Chapter 111

Cao Yang looked at the information in his hand and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

Tim Luo Binsi was one of the stars who contacted Bellman and expressed a strong desire to star in Cao Yang's new film.

This guy is also a big shot; he takes both art films and commercial movies, and he also likes to be a director. He has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Director, won the Best Actor award at Cannes, and won a Golden Globe for Best Actor.

For domestic audiences, he is probably most famous for starring in 'The Shawshank Redemption'.

Tim Luo Binsi can also be classified as a Hollywood art-house guy. His ability to carry the box office is not very strong, and he certainly can't compare with the mainstream superstars of the 20 million club, but he is still considered a first-line big star.

It's hard for him to go further in commercial movies, so winning awards, especially winning big awards at the Oscars, has become an obsession.

Perhaps it is also a way to go further.

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

As an art-house guy who also won the Best Actor award at the 45th Cannes Film Festival in '92, Tim Luo Binsi certainly knew about Cao Yang.

A Golden Lion-winning director who cultivated three best actresses at the three major European festivals in three consecutive films—this is extremely shocking and incredible to Tim Luo Binsi.

For such a director to come to Hollywood to film a movie, it is a good opportunity for every actor who wants to win an award.

The only problem is whether Cao Yang can adapt to Hollywood, or if he will experience "acclimatization issues" like other directors who came to Hollywood to develop after winning awards at the three major European festivals.

So for Cao Yang's first film, some people are still watching, and some are starting to try to make contact.

Actually, if Cao Yang's first film were still a female-led movie, I'm afraid many Hollywood actresses would have already taken action.

Now, those contacting Bellman are either famous stars who are in urgent need of awards, art-loving young and middle-aged people, or small-time actors who want to become famous quickly.

For the latter, Bellman ignored them directly; he just organized a list, and after the male lead is determined, he'll see Cao Yang's intention on whether to find a few supporting roles from them.

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

What Bellman is pushing to Cao Yang now are all big stars who have contacted him, and there is one person whose status is even bigger than Tim Luo Binsi: Sean Penn.

At least in the field of art films, Sean Penn's status is bigger.

This guy has been like a madman in the past few years, continuously brushing up on Best Actor awards at the three major European festivals and brushing up on Best Actor nominations at the Oscars; he is simply a child of luck.

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 in the musical comedy 'Sweet and Lowdown' as a heartless guitarist and was nominated for the Best Actor award at the 72nd Academy Awards.

In 2001, he starred as a mentally disabled father in 'I Am Sam' and once again received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor.

Alright, not to mention Sean Penn's two experiences as a runner-up at the Oscars, just the fact that he won Best Actor at the Berlin Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, and Venice Film Festival for three consecutive years is enough to stun everyone.

Compared to Cao Yang cultivating three best actresses at three different film festivals with three films, it is also not inferior.

It is estimated that Sean Penn's only obsession now is the Oscar for Best Actor.

So when he learned the news that Cao Yang was going to film a biographical movie, he specifically asked someone to inquire about the news and learned that Cao Yang was going to film a biographical movie with a prototype character, about a gay man, the first politician to publicly disclose his gay identity, and then he died by shooting.

Sean Penn was moved. Two Oscar nominations for Best Actor and two defeats gave him enough experience.

When your fame is sufficient, the film quality meets the requirements, and your acting skills reach a sufficient level, when everyone is operating, what you compete in are other aspects, such as political correctness.

And the gay rights movement over the years has already made this thing political correctness in Hollywood.

Under the condition of meeting the requirements for winning an award, if you don't award a gay-themed film, are you discriminating against gay people?

Moreover, this is a biographical film, and the prototype character is a politician who died by shooting; this damn thing is even more political correctness.

Cao Yang was still very satisfied with Sean Penn. The original version was starred in by him, which allowed him to win the Oscar for Best Actor for the second time.

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

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

That is to say, in terms of international major awards, Sean Penn has won a Berlin Best Actor, a Cannes Best Actor, two Venice Best Actors, two Oscar Best Actors, and a Golden Globe Best Actor.

In terms of personal artistic achievement, it's simply like cheating; it's absurdly boundless.

Cao Yang met with Sean Penn. The two chatted well and roughly determined that he would star in 'Milk', only waiting for the final signing.

!

Signing actors in Hollywood cannot be done privately. Even if it's negotiated, one must pretend to be unaware, go through a series of processes, and sign a formal actor employment contract under the witness of the union.

Bellman was also very happy. Sean Penn's appeal is still quite large. With him joining, he can negotiate conditions with the studio more calmly.

Bellman even made a bold statement in front of Cao Yang: "My dear director, with Sean Penn joining, getting an investment of about 30 million is a very simple matter, and no one can take the control of the film out of your hands."

A few days later, while Bellman was still negotiating conditions with the film company, a tragedy occurred.

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. Upon further questioning, he learned that Sean Penn had received an invitation from Clint Eastwood, who wanted to adapt the novel by American writer Dennis Lehane into a movie.

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

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

Then what else is there to say? Postponing filming is impossible; he can only choose another actor. Tim Luo Binsi is also a good choice.

He had been stood up.

Bellman was very angry after knowing the news, cursing Sean Penn for going back on his word, having no sense of contract, simply being a disgrace to actors, and a damn domestic abuser.

Then, Bellman checked and told Cao Yang that the novel Clint Eastwood wanted to adapt was named 'Mystic River', which is a suspense novel about solving a case.

'Mystic River'?

Cao Yang was surprised and somewhat enlightened. He knew this movie; this movie had won two major Oscar awards, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor.

Coincidentally, the winners were Sean Penn and Tim Luo Binsi, respectively.

I don't know if Tim Luo Binsi has received an invitation from Clint Eastwood.

Created a small group: 605650175

(End of chapter)