Chapter 458: Commercial Break

"Bang!"

A crystal goblet shattered into pieces on the dark, hard wooden floor.

Here in a country villa in France, a blonde woman in her 40s looked at the glass shards on the floor and the spreading puddle of wine, momentarily speechless.

"What exactly does he want to do to me? This damn bastard, does he want me dead? Does he want me dead? It’s him, he’s the reason I haven’t made a movie in two whole years, this worm, this son of a bitch, this bitch, this stinking maggot, this pile of dog shit! And now he’s bringing me up again! I really want to..."

A torrent of profanity spewed from the mouth of an old white-haired man. He paced back and forth in the room like an enraged bull. On the television in the spacious living room, amidst the roar of laughter, Chen Nuo took a leisurely sip of champagne from the crystal glass in his hand, cleared his throat, and continued, "Sorry, my words might have awakened some sad memories for you."

"Hahahahahaha..."

Chen Nuo smiled.

With that smiling expression, every muscle in his face appeared so relaxed that many people watching him couldn't help but curl the corners of their mouths at first sight.

Hosting this time, he was undoubtedly more at ease than the last, and he had gained a deeper understanding of the job of a host.

Hosting an event like the Oscars or the Golden Globes is indeed less like reading a memorized script with a microphone as one would at a Spring Festival Gala, and more like performing a sketch. Beyond the lines, his expressions and movements, just as he had practiced, became tools to infect the audience with emotion. He made the mood in the entire venue flow in the expected direction, following his every frown, smile, word, and sentence.

He turned serious, waved a hand, and said, "Sorry, just a joke... I shouldn't have said those were your sad memories; perhaps some people find that offensive, right?"

"Hahahahahaha."

Amidst the laughter, Chen Nuo laughed as well.

"Alright, alright, let's stop there. I know it's too cruel to associate you with Roman Polanski. I won't mention it again. After all, you beautiful and wealthy people are all world-renowned international superstars, and you are here enjoying this annual feast; you wouldn't want anyone to disturb your mood."

"Most of you are like that."

"However, to be honest, there is another part of the room that just happened to marry the right person. No, don't look at the man next to Meryl Streep..."

Backstage,

The bearded deputy director of the Golden Globes stood beside Allison again and whispered, "He has a lot of charm. Even though his jokes aren't any softer than Ricky's, they sound much better to people. The director says the ratings are back over 20 million now. Hmm, there shouldn't be many people cursing him on Twitter right now, right?"

Allison was busy as a bee at this moment, looking at the stage and then at her phone, saying briefly, "Yes."

But the deputy director didn't feel snubbed and continued, "Before he hosted the Oscars, I actually always thought he would be someone like Sean Penn or Day-Lewis."

Allison said flatly, "He is like no one else; he is one of a kind."

The deputy director gave two dry laughs, "Yes, yes, thinking of the awards he's won, I inevitably have that illusion. Plus, he's Chinese, you know, the Chinese in our impression might be good at acting, but they seem to lack a sense of humor."

Allison moved her gaze away from her phone and glanced at him, "What exactly are you trying to say?"

The deputy director, who had a full beard and was about 40, touched his nose awkwardly, reached out, and said, "Can we get to know each other? My name is David Nord."

Allison buried her head back down, ignoring his hand, "Not interested."

On stage, Chen Nuo continued his performance, smiling as he said, "...I met with Tom before, and I know he is a generous person; he won't be angry. But I can't say the same for the next guest; his temper, as far as I know, isn't very good."

"I was deeply impressed by a performance of his in a movie where he beat someone to a pulp with his fists. Just like this..." Chen Nuo’s expression changed. He reached one hand into the air as if grabbing someone by the collar, and swung the other hand fiercely several times, "Bang, bang, bang. He almost beat that person flat."

Chen Nuo paused, "But later I heard that this scene wasn't originally in the script."

"Hahahahaha—" Along with the laughter, many people were applauding.

The bearded deputy director backstage didn't feel too awkward and said, "Chen's improvisation is truly amazing. By the way, I heard he only needs one Venice trophy to complete the Grand Slam of Best Actor, just like Sean Penn. Considering his age, this is crazy, don't you think?"

Allison kept a straight face, looking at her phone, and didn't say a word.

Not far away, Chen Nuo stood behind the podium, saying with a straight face, "However, it is precisely because of his realistic performance that he is now known to everyone in the world. The 'Mission: Impossible' series he starred in has been released in over 100 countries globally."

At this moment, everyone knew who he was talking about, and the room erupted in applause.

"Yes, a truly remarkable achievement, worth applauding." Chen Nuo also clapped a few times in a mock-serious manner, "The total box office of the four films combined is only a few hundred million dollars less than 'Inception'. Very great, very good."

"Hahahahahaha!"

Amidst the laughter, the camera cut to the table for 'Inception'. Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas were both laughing, and Jonathan Nolan, sitting on the other side, was also laughing.

Today, 'Inception' was nominated for four awards. The candidate for Best Original Screenplay was the two Nolans, Jonathan and Christopher, so Jonathan had also come to the scene.

"Alright, now everyone should know who I'm talking about. Let us welcome one of the most popular male stars of this century, Tom Cruise!" Chen Nuo gestured toward the back, and a man with curly black hair walked out from behind the curtain with a smile.

He smiled and nodded at the other man, then turned to leave the stage.

At this moment, the relevant topics on Twitter were once again buzzing.

The Variety magazine account posted the latest tweet: "The mystery is revealed! Tom Cruise is the ninth target of Chen's mockery tonight. It is surprising to see that Chen has shown a side no less than Ricky Gervais at tonight's Golden Globes. Everything in front of him has become his target for mockery. He made the stars of Hollywood tremble under his gaze and made us laugh out loud. As of now, how do you think he performed tonight? Compared to Ricky Gervais, whose performance do you prefer? Please leave your thoughts in the comments section!"

"Don't compare that vulgar, sleazy Englishman Ricky to Chen. He is sleazy, Chen is different!"

"Ricky Gervais? Even when Chen is hinting that he would shove the Golden Globe into his ass, the gentlemanly demeanor he displays is the upper limit of Ricky Gervais."

"Ricky is vulgar and rude, Chen is humorous. Don't mention them in the same breath."

"Excluding the blind worship of these Twilight girls, I think Chen and Ricky each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Ricky is more acerbic, while Chen is more pleasing to the eye."

"After watching the Golden Globes, I want to see Chen host the Oscars even more. The Golden Globe stage is still too small, or SNL! Do it again!"

"Nothing is more delightful than seeing a handsome man show a sense of humor. This is a beautiful weekend. I don't regret refusing the bar tonight, turning on the TV, and switching the channel to NBC. The only problem is, I'm a fan of 'Boardwalk Empire'. But I haven't seen any footage of them yet."

The last comment quickly accumulated a large number of likes and replies.

Allison clicked in to take a look.

A smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, then she thought for a while, and said to Chen Nuo, who was sitting in a chair drinking water, "Chen, next time you go on stage, is it to present the Best TV Series award?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"Then I think you can say a little more about those TV actors."

"Why?"

"The online reaction now exceeds our expectations. Many fans are complaining that their favorite actors have too little screen time... I think you might be able to fulfill their wishes. They represent a large proportion of the American middle and lower classes. Gaining their favor is good for your image."

"So, I don't need to worry about the difference between movies and TV?"

"That's right... Hmm, I suddenly thought, actually we can take this opportunity to run an advertisement."

Chen Nuo was slightly surprised, "What advertisement? You mean..." "Yes, your 'Eagle Catches the Chicken'. Given the current ratings, I think as long as we give them a heads-up, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association shouldn't object." Allison smiled. "This is a live advertisement directly facing over 20 million people. If I were someone from Netflix, I might be impatient to put you on the board of directors. But the premise is that you need to come up with a good bit in these ten-plus minutes to tell the directing team you need a temporary change."

"Uh..." Undoubtedly, after hearing Allison's words, Chen Nuo was truly tempted.

Whether 'Inception' could win an award was irrelevant to him, but 'Eagle Catches the Chicken' was different. The Netflix board of directors thing was Allison joking, but for him, this TV series carried more than just money. Its success could be a very critical step in achieving his ideals.

"Wait, let me think about it first."

Still in that country villa in France.

The glass shards on the floor had still not been cleaned up, but the people in the room had gradually calmed down.

"Roman, you can't go on like this." The woman spoke.

"What do you want me to do? Admit defeat to him?" The white-haired man's voice was low.

"Not admit defeat. It's to talk. That's not shameful." The woman sighed, "That one sentence of his just now shattered the hope for your new film. Unless you are content to rot away in Provence for the rest of your life, you have to face reality."

"Shut up!"

"As you wish. But I believe he must have heard some rumors." The woman stood up, "It's been two years since Berlin, he is still young, but you are no longer young, and time is still on his side."

"As long as I am in France, what can he do?"

"He can't do anything to you, but he can destroy your film career. Roman, I know you are not convinced. Fifty years of a film career... and now being [treated this way] by a Chinese man in his 20s..."

"Shut up, shut up, shut up! Get out of here right now! I tell you, I will never, absolutely never, let this 20-something-year-old Chinese man ride on my head!"

"Fine, you wait and see." The woman walked to the door, looked back, and said, "I hope one day in the future, you can at least stop him in Venice. Otherwise, you're finished, and I'll have to go down with you."

20 minutes later.

Chen Nuo made his third appearance. Just as he walked out from backstage, he was greeted by overwhelming applause.

He nodded all the way, smiling as he walked to the center of the stage.

"Thank you, thank you everyone." Chen Nuo smiled, "Everyone should know my relationship with Jonathan, so I'm really embarrassed to tell you... actually, I also contributed a bit to this script."

He shrugged, "If I hadn't been shouting from the sidelines, 'What's going on?', 'I can't understand this shit', 'What kind of stuff is this?', I reckon this script would have been twice as hard."

"Don't disbelieve it."

The audience burst into laughter.

Immediately, Chen Nuo continued, "Next, we are going to present the TV series awards. This year, we have seen many wonderful new shows, such as 'Homeland'—that was truly thrilling from beginning to end."

Following his cadence, a burst of enthusiastic applause suddenly erupted in the banquet hall.

Chen Nuo paused amidst the applause and nodded in acknowledgment. Following this action, the applause not only grew louder, but everyone at the 'Homeland' table, besides being stunned, suddenly beamed with glory.

When the applause died down a bit, Chen Nuo said, "And the climactic 'Boardwalk Empire', I like it very much, the characters in it are more than just handsome."

The big screen showed the leads of 'Boardwalk Empire', and there was another round of applause.

After waiting for a while, Chen Nuo continued, "I can briefly introduce the plot of this show. It tells the story of a group of immigrants who came to the United States a hundred years ago, getting involved in a business of bribery, prohibition, and selling alcohol..."

As he spoke, he gestured with his hands, "They used all kinds of despicable, dirty means to climb into high society and bark orders at the natives..."

Then he stopped and smiled, "Hmm, alright, let's not talk about these ugly things of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association."

"Hahahahahahahahahahaha..." The whole room suddenly erupted in a burst of violent laughter.

On Twitter, many tweets with the tag "#ChenNuo" were posted.

"Lmao, every word he says is a joke, my laughter almost woke up my grandma. #ChenNuo"

"Absolutely top-tier hosting, every second I looked forward to this was not wasted. #ChenNuo"

"The Foreign Press Association can loudly mock the Oscars this time, at least their host this time is definitely a complete victory. #ChenNuo"

"He is mocking everything, this is definitely a side you can't see on TV, lmao. #ChenNuo"

Chen Nuo stood on the scene, waiting for the applause to die down a bit, before continuing to speak with a smile: "The Golden Globes is definitely a small society with strict hierarchy. Movie stars sit in the middle, TV stars sit around the edges. Many people have come from the edges to the middle, like George Clooney. But there are also quite a few people who have gone from the middle to the edges, like—me."

"Tell you a piece of news, I will also produce and star in a TV series this year."

"My idea now is that next year I can also sit in the edge position here, even if it's in any corner." After Chen Nuo finished speaking, only a small portion of the audience was applauding, while everyone else looked up at him.

"Period. This is not a joke, don't look at me like a curious baby. Tell you, there is no follow-up."

A burst of laughter and surprised looks came from the audience.

Obviously, he was not yet a big enough star that everyone followed his every move, even though this matter had been announced by Netflix on its official website before this.

Furthermore, the joke he had just thought of didn't achieve any stunning effect, but as an advertising product, it should be considered qualified.

Chen Nuo continued, "This is the advertising time for my new show. For this, I negotiated with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and they agreed to let me run an ad at the Golden Globe Awards ceremony. It didn't cost money, but the additional condition was that I had to run an ad for them as well. That is how the previous joke came to be. I think the Hollywood Foreign Press Association should be satisfied now."

"Hahahahahaha..."

When the noise died down a little, Chen Nuo then said, "Remember, this July, lock in on Netflix."

In a luxury mansion in Silicon Valley, a burst of satisfied laughter rang out at this moment.

PS:

I have been out of town these past few days, and not wanting to take leave, I have been squeezing out time to write.

Therefore, the update times are unstable; please bear with me.

(End of this chapter)