the total box office for the first four films in the series had already surpassed 3.7 billion. As the absolute lead of the series, he was undoubtedly one of the most bankable male actors in the world that year.

Just as Chen Nuo had teased on stage earlier—if not for the sudden emergence of *Inception* and his own interference, the hottest male actor in the world last year would have been none other than Johnny Depp.

Depp walked to the center of the stage and glanced at Chen Nuo through his sunglasses, a hint of confusion in his eyes—clearly not understanding why he hadn't left the stage yet. But the two soon hugged with a smile, and the applause continued to rise and fall.

Chen Nuo turned to look at him, picked up the microphone, and said with a smile, "Can I ask you a question?"

Johnny Depp nodded with a smile: "Of course."

Chen Nuo added: "But you have to tell the truth."

Depp shrugged: "Okay."

"Ready?"

"Ready."

Chen Nuo suddenly dropped his smile and looked at him with a serious tone: "Have you ever actually peeked at Keira Knightley's butt?"

The whole room went silent, followed by an explosion of deafening laughter, "Hahahaha!"

Chen Nuo tried to hold back his laughter while asking, but couldn't keep a straight face the moment the question landed, and then turned and walked off stage without hesitation.

To capture the most authentic reaction, this segment hadn't been told to Depp in advance, but as a top-tier actor, his improvised reaction was almost instinctive. Johnny Depp stood on stage stunned for a second, then clenched his fists and pretended to chase after Chen Nuo, fully playing along with this impromptu bit.

In front of the television, Susan laughed so hard she almost rolled off the sofa, her laughter continuous: "Too funny, hahahahahaha!"

Beside her, Karen Wilson frowned, "What does that mean?"

Susan giggled: "Didn't you see the tabloid news last year? They said Johnny peeked at Keira changing clothes on the set of *Pirates of the Caribbean*. Hahahahahaha. Oh my god, Chen is just crazy tonight, firing on all cylinders, like a different person! I have to get on Twitter and see what the netizens are saying."

Karen understood, and suddenly couldn't help but laugh too.

On the television screen, Johnny Depp returned to the microphone and said somewhat awkwardly: "I didn't. Chen Nuo's question is very interesting, omg, he really is a humorous person..."

Karen Wilson shook her head.

To be honest, for a woman of her age, Johnny Depp was still a man full of charm. But compared to the young Chinese man on stage just a moment ago, with his witty, dashing, and unrestrained style, the contrast was truly vast. Without a doubt, tonight, that young man would make it harder for her to look away.

Karen Wilson didn't continue watching, stood up silently from the sofa, and walked toward the bathroom.

At the same time, on the monitor screen backstage at the Golden Globes, the live viewership numbers began to slowly fall back after reaching a peak of 20.5 million just moments ago.

Clearly, among the audience across America, Karen Wilson was not the only one with similar thoughts.

As soon as Chen Nuo stepped off the stage, Allison and Michelle came up to greet him immediately. Besides them, the backstage staff also gathered around.

"Chen, that was great."

"Better than the rehearsal!"

"Chen, you're in such great form, absolutely top-tier performance!"

"Perfect performance, congratulations, Chen."

Amidst the excited smiling faces came the cacophony of congratulations.

"Thank you, thank you..." Saying a string of "thank you"s, Chen Nuo shook hands and nodded with each of the staff members who came to congratulate him, accepting all these compliments.

Afterward, accompanied by Allison, he walked quickly toward the dressing room. He intended to go to the lounge to let Michelle Williams touch up his makeup, drink some water, and adjust his state.

Next was the intermission.

In the ceremony schedule he held, after Johnny Depp introduced *Hugo*, there would be two paid guest presenters: Gerard Butler, the lead of *Coriolanus* currently showing in theaters, and Mila Kunis, the lead of a new film about to be released, who would present the "Best Supporting Actor" award for film.

After that, there would be Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy, Best Miniseries, and so on. He wouldn't be back on stage until after the Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy award was presented.

There were four or five awards in between, plus commercial time, totaling over 20 minutes. Enough for him to have a good rest.

Chen Nuo did indeed need a rest at this time.

The glass of champagne he drank before the opening made his whole mouth feel uncomfortable, and after the ten-minute opening, he was also a bit parched, his throat smoking. He took the mineral water from Allison and gulped down two mouthfuls while walking, before turning to ask: "How is the media reaction now?"

Allison was about 165cm tall, walking quickly beside him, and said: "There are good ones and bad ones, but overall, the reaction on Twitter is better than we thought. The most controversial part appeared during the Michael Jackson segment..."

"Expected," Chen Nuo interjected.

Allison smiled and said: "Exactly. As we expected, no controversy means no news. After that segment, the topic of tonight's Golden Globes finally caught fire on Twitter."

By this time they had reached the lounge, and Chen Nuo pushed the door open to enter.

This was the host's private space, not very big. In the corner, a 29-inch television was playing the NBC live broadcast. Currently, Johnny Depp was still using his deep voice to introduce *Hugo*, and on the screen appeared old Martin with his white hair, wearing his signature black-rimmed glasses.

Seeing him enter, the little black girl jumped up from the sofa excitedly and said in her African-American accented English: "Chen, there are many posts on Twitter saying your look today is especially handsome. I told you this look really suits you, I'm absolutely not joking, I'm a professional..."

Chen Nuo sat in the chair, and Michelle began to touch up his makeup, still talking non-stop.

After a while, he turned the chair in a different direction to look at the screen on the TV.

At this time, after showing some highlights from the movie *Hugo*, the screen returned to the live scene. Amidst the applause of the whole room, Martin Scorsese was smiling and talking to the producer beside him.

At the same time, from this shot, he could also see Harvey Weinstein sitting not far behind Martin, chatting with Bob Weinstein beside him.

Chen Nuo watched for a few seconds and couldn't help but ask: "Allison, what are the chances for *Inception* for Best Picture this time?"

Allison was stunned for a moment and said: "Uh, I haven't paid too much attention..."

Chen Nuo wasn't disappointed and nodded: "Alright."

He actually had the same mindset as Allison before. Since he wasn't nominated, he hadn't cared at all about how Warner Bros. arranged the PR for *Inception* this time, how the PR competition unfolded against rivals like *The Artist*, *Hugo*, *War Horse*, *Moneyball*, and *The Ides of March*, or who had the advantage.

Although it was said that winning a Golden Globe would be very helpful for the movie's ongoing long-tail screening and subsequent DVD sales, after earning 400 million on one movie, he wasn't that hungry for money for the time being. These peanuts were not in his consideration for now.

But now, his mindset had changed a bit.

Maybe it was really a personality clash. Although they hadn't dealt with each other for a while and hadn't formed any new grudges, seeing Harvey's greasy, fat face made him want to smash it.

Allison thought for a while and said: "But I think Warner Bros. must have put in a lot of effort this time. They haven't had any gains in the awards season for several consecutive years, and I think they would be willing to spend heavily on this to prove themselves. They even gave up the Best Actor PR for this, so... I think the hope might be high." Chen Nuo nodded.

Hopefully so, otherwise there was nothing he could do. The award results had long been settled, and the results were in the briefcases of those staff members from Ernst & Young at the scene.

What names were written in those sealed envelopes, and who would ultimately win the biggest suspense of the night, Best Picture, would only be revealed in 2 hours.

At this time, on the TV, following the introduction, a tall, curly-haired white handsome man and a mixed-race woman with slightly dark skin walked onto the stage. This was Gerard Butler and Mila Kunis coming up.

"Hello everyone, welcome to the Golden Globes, it's an honor to present the Best Supporting Actor award here." Gerard's diction was very clear, and he looked very generous, but beside him, Mila Kunis looked slightly nervous.

Gerard smiled and said: "I think this year's Golden Globes might be the only awards ceremony in the world where it's more miserable when the host mentions your name than when your name isn't in the nominations."

Mila Kunis laughed immediately and said: "You're so right, Gerard."

Gerard said: "So I'm very glad, because I'm sure he doesn't know my name."

The audience burst into laughter.

Mila Kunis laughed: "Me too. Okay, the nominees for Best Supporting Actor this year are..."

In a hospital room in Toronto, Nurse Zhang picked up the remote control: "Alright, Zoe, entertainment time for tonight is over, go to sleep early."

The bald girl let out an "ah" sound and acted like a spoiled child: "No, Ms. Zhang, let me watch a little longer, okay?"

"You can't watch anymore, you still have to tomorrow morning—"

"Hey, just let Zoe watch TV for a while longer, what would it hurt?" the nursing assistant Auntie Jessie interjected, "Zhang, don't be so heartless."

Nurse Zhang rolled her eyes at her and said unhappily: "Don't think I don't know what you're up to, Jessie, you were the one laughing the loudest just now."

Auntie Jessie didn't care at all and laughed: "So what? What a humorous and cute young man! If I were twenty years younger, I would definitely try my best to sleep with him."

"Jessie! Zoe is still here!"

"So what if she's here? Wow, I really hope Chen isn't as old-fashioned as you. Zoe, don't you think?"

Zoe pulled the sheet to her lips and smiled with a blushing face: "I don't know, Jessie."

Auntie Jessie grinned: "Dear Zhang, I don't think it's a big deal. Zoe is almost an adult, and in two days after the surgery is done, she will recover. By then she will fall in love, date, grow up... isn't that what life is? Letting her watch TV for a while longer now, what's the big deal? I think her mother would think so too. Besides, those jokes just now weren't exactly PG-rated content."

She turned to look at Zoe: "But having said that, did you understand it all, little Zoe?"

Zoe's face turned even redder, and she shook her head gently: "I didn't understand a lot of it."

"Hahahaha, is that so? But I heard you laughing the loudest, especially... that part." Auntie Jessie licked her lips, "Seriously, that guy Chen Nuo is quite sexy, right?"

"Heeheehee..."

"Jessie! Shut up!" Nurse Zhang really couldn't help it, "How can you say these things to Zoe?"

"Alright, I'll shut up, I won't say it, but," Auntie Jessie suddenly straightened her expression, looked at Nurse Zhang seriously, and said pointedly: "I suggest you don't turn off the TV, Zhang, let Zoe watch for a while longer, let us leave behind some beautiful memories. Okay?"

Nurse Zhang and Jessie looked at each other for a while, hesitated, and then turned to look at Zoe, who had a look of anticipation.

The laughter in the ward just now was definitely something that hadn't rung out in this room for a long time.

Especially the jokes Chen Nuo told on TV about plastic surgery, which made the girl laugh exceptionally happily. You know, in the past year or so, ever since her hair fell out, there had really been very few smiles on the girl's face.

Nurse Zhang hesitated for a while and said: "Then watch for another half hour?"

"Okay, thank you Zhang, I knew you were a good person!" Zoe shouted happily, her eyes crinkling into two crescents as she smiled.

Seeing her so happy, Nurse Zhang also smiled, "But only for half an hour, after half an hour, I will turn off the TV, no matter what you say. Okay?"

"Okay!"

"And you, Jessie, no more of that nonsense."

"Okay, ma'am. But I just saw you laughing too..."

"Shut up!"

"Hahahaha!"

During the time Chen Nuo was resting, the 81-year-old legendary Canadian actor Christopher Plummer won Best Supporting Actor for *Beginners*, and Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy was won by Laura Dern.

Subsequently, Kate Winslet defeated Charlize Theron and won Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy as she wished. Chen Nuo saw on TV that Theron's expression was quite natural, and she didn't seem to be too disappointed.

Afterward, another celebrity guest appeared to introduce the second Best Picture nominee of the night, *War Horse*.

Chen Nuo also walked to the backstage entrance at this time, preparing to go on stage.

In the earpiece, the director-general of tonight's Golden Globe Awards was complaining about the ratings.

In just these 20-plus minutes, the Golden Globe Awards' viewership had already fallen to the 20 million mark, a full 2 million less than the peak. The director was inside, frantically ranting about how difficult the current audience was to please; at the slightest hint of boredom, they would switch channels, preferring to keep pressing the remote control rather than wait a moment.

But Chen Nuo's mind was not on this; instead, he looked at the actor on stage with a slightly chubby face and a messy hairstyle, his mood somewhat complicated.

In his past life, the grass on this person's grave might have already been three zhang high. Yet now, he was still standing here alive, standing on the stage of the Golden Globe Awards, and in the past few years, he had continued to have new works released.

Chen Nuo felt truly and deeply at this moment that because of his rebirth, the fates of countless people might have indeed changed. It was perhaps not just Zhang Yi, not just Cui Xueli, Heath Ledger, but even more people in places beyond his sight.

When Heath Ledger finished introducing another candidate for Best Picture tonight, "War Horse," and after that director, Steven Spielberg—the most prestigious in Hollywood and even the world—had finished enjoying the applause and cheers of the crowd,

at this moment, Chen Nuo stepped onto the stage from backstage.

"I originally wanted to rest a bit longer, but the directing team told me the show was too boring and the ratings were getting lower and lower, so I had to come up to save the day." Chen Nuo had changed into a white suit, stood before the podium, and with a helpless expression, spread his hands and said, "Hey, guys, what is wrong with you?"

"You are all millionaires living carefree lives. Yet, it's as if you have some childhood nightmare, lacking even a shred of a sense of humor."

"Honestly, did you all date Roman Polanski when you were kids?"

"Hahahahahaha!"

The entire venue erupted in thunderous laughter.

(End of this chapter)