Chapter 12: The Beginning of All Things is Difficult

  The trees on both sides of the old street, inadvertently, always drift down pieces of withered yellow leaves, entering autumn in Philadelphia, has already made people feel a hint of coolness.

  David Fincher stood in front of an old apartment building, directing the crew to set up and place cameras. This was his first time holding the director's tube for a film, so he was naturally cautious in some ways, although not saying that he did everything personally, but also required every detail to be very strict.

  "Amie!" David Fincher yelled at the assistant director, "Where are the actors? How come they're not here yet? Am I supposed to shoot an empty street?"

  "David, don't worry." The assistant director hastily explained, "I just spoke with Mr. Al Pacino on the phone, he'll be here right away, but the car we sent to pick up Ms. Nicole Kidman and Mr. Ryan Jenkins broke down halfway, they've already hailed a taxi and are rushing over."

  "Damn it!" David Fincher muttered under his breath, having already encountered this kind of thing before even starting the machine. What a stroke of bad luck! And to make matters worse, he still hadn't met the actor playing the little boy yet. He had no idea what Harvey Weinstein was up to, but hopefully that kid would be as great as he said. No, just half as good would do.

  "Here they come, here they come, it's them." The assistant director pointed to a taxi stopped by the roadside.

  David Fincher hastily looked over and the first thing that caught his eye was a tall, cold beauty of a woman. The woman was very tall and very pretty, but in the next instant, he was drawn to the boy she was holding hands with.

  A frail and slender body that seemed to be blown down by the wind, shallow brown hair disheveled over a somewhat pale face, a quiet appearance with a strong and indescribable temperament, especially in those sky-blue eyes, which occasionally flashed with a piercing light.

  That's right! He is Cole! With just one glance, the boy's appearance completely matched the Cole he had envisioned in his mind. Although he didn't know how good his acting skills were, from a physical standpoint, there was no one more suitable than him.

  Alright! Harvey Weinstein may be a bit of a philistine, but at least he didn't disappoint in his choice of actors.

  "Nick, is this the old town of Philadelphia? It really looks ancient." Ryan's eyes curiously swept around, such an old house, if it were in his previous life, would have been demolished and sold long ago.

  "Yes, it's said to be one of the oldest neighborhoods in the United States."

  The answer was Paige Kinley, who, unlike Nicole, being a standard American, knew more about the history of Philadelphia.

  Leading Nicole Kidman's hand, from the small path in the middle of the low green belt, to the front of the apartment, the deputy director who had seen them before, hurriedly made an introduction for both sides.

  "Hello, Mr. Fincher. Nice to meet you. You can call me Ryan." Ryan's manners were impeccable, just as Nicole had said, and he would be the perfect little gentleman if he wanted to be, and his actions immediately won over Mr. Fincher's favor, "Alright, Ryan, nice to meet you too."

  As the director holding the script, he naturally knew who wrote it, although the script was almost worn out by him, but at this time seeing the real author was still a surprise, such an excellent story actually came from a child under the age of 10, it's simply unbelievable, are all children born after 80 so **?

  After greeting the crew, Ryan was taken to the makeup room. Since it was his first time filming a movie, he couldn't help but be curious about everything. Fortunately, he still knew what he was there for, and this wasn't a place where he could act out like he did at school or home. He suppressed his nature and let the female makeup artist apply makeup to his face.

  Damn it, I'm a boy, what's with all this makeup. Ryan looked at the increasingly pale face in the mirror and felt a murmur in his heart.

  "Hello Mr. Pacino!"

  At the entrance of the temporary makeup room, a voice from an assistant suddenly came over.

  "Al Pacino?" Ryan had known for a while who he was going to be paired with, and it wasn't until '89 that Harvey Weinstein would have even considered casting Bruce Willis.

  This isn't ten years later, now Mr Willis is indeed a genuine facial paralysis.

  But he never thought that the big fat man would choose Al Pacino as the male lead, okay, now Al is actually in a low period of his career, and this movie needs an actor of emperor level to increase box office appeal, I guess it's just like this that both parties reached an agreement.

  At the moment when the makeup artist finished, Ryan jumped up from his chair and swiftly took out an autograph book and a fountain pen from his backpack, handing them to Al Pacino who had just sat down.

  "Mr. Al Pacino, can I get your autograph?" Ryan's eyes widened as he gazed at the middle-aged man with a star-struck look.

  "No problem, you are..."

  "Ryan, Ryan? Jenkins, you're the lonely little boy who's going to be freed and helped in this movie."

  "Alright, Ryan, you can call me Al." No wonder he's a famous old-timer, that kind of affability comes out naturally.

  "Ryan, wishing you eternal health and happiness." Al Pacino wrote a blessing on the back of the signature, Ryan smiled happily, as if he was really happy to get his idol's signature, "Thank you, Al, it's great to play with you."

  Perhaps it was the advantage of age, or perhaps it was his positive and cheerful personality, but Ryan didn't have to exert much effort to win over Al Pacino's favor. After changing into that American-style school uniform and walking out of the dressing room, the two were already chatting and laughing together, and Ryan also took the opportunity to ask for some advice on acting.

  First to be filmed were the scenes of Al Pacino playing a psychiatrist, Ryan also saw what kind of acting skills are worthy of an emperor, and after just a few simple rehearsals, Al quickly found his state.

  "Cut! Very good!" David Fincher clapped his hands loudly, encouraging the entire crew, "Take a ten-minute break."

  The shot just taken was of Dr. Malcolm walking down the street, and although it's already gotten a bit chilly in Philadelphia this fall, Al still managed to work up a sweat under his windbreaker and scarf after filming wrapped.

  "Nervous, Ryan?" Nicole grasped his hand and gently massaged the palm with her thumb, trying to soothe him as he was about to go on stage for the next take.

  "Don't be nervous." Ryan immediately denied it without thinking, but after meeting Nicole's calm gaze, he could only let out a long sigh. "Okay, I admit it, I'm a bit nervous, but isn't that normal? Nicole, were you nervous when you first started filming?"

  "Of course. I was so nervous that I even forgot my lines." Nicole said with a smile, "Here's a good tip for you: just imagine everyone in the room as stones, it'll be much better."

  "Can it be used as a potato? Or an onion and tomato?"

  Maybe it's because they didn't have confidence in him, or maybe it's to go from easy to hard, Ryan's first scene was Cole walking out of the apartment and locking the door as he leaves, very simple, right?

  "Cut! That's a wrap."

  He only rehearsed twice and shot once, and the scene was done. Of course, it wasn't that Ryan burst into a great performance from the start, but this was a blurry long shot, and what he had to do was too simple: open the door, carefully observe left and right.

  But then came the big trouble, this was a special shot, requiring Ryan to show carefulness, cautiousness and some timidity after putting on a pair of glasses.

  "Cut! Ryan, relax, look natural."

  "Cut! Ryan, you're too stiff!"

  "Cut! Ryan, don't look at the camera lens."

  “……”

  This time even more exaggerated, Ryan looked at the glasses that fell to his feet and revealed a bitter smile. Fortunately, David Fincher is not James Cameron, otherwise...

  David Fincher furrowed his brow, with years of experience shooting commercials and MTV, he naturally knew how difficult it was to get a child into a performing state. Before filming, he also had a conversation with him, from the dialogue between the two, he could see that this was an intelligent and precocious child, and his heart, which had been lifted up, couldn't help but fall back down by half. Unexpectedly, more than half an hour passed, and the boy still hadn't made any progress.

  "Nico, why don't you go comfort Ryan?" Paige asked, a little worried.

  "No, Ryan is stronger than anyone." Nicole Kidman shook her head slowly and firmly, but the look of worry and heartache on her face was invisible to everyone, "Since he chose this path, he has to face it himself."

  Ryan clenched his fists tightly, and even his arms trembled slightly. When he really did it, he found that some things were much more difficult than he had imagined, such as the recent misunderstanding incident and today's shooting.

  "Cut!" After another halt after a break, David Fincher walked over and said in a low voice, "Ryan, do you know where your problem is?"

  "About a third of it was because I suddenly spaced out, another third was because my body stiffened and shook, and the remaining third was because I couldn't help but look at the camera lens."

  Contrary to David Fincher's expectations, Ryan knew exactly where his problem lay. He patted the boy on the arm, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

  "Can I have ten minutes? I need to be alone for a bit." Ryan first gave Nicole a reassuring glance from afar, then looked hopefully at Director David, "Trust me, okay, David. I can handle this myself."

  Ryan's words and expression gave him inexplicable confidence. David Fincher nodded, "Alright! Take a ten-minute break!"

  "It's clear I need an actor's self-help book." Ryan said, opening the door to enter the apartment, leaving David Fincher feeling utterly perplexed.