Chapter Thirty-Four: Shooting on Location

  James Cameron had a six to eight month shooting schedule for Terminator 2, and as the future savior of humanity, almost every scene included him, so Ryan could only follow the crew around California.

  Among them are the Santa Monica commercial square where John Connor meets two Terminators, and the flood control channel of San Fernando Highway.

  In addition, I also personally experienced the treatment of mentally ill patients at the Spiritual Therapy Center in Lake View Theater in Los Angeles.

  Originally, Cameron's original script did not have this section, but under Linda Hamilton's strong request, he and James Cameron revised the script, and this female hero indeed showed a surprising side.

  Yes, although Linda Hamilton actually looks less bulky than in the movie, she has built up a lot of muscle. Ryan heard her say that to shoot this role well, she asked a former Israeli Defense Forces colonel to train her. In the 13-week training, she trained six days a week, three hours a day, not only losing 12 pounds of fat but also making herself look much more powerful and strong.

  It's really not easy to become a good actor! This is Ryan's only feeling.

  Of course, there were also a lot of troubles during the shooting process. However, as a minor, Ryan was the focus of protection for the crew, and most of the trouble happened to others.

  For example, when filming the flood control canal chase scene, there were several Arnold's very cool spinning gun movements, but during filming, a serious accident occurred. When he spun and scattered the shotgun, his finger got caught on the trigger and almost cut off the entire finger. So the indestructible T800 could only go to the hospital for maintenance.

  Also, in this chase scene, the truck prepared by the crew was a bit higher than the highway bridge, which made Cameron very angry.

  "Haven't you guys ever done any on-site inspections? Sorry? Can sorry turn back time? You have two hours, I'm only giving you two hours, if you can't solve it, the entire prop team is fired!"

  Ryan suddenly remembered that the script was different from the previous movie after hearing his angry voice, and he walked over with a turn of his eyes. "Jim, why can't we change the script? For example, Robert's car crashed on the bridge, and cut off the part where the truck came out high. This way, it can show T1000's ruthless side and increase the impact of the shot."

  "Great idea." Cameron slapped his palm forcefully. "Ryan, I should have gotten you to co-write the script with me from the start!"

  Work with him? Looking at the tyrant who went to the props group, Ryan rolled his eyes, unless I'm crazy!

  "Ryan, are you always full of these ideas?" Robert Patrick, unlike the T-1000 he portrayed, is a very kind and laughter-loving person in real life.

  "Hey, Mr. T1000, you're not going to get physical now, are you? T800 is in for maintenance, you can't take advantage of someone's misfortune." Ryan joked with him.

  It's a lucky thing that Robert Patrick was available to join the cast, as Cameron had originally wanted Billy Idol for the role and he had accepted, but fate seemed to have other plans. Just days before filming began, the unlucky rocker got into a motorcycle accident, apparently colliding with a truck while riding his Harley-Davidson, and would likely be bedridden for months.

  There are many action scenes in the movie, and it's hard to avoid bumps and bruises. Before filming began, the crew even found a stunt coach for Ryan, but he only taught him two safety classes. In his words to Cameron, "Ryan is incredibly agile, just like a monkey, and the action scenes in the movie are not difficult for him at all. I think the only thing he needs to learn is how to protect himself during filming."

  "Jim, I've been working out for at least an hour every day since I was five. Since we got back from London to LA, both Nicole and I have had professional trainers, so you don't need to worry about that."

  Ryan only told half the truth, his agile movements were indeed related to long-term persistent training, but past experiences were more important. For an orphan from across the ocean, having clumsy hands meant waiting to be starved and bullied, jumping around, stealing chickens and dogs, and street fighting were just small matters.

  Besides, he's not starring in an action movie with kung fu scenes, his physical abilities are enough to handle it.

  Although James Cameron has a talent for burning money, he wasn't as crazy about it back then and wouldn't waste it when it was time to save.

  To save on the cost of hiring guest actors, many roles were played by people from various departments within the production team. He himself appeared as John Connor's foster father, but his appearance was really pitiful.

  "Jim, any kid would become a rebel with a foster father like you." Ryan deliberately provoked him, "Look, great director, you've made the whole crew NG thirteen times, you should pay for overtime out of your own pocket."

  "Alright, Ryan, you're just upset that I'm going to be your stepfather." Cameron waved his hand and sat back down in the director's chair.

  During the filming of the T1000 and T800 explosion at the St. Moca Business Plaza, something even more incredible happened. One of Cameron's Japanese friends, who had flown from Tokyo to Los Angeles without pay, just to make a cameo appearance in the film.

  He's the guy John Connor met for the first time when he was gunned down by T-1000 in a hallway, when he first encountered T-800.

  After entering mid-December, when outdoor filming in California was about to be completed, a large number of reporters and paparazzi once again swarmed around the crew.

  James Cameron has a pretty good habit, his crew always starts quietly, Terminator 2 is no exception, but as the investment amount was exposed, it caused a media frenzy at one time, however, after being chased for a while and not being able to dig up any exclusive news, the surroundings of the crew gradually quieted down.

  Although there are still two or three kittens jumping out from time to time, the crew has been relatively peaceful for the past two months and hasn't been disturbed too much. Of course, this also has something to do with Annie Hed every now and then releasing some filming situations.

  There were too many reporters this time, and the chaotic scene had seriously affected the crew's shooting. This made James Cameron very angry, and after scolding the crew's spokesperson, he quickly figured out what was going on.

  "Ryan! Where's Ryan?"

  "It seems like he's resting in the trailer." someone replied.

  "Go get him." Cameron panted heavily.

  As filming progressed, Ryan's grasp of the character became more and more in place, making shooting much easier. He even threw aside the script for Terminator 2, only glancing at it before filming began, and no longer bothered to read it during his free time. Now he was leaning back in a high-backed chair, using colored pencils to draw the setting draft of True Lies.

  "What? Jim is looking for me? I remember not having my shot this morning." Seeing the assistant rushing over, Ryan had to put away his drawing and head to the shooting location.

  He had just stepped out of the trailer when he heard a cacophony, like the sound of a vegetable market at dawn. No, it was more like ten million green-headed flies flapping their wings in unison.

  He was all too familiar with this kind of voice; apart from reporters and paparazzi, who else would it be?

  "What's going on? There are a lot of reporters here." Ryan muttered as he walked onto the set.

  "Ryan Jenkins, how dare you ask me what's going on!" Seeing the furious Cameron, the boy felt puzzled, "What happened? Jim, who dared to provoke you into such a rage? It can't be Linda, right?"

  "Those reporters and paparazzi are all here for you!"

  "Looking for me? What's the point of looking for me?" Ryan scratched his head, saying that his participation in Terminator 2 had already been exposed by the media a long time ago. Even if they wanted to sensationalize it, the topic was already outdated. So why come to interview him now?

  "You ask me, I ask you too."

  In Cameron's view, the boy was indeed extremely intelligent, except for the first few days, and later in the filming, he performed flawlessly, but when he got angry, he could infuriate people to death.

  Fine! He was a bit dissatisfied with those reporters running to his own set, and it turned out that they were asking for news about another movie. Who wouldn't be angry?

  "Ryan, haven't you read the newspaper recently?" The assistant assigned by the crew came over at this time.

  "No way, I'm with the crew all day, either filming or writing and drawing, where's the time to read newspapers? Besides, I don't want my eyes to be abused, those tabloids are almost making me out to be a monster."

  "Today, the North American box office for 'Home Alone' after four weeks of release has been announced, do you know how much it is?"

  "Hey, come on, spit it out, will you?" Ryan was starting to get it.

  "It's over $1.5 billion!"

  "1.5 billion, isn't that a lot?" Ryan scratched his head, having experienced so many grand events in his past life, he naturally didn't think this number was anything special.

  The people around him all rolled their eyes, with a strong urge to pull him out and beat him up. Finally, one of the deputy directors couldn't bear it anymore, stood up and said, "Ryan, I think you're very clear that this movie, including promotion, is only $18 million in investment, now it's only been released for four weeks, many film critics are optimistic about this movie, thinking it can compete with 'The Sixth Sense' at the box office."

  "Little devil, if nothing unexpected happens, you'll be taking the top two spots in this year's North American box office rankings." Cameron sighed, and although he wasn't from the same industry as his counterpart, he couldn't help but feel a sense of "the new generation surpassing the old" - if only he understood Chinese.

  This was a planned thing, okay? Ryan shrugged his shoulders. He chose these two movies as his starting point because of their strong influence.

  Although for all child stars, the image left in childhood may not be a good thing, but for Ryan, he has a hundred ways to easily transform after sixteen. Limited time free? Exclusive interview with the great god? New book by famous author first launched? There are also lottery activities every week, Apple Watch, Q coins, starting points and more waiting for you! Don't hesitate, open WeChat, scan the QR code on the left, follow easily, and don't miss out on the excitement~