Chapter 170: Confrontation

Cao Yang was a bit surprised; he didn't expect that the first award presented at the Oscars tonight would be won by *The Bad Milk*.

Mark Ruffalo played Dan White in the film, Milk's political opponent; he didn't know Milk's true face, and for his own failure, he couldn't accept it, and together with the conservatives at the time, he killed Milk.

His role was very sufficient; after the male lead went offline, his role wasn't over yet.

In Cao Yang's view, Mark Ruffalo's acting was okay; he looked honest and loyal on the outside, very suitable for playing a conservative, and wouldn't make people feel out of character.

He had many conflicts with Milk, which required emotional outbursts, and only multiple emotional outbursts and loss of control could highlight the supporting actor and make people remember his points.

Otherwise, in a film, the supporting actor's role is not much to begin with; if there isn't even this, no matter how good your acting is, it's hard to have points for people to remember.

Mark Ruffalo being able to win Best Supporting Actor is also justifiable; after losing the biggest competitor Tim Robbins, whoever wins this award among the candidates is justifiable.

Obviously, Mark Ruffalo's agency is better at operating, and it can also be said that they made their move early.

According to Luo Bote, as early as May last year, after this film won the Cannes Palme d'Or, Mark Ruffalo's agency started operating, and even gave up on the Golden Globes, focusing on the Oscars.

This must be the importance of having the first-mover advantage.

In Hollywood, for an actor like Mark Ruffalo who hasn't become famous yet, even spending a few million on public relations for a Best Supporting Actor award is very much worth it.

His talent agency clearly understands this point and also has great courage.

Mark Ruffalo is very excited; he gets up and first hugs his family members beside him—many guests attending the Oscars bring their families along.

Afterward, he walks out, turns around, and hugs Johnny Depp, who is sitting behind him.

"Congratulations."

Depp is very envious; he doesn't know if he can win Best Actor, and Mark Ruffalo, this not-so-well-known actor, won Best Supporting Actor on his first Oscar nomination—he's fucking lucky.

Be grateful to Director Cao Yang; without him, you are nothing.

Why didn't I meet Director Cao Yang sooner?

What a guy with shit-luck.

Mark Ruffalo takes another step back, arrives next to Cao Yang, leans down to embrace Cao Yang, and keeps saying, "Thank you, thank you..."

Cao Yang pats Mark Ruffalo on the shoulder; he can see this guy is very emotional and quickly reminds him: "Congratulations, Mark. Go on, go to the stage and take back the little golden man that belongs to you. Now you are the most dazzling star."

After Mark Ruffalo says thank you again, he walks quickly to the stage.

"Congratulations, Mark."

"Thank you."

Mark Ruffalo kisses Catherine Zeta-Jones and takes the little golden man.

The Oscars are not like the three major European festivals, which split the top prize and other awards into gold and silver.

The Oscars are uniformly little golden men.

"Oh, my God, I simply can't believe it; I'm not dreaming, am I?"

Mark Ruffalo kisses the little golden man again.

"This is real, thank you. Thank you to the Academy and the Academy members. For me, this is a wonderful honor. I want to thank the actors nominated with me; you are all great."

Mark Ruffalo lets out a long breath before continuing: "I am most grateful to the screenwriter Mr. Cao Yang. At the time, we encountered great difficulties—you all know the reason—and the project was almost shelved indefinitely.

It was our screenwriter Mr. Cao Yang who stood up and rewrote the script. Sir, you are truly amazing.

As for the director of this film, Mr. Cao Yang..." He laughs at this point.

The audience follows suit and laughs.

"Alright, whether it's the screenwriter or the director, it's all Mr. Cao Yang. You are truly amazing, and you are also the person I respect the most. Thank you for choosing me, thank you!

At the same time, thank you to the entire crew; you are also the best, thank you.

Thank you to my family; thank you for supporting my work."

Mark Ruffalo raises the little golden man, "Thanks again."

"What a lucky guy; he's going to be famous," Luo Bote says in a low voice.

Cao Yang nods with a smile; for actors working in Hollywood, the Oscar boost is really huge, especially for small actors who aren't famous yet.

To give a similar example, it's like Xia Yu winning Best Actor at Venice or Qin Hailu winning Best Actress at the Golden Horse; both went from obscure small actors to big stars overnight.

Although Mark Ruffalo won Best Supporting Actor, it can also propel him to become a second-tier Hollywood actor.

!

"I originally wanted to wait for the evening broadcast on Channel 6, but I couldn't help it and secretly came online to find out some news. I'll watch the TV tonight; did I miss any important news?"

"You really did miss out. Cao Yang got off to a flying start. I originally thought he could wrestle with 'The Lord of the Rings 3', but he ended up being slaughtered without a trace."

"The person above is exaggerating. The nominations Cao Yang's film has received so far have only missed one Best Supporting Actress and one Best Costume Design; the others haven't arrived yet."

"Damn, no way. Isn't Cao Yang good at coaching actresses? He'll even miss Best Supporting Actress?"

"You said it yourself, that's Supporting Actress. When have you ever seen a supporting actress in a Cao Yang film win an award?"

"No, brothers, asking weakly, what does the 'flying start' you're talking about mean? Which big shot can inform me?"

"The first award presented at this year's Oscars is Best Supporting Actor, which was won by an unknown small actor, Mark Ruffalo. By the way, this guy won it based on 'The Vile Milk'."

"The two biggest favorites this year, 'The Lord of the Rings 3' with eleven nominations and 'The Vile Milk' with ten nominations. So far, 'The Lord of the Rings 3' has already won five major awards, while 'The Vile Milk' has only won one."

"It feels a bit ominous. 'The Lord of the Rings 3' hasn't missed a single major award it was nominated for yet."

"Direct confrontation, Best Original Score, both films were nominated... It's revealed, 'The Lord of the Rings 3' won again. Damn, 'The Lord of the Rings 3' is killing it."

"It really is killing it. No matter which film it competes against, 'The Lord of the Rings 3' hasn't lost tonight."

"The Oscars are just like this. It could compromise for 'Titanic' last time, so it's not strange to compromise for 'The Lord of the Rings 3' this time."

"Direct confrontation again, this time it's Best Film Editing. Everyone guess who will win; I'll go first, I guess it's still 'The Lord of the Rings 3'."

"You are right, the Oscars have compromised with the box office again. 'The Lord of the Rings 3' won again; Best Film Editing is also theirs."

"This... the Oscars... seem to... just be like that?"

"You idiot above, Hollywood can dominate the world; the artistry and authority of the Oscars are unquestionable. 'The Lord of the Rings 3' is also very artistic, okay?"

"Damn, what's the situation? Gu Changwei won Best Cinematography!"

"Who is Gu Changwei?"

(End of chapter)