Taylor and Ethan had been broken up for a full half-month.
During this period, Ethan had been keeping up with her life through her manager.
Of course, the reason for their breakup was revealed half a month later.
Her new song Last Kiss was freshly released and quickly became the second single of her new album.
Compared to history, this song appeared a little later than originally planned, and the main reason was, of course, Ethan.
The night the recording of this song was completed, Taylor called him.
"I finally finished the song, so let's get back together."
Ethan was a bit helpless toward this girl's whims. "So you broke up just to write a song? There was really no need for all this."
"No, I needed inspiration! You know, I kept imagining you being cold and heartless to me during this time, and then my inspiration just kept flowing... In fact, I'm still mad at you."
Taylor started acting petulantly. "You should coax me, or I won't make up with you."
Ethan couldn't help but chuckle. He whispered a few sweet words to Taylor, then added, "Actually, baby, I've been planning a surprise for you."
"What surprise?" Taylor asked.
"A surprise that will absolutely drive you crazy. But we should talk about it face-to-face." Ethan deliberately kept her in suspense.
"So if I hadn't asked to make up, you wouldn't have given me this surprise?"
"This surprise is only for my lover."
"Hmph, then when will you finish filming in Italy? I want to see you."
"Very soon, just a few more scenes left."
"See you then."
Just as Ethan hung up the phone, a dispute was unfolding on set.
The ones arguing were a man and a woman. The man, with curly hair, was Al Carlu, one of Ethan's company's screenwriters.
He had previously worked as a writer for Marvel before being recruited by Norton's Eye. His writing was excellent.
The woman was Kagari Bonny, the actress playing the Egyptian princess Cleopatra. She wasn't a newcomer, but she had never had a well-known project in Hollywood. She was chosen for this role mainly because she closely matched the character's image.
"Al, I think this character could be more compelling. Right now, her scenes are too monotonous. Where does she come from, and what is she trying to do? I don't even understand her personality or ideology—how am I supposed to act this out?"
Holding the script with an unhappy expression, Kagari complained to Al.
"Kagari, this character will have dedicated chapters in the future. For now, she's just making a guest appearance, so I don't think there's any need to add more scenes."
As a screenwriter, Al had to serve the overall story.
This movie wasn't a personal film about Cleopatra. The main story still revolved around Super Lucy and Peel, so he felt there was no need to give too much background.
But Kagari shook her head and refuted, "How can it be unnecessary? The audience needs to see a character with depth. At the very least, my background should be explained; otherwise, I'll just be a background decoration."
"Then how do you want to change it?" Al thought for a moment and asked for her opinion.
"Cleopatra grew up in a royal palace. She's extremely glamorous, and everything she does is attended to by servants. So she should have mysophobia, maybe even a bit of OCD. For example, in these scenes, things are too messy, lacking a sense of beauty. She should have more lines to reprimand the situation."
After hearing her thoughts, Al waved his hand. "These traits don't match the comic's character settings. Cleopatra is not an arrogant person. She cares for her people, and although she is beautiful, she is hands-on with her duties. That's her established character."
"Hey, why do we have to follow the comic's settings? The audience needs to see a vivid character. Don't you think this version has more depth? I believe I can play her well."
Kagari did her best to sell her interpretation of the character to Al.
Al thought for a long time before finally nodding. "I can give you the OCD trait, but nothing else."
"Why not? I think everything I suggested is great!"
"This script was finalized by Ethan. If you want changes, go talk to him."
After being pestered for so long, Al lost patience and simply pushed the responsibility onto Ethan.
Hearing the director's name, Kagari finally backed off a little. "Fine, I'll find time to convince the director. But in the meantime, you'd better revise the script quickly—my scenes are coming up soon, and I need to get familiar with the character."
By the time Ethan returned to the set, everything was back to normal.
Al hadn't mentioned Kagari's request to modify the script because he didn't think it was a big deal.
Many actors frequently asked for script changes on set. Some even took things too far, constantly adding scenes for themselves.
If it was a major director, actors wouldn't dare go too far. But if it was an ordinary director, they often had to tolerate it.
Of course, some directors chose to push back.
For example, Damien Chazelle, the director of La La Land, had spent years meticulously crafting his script. When filming began, he initially cast Emma Watson, who played Hermione in Harry Potter, as the female lead.
But Emma Watson made numerous demands on the production, even insisting that the filming location be moved from Los Angeles to the UK.
This infuriated Chazelle, and in the end, he decided to reject her requests and recast the lead role.
Eventually, Emma Stone replaced Emma Watson as the star of La La Land.
However, on Ethan's set, no one dared to pull such diva behavior. Ethan's bad temper was well known—if anyone dared to act up, they'd be kicked out immediately.
But Kagari believed that adding a bit of character depth and personality traits shouldn't be a big deal. After all, this was something she always did.
On other sets, she also enjoyed discussing characters with screenwriters and sneaking in a few extra lines for herself.
After all, she graduated from MIT, majoring in music and drama. In her view, characters in modern commercial films were too shallow, and she had a duty to add a touch of literary depth to the script.
Soon, the filming in Italy reached its final stages.
In a church, Cleopatra was set to make her first appearance in the movie.
Because she was projected into the modern era through a special technique by Lucy, she existed in a spiritual form.
She could communicate with anyone, but she couldn't physically interact with the world. Only supernatural powers could affect reality.
Since this scene was simple, requiring just two lines and a few reaction shots, it wouldn't take long.
Moreover, the crew was scheduled to leave Italy for the next filming location the following day, so everyone on set was relaxed, chatting and joking with each other.
Ethan noticed this and did not push them too hard. Maintaining the right balance between discipline and relaxation is a director's essential skill—if discipline is overemphasized, the crew becomes more prone to making mistakes.
Once everything was ready, Ethan stood in front of the monitor and called for action.
In the next second, Kagari was suddenly pulled into the frame from the left side, rubbing her forehead as if feeling dizzy from a time tunnel.
Scarlett stood opposite her and said in a calm tone, "We've arrived."
Kagari looked around, then frowned slightly and said, "So this is the modern era? It looks awful."
Scarlett was slightly taken aback—this line wasn't in the script.
She immediately realized that the actress opposite her had changed the dialogue, so she smoothly followed up, "What's awful?"
"The aesthetics. The aesthetics are just terrible. Look at this mess." As soon as Kagari finished speaking, Ethan's voice called, "Cut."
"What are you performing?" Ethan walked over with the script in hand, staring at Kagari.
"Director, uh, I was acting according to the revised script from the screenwriter," Kagari said nervously. Seeing Ethan's expressionless face, she started to panic and quickly shifted the responsibility onto the screenwriter.
"I asked you, what are you performing?" Ethan didn't question the screenwriter but instead repeated his question.
Kagari swallowed nervously and explained, "I thought Cleopatra should show more personality, so I added two lines."
"Who approved this?" Ethan didn't scold her outright or reprimand her on the spot, but the heavy atmosphere still loomed over her.
"Al… Al approved it."
"Hey!" Al hurried over, looking flustered. "That's not what happened! I only approved the OCD trait, not these two lines."
Ethan glanced at both of them and said, "Let me make this clear again. From now on, any script changes must go through me. Understood?"
"Yes, understood. Sorry, Ethan." Al felt a cold sweat break out on his back. He hadn't expected this actress to throw him under the bus so blatantly.
He wouldn't dare go against Ethan's instructions—he'd heard plenty about what happened to that unfortunate screenwriter who got fired.
"And you," Ethan turned to Kagari. "Cleopatra is a kind person. She would never speak in such a sarcastic and bitter tone. And when you enter a new world, is the first thing in your mind really just a pathetic critique of aesthetics? Is your barren brain only capable of noticing order or disorder? What about patterns, sculptures, colors—are they completely beyond your scope of interest?"
"Remember, your reaction should be curiosity. Curiosity about every aspect of the new world—that is what a normal person would feel."
Kagari opened her mouth, wanting to argue, but she couldn't organize her thoughts quickly enough.
But Ethan had already turned back to the monitor and immediately announced a retake.
Having been scolded, Kagari no longer dared to go against Ethan's instructions and could only follow the original script.
After three takes, they finally passed.
The crew members immediately applauded, celebrating the wrap of this scene.
Only Kagari felt wronged. She turned to Scarlett and complained, "Don't you think Ethan is stifling our performance?"
Scarlett found this woman ridiculous. She was openly badmouthing Ethan right to her face—when everyone knew about their complicated relationship.
Then again, Hollywood was full of eccentric people. It wasn't surprising that Kagari, after seven or eight years in the industry, was still stuck in the same place. With social skills like hers, no matter how good-looking she was, people wouldn't like her.
Of course, since Kagari dared to say it, Scarlett was willing to listen. "Why?"
"I think actors should have room for improvisation. Otherwise, we're just mechanical puppets, going with the flow. I believe Cleopatra should have her little temper—maybe she's not always likable, but that's what makes her real."
"Really? So, a kind person can't be real?" Scarlett folded her arms.
"But don't you think that kind of portrayal seems too fake? Back in school, I used to discuss this with Professor Mellen. You know Professor Mellen, right? A top professor from MIT's Music and Theater Academy, author of many works. Oh, the book The Birth of an Actor—you must have read it as an actress, right? She was my teacher. We often discussed character interpretation."
kagari seemed to have opened a floodgate, chattering non-stop, making Scarlett feel a headache coming on.
She wanted to shake her off, but no matter where she moved,Kagari followed like an annoying buzzing mosquito.
And the things she was saying were completely abstract—acting theories spewed endlessly, analyzing even a single expression with a thousand different explanations.
By the end, Ethan's script had somehow been turned into a failure, and only Kagarii and her beloved Professor Mellen's theories could save the film.
At this moment, Scarlett finally understood why Kagari had approached her.
This wasn't just a complaint—she was trying to get Scarlett to pass a message to Ethan: that only by following theatrical theory could this movie be saved.
Scarlett was speechless and simply shot back, "So, what works have you been in?"
"What?" Kagari was caught off guard, stammering, "Works? Of course, I've been in many. I've shot quite a few films over the years, but they haven't been released yet. The directors are probably waiting for next year's Cannes."
"A film from three or four years ago is waiting for next year's Cannes?" Scarlett immediately caught the flaw in her words. "How do you think your performances have been?"
"Very good… I mean, they fit the character well and added a lot to the film."
"Then why haven't I seen you at the Oscars? Did you not want to attend?" Scarlett asked a brutally direct question.
"Uh…" Kagari froze for a few seconds before muttering, "Maybe my performance just isn't the type the mainstream audience likes."
"Then why do you think Ethan's film won't be liked by the audience? Or, rather, wouldn't your way of acting be the thing that doesn't appeal to audiences?"
This statement completely confused Kagari.
Her expression showed clear hurt, and she struggled to defend herself with a classic excuse of failures: "That's not my problem—it's the audience's problem."
"Oh, so it's all the audience's fault? You bear no responsibility at all?" Scarlett hit her weak spot with precision. "And if your acting theories are so advanced, why can't you connect with the audience? A good actor should be able to balance artistic expression and entertainment value, don't you think? Or are you just incapable of doing that?"
Kagari was completely silent, looking as if she was about to cry.
"And one more thing…" Scarlett delivered a final blow as she turned to leave. "I've never read The Birth of an Actor, and I don't know who Professor Mellen is. Acting is honed through experience, not something you can gain by writing essays or reading theories."
With that, she walked away gracefully, leaving Kagari standing there in complete disarray.
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