Chapter 270: Top priority
"Sleepless in Seattle" has been in production for a week. After the initial adjustment period, the cast gradually got into the rhythm. However, the content filmed in the first week was relatively simple, and the real challenge had yet to come. Today's scenes to be filmed were crucial for the entire movie.
The scene being filmed today involved Sam's son, Jonah, calling a radio station to express his wish to find a new wife for his father. Sam, upon learning about this, becomes extremely angry. However, with the patient guidance of the host, he shares his own experiences. He understands that Jonah needs a new mother, but he also knows that he can never find someone as perfect as his previous love.
This phone call with the radio station forms the foundation of the entire movie and serves as the starting point of the story. It is this phone call that sparks a connection between Sam, who is in Seattle, and Annie, who is in Baltimore, two strangers listening to the radio. Therefore, this phone call must be convincing and have enough sparks to make the audience believe in the genuine emotions behind it. Only then can the rest of the story unfold naturally.
In short, if Hugo's performance in this phone call lacked sufficient conviction, the entire movie was bound to fail.
Thus, Hugo shoulders tremendous pressure. This is his first acting challenge since "A Few Good Men". Perhaps the difficulty of this scene did not compare to the confrontation with Jack Nicholson because this scene was a one-man show for Hugo. However, it demanded an even greater depth of acting and emotional impact.
Pressure brings motivation. Hugo had been brewing his emotions these past two days, hoping to deliver an outstanding performance in this scene. Tom Hanks' portrayal in the original "Sleepless in Seattle" came to his mind. Tom's performance was the most delicate, erupting emotions subtly. If one deliberately sought traces, there would be no results because Tom often didn't rely on external cues and it was difficult to identify his points of intensity. It seemed that everything flowed naturally.
Moreover, there was a significant age difference between Hugo and Tom. Therefore, Hugo knows that imitating Tom in this scene was destined to fail. He had to rely on his own abilities to complete this scene.
So, relying on his own strength, how should Hugo approach it? After losing his wife, Sam falls into despair and even changes his views on love and life. What kind of emotion is this? Hugo couldn't help but recall the words he said to Nora during the second audition. Those words were actually his understanding or emotional experience of his relationship with Uma. This meant that Hugo must recall his emotions from that relationship, the overwhelming pain when Uma walked away.
But... Hugo didn't want it that way. He closes his eyes, suppressing the tangled emotions in his heart. He couldn't bring himself to recall those things, at least not now.
"I'm ready." Hugo realized that he can't delay any longer, so even though his emotions haven't fully settled, he still said these words to Nora. Though he felt some hesitation in his heart, ultimately, he kept it to himself.
Nora looked at the despair between Hugo's eyebrows, nodded, and glanced at Ross, who was standing at the kitchen door. After receiving confirmation, she raised her voice and said, "Action!"
"Dad, there's somebody on the phone for you." Ross shouted towards the direction of the balcony, and Hugo walked in and approached the phone, picking it up.
At this moment, Hugo was dressed in a simple T-shirt and work pants. Due to the cold weather, he wore a base layer with an open-necked T-shirt on top. This outfit was the one he chose for his first audition, a standard attire for a blue-collar man in the 1990s. He also wore a ginger-colored waterproof jacket over it, completing the overall look.
His medium-length dark blond hair was messy and disheveled like a bird's nest, as if he had casually styled it with his hands in the morning. Although his chin was clean-shaven, there was a light five o'clock shadow, giving him a somewhat weary appearance. His handsome and sunny face lost some luster due to his dull and lifeless eyes. The slightly furrowed brows subtracted from his charm, while the faint wrinkles around his brows and eyes were traces left by time. Even a single glance was highly persuasive.
With the help of minimal makeup, Hugo now appeared to be a widower in his thirties, living alone with an eight-year-old child. He didn't possess the calm charm of a forty-year-old, but he also didn't appear too young to lack conviction. More importantly, the mature yet vibrant and lively aura, combined with the underlying sadness, left the entire cast, including Nora, amazed. The present Hugo was Sam.
Sam answered the phone and heard a voice on the other end, "Hello, Sam, this is Dr. Marcia
Fieldstone on Network America." The voice was spoken by Nora Ephron, who was delivering lines live on set, and it sounded very lively.
"What are you selling? Micro-hibachis or knives?" Sam's tone was slightly heavy, tinged with fatigue.
"Neither. I want to help." the doctor explained. "Your son asked me for advice. He wants to find you a new wife."
Sam's eyes filled with confusion, and his brows involuntarily furrowed. "Who is this?"
"Dr. Marcia Fieldstone of Network America, we are on the air." the doctor replied. Along with the doctor's words, Sam turned his head in disbelief and looked at his son, who was hiding by the kitchen door, his eyes filled with puzzlement and inner turmoil. Then, Sam moved the microphone away slightly and asked, "Did you call the radio station?"
Jonah didn't dare to answer, he just held onto the phone and hid away. The doctor hurriedly called out, "Sam, are you there?"
Sam angrily looked towards the kitchen. Even though there was a wall between them, Jonah could still feel his father's fury. Sam could only hurriedly respond with a curt "yes" and then looked at Jonah, puzzled and angry, hoping to get some answers from him.
"You mourn your wife's death. Your son is worried about you." the doctor explained.
Sam caught sight of Jonah peeking his head out and raised his chin, raising his right hand to beckon his son. "Get out here. I won't go through this alone." Jonah reluctantly stepped out of the kitchen, holding the phone and listening through the receiver, slowly moving step by step.
"It's hard for him to talk to you about this. If we talk about it, maybe Jonah will feel better." the doctor persistently persuaded.
"Tell her, she's a doctor," Jonah said to his father while listening to the fixed telephone in the kitchen.
"Her first name could be Doctor." Sam still found all of this too absurd. His brow, which had just relaxed, furrowed again in anger, helplessness, and confusion.
"Please?" Jonah pleaded with his father. His eyes looked pitifully at Sam, leaving him no choice. Then the doctor's voice came through the phone again, "Sam, it's his Christmas wish."
Sam looked at his son and reluctantly nodded. "Okay," he said slowly. Then he took off his coat and decided to stay indoors.
"I know it's difficult. When did your wife die??" the doctor asked.
"About a year and a half ago," Sam's voice involuntarily lowered, and he himself didn't realize that his gaze unconsciously began to lower.
"Have you had any relationships?" the doctor asked.
Sam fell silent for a moment and gave a simple answer, "No."
"Why not?"
"Marcia ... or Dr. Fieldstone?" Sam raised his head, his voice returning to normal. After receiving the response of "Dr. Marcia," Sam spoke, "Dr. Marcia, I don't mean to be rude..."
"I don't want to pry," the doctor quickly interjected.
"Sure you do." Sam sarcastically remarked, but the doctor seemed to misunderstand his meaning. "Go on, Sam. I'm listening." Unfortunately, Sam didn't respond, which made the doctor have to speak again, "Sam?" That's the downside of a radio, you never know what kind of person is on the other end of the airwaves.
Sam cleared his throat, picked up the phone, and walked towards Jonah. "We had a pretty tough time at first, but we're dealing with it." Sam said slowly and laboriously. "Jonah and I will get along fine, as soon as I break his radio." Sam and Jonah walked face to face to the bench under the stairs. Sam was clearly still unhappy with Jonah calling the radio station, and he complained in frustration.
The doctor laughed at Sam's complaint, as did Jonah, who sat down on the bench and carefully looked at his father. The doctor on the radio continued speaking, "I'm sure you're a wonderful father. You can tell a lot from a voice."
Sam immediately said with solemnity, "Yes, you can." The irony was so obvious.
But the doctor was well-acquainted with such situations and simply ignored it. "But 'Jonah still feels that you're under a cloud. Are you sleeping at night?"
Before Sam could answer, Jonah interrupted him, "He doesn't sleep at all."
"How do you know that?" Sam's brow furrowed unconsciously again, looking at his son in surprise.
"I live here, Dad," Jonah said with a small voice, leaving Sam somewhat speechless.
"Um..." Sam struggled to act as if everything was fine and tried to find a credible explanation. "Look. it's Christmas." Sam was a bit at a loss, he sat down on the bench, placed the fixed telephone heavily on the ground, and leaned against the backrest of the bench. He said with a mixture of hesitation and confusion, "Maggie, my wife, she really did it... She loved..." Every time Sam started a sentence, he couldn't continue. The weight of loneliness and grief made it impossible for him to organize his words. "She... made everything beautiful. It's tough this time of year. Every kid needs a mother." Sam had Jonah sit by his side and pulled him into his embrace.
"Maybe you need someone, too?" the doctor asked, but Sam didn't know how to answer.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Shallowman
Shallowman It is my favorite part *wink-wink* the frigging script. Although I can just roll out whatever MTL translated and whatever the author included since he was probably influenced by the Chinese adapted version so the outcome will still be different than the original, but NO, I have to make it hard on myself cause I love back and neck pains
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