"Miss Mulligan..."
In the studio, the friendly-looking female host glanced at the prompt board opposite and said, "Can I ask you some personal questions?"
Carey Mulligan flashed a bright smile, "Of course."
The show was a live evening broadcast. Following Mulligan's words, the host continued, "I've talked with some of your fans, especially the ones who are crazy about you. They are very interested in your first love."
Carey Mulligan didn't say anything but implicitly agreed.
Although some media had reported on her relationship with Murphy, at that time, neither of them were well-known, and the story didn't spread widely. Moreover, as time went on, the gap in fame and status between them grew, and few media outlets paid attention to these old stories.
This was part of the predetermined script. The host directly asked, "At what age did your first love happen?"
"Sixteen," Carey Mulligan replied. "To be precise, just after I turned sixteen."
The host immediately followed up, "Was it when you first entered Hollywood? If I remember correctly, you had already filmed 'Hard Candy' at sixteen."
The atmosphere between them was casual, which was the show's characteristic.
"It was right after we finished filming 'Hard Candy,'" Mulligan said, appearing relaxed. "At that time, I was very rebellious. My parents opposed me becoming an actress. We had a big fallout, and someone helped me, helped me achieve my dream of becoming an actress. He seemed incredibly talented and amazing, always showing up when I needed him the most, so..."
She shrugged. The host took over, saying, "So, you fell in love with him?"
"Yes," Mulligan nodded slightly. Her actress's face showed a hint of nostalgia and infatuation. "I fell madly in love with him, ignoring my parents, family, and friends' objections."
"Love above all?" the host skillfully created an atmosphere.
"Yes," Mulligan smiled. "Love above all, believing he was the best in the world."
In reality, this was all to create an atmosphere and pique the audience's interest.
Seeing the timing was right, the host finally asked, "Can we know who this lucky person is, your first love?"
Mulligan remained silent, seemingly reluctant to say.
Pretending not to know about the past rumors between Murphy and Mulligan, the host pressed on, "Since you met during filming, is he someone from the Hollywood circle?"
After a moment of silence, Mulligan slowly nodded.
"Don't say it yet..."
This wasn't part of the predetermined script. Seeing Mulligan trying to take the lead, the host quickly adapted, "Let me guess."
She asked, "Is he still in Hollywood?"
Mulligan nodded.
"Is he an actor?"
Mulligan shook her head.
"Someone behind the scenes?" Seeing Mulligan nod again, the host widened her eyes, asking in disbelief, "Is it Murphy Stanton?"
Mulligan first smiled shyly, then said, "Yes, it's Murphy."
"Wow!" The host exaggeratedly opened her mouth in shock. "Your first love was Murphy Stanton? The current super director of Hollywood, Murphy Stanton?"
"Yes," Mulligan nodded again.
"This is incredible!" The host acted surprised for a moment before saying, "Did you fall in love during the filming of 'Hard Candy'?"
"You could say that," Mulligan said gently, like a lady. "We were working together every day, maybe we developed feelings. But I had never been in a relationship before, and Murphy had no experience either. It took us a long time to confirm our relationship."
"Wait a minute!" The host interrupted Mulligan, grasping the key point. "Murphy had no experience either? So you were also Murphy Stanton's first love?"
Mulligan nodded lightly again, "Yes, we were each other's first love."
"First love!" The host lowered her voice slightly, asking mysteriously, "Were you each other's first as well?"
"I don't know about Murphy," Mulligan hesitated but continued, "I was his first."
The host, full of gossip spirit, asked, "Was there anything special about being with a big director? Can you talk about it?"
Mulligan slowly started, "At that time, I was very young and immature..."
For the sake of publicity and attracting attention, both the show and Mulligan herself were willing to go all out.
Meanwhile, in New York for promotion, Murphy sat in the luxurious suite of the Waldorf Hotel. He picked up the TV remote and pressed the power button, making Carey Mulligan and the ABC host on the screen disappear. The room returned to silence.
He had turned on the TV after receiving a call from James Franco. After watching for a while, he understood the purpose of the program: one part was Leonardo DiCaprio's promotion of "The Great Gatsby," and the other part was Carey Mulligan using his current fame for self-promotion.
Once he understood what was going on, Murphy saw no need to keep watching. As long as Mulligan's publicity didn't go too far, she could do whatever she liked. After all, what happened back then was done. Why shouldn't the other party talk about it?
Murphy wasn't that domineering.
Moreover, using famous exes for publicity was a common tactic in Hollywood.
For instance, Nicole Kidman, when interviewed now, would inevitably talk about Tom Cruise, saying things about their past. Why? Was she really reminiscing about her ex-husband? It was just to leverage Tom Cruise's enormous fame to gain media and public attention as her career declined.
Similarly, Jennifer Aniston, the Rachel who once calmly divorced Brad Pitt, also became a practical person in Hollywood. Although she didn't mention Brad Pitt as frequently as Nicole Kidman did Tom Cruise, in about four or five out of ten interviews, she would bring him up, also for publicity purposes.
In fact, Murphy was a bit surprised that Carey Mulligan hadn't talked about their past all these years. This was Hollywood, after all. Now that Mulligan realized she could use these old stories, it showed she had become realistic and mature, no longer the headstrong, self-centered girl she once was...
Thinking of this, Murphy shook his head. Let bygones be bygones. People had to move forward.
Moreover, who didn't have a few ex-girlfriends in Hollywood? Even random people in this country could say the same.
He tossed the remote aside and stood up to stretch. Heading to the study, Murphy decided to focus on his work. Tomorrow, he had to participate in NBC's live broadcast of "The Today Show" to promote the second weekend of "The Dark City." He needed to review the specific itinerary.
Participating in "The Today Show" was a carefully chosen strategy by 20th Century Fox and Stanton Studios. It was the number one morning show in North America, dominating the early morning slot like no other program.
Early the next morning, Murphy led the cast to NBC's New York studio. This time, the show's guests were mostly from the behind-the-scenes team, mainly cinematographer Philippe Rousselot and assistant director Michelle Williams.
Since the show featured other interviews besides "The Dark City," Murphy waited a while before being led into the live studio by the staff.
Host Matt Lauer's interview had no surprises, mainly discussing the film's post-production, especially the widely praised use of IMAX technology.
"'The Dark City' is an ambitious story, and I needed a grand, majestic dimension to portray it. So, IMAX format was my best, even my only, choice."
This was a hot topic, and Murphy was happy to elaborate. "The IMAX film area is ten times that of a standard 35mm film. It carries far more visual information than 35mm film. This scale of film makes the images incredibly sharp and bright, and more majestic."
He looked at the camera and spoke seriously, "A big screen brings curiosity and awe, so I needed the biggest screen."
Matt Lauer then turned to Philippe Rousselot.
"Due to the unimaginable screen size, the audience might overlook the cinematography, but they should feel it. Excellent cinematography is the foundation of the visuals."
Rousselot, no stranger to interviews, knew what to say. "Murphy used many long shots and sharp editing techniques. He wanted to draw the audience's attention to the details on the IMAX screen—this is a subversion of action film editing. Filming in IMAX format is difficult just in terms of equipment preparation and use. An IMAX camera weighs 135 pounds and its large size makes it hard to move."
As the film's first assistant director, Michelle Williams was also a focus of the show. He said, "Because of the unimaginable screen size, every frame had to be perfect. The IMAX film format allowed us to show every detail in the highest quality, and we took full advantage of that."
Overall, just like before, Murphy and his team emphasized how difficult it was to shoot with IMAX and how amazing the results were.
To maintain a steady momentum, a film needs not only word of mouth but also continuous promotion.
In its second weekend, "The Dark City" faced competition from "The Great Gatsby."
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