King of Hollywood-Chapter 103 - Oscar (Part 2)

Chapter 103: Chapter 103 Oscar (Part 2)

After answering several questions, Dennis bid the reporters farewell and walked toward the entrance of the music center along the red carpet. As he passed a statue whose name he couldn’t recall, he heard someone calling him, “Hey, Dan!”

Looking in the direction of the voice, Morgan Freeman was waving at him, and the couple linked arm-in-arm beside the old man were none other than Tim Robbins and his life partner, Susan Sarandon.

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“Hey, Morgan, Tim, great to see you,” Dennis immediately went over and shook hands with both, and although his role in “The Shawshank Redemption” was not large, his scenes were almost all with Freeman and Robbins, so they were all quite friendly with each other.

“And this beautiful lady must be the fascinating Susan Sarandon,” Dennis said with a smile, nodding respectfully at Sarandon who stood by Robbins.

“Hello, Dan, you are quite the charmer,” Sarandon raised an eyebrow and scrutinized him, “You can call me Susan. Tim always speaks highly of you, and it seems he’s not wrong.”

“Thank you, I know opportunities are hard to come by, so I try to work harder,” Dennis said modestly, then swiftly changed the topic, “By the way, congratulations on your Best Actress nomination, Susan, that’s really quite an honor.”

...

This time Susan Sarandon was nominated for Best Actress for “Thelma & Louise,” and it was a pity that she and Tim Robbins weren’t married; otherwise, it would have been a husband-and-wife nomination rather than a couple’s.

“Actually, I’ve given up expecting those jurors to award me Best Actress,” Sarandon shook her head, seemingly unconcerned, but she looked at Robbins with satisfaction, “But getting nominated alongside Tim is pretty nice.”

“It’s truly enviable,” Freeman said with a hint of wistfulness and teasing, “In the history of the Oscars, there haven’t been many couples nominated for Best Actor and Actress together.”

Robbins and Sarandon both laughed, and the four of them chatted for a while. Although Dennis was mostly listening, he did not show any signs of impatience. After a few minutes, the couple bid farewell and left for the music center. Dennis then turned to Freeman with a question, “By the way, Morgan, have you seen Ed?”

“Ed? Uh… he’s over there.” Freeman scoped the area and quickly located Adrian’s figure.

“Thanks,” Dennis nodded at him, then headed that way.

Adrian was standing not far from the entrance of the music center, talking to a middle-aged man who appeared to be in his forties or fifties, looking tall and dapper in a crisply tailored suit.

Before Dennis had even reached them, he heard Adrian say, “How about it, Joe? I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

He took a close look at the middle-aged man and realized it was Jonathan Demme, the director of “Silence of the Lambs.” Dennis remembered that Adrian had interacted with Jonathan at last year’s Berlin Film Festival, and now they were contenders.

Dennis hesitated, unsure whether to approach and greet them, as Adrian and Jonathan seemed to be discussing something important. Just as he was about to leave, Adrian turned his head and caught sight of him.

“Hey, Dan, you finally made it,” he greeted with an enthusiastic tone, “Come over here—this is Jonathan Demme, you might have met him, although he’s my main competitor tonight, but I just want to convince him to direct a movie.”

“I don’t recall ever saying no, Ed,” Demme said after exchanging pleasantries with Dennis, with a reminding tone.

“Is that a deal then?” Adrian quickly seized on his words.

“Well…” Demme lifted his hands, his smile somewhat helpless, “You really know how to seize an opportunity, Ed, and… alright, I think you should be a producer rather than a director.”

“Come on, Joe, you were already smitten early last year,” Adrian laughed heartily, reaching out to pat his shoulder, “As for the rest, don’t worry, tonight is going to be yours. I’m just your backdrop.”

“Oh, I like that line. It would be wonderful if Ridley and the others said the same,” Demi said teasingly.

“That’s settled, then. I’m going in first,” Adrian said, gesturing to Dennis before heading toward the music center.

Dennis nodded at Demi again and followed Adrian. Once they entered the lobby of the music center, he asked in a low voice, “Do you mean it, Ed?”

“What?” It seemed Adrian didn’t catch his drift.

“I mean, best director — do you really think you have no chance at all?” Dennis explained.

“Heh,” Adrian chuckled lightly, “You have to understand, Dan, everything has its rules. Unless you can change or have the power to change those rules, you must play by them. It’s not a big deal. What’s meant to be yours will eventually be yours and… sometimes losing is actually winning.”

Losing is winning? Dennis didn’t understand what he meant and was about to ask when he saw Adrian’s eyes light up. Adrian walked towards a tall woman in the music center’s front hall.

Dennis instantly shut his mouth, swallowing the words he was about to say, and walked into the hall without greeting anyone. He knew that Adrian wouldn’t mind.

“Hey, Julie, great to see you here again,” Adrian caught up with the lady taking slow strides in front of him and greeted her with a smile.

“Ed?” The woman turned her head, revealing a surprised expression.

“Wow, Julie, you really look beautiful today,” Adrian appraised her from head to toe. The Julia Roberts before him was wearing a pure white strapless evening gown, her hair neatly done up, exposing her pristine swan neck, smooth shoulders, and delicate collarbones, making her look incredibly sexy.

“Thank you. I never thought that when we met again, you’d already be the youngest nominee for Best Director,” Julia said with a slight smile, her trademark big mouth making her look particularly charming.

“Life is always full of surprises, with ups and downs. You shouldn’t take it too seriously,” Adrian shrugged his shoulders with a tone that included a subtle comfort. ‘Hook’ had a decent box office, but it hadn’t reached the movie company’s expected targets. Fortunately, the video sales were good. As a result, Julia’s label as a ‘box office poison’ wasn’t mentioned again, although critics still couldn’t resist sneering at her.

“It’s okay. I remember what you once said to me; I won’t be brought down so easily,” Julia smiled and shrugged her shoulders. How could she not understand what Adrian really wanted to say?

“You actually remember what I said that day? I’m honored,” Adrian made an exaggerated expression and then leaned in, taking a deep breath.

“Chanel No. 19? I’m glad you took my suggestion,” he said, eyes not blinking as he looked at her.

“Um…” Julia suddenly became a bit sheepish, “All right, I have to go in now. Goodbye, Ed.”

After saying this, she hurriedly walked into the hall without looking back; Adrian watched her figure disappear at the entrance before he chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.

(Well, about Julia, the guys in the group are all demanding to include her, but there’s a whole bunch of lolis to raise and a load of mature women to flirt with later on. And if there are too many female characters, aside from ensuring the main characters are well depicted, I’m afraid the others will just end up being window dressing. So, what do you think? Even if they become just part of the scenery later, should we include them?)