Chapter 111: The Protagonist's Twists and Turns

Cao Yang looked at the materials in his hands and could not help but fall into deep thought.

Tim Robbins was one of the stars who had been in contact with Bellman and had expressed a strong desire to appear in Cao Yang's new film.

He was also a big name, taking on both art-house and commercial films, and he also enjoyed directing; he had been nominated for an Oscar for Best Director, won Best Actor at Cannes, and won a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

For domestic audiences, he was probably most famous for starring in "The Shawshank Redemption."

Tim Robbins could also be classified as a Hollywood art-house type; his box-office drawing power was not particularly strong, and he certainly could not compare to the mainstream superstars of the twenty-million-dollar club, but he was still considered an A-list star.

Since it was difficult for him to go any further in commercial films, winning awards—especially major awards at the Oscars—had become an obsession.

Perhaps it was also a way to advance further.

When he received the news that Cao Yang was going to film a biographical movie, he felt this was a good opportunity.

As an art-house type who had also won Best Actor at the 45th Cannes Film Festival in 1992, Tim Robbins certainly knew of Cao Yang.

A Golden Lion-winning director who had produced Best Actresses at the three major European film festivals for three consecutive films—this was extremely shocking and incredible to Tim Robbins.

For any actor wanting to win awards, a director like this coming to Hollywood to film was a great opportunity.

The only question was whether Cao Yang could adapt to Hollywood, or if he would suffer from "culture shock" like other directors who came to develop in Hollywood after winning awards at the three major European festivals.

Therefore, regarding Cao Yang's first film, some people were still watching from the sidelines, while others were starting to try and make contact.

In fact, if Cao Yang's first film were still a woman-centric film, many Hollywood actresses would likely have already taken action.

Currently, those in contact with Bellman were either long-established stars in urgent need of awards, young and middle-aged art-house types with artistic pursuits, or small-time nobodies wanting to get famous quickly.

Bellman ignored the latter group entirely; he simply organized a list and would wait until the male lead was confirmed to see if Cao Yang wanted to pick out a few supporting actors from it.

For the art-house men and big stars, Bellman also organized a list for Cao Yang to reference and choose from.

The person Bellman was currently pushing to Cao Yang was one of the big stars he had been in contact with, someone with an even higher status than Tim Robbins: Sean Penn.

At least in the realm of art-house films, Sean Penn's status was higher.

This guy had been like a madman over the past few years, continuously sweeping Best Actor awards at the three major European festivals and racking up Best Actor nominations at the Oscars; he was practically a child of destiny.

In 1996, he won the Best Actor award at the 46th Berlin International Film Festival for the prison film "Dead Man Walking."

In 1997, he won the Best Actor award at the 50th Cannes International Film Festival for the romance film "She's So Lovely."

In 1998, he won the Best Actor award at the 55th Venice International Film Festival for the film "Hurlyburly."

In 1999, he starred as a heartless guitarist in the musical comedy "Sweet and Lowdown," receiving a nomination for Best Actor at the 72nd Academy Awards.

In 2001, he starred as a mentally disabled father in "I Am Sam," once again receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Well, setting aside Sean Penn's two experiences as an Oscar runner-up, just the fact that he won Best Actor at the Berlin, Cannes, and Venice film festivals in three consecutive years was enough to drop everyone's jaws.

Compared to Cao Yang producing Best Actresses at three different film festivals with three films, it was no less impressive.

It was estimated that Sean Penn's only obsession now was an Oscar for Best Actor.

So, when he learned the news that Cao Yang was going to film a biography, he specifically had someone inquire about it and learned that Cao Yang was going to film a biography with a real-life prototype: a homosexual, the first openly gay politician, who then died by assassination.

Sean Penn was tempted. Two Oscar nominations for Best Actor and two failures to win had given him enough experience.

When your fame is sufficient, the film quality meets the requirements, and your acting reaches a high enough standard, once everyone is maneuvering, what you compete on are other aspects, such as political correctness.

And the gay rights movement over these years had made this stuff political correctness in Hollywood.

Under the condition of meeting the requirements for an award, if you don't give the award to a film with a gay theme, are you discriminating against homosexuals?

Moreover, this was a biographical film, and the prototype was a politician who died by assassination; this was just fucking political correctness.

Cao Yang was quite satisfied with Sean Penn; he was the one who starred in the original version, which helped him win his second Oscar for Best Actor.

Looking at it this way, Cao Yang even suspected whether Sean Penn also had a system.

Cao Yang remembered that this guy would win Best Actor at Venice again next year for "21 Grams."

In other words, in terms of major international awards, Sean Penn had won one Berlin Best Actor, one Cannes Best Actor, two Venice Best Actors, two Oscar Best Actors, and one Golden Globe Best Actor.

In terms of personal artistic achievements, it was practically like using a cheat code; it was absurdly off the charts.

Cao Yang met with Sean Penn; the two chatted well and roughly confirmed he would star in "Milk," with only the final signing left.

!

Signing actors in Hollywood cannot be done privately; even if things are negotiated, one must pretend to be unaware, go through a series of procedures, and sign a formal actor employment contract under the witness of the union.

Bellman was also very happy; Sean Penn's drawing power was quite significant, and with him on board, he could negotiate terms with the studio more calmly.

Bellman even made a bold claim in front of Cao Yang, "My dear Mr. Director, with Sean Penn joining, getting an investment of around thirty million is a very simple matter, and furthermore, no one can take the film's creative control out of your hands."

A few days later, while Bellman was still negotiating terms with the film company, a disaster struck.

Cao Yang received a call from Sean Penn, who asked Cao Yang if the filming could be postponed.

Postponed?

Cao Yang was a bit confused, and upon further questioning, he learned that Sean Penn had received an invitation from Clint Eastwood, who wanted to adapt a novel by American author Dennis Lehane into a film.

Although Sean Penn didn't say it explicitly, since he proposed a postponement, the result was simple: his first choice was Clint Eastwood, who had already won an Oscar for Best Director.

Compared to Cao Yang, Sean Penn was more willing to trust Clint Eastwood.

Well, there was nothing more to say; postponing filming was impossible, so they would just have to choose another actor; Tim Robbins was also a good choice.

He had been stood up.

Bellman was very angry after learning the news, cursing Sean Penn for going back on his word, having no sense of contract, being a disgrace to actors, and a damn wife-beater.

Then, Bellman checked and told Cao Yang that the novel Clint Eastwood wanted to adapt was called "Mystic River," a suspenseful crime-solving novel.

"Mystic River"?

Cao Yang was surprised for a moment and then realized; he knew this film. This film had won two major Oscar awards: Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

Coincidentally, the winners were Sean Penn and Tim Robbins, respectively.

He wondered if Tim Robbins had received an invitation from Clint Eastwood.

Created a small group: 605650175

(End of chapter)