Hugo carefully tried to recall the movie The Firm, but his memory was a complete blank. He couldn't remember anything about this film, not even who the lead actor was. Although he had the clues of director Sydney and screenwriter Robert, Hugo found that his mind still had no leads. Instead, what came to mind were several of Sydney's later works as a producer — Cold Mountain, Michael Clayton, and The Reader.
But as for how the script of The Firm actually was, or how it performed, Hugo still had no idea. Maybe after seeing the script, some memories would be awakened.
"Are you worried about Brad?" Joseph looked at Hugo's thoughtful expression, pondered for a while, and finally brought up this topic.
Hugo paused for a moment, then let out a helpless laugh. "No, I'm not worried about him."
It might sound like a coincidence, but in fact, this was exactly the current reality of the film industry: for actors between the ages of twenty and thirty, there were only so many to choose from. Among them, Hugo and Brad were part of the group whose temperaments were somewhat similar yet each had their own distinct traits, and they were the first to rise to prominence. When producers made their choices, it was very easy to put both of them into the audition shortlist. This would be the third time — after A River Runs Through It and A Few Good Men, that the two would face each other in direct competition. Neither knew if this was fate or a nightmare. In the first two encounters, Hugo and Brad had each won once. Who knew what the result would be this time?
"Then why are your brows all knitted together?" A few months ago, Joseph wouldn't have asked such a direct question. But now, the two of them had clearly found a balance in how they got along, and Joseph was willing to ask about Hugo's personal state, which was beneficial for their collaboration. "Or are you worried about Tracy?" This was the second answer that came to Joseph's mind.
Joseph's reminder brought the earlier memory back to Hugo. He briefly described the scene of Tracy meeting with Ron just now. Joseph's brows instinctively furrowed — this was indeed a tricky situation, because no one knew exactly what was going on behind the scenes.
"What exactly did Tracy say Ron told her?" Joseph tried to look for some clues.
"Ron told her, 'A Few Good Men has set its premiere date, and he hopes everything will go smoothly this time.'" Hugo recalled the conversation earlier, working to reproduce the scene in his mind.
"Were both of those sentences said by Ron, or was the latter half from Tracy?" Joseph noticed something might be off about this statement and pressed further.
Hugo bit his lip and thought for a moment. "I — Tracy said, 'I hope everything will go smoothly this time.'" Which meant the latter half was Tracy's hint and that was the reason why Hugo had felt something was off after hearing it.
It was quite possible that Ron had arranged some kind of "accident" for the premiere, and Tracy was giving a warning. Or perhaps she was hinting that Ron had pulled some kind of scheme behind the scenes. But… why? Why would Ron do such a thing? And why would Tracy take the initiative to warn him? Neither Ron nor Tracy had ever been in any sort of friendly alliance with Hugo. And was Tracy's word even trustworthy?
Joseph also found it somewhat headache-inducing. He thought carefully, then tentatively asked, "Hugo, do you think it could have something to do with the A Few Good Men crew?"
Because Tracy had specifically mentioned the premiere of that film. But the problem was, the premiere was a public occasion — aside from the possibility of difficult questions from reporters, there was very little a backstage schemer could manipulate. Hugo was a male actor, so unlike actresses, there was no wardrobe sabotage that could be done. Even if there was the possibility of an accident, Columbia Pictures would hardly want such a thing to happen. So if it wasn't related to the premiere itself, then it must be related to the film. Joseph arrived at the most logical deduction.
"…You're talking about Allege?" Hugo didn't react at first, since that incident had happened a long time ago, with no further ripples afterward, and A Few Good Men had wrapped shooting smoothly. If Joseph hadn't brought it up, he would have completely forgotten it.
"You know, when Allege left, he hinted that someone was behind him pulling the strings." The more Joseph thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. "Back then I suspected Tom, Brad, or Martin — I even suspected Tracy. But now, it seems Ron is the most likely one."
"We can't just believe Tracy's words — for all we know, she's the one stirring things up behind the scenes and is now pushing the blame onto Ron." Hugo was unwilling to jump to conclusions, instead guessing other possibilities. "Besides, even if it was Ron, why? What reason would he have?"
"Because you attended the Final Analysis premiere and stole the front-page spotlight that should have gone to Basic Instinct, which made Ron lose face. And then seeing you get offers for two films in a row was like a direct slap in the face to his earlier decision to drop you — not something he'd want to see." Joseph laid out his reasoning. "So he figured he'd teach you a lesson. On the A Few Good Men set, a harmless little lesson that could put you in your place without causing any real damage."
Indeed, Allege's stunt of switching out the hot water back then had simply been to make Hugo suffer a little, without any serious consequences.
"Most importantly, I found out that Allege's previous job was as crew on Reversal of Fortune." Naturally, after that incident, Joseph hadn't just sat idly by — he had looked into some information. Though he hadn't uncovered much at the time, now everything seemed to connect. "Jeremy Irons is one of Ron's actors."
Reversal of Fortune was a film nominated at the 63rd Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, and it had earned its lead actor Jeremy both the Golden Globe and the Oscar for Best Actor that year, pulling off a major upset.
Jeremy was a great actor. Hugo's deepest impression of him, however, came not from Reversal of Fortune, but from the 1981 classic miniseries Brideshead Revisited, and from the 1981 film The French Lieutenant's Woman in which he co-starred with Meryl Streep.
Hugo hadn't realized that Jeremy was under Ron's management — which spoke to Ron's keen eye. In fact, Ron's earlier plans for Hugo's acting career also had a clear pattern: Jeremy had honed his craft for nearly twenty years before dazzling in Reversal of Fortune. That year, he had beaten Robert De Niro in Awakenings, Kevin Costner in Dances With Wolves, Gérard Depardieu in Cyrano de Bergerac, and Richard Harris in The Field to take home the Oscar — a true "ten years to sharpen a sword" story. Hugo had been nurtured along that same trajectory. And after six years of polishing his craft without becoming a success, it was no surprise that Ron had decided to drop him.
"But even if it really was Ron, what can we do about it? Forget about having no proof — even if we did have proof…" Hugo was speaking the plain truth: Allege's actions were just part of the industry's unspoken rules. The fact that Rob Reiner had fired Allege on the spot had already given Hugo an explanation. Pushing it further afterward would never have led to any result.
Joseph, however, took a deep breath and said quietly, "No, at the very least we now know the enemy exists, and hopefully we won't remain in a passive position."
A former agent, now standing behind him to stab him in the back—such a thing was difficult to accept. But Hugo was fine; he had never had that kind of reliance on or trust in Ron. So, although he felt chilled, he did not experience the anger and sorrow of betrayal.
What Hugo was more concerned about was why Tracy wanted to warn him, and what her purpose was. Could it be that she simply wanted to watch him and Ron fight? That was certainly not so simple. If it was that Tracy wanted to extend goodwill to him, there had been no sign of it during their conversation.
Tracy—she was an even greater mystery than Ron.
Joseph looked at Hugo with some concern, but unexpectedly, although Hugo's expression was somewhat stiff, there was no major emotional fluctuation. This was different from the reaction Joseph had expected. But thinking carefully, for the past half-year, Hugo had almost never brought up Ron's name, so it seemed he truly had given up on him. In that case, his current reaction was not surprising.
After a moment of silence, it was Hugo who took the initiative to change the subject. "When we get back, I'll first go buy the original novel and read it through." Having gone through the filming of Scent of a Woman and A Few Good Men, Hugo knew that acting was not that simple. Even if he had someone in his mind he could imitate, if he could not turn that imitation into something of his own, his acting could never break through. So he had to work hard.
Although this was only an audition for now, serious preparation in the early stages was still necessary. Whether or not the audition succeeded in the end, this would be part of his acting training.
Hearing the fighting spirit in Hugo's tone, Joseph relaxed slightly. "I'll get in touch with Sidney in the next couple of days to see exactly how the audition will be conducted." According to Rick, the audition was only just beginning its planning stage, which meant the crew was only starting to be assembled, so there was no need to rush anything.
"This Thursday—you haven't forgotten, have you?" Joseph, in an attempt to lighten the mood, spoke in a casual tone. "So, what's your plan? Spend it in Los Angeles or go back to Cheyenne?"
Hugo froze right where he was, giving no response to Joseph's words. Just when Joseph almost thought Hugo had fallen asleep, Hugo finally let out a hesitant "Uh," and asked in a tone full of puzzlement, "Thanksgiving is here already?" Hugo frowned as he spoke.
"Of course!" Joseph looked at Hugo in surprise, the movement so sudden that he almost lost his grip on the steering wheel, giving himself quite a fright. "Hugo, don't tell me you still haven't called Mr. Lancaster!"
Hugo could only grin wordlessly, then pointed toward the intersection ahead. "Hey, it's a green light."
"I'm not color-blind." Joseph rolled his eyes and answered helplessly. This attempt to change the subject was far too clumsy.
..
Hi For access to additional chapters of
Director in Hollywood (40 chpaters)
Made In Hollywood (60 Chapters)
Pokemon:Bounty Hunter(30 Chapters)
Douluo Dalu: Reincarnated as Yan(40 Chapters)
Hollywood:From Razzie to Legend(40 Chapters)
The Great Ruler (30 Chapters)
Join pateron.com/Translaterappu