"...Roar, roar, roar! The Palme d'Or, the Palme d'Or! We're way out of its league now! Roar, roar, roar!"
Laughter, screams, cheers, and uproar followed.
Even though Anson couldn't see the scene through the phone, he could vividly imagine the party atmosphere just from the voices of Jake Gyllenhaal and Kirsten Dunst. Los Angeles, across the Atlantic, seemed even more eager to celebrate than the people involved, with champagne and music in full swing.
So, who won the Palme d'Or again?
Anson chuckled silently, not minding at all, and said cheerfully, "Good to know. Right now, I'm taking time out of my extremely busy schedule to answer this call. Do you know how busy I am? You two should probably be kneeling to take this call."
"Yes, yes, terribly sorry," Jake, the joker, played along, "How's my kneeling posture? Good enough?"
Anson smirked, "I can't see. Kirsten?"
Kirsten yelled into the phone, "Reporting! It's perfect, really perfect! This is just a rehearsal. Next time, have Jake do it in person, and make sure he takes it seriously. Oh, and do it for me too."
"Ah..."
Before she could finish, Kirsten let out a yelp, seemingly caught up in some roughhousing with Jake.
On the other end, Anson said, "Hey, you two! Was this call just to show off your relationship? I had a big breakfast, okay?"
"Ha ha, ha ha ha."
Kirsten laughed brightly.
"Jake, Jake! If you're not talking to Anson, go away. Shoo, shoo!"
"Anson, congrats! Congratulations, congratulations, this is just incredible."
"So, how did things go at Cannes?"
The phone had somehow made its way into Kirsten's hands, and Jake had disappeared somewhere.
Anson said, "Now I finally understand the French's passion for films. It's pure fanaticism. You should come to Cannes sometime; you'd love it."
"Oh, I met a lot of directors—Ozon, Lars von Trier, Ceylan. You wouldn't believe it; there's a whole world of directors outside Hollywood."
In the early 2000s, the concept of a global village was just starting to take off, and international travel was booming. It was a time when people were beginning to open their minds and truly appreciate the grandeur of the world.
For actors who stayed in Hollywood, it was easy to fall into the illusion that Hollywood was the be-all and end-all of cinema. But that wasn't the case.
Cannes was an important window to the world.
Kirsten had always longed to broaden her horizons and work with more directors, no matter the style or genre, in her quest to explore the boundaries of her acting.
It wasn't the fact that The Elephant won the Palme d'Or that excited Kirsten; rather, it was the idea that Anson got to meet these top-tier directors.
"You met them? You really met them?" Kirsten was particularly excited.
Anson replied, "Of course. Not just at screenings or masterclasses—you run into them around Cannes all the time. I even saw Ceylan rushing around."
"He was running along the promenade just to catch a screening of At Five in the Afternoon. I've never seen such an energetic Ceylan."
Ha ha ha.
Kirsten laughed so hard she almost fell over, even though it wasn't a real joke. But those funny little stories from film festivals always brought joy and became unforgettable memories.
"Ah, I'm so jealous," Kirsten said without hiding it. "I want to go to a film festival too."
Anson replied, "Then we need to work even harder. More films!"
Kirsten nodded eagerly. "So, are you still in Cannes? When are you coming back?"
"Not that soon," Anson replied. "Next, I'm heading to Italy. Remember my band's tour? We're not done yet. I believe in finishing what we start. Since we've begun, we have to see it through."
"I thought the tour was over."
"No, no, not yet. Italy first, then heading north. We'll start in Greece and make our way to Hungary, Slovakia, and the rest of Eastern Europe. It's a big project, but we're ready."
"Wow, that's huge. Honestly, Jake and I were just talking the other day about how we should head to Europe and see one of your street performances in person. The vibe must be incredible; we're really looking forward to it."
Kirsten's excitement bubbled up again.
"You sound so jealous," Anson teased.
Kirsten nodded without hesitation, "I am! I'm not even trying to hide it. Spending a summer road-tripping through Europe, doing street performances while taking in the charm of old cities—oh my god, that's the life of my dreams!"
"And stopping at Cannes in the middle, then hitting the road again. Wow, it couldn't get any better."
"But, if you're continuing the tour, why didn't you tell Sam and the others to push back the filming to July? That way, your schedule wouldn't be so tight."
Kirsten was talking about the filming schedule for Spider-Man 2.
Anson chuckled, "I would've liked that, but I can't mess up the whole crew's schedule just for myself, can I?"
Kirsten asked, "Is that so? But why did you suggest moving the shoot to June in the first place?"
"What do you mean?"
"The original plan was to start in July, but then it was moved up to June. I heard it was because your schedule had a conflict. Also, Sony-Columbia was worried post-production wouldn't keep up, so they moved it up by a month."
"No, I didn't," Anson replied, puzzled. "June or July doesn't affect me. I scheduled my European tour after the film dates were confirmed."
"I made sure my tour in Europe left me a week to get back to New York and prepare for the shoot."
Kirsten didn't dwell on it. "Maybe it was just a mix-up. You know how Sony-Columbia is. They probably tried to change the schedule and didn't want to deal with pushback from other actors, so they blamed you instead. After all, the lead is the centerpiece, right?"
Anson joked back, "So, I'm the designated scapegoat?"
Kirsten laughed, "Heavy is the head that wears the crown. You get that big paycheck; just suck it up. Even if you're not the scapegoat, we're still talking behind your back anyway."
"Ouch!" Anson clutched his chest, feigning pain.
Kirsten burst out laughing, and the two bantered a bit more before hanging up.
Anson stood there holding his phone, his thoughts swirling.
Something didn't feel right.
He needed to sort out the timeline—
The band's album release was set, and he was working on the promotional strategy and schedule. Then the filming of Spider-Man 2 was moved up, which caused a conflict with the filming schedule of The Princess Diaries 2, forcing him to drop the latter. With a brief gap in his schedule, that's when Anson proposed his European street tour, followed by his participation in the Cannes Film Festival competition.
But, just hypothetically—what if Spider-Man 2 hadn't been moved up? What then?
"Anson."
A voice called from ahead, snapping Anson out of his thoughts. He looked up to see Edgar approaching.