Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 453 Almost made a mistake

"Hey?"

   Weintraub let out an exclamation, and then started muttering something.

   "Are you sure this is Pat Morita? I always thought he was just a comedy clown, and Miyagi needed a real actor to play it."

   "Yes, I got him to shoot some footage. If you think he's doing well, then we'll get him back."

   Weintraub finally let go. "Okay, this is really good. But I don't know if he can always perform so well. Is this his first time reading a script? Or did you give him some pointers beforehand?"

   "The first time I read the script, he's pretty good. I think we can find him and play with our chosen Danny to see if there is any chemical reaction."

   "Okay, just invite him to try it."

   A few days later, the audition director called back the four candidates again, this time with Pat Morita to read the script against each other. "

   Weintraub auditioned for the second round with Susan. The four Danny candidates took turns reading the script with Pat Morita.

"Sure enough, Ronald didn't lie to himself. Morita's performance was stable and excellent, and the temporary pairing of the four actors performed very well. The unique accent of the Eastern Ying people speaking English, and regardless of grammar, regardless of word order, often the object is advanced. Inverted sentences, they all have the characteristics of people born in the real East Ying."

   Weintraub put down a big stone in his heart. He had to admit that the original director Elvisson was correct in choosing Morita.

   And Ronald uses this method to make Morita's performance directly in front of his eyes, which is more useful than saying it a thousand times.

   "Very well, I'm here today, please go back first. We will notify your agent at any time if there is further news." Ronald said to Morita.

   "Thank you. Thank you Mr. Weintraub." Morita bowed slightly, then got up to leave.

   "Aren't you going to take this script with you? Maybe you will use it in the future." Ronald said, seeing Morita turn around, handing over a complete script, and winking slightly.

   Morita seemed to understand, his lips trembled a little with excitement. If there is no more role, he will go back to Hawaii with his wife, go to host a live canvassing event for the congressman, talk about a talk show in a bar, and carry the memory of acting as a harlequin in the TV series "Happy Hour" all his life, and tell his grandson later. Grandpa's previous story lives on.

   Ronald's wink made him understand that this opportunity opened a narrow door to him again.

   "Morita is really good. Now we have to consider Danny's candidate." Weintraub waited for Pat Morita to walk out of the room, stretched, and then said to Susan and Ronald and others.

   "What is your choice?" he asked Ronald.

"I still like Ralph Mazio." Ronald reversed the tape he had taken with the Sony VCR, then connected it to the TV in the audition room, found the Ralph part, and told Wentrau Bu said:

   "Look, even when Ralph is reading the script, his lines are very smooth, and if he hadn't occasionally looked away to read the script, you wouldn't have noticed that he was reading."

   "But Charlie Sheen is good too, he's more photogenic and doesn't look like Latino."

   "But he's really Latino, and his father, Martin Sheen, whose real name is Estevez," chimed in DuPont, the audition director.

   "I know, but he doesn't look alike, and Ralph Mazio looks like a Latino face. In your script, Danny Weber is Irish."

   "I know, this is really annoying to the audience. Let's do this, let's change the name of the protagonist, let's call it..." Ronald looked at Susan, "What is the name of a typical Latino?"

   "Um...let's call it Daniel? Daniel, and then have a Latino surname."

   "Let's call it LaRusso, my gardener's last name," Weintraub continued. "Ralph might be a better fit, but it's not conclusive. I think Charlie Sheen is good too."

"Jerry, but Charlie Sheen is still underage. If we choose him, our shooting costs will become very high." Susan Eakins remembered what Ronald said, and hurriedly stood in front of Weintraub Show it off.

   "You're right, Susan. I didn't expect you to be able to enter the role so quickly, so choose Ralph Mazio." Weintraub happily took a sip of coffee.

   "Then it's the heroine's question." Weintraub asked, "Do you have any suitable candidates?"

   "These are the candidates we are optimistic about", audition director Penny Dupont handed over a bunch of audition photos and resumes.

   "Lee Thompson, Jennifer Gray, Sarah Jessica Parker, Elizabeth Shue..."

   Ronald also got close, and took the audition photos that Weintraub handed him over.

  Lee Thompson and Elizabeth Shue are old acquaintances. Ronald had a preference for Leigh Thompson. Her natural and smooth acting is more suitable for the role than Elizabeth Shue. Some of the subtle emotions between Ali and Danny require a talent with better acting skills.

   As for Jennifer Grey, and Sarah Jessica Parker, Ronald found one thing in common, they both had a big nose with a twist in the middle, like a hump.

  Ronald met Sarah Jessica Parker, who had previously played the supporting actress Rusty in "All In". Her big nose is more eye-catching, and her already long face is even more ugly.

   Jennifer Gray is fine, her nose is only slightly larger than the average, and the hump-like turn is not very obvious.

   "I think Jennifer Gray and Sarah Jessica Parker are very good, and the other two are also good, let's all call in for the audition." Weintraub quickly commented.

   "Um..." Ronald stroked his hair, of course knowing Weintraub's idea of ​​favoring his own race. These two girls, among all the candidates, belong to the bottom in terms of beauty.

  "I think this one is good too", Ronald pointed to another photo.

   "Helen Hunter? I know her father, and we share a rabbi." Weintraub looked at Ronald's recommendation.

   "It's a Jew again", Ronald looked at Hunter's nose, it wasn't too big, and the hump wasn't obvious. And there is not much Jewishness in appearance. It seems to be similar to Helen Slater, of mixed blood and of secular Jewry.

   Most of the devout Jews in the world come from Eastern Europe, especially the country of Poland, where there is a large group of people living together in New York. The genetics of the noses of these Eastern European Jews are particularly evident.

With the key candidates, the audition director Penny Dupont began to mark the list, and she suddenly remembered an important thing, "By the way, these candidates of ours, except for Elizabeth Sue, who is studying at Harvard, are all auditioning for John Milley at the same time. Erth's 'Red Dawn', if they come to be selected, they will probably have to sign an exception."

   "Exception clauses?" Weintraub actually didn't understand the details of the filming.

   "That is, if they choose that side, they can refuse to resign here."

   "Okay, who called him Milius." Weintraub gave Elizabeth Sue a higher weight in his heart. Milius is the screenwriter of many of Coppola's blockbuster films. Last year, he directed "Conan the Barbarian", which also got very good box office results, and is now the darling of Hollywood.

  The gossip says that his director's worth has reached 1.2 million US dollars, plus a rifle of any style that he likes.

   Several people discussed key candidates and said goodbye.

   But the next day, Weintraub called Pat Morita alone and asked him to meet at the company.

   "Hi, Pat, please take a seat." Weintraub asked Morita to sit down in the office, and then had a gentle chat with him.

"To invite you over today, I want to tell you personally that you were chosen by the crew to play Master Miyagi. I may have made the biggest mistake in the world before and almost rejected you as the perfect candidate, so I think it's up to me today It is most suitable to come and tell you the good news in advance."

   "Oh, thank you, Mr. Weintraub." Morita looked very moved and thanked Weintraub again and again for his high regard.

   "By the way, why do you have an Americana name like Pat?" Weintraub asked.

   "This is the name of the priest who raised funds for me to treat my polio when I was a child. I am very grateful to him, and my name is difficult to pronounce in English, so I have an American name Pat."

   "Oh, what's your Dongying name? I think the actor who plays Master Miyagi has a Japanese name. In this case, the audience will feel very emotional."

   "My name is Noriyuki Morita."

   "Okay, then I'll sign Morita Noriyuki in the movie subtitles for you. You can ask your agent to sign the contract."

  Pat Morita who went out of Weintraub's office, found a phone booth, and quickly dialed out.

   "Hey, Ronald, it's me. Weintraub really called me, he said he wanted to officially sign with me, thank you." Morita choked a little.

"Congratulations, if you are free, you can cooperate with the audition more. We can discuss the details of the plot. You are of Japanese descent, and there are some details of the life of the Eastern Ying people. If what I wrote is wrong, you can bring it up and correct it. "

"Okay. But there is one more thing, Mr. Weintraub asked me to sign Morita Noriyuki, saying that this is the only way. But my name in the Screen Actors Guild is Pat Morita. It's very troublesome to change my name, can I talk to him? Tell me not to change."

"This?" Ronald thought for a while, but he should not go against the producer's small request. Anyway, Weintraub agreed with his opinion on the casting, although Ronald carefully disguised these opinions. It became Weintraub's own idea.

   "Well, then put a quotation mark on the 'rules', so that the union and the tax bureau won't bother you."

   "Pat "Noriyuki" Morita?" In this way, Noriyuki became a nickname, which should meet Weintraub's requirements.

   (end of this chapter)