Chapter 474: Chapter 474 Sophie’s Choice
Chapter 474 Sophie’s Choice
“Hey, Natalie!”
Under the night sky, Danny was pacing around the lawn sniffing sothing, and Wang Yang, who had just made a phone call from the spacious study, shouted out with a laugh. He walked over to the floor-to-ceiling glass window, to which Natalie responded loudly, “Hey, Yang! SUP!?” Wang Yang scratched his ear, chuckling, “The casting decision has been made.” Natalie gave an ‘Oh’ and after a brief silence of a second or two, her laughter had a playful edge, “I hope that’s good news.”
“News doesn’t have a good or bad side; there’s only news. But! It is good news.” Wang Yang laughed softly, then turned serious, “I want to invite you to play the psychologist in ‘The Deceased’.”
“Wow!” Natalie shouted in delight, not out of surprise but sheer joy and excitent. Thinking of her beautiful and talented rivals all knocked out, she felt undeniably proud. Having shot ‘My Blueberry Nights’ and now ‘The Deceased,’ she was ecstatic! Natalie exclaid, “I have to say, I’m really, really excited right now!! My ti at Harvard was for this mont, wow—”
Wang Yang didn’t laugh, but continued in a serious tone, “Also, I’m planning to invite Keira Knightley for another female role.” Natalie, who had been cheering joyfully, suddenly stopped, “Really?” After Wang Yang confird, Natalie was quiet for quite a while before she suddenly cried out frantically, “Oh—this is like Sophie’s choice! Damn Nazis!”
“Why don’t you get along with her?” Wang Yang was puzzled. Natalie was not a difficult person to get along with—she was a bit crazy around him, but to everyone else, she tended to be polite and approachable. Natalie sounded just as puzzled, “I don’t know; actually, she’s the one who has her eye on . I’ve tried to be friendly, but she’s always so explosive, always making one angry!” Wang Yang tried to play the peacemaker, “Maybe that’s just her way of talking, maybe…”
“Hey!” Natalie shouted, interrupting him, “What are you trying to do? Convince ?” Wang Yang said helplessly, “What do you think?” Natalie asked, “So that ans she’s agreed?” When she heard he hadn’t heard from her yet, her laughter returned, “OK, you’re going to ss it up, but it won’t be because of .”
Wang Yang continued, “Even if both of you take part in it, you won’t have any opportunity to be on set at the sa ti… There’s only one scene, what’s the big deal?” He frowned and said, “You don’t want to be in the sa movie together? Please, buddy, I’m the director! Do you really want to act in this movie, tell this story?” He was genuinely angry now, “Who the hell said, ‘Once I’m taken with a script, I won’t give it up because I can’t get the role I want, I’ll go crazy!’ Quitting over so stupid female rivalry? If you didn’t have the commitnt to act, you shouldn’t have auditioned; do you know how much fucking trouble this causes?”
“Uh…” Natalie was stunned for a mont. After knowing him for so many years, this was the first ti he had lost his temper with her, and it was a big one at that. Many responses flashed through her mind: “Buddy, relax!”, “FUCK!”, “BAM! I was just kidding!”, “Nice one, MAN!”…
Gradually, his anger woke her up. What was she doing getting worked up over Keira Knightley? Natalie felt she had been quite childish this ti, especially in light of his anger. Her voice softened involuntarily, “Yang, sorry, I was being childish. Of course, I want to play in the movie, I was just…like I was high on drugs! Anyway, whatever Knightley’s attitude is, there’s no problem on my end.”
“Thank you for choosing .” Natalie’s voice was sowhat tender, clearly trying to soothe his anger. She also said honestly, “To be honest, a big reason I wanted to act in ‘The Deceased’ is because you’re the director. I like making movies with you, and that’s no secret. Plus, the story of ‘Infernal Affairs’ is interesting, isn’t it? I’m confident I’m interested in and capable of, and determined to, play ‘Li Xin’er’ or ‘Mary’ well, so if Knightley wants the psychologist, don’t feel troubled, give it to her.”
Looking out at the night, Natalie, leaning on the balcony railing, shook her head with a smile. There were words she didn’t say: Sotis, I wish I could do sothing for you.
“It’s enough for to hear you say that,” Wang Yang exhaled a sigh of relief, pleased to see Natalie’s calm approach to the inexplicable conflicts with Knightley. Her words were touching too, he chuckled, “But don’t get it wrong, when I said I invited you to play the psychologist, I ant you.” Natalie on the other end laughed, “OK.”
“I’m sorry for losing my temper just now,” Wang Yang apologized softly for his outburst, but he felt an unfamiliar, weird feeling, sothing similar to the scenes where he would sotis apologize like this to Jessica, and even to Rachel on several occasions; but with Natalie, it hardly ever happened, he couldn’t even rember one. She was a woman after all, and he had never blasted Joshua or Danny quite like this…
Natalie didn’t seem to take it to heart. Setting aside the fact that he had a point, his angry voice was kind of sexy. She laughed, “It’s my fault, no more fighting! You knocked out.”
KO? Wang Yang laughed at himself mockingly; he hadn’t been able to take care of her in the audition room, and now his temper tantrum had actually gotten the job done. They chatted a few more words, he asked about Natalie’s intentions and other work-related things, and then ended the call.
“Haha—” The suddenly arriving Jessica pounced on him like a koala, clinging to his back with a string of crisp, pleasant laughter. “Whoa—” Wang Yang exclaid in surprise, staggering a couple of steps. He held onto her thigh with one hand and cupped her buttocks with the other, while Jessica comfortably tightened her grip on him, tilting her head against his shoulder, laughing softly, “What are you busy with?”
Wang Yang turned his head and glanced at her, smiling, “I just scolded Natalie a bit.” Jessica blinked in confusion, “Why?” Wang Yang thought for a mont and said, “Because… I was very angry.” Jessica pouted, a look of jealousy on her face, “Oh, you haven’t scolded in a long ti.” Wang Yang was imdiately amused by her and tried to keep a straight face as he said sternly, “Do you have sothing wrong with your brain, alright… FUCK-YOU!”
“You didn’t scold Natalie like that, did you?” Jessica still pursed her lips, and Wang Yang could not help but laugh out loud, “No, I called her a GEEK.” Jessica rolled her eyes, and then also smiled showing her teeth, her gaze lifted upwards, “Then you should call … DOLL.” Wang Yang carried her to a chair, responding with a laugh, “No! You’re smart, but you really are lovable, like an angel.”
Jessica felt a sweetness in her heart and hopped down from him, twirling the hanging locks at her ears. Only then did Wang Yang briefly ntion the face-off between Natalie and Keira Knightley, finishing with, “I was just about to ask for Keira’s opinion.”
“Yeah, won are truly troubleso.” Jessica remarked with a mix of indignation and lant, thinking about if she had joined the audition…! At that mont, Wang Yang asked, “Where’s Keira?” Jessica’s face instantly blood with a sweet smile, “She’s playing with her ball, I let her lie down.” At a bit over four months, Keira had learned to sit, but to protect her spine and such, the two of them hardly ever let her sit by herself. Jessica walked out lively, “You keep busy, I’ll go and play with the baby.” Wang Yang nodded, “Okay, I’ll go out after I make a few calls.”
Because he wasn’t that familiar with Natalie, Wang Yang first called her agent to ask about the situation, learned she was willing to talk directly, and then called her. Once the phone was connected, he greeted politely, “Good evening, Keira. This is Wang Yang.”
“Hello, Magical Yang!” Natalie’s voice was tinged with excitent and anticipation; she knew a call from him ant the role’s fate was decided! And sure enough, she heard Wang Yang say, “Keira, we’ve made a decision about the role, and I’d like to invite you to play Colin’s fiancée in ‘The Deceased.'” Before he could continue, Natalie couldn’t hide her disappointnt as she asked in a lowered voice, “What? This… I auditioned for the psychiatrist… could you tell , who got her?”
Naturally, Wang Yang told her the truth: “Natalie Portman.” Natalie’s reaction was just as he had anticipated, her breath quickened with anger, “Why? Ha-ha! Magical Yang, I’m afraid I’m not very interested…”
“Wait a minute!” Wang Yang interrupted her assertively, pacing to the floor-to-ceiling window as he looked out at the stars, “I know what you want to say; I understand there’s sothing off between you two, I don’t know why it seems like you’re Elizabeth and Darcy to each other.” Natalie on the other end must have found this amusing, chuckling, “We’re not.” Wang Yang didn’t bother with her response, continuing, “I invited you to play this role because it suits you better; your aura fits a cop better than a warm-and-fuzzy doctor.”
Natalie, however, didn’t agree much, if the psychiatrist had gone to soone else, maybe it wouldn’t have mattered to her, but…
“Listen! You have to trust !” Wang Yang sounded impatient, especially since Natalie wasn’t the type to waffle. Why beat around the bush? He said directly, “Agents, critics, friends—step aside for now… I even know you better than yourself! Who am I? I know which role you’re best suited for! Also, I think this is a great opportunity, for you and for Natalie. Don’t you need a chance to compete head-on? Isn’t this film just that?”
“The screen ti for both roles is almost the sa; you may even have a bit more. It’s certain that there is no main character, but whose performance will be better? This ti it’s obvious, isn’t it? If you never appear on screen together, people’s impression of you both probably still lingers in a certain era, ‘Star Wars Episode I’? Wouldn’t it be even better if you could defeat Portman head-on? Elizabeth, make Darcy shut up!”
Listening to his words, Natalie was genuinely moved. If it were anyone else saying this, she wouldn’t know what her reaction might be, but on the other side of the phone was Magical Yang, “I even know you better than yourself!” She couldn’t doubt that statent…
“I don’t know if you’re going to favor her,” said the always straightforward Natalie, voicing a concern. Wang Yang laughed angrily, “What do you an? Favoring her? Not giving you directions? Intentionally making your performance look bad in the editing?” Natalie replied calmly, “Everyone knows you’re close with her.” Wang Yang was slightly piqued, “Oh my! I am a director, okay? To her, to you, to everyone else, it’s all the sa! If it weren’t, would Keira Knightley audition for this minor role? Please, think about it.”
In fact, upon reflection, Natalie realized this was true and regretted her words. Her spoken apology, though, was lukewarm, “Sorry, I was being immature.” She added, “I need so ti to think, I’ll consider it carefully and get back to you.” (
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