Chapter 663: Chapter 71: They Are Indeed Precocious
“How do you feel about it? I an, completely from your perspective, without considering our feelings, which girl resembles the Mia you wrote about the most?” After the last actress auditioning left the room, Adrian, who sat at the back, turned to a middle-aged woman beside him wearing black-frad glasses and asked.
“Give a few minutes to think about it.” She smiled, flipped through the auditioning actresses’ docunts for a few minutes, then pulled out a few sheets: “Number 6, 11, 12, and 17.”
“That many?” Adrian raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Are you sure you’re not picking cheerleaders, g?”
“When you said completely from my perspective, I believe these girls are all suitable,” g Cabot spread her hands. “Actually, I think it’s best left for you and Gary to decide, Ed. Gary is the director, and he needs to choose an actress who fits the image in his mind, and you, it was you who invited to write this novel, so you’re the one who understands this character the most. There’s no need for to be involved.”
“So you’re complaining that I brought you all the way here from Indiana?” Adrian imdiately asked.
“If you want to put it that way… yes,” g laughed.
g Cabot, author of The Princess Diaries novel, both in her past and current life. The difference being, in this life, Adrian had his publishing company find her, provided the concept, and invited her to complete the novel and publish it before planning to adapt it to the big screen, considering the investnt wasn’t too high and the production cycle not too long.
It was all part of a plan targeting Disney, much like Pirates of the Caribbean, Adrian had a whole plan. It wasn’t that he particularly wanted to be at odds with Eisner, but Disney was the weakest among the major dia conglorates at the mont. Moreover, AC dia had already profited a lot from Disney.
“What a pity you’re not one of these four, miss,” Adrian said lightly, looking through another young girl’s docunts after exchanging opinions with Gary Marshall and confirming he also found these four girls appealing.
The girl in the photo had long brown hair, big eyes, and a large mouth that tilted slightly upwards, giving her a particularly cute look. Next to the photo, the na Anne Jacqueline Hathaway was written. Yes, the sa Anne Hathaway who, because of The Princess Diaries, beca instantly famous and was known as a hybrid of Julia Roberts and Audrey Hepburn.
However, now, with The Princess Diaries delayed almost a year and the book released before the film, the fact that she still ca to audition was due to Adrian secretly contacting her agent, not her proactive approach, clearly indicating Adrian’s interest in her. But it was rely interest; not because her good family background made her hard to manage—such things were trivial for Adrian. It was mainly because she wasn’t quite to his taste.
Anne Hathaway and Scarlett Johansson were completely different types; Scarlett, in photos, if there was a slight oversight, would seem very ordinary; initially, you might find her beautiful, but after a while, you’d grow tired. Through the cara, however, it was different—her vivaciousness was especially appealing, and every frown and smile displayed her sensual grace.
Anne was different; her photos looked flavorful, especially with her lips pursed in a slight smile—mischievous yet a bit cute, quite enchanting. But through the cara, while her movie work was still fine because it was carefully edited, in shows or interviews, if she didn’t smile, it was bearable—rely ordinary. But if she laughed… you’d better pray you weren’t eating.
Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but sotis the difference was really significant, sothing Adrian had confird during today’s auditions. Of course, it didn’t hinder him from concluding after a fresh experience, otherwise, why secretly contact her? Intriguingly, among the four girls approved by g and Marshall after the auditions, her na wasn’t listed, nor was the scene where Amanda Seyfried fell from a chair, suggesting Anne Hathaway wasn’t interested in the role, though she appeared sowhat excited during the auditions.
“If you’re certain, then we’ll randomly pick one from these four girls, Gary,” Adrian said to the director as they left the audition room.
Gary Marshall had previously collaborated with Julia Roberts on “Pretty Woman”, and “The Runaway Bride” was also produced by him, so he had so acquaintance with Adrian.
“This is your matter, in my opinion, any one of these four girls could be competent.” At nearly 70, Marshall, who had seen all sorts of things in Hollywood, imdiately pushed the decision back to him.
“Alright, then…” Adrian hadn’t finished speaking when a hurried figure suddenly collided fully into Marshall, with the sound of a woman’s exclamation and sothing hitting the ground occurring simultaneously.
“I… I’m sorry, Mr. Marshall… I… I didn’t an to…” the flustered young girl stuttered, holding her forehead and seeming to want to squat to pick up her things that had fallen out of her backpack, but also wanting to check if Marshall was alright, looking amusingly indecisive.
“It’s okay, I’m fine.” Although he was hit, Marshall only stepped back and decided to squat down to help her pick things up.
“I’m really very, very sorry, Mr. Marshall, I shouldn’t have walked so fast in the corridor.” The girl kept rambling as she clumsily gathered up the things on the floor.
“No worries, just rember the lesson,” Marshall said as he picked up a book just as the girl also grabbed it and imdiately pulled it toward herself, “Let do it, don’t worry about these.”
“Just a few books…” Marshall couldn’t finish his sentence before the book was snatched away; he certainly didn’t expect her to use such force, nearly knocking his glasses off.
The girl was instantly stunned and after a long mont, stuttered apologetically, “I… I’m really sorry, Mr. Marshall, I… I truly didn’t an it…”
“Yes, I know, I believe you didn’t do it on purpose, please calm down, okay?” Marshall, adjusting his glasses, amusingly looked at her; the girl, slightly embarrassed, smiled shyly, shrank back and quickly stuffed the remaining items on the floor into her bag, then bowed her head and quickly left the scene, completely ignoring Adrian who was still trying to hand her things.
“I rember… she seems to be one of the girls who ca for the audition earlier,” Marshall said thoughtfully as he watched the girl’s retreating figure, “What’s her na, Anne Hathaway?”
“Your mory is good, Gary,” Adrian also stood up and brushed off his hands, his tone casual as if he didn’t mind the small incident, “Yes, the girl is indeed called Anne Hathaway.”
Marshall didn’t speak again; he stroked his chin and thought carefully, then looked at Adrian: “I think we can add one more na to the list of candidates.”
“Anne Hathaway? Are you serious?” Adrian raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, I even think she’s more suitable than the other four, and if g were here to see what just happened, she would agree with ,” Marshall was slightly excited, “Rember how we discussed the female lead? Mia is a simple and lovely girl, she’s simple and a bit insecure, so she often appears clumsy and slow to react, always causing so unexpected mishaps, but she’s very affable.”
He paused here and then carefully chose his words before continuing: “The four girls we picked out are sowhat lacking in this aspect, Anne Hathaway did even worse in the audition just now, but what happened… should I say, the vibe she gave off was very much in line with Mia, and what’s rare is that this isn’t an act, it’s naturally emanating from her, God, I almost missed a very talented girl.”
“So, you think she is the most suitable candidate?” Adrian asked calmly.
“The decision is in your hands, Ed,” Marshall imdiately replied, “If we’re just talking from an actor’s perspective, I think she has slightly more potential than the others.”
“Okay, I understand. I’ll find ti to talk to her before making a decision,” Adrian nodded.
Honestly, he was a little dissatisfied, not because of Marshall, but because of Anne Hathaway, as this was the first ti he had been so thoroughly ignored by a woman. It wasn’t that Adrian was being petty; it would have been fine if she had truly been clueless and hadn’t noticed him, but that wasn’t the case.
Indeed, Anne Hathaway was trying to please Gary Marshall, and although she did it covertly, Marshall didn’t notice, but it didn’t escape the eyes of Adrian, who was experienced in reading won. Because he hadn’t noticed at first, he couldn’t tell if she had intended to use bumping into people as a way to grab Marshall’s attention from the start, but she definitely did it on purpose when rushing to pick up the books.
It seed that Miss Anne Hathaway was quite familiar with the script, or the role, had done ample preparation, and knew how to seize the opportunity to showcase herself—no wonder there were rumors about her falling from a chair and landing “The Princess Diaries,” but… why was her focus solely on the director?
Adrian’s identity was no secret, and all the girls auditioning should have known it, along with the various stories about him that anyone living in Hollywood would have heard. If Anne Hathaway had any plans, they should have been directed at Adrian. Amanda did it well, her gaze always subtly sweeping over him during her audition, filled with anticipation.
It was interesting; Adrian couldn’t help but recall a past life comnt about Anne that said she was capable and strategic but lacked vision in both situations and people. She always missed the right direction, and without so luck and connections, she might have faded into obscurity. He had initially dismissed this, although Anne was indeed foolish in life, but which actor doesn’t have a few comrcially unsuccessful films? That proves nothing. However, now it seed that the comnt might have been true, otherwise, how could she selectively ignore his presence despite knowing about Adrian’s identity and status?
“Gary recomnded you, Miss Anne Hathaway. He thinks you’re more suitable for the role than the others, but I disagree. Still, considering Gary is also kindly thinking of the film, I decided to talk to you,” Adrian said after Anne Hathaway sat down in her chair.
The initially joyful girl suddenly paused, looking at Adrian as if not understanding what he was saying.
“Is there a problem, Miss Hathaway?” Adrian asked calmly.
“No, not at all, Mr. Adrian. I’m just… a bit overwheld,” Anne quickly reacted, realizing sothing but not fully grasping it, hence her cautious and confused tone.
“You can call Ed, and I can call you Anne, that way our conversation can be less stiff,” Adrian said with a smile, “Would you like sothing to drink?”
“No, thank you, sir… Ed,” Anne quickly replied, smoothly transitioning in her address.
“We originally selected four young actresses from the auditions a few days ago, any of whom would be quite suitable, but after eting you, Gary insists your potential exceeds the other four,” Adrian spoke slowly and gently. Though Anne sat on the chair, her simple jacket and pants giving her a girl-next-door vibe, her tightly crossed and tilted legs made her appear demure and virtuous, but he still caught a fleeting hint of triumph in her eyes.
“But I disagree,” Adrian imdiately changed his tone, “I don’t think you excel over the other four, but since Gary insists on his perspective, I will give you a chance to convince to give this role to you.”
After speaking, Adrian made a gesture of invitation and then scrutinized her with an interested gaze. Anne lowered her head so that her expression was not visible, but the tight line of her lips was quite evident. Making such a gesture typically indicated that she had realized her judgnt was flawed.
“Firstly,” she began candidly, “as an actor, I genuinely hoped to secure this role; secondly, I believe I can portray this character well because I have analyzed this character’s personality in great detail, albeit the script is not complete; and thirdly, I am delighted by Mr. Marshall’s praise, although that day I was sowhat deliberate at the end, afraid that he might get angry…” After carefully considering it, Anne then raised her head and spoke fluently with a smile.
Very good. Adrian listened and nodded subtly in approval. Like how she bumped into Marshall and hurriedly apologized before swiftly leaving, her strategy of leaving room for interpretation allowed Marshall to imagine many favorable things about her in her reticence. Now it’s the sa; by first candidly expressing her desire for the role, she gave an impression of sincerity; then by asserting her capability, she exuded great confidence, thus enhancing her persuasiveness; and by admitting the clumsiness was intentional, that honesty made the following “worrying he would get angry” appear very credible.
Especially since she did not say too much but only revealed a few key words, allowing the person she was talking to fill in the gaps, this significantly strengthened her persuasiveness. Once certain perceptions were established in one’s mind, they were seldom imdiately overturned. She was indeed clever. If sitting here wasn’t Adrian, who had so understanding of her, if her tone didn’t carry the tension of talking too much, most people would like her.
Finally, after Anne finished speaking, she took a deep breath, waiting anxiously. Adrian, maintaining his initial expressionless deanor, simply asked, “And then?”
This was no simple follow-up question. Many experienced police officers, when recording a suspect’s confession, would casually ask “And then?” after the suspect had finished speaking. If the suspect was guilty, they would inadvertently continue talking. Here, the phrase had the sa effect, but it subtly conveyed a ssage: “I am not satisfied.”
No matter how she responded, it was enough for him to grasp her character.
Anne, obviously unprepared for this, stared with her already large eyes sowhat bewildered and innocent, but Adrian remained unmoved, quietly waiting for her reply.
After a long while, the young girl finally spoke, “I can do anything to the best of my ability, anything.”
Adrian couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. This ambiguous answer, seemingly implying sothing yet hinting at nothing, was definitely not sothing a young girl could co up with. So… her mother? Quite possibly, her mother was a singer and stage actress from the ’70s… Ha, this is getting interesting. So—
“Alright, you’ve preliminarily won my approval, Anne,” Adrian finally said. “Although I still need to discuss this with the crew, basically… the role is yours.”
“Is this for real?!” Anne gasped, incredulously looking at Adrian until he affird with a nod, then she sprang up cheering, her excitent… well, perhaps that’s best left unsaid.
“Thank you, Ed, thank you, I… I… thank you so much.” The girl finally said, holding his hand and continuously expressing her gratitude.
Adrian guessed she wanted to apologize for previously focusing only on Marshall’s behavior, but such matters could hardly be brought up openly, so she just kept saying thank you.
“That’s enough, Anne, let it be, may you—do as you say,” Adrian concluded with a aningful expression. Deciphering won’s thoughts and then having them dance at his fingertips had always been one of his favorite pastis.
Let see, Anne Hathaway, let’s see what kind of woman you are, whether you truly have the tactics and the capability but lack vision. Adrian thought to himself, then couldn’t help but shift to another topic. Girls who make a na for themselves in show business do indeed mature early. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)
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