The Best Director-Chapter 476 - : With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Chapter 476: Chapter 476: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

“No, this is absurd!”

Under the night sky, the Brooklyn area of New York was brightly lit. An angry shout filled the spacious living room, and looking at the furious Michelle, Heath felt irritated. He hadn’t expected her reaction to be so intense. He spread his hands: “What do you mean ‘absurd’? Do you understand what it means to get into character? I just need to do this!” Michelle remained expressionless, objecting, “I’m not talking about your method, it’s the thing itself…”

“It’s a job, it’s a serious matter!” Heath interrupted her loudly. Why couldn’t she understand? He ran his fingers through his hair and took a few steps, glancing over at Mathilda, who was sitting in her baby chair. Her clueless little face was still so adorable, instantly sweetening his heart. Heath suppressed his emotions and said softly, “Michelle, I have to do it, I must! This role, this role—I’ve lived so many years, and I’ve been waiting for it. Do you understand? His pain, his inner world… everything is so captivating! I can’t stop thinking about it.” He looked up at Michelle: “Do you get what I mean?”

“Cut the crap, Heath! You always say that.” Michelle tried hard to control her emotions, took a breath, and spoke softly, “I’m really worried about your mental state.”

Heath snorted with a hint of amusement: “There’s nothing wrong with my mental state!” Michelle immediately responded with a cold laugh, “Nothing wrong? Taking sleeping pills every day is really fine? Even now? If you get into ‘Billy’, how will you fall asleep, Mr. Ledger? Increase the dosage? It’s time we dealt with it!” Heath waved his hand impatiently, “Don’t start with that! I’m fine… You don’t need to worry about me.”

“I’m your fiancée!!” Michelle grew angry, tears nearly spilling from her eyes. Every time they fought, he was like this—willful, savage, childish—it was just distressing! Heath shut his mouth, not speaking, and Michelle also stopped, staring at him in silence for a few seconds before suddenly walking over to the coffee table, picking up the phone, and dialing a contact. Seeing her look so fierce, Heath couldn’t help but break the silence: “Who are you calling?”

Who are you calling? Michelle still said nothing.

The movie “I’m Not There”, which was scheduled to start shooting in July, invited them both, but Ledger declined due to “The Deceased”, and so Michelle followed suit in refusal and instead vied for the role of the psychiatrist in “The Deceased”, so they could work together and she could keep an eye on him. Of course, she lost in the end. Now, Michelle was really enraged, wanting to scold that person. Does he at all know about Heath’s mental state? Giving him “Chan Wing Yan” and then “Joker”, didn’t he realize Heath was already drug-dependent? If Heath went crazy, if this home was ruined, she…

“La la la la la!” Under the night sky of Los Angeles, the elegant living room was filled with laughter. Wang Yang and Keke sat opposite each other on the couch, legs crossed. As soon as he started laughing, Keke would laugh nonstop, her little hands waving continuously, shouting crisply, “Da da da da da da—” When he stopped, Keke would also quiet down, her little mouth slightly open, her clear, large eyes staring at him. Wang Yang clapped his hands and Keke burst into happy laughter again. He couldn’t help but laugh out loud: “Look at her, how smart and cute she is!” Jessica, holding a DV camera and filming by the couch, nodded with a smile: “Yeah!”

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Both their voices conveyed a sense of pride and love. Keke was their greatest treasure.

Preserving the trajectory of their precious child’s growth was naturally extremely important, especially for someone addicted to directing. Apart from the usual photography, they had started filming Keke against the same background and from the same frontal angle every so often. They were aiming for a fast-edited growth record video to compile much later, from birth to 18 years old. How fun it would be! But this was a super long-term project, with the filming duration set for 18 years.

“C-is-for-Cookie, That’s good enough for me, C-is-for-Cookie, That’s good enough for me, C-is-for-Cookie, That’s good enough for me, Oh! Cookie, Cookie, Cookie starts with C…”

The cell phone on the coffee table suddenly rang, and when the song “Sesame Street” played, Keke let out a “Yiya” and burst into laughter. Ever since Wang Yang set the ringtone to “C-Is-For-Cookie,” it had unexpectedly become a big hit. Every time someone called, she would be tickled pink by the Cookie Monster! Watching the angelic smile of little Sweetheart, Wang Yang intentionally let the phone ring a bit longer, singing in a gruff voice, “Cookie, Cookie, Cookie-starts-with-C!” Jessica, who continued filming, chuckled and showed her teeth, “Could ‘cookie’ be the first word the baby learns?”

“Cookie——!!” Only then did Wang Yang, still smiling, pick up the phone. Seeing that the caller was Michelle Williams felt somewhat unusual; he answered and said with a laugh in the Cookie Monster’s voice, “Hey, Michelle!” Accompanied by Keke’s crisp laughter, the voice on the phone came through with a barrage of curses: “Wang Yang, do you want Heath Ledger to die?” Wang Yang was taken aback, “Uh…?” On the other end, Michelle kept on without pausing, “Aren’t you his mentor?! Can’t you advise him to treat his family better?!”

“Michelle, Michelle!!” Hearing her shout “Wang Yang,” Heath immediately lost his composure and yelled out, both anxious and surprised, as he lunged over, “Stop, what are you freaking out about!” Seeing the two of them arguing more and more vehemently, Mathilda finally pursed her lips and began to cry out loud, “Wuuuwaaawaaawaaa——”

Michelle didn’t really mean anything by it; it was just behavior from losing her temper for a moment. Heath easily snatched the phone away, and she shook her head saying, “I don’t know, I can’t convince you, but I can’t watch you continue down this disastrous path…”

FUCK! Heath nearly fainted, pinching his forehead, What’s going on with Yang’s magic? He was so grateful for the opportunity to act in “The Deceased”, for Yang’s trust and esteem; now this was really awkward! Not knowing what to say, Heath forced a laugh, “Haha, Yang! Sorry, Michelle’s gone a bit mad, no, she’s joking.” After Michelle yelled “he’s gone mad——!” she walked towards Mathilda, Heath said with a straightforward smile, “We had a fight, sorry to disturb you… I’ll call you back later.”

“Heath, take it easy! Remember, she loves you.” Wang Yang mediated for a few words. This wasn’t the first time that other people’s relationship problems had spilled over to him; he knew how to handle it. Once Heath replied with a much calmer, “I understand,” Wang Yang ended the call and shrugged at Jessica who had stopped filming.

Jessica looked puzzled, her eyes slightly wide as she sat down on the sofa, asking, “What happened?” Wang Yang scratched his head, “Heath and Michelle had an argument. She called to scold me, saying I monopolized her fiancé.” Jessica responded, “Oh, GOOD-FOR-YOU.” As Keke made audible noises, Wang Yang explained the situation to them; he had already guessed the probable cause, and continued, “Heath probably wants to lock himself away for a month to prepare better for his role. He told me about it.”

“I understand.” On hearing about secluding himself for a month, Jessica’s brows knitted slightly, “I understand Michelle’s feelings; a month isn’t very long, but… is there really no other way? Does it always have to be like this? It’s an attitude, putting family aside for work?” Keke continued voicing her noises, and Wang Yang patted the little angel’s head, “I wouldn’t do that.”

Jessica supported her chin with the back of her hand, her gaze lowered like The Thinker sculpture, musing, “If you needed to do that… I’d still support you, because I know how much you love your family, you love us, but I couldn’t, I mean, if you can’t take care of your family, personal success means nothing!” In her heart, family always came first.

“Yeah, that’s right…” Wang Yang nodded, unable to resist nudging the big angel’s head.

What was it that drove him to keep going? In this life where he had everything? Was it just passion and fervor? He knew it wasn’t; it was her strength! She focused all her efforts on the family, doing all those things he wanted to do, could not afford to miss, could not afford to be absent from, yet didn’t have enough time for. This allowed him to work hard outside, and then, when he came home, he could always see her, always enjoy her tenderness, thoughtfulness, and the love of this home, fully relaxing, like a battery charging up. She gave him all her energy; she sacrificed so much for him.

So he would never go into seclusion; he knew that would actually cause him to stop. He needed to see their smiling faces every day, hear their laughter, and then on the next day, he’d be full of energy! Wang Yang smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I’ll have a good talk with Heath.”

“OK.” Jessica ended her thoughtful pose, turned to pick up Keke, and stood up to go, tenderly coaxing, “It’s bedtime! You need a good night’s sleep to grow up fast and tall…” Keke blinked her large eyes and called out “Yiya” waving her hands as if to beckon Wang Yang, who smiled and got up to follow.

The night passed, and the day came, followed by another night and the rising sun; this cycle repeated over and over, time flew by, and the calendar slowly turned to the beginning of summer in May.

In the meantime, Empire Pictures’ new movie “Scary Movie 4” took the North American box office crown for the week of April 14-20. This parody blockbuster had a production budget of $45 million and garnered a respectable opening week box office of 50.66 million with Rotten Tomatoes ratings of 37%/43%/65%. As a comedy that primarily spoofs popular movies, “King Kong,” “War of the Worlds,” “The Grudge,” “The Village,” “Saw,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Million Dollar Baby,” “Fahrenheit 9/11,” and others did not escape its satirical clutches, and naturally, it would not shy away from that phenomenally successful film.

“Firefly” was parodied wildly, with the most classic segments being the imitation of Captain Mal and Jayne opening a box that turned out to contain an inflatable doll; mimicking the Blue Gloves smashing children’s toys just for kicks; and imitating Top-Captain jumping off the ship to look cool, only to end up dead…

Three Flame movies were spoofed in total, but no one really cared, it was all taken with a laugh. Besides, even if someone got angry, there wasn’t much they could do about it. Three years ago, “Scary Movie 3” made a joke about Michael Jackson molesting boys, and Jackson was furious, threatening to take the distribution company to court. However, the matter eventually fizzled out, “Scary Movie 3” grossed over 200 million worldwide, and “Scary Movie 4” was still released.

“A legal lawsuit isn’t as simple as A-B-C; parody and comedy have a lot of leeway, and if a film is made to make people laugh out loud, the restrictions can be relaxed. Moreover, under such circumstances, it would not be considered an act of defamation,” said a professional lawyer from the media industry back then. So Tom Cruise’s “couch-jumping” made a classic reappearance in the new film, Wang Yang’s parodies on YouTube were spoofed again, and even the incident where he almost got murdered by an airplane’s ceiling panel during a blackout was spoofed.

Earlier this year, the “steamed bun murder case” that caused a stir in China had not yet subsided; back then, fans supporting Hugo could easily produce hundreds of “Firefly” parody trailers…

During the same week of April 14-20, Disney’s new CGI production “Savage Mission,” which cost $80 million to make, encountered a disastrous defeat, with just 13.9 million in opening week box office returns and Rotten Tomatoes scores of 19%/27%/53%. The following week, “Silent Hill” grabbed the champion spot for April 21-27 with 24.93 million, but considering its $50 million production budget, this was definitely not a good performance, particularly with Rotten Tomatoes scores of 29%/0%/65%.

As for which animated and horror movies were the big winners in April? Any sane person knew the answer was Flame’s “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” and Lionsgate’s “Paranormal Activity 4.”

“IA3” continued its strong box office momentum, amassing $177.4 million in North America after four weeks. As always, it was even more impressive abroad, raking in $498.1 million in four weeks, bringing its global box office to $675.5 million! Nobody could stop the frenzy of the prehistoric animals! Waving a flag inscribed with “magical” but not “Yang,” “Paranormal Activity 4” brought in $92 million in North America and $171 million worldwide, leaving Lionsgate’s top brass grinning from ear to ear.

The 28th was Jessica’s 25th birthday, her first after becoming a mother. Wang Yang, Joshua, and others celebrated it well for her, naturally it was a joyous and unforgettable event. Jessica made a sincere wish, “For Keke to grow up healthy and happy, for the family to be joyful every day, for Yang’s work to progress smoothly, and to continue making good movies.” Keke tasted her first bite of birthday cake, and perhaps because it was so sweet and delicious, she couldn’t stop laughing as she ate.

The final major cast for “The Deceased” was indeed finalized by the end of April, as Flame Films announced Kevin Spacey joining “The Deceased” as “Queenan (Officer Yellow),” setting the last piece of the casting puzzle in place.

Although fans of Chinese cinema have had their complaints, this cast was indisputably significant, with two Oscar-winning actors (Nicholson with 2/8 Best Actor wins and 1/4 Best Supporting Actor wins; Spacey with 1/1 Best Actor win and 1/1 Best Supporting Actor win), one Oscar-nominated actor (Ledger with 0/1 Best Actor nominations and 0/1 Best Supporting Actor nominations), plus two Oscar-nominated actresses. Indeed, Michael Pitt seemed to be the weakest link, and one could only imagine the pressure he was under.

With two-time Best Director winner, Magical BABY, at the helm, aiming for the Oscars, this wasn’t a sci-fi movie, nor was it an indie film or The Pursuit of Happyness; it was an R-rated crime and cop movie! How could the fans not feel both anticipation and anxiety, just like Evelyn? Think Paranormal Activity, think District 9.

Of course, no one would forget that Magical Yang was also leading another team, including Oscar-winning actor Will Smith, to shoot the sci-fi horror epic I Am Legend simultaneously.

After Wang Yang’s mediation and persuasion, Heath Ledger still chose to go into seclusion for a month to better get into his role, but Michelle Williams changed her attitude, expressing understanding and support. This was because the Fake Priest had them sit down and talk frankly and calmly, almost like high school students about to get married; if it felt unnatural, they’d use games such as rock-paper-scissors-lizard-Spock. The winner asks questions, and the loser answers truthfully…

It was unclear if Heath and Michelle played the game, but they told Wang Yang that they had talked a lot.

Heath needed to write down information about “Billy” in his secret notebook to shape the character. That way, when he arrived on set, a glance at his notes would remind him of the emotions he’d cultivated during his seclusion, helping him quickly get into character. He promised that the first thing he’d do after coming out was take her and Mathilda to Disneyland for a few days off before continuing with preparations, visiting incarcerated gangsters, and meeting with former real-life undercover cops…

What Michelle was actually unwilling to accept wasn’t the month apart, as long-distance relationships were not new to them. Her real concern was his ongoing and potentially worsening drug dependency, which had to be resolved!

If it were possible to sleep peacefully without drugs, why wouldn’t Heath want that? But he genuinely didn’t know how to solve the issue; seeing a psychologist didn’t help, nor did vacations, engagements, or having a daughter.

This was genuinely a case of drug dependency! Patients often have character flaws, the so-called addictive personality: weak will, indecisiveness, sentimentality, reliance on others, impulsive emotions, poor self-control, prone to anxiety and tension… Heath ticked a lot of those boxes. Although Wang Yang wanted the best for him, this was something others couldn’t help much with; it all depended on his own willpower. For now, all Wang Yang could do was give some advice and provide psychological counseling whenever possible.

The Fake Psychologist suggested that Heath needed to be livelier in life, a genuine liveliness, trying to let go and be silly more often, create prank videos for YOUTUBE, and appear on “SNL” whenever possible. Wang Yang joked, “Don’t worry! Even if he really goes mad, we have a real psychologist on set. And apart from not being able to prescribe medication for him, Michelle, isn’t that what you want?”

Over the phone, Heath laughed heartily, but Michelle was quite unamused by his sense of humor, merely grunting in response.

On May 2nd, the 32nd Saturn Awards ceremony was held at the Hilton Hotel in Universal City, Los Angeles. The previous year’s popular sci-fi films gathered together, with Firefly with 11 nominations, Star Wars: Episode III with 10 nominations, War of the Worlds with 7 nominations… (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, you’re welcome to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets at qidian.com, your support is my greatest motivation.)