Chương 146: Chapter 146 The Test
On Billy Olsen's Facebook page, Michael Newman found his contact information, making sure that the call wasn't a gimmick by his own screwed-up friends to fool him. The Boston metropolitan area and the town of Cambridge, where Harvard was located, were not far apart, and the next day Michael Newman came straight over in a cab.
It was Michael Newman's first time at Harvard, and it might have been hard to find a dormitory at a school that was so connected to the town, but the Kirkland dormitory was an exception. First Mark Zuckerberg, followed by Lin Mingyang, two big personalities make Kirkland dormitory just like Harvard is the most talked about dormitory building, casually asked a few people, Michael Newman is very easy to find the right place.
Standing in the light of some dim aisle, Michael Newman stared at the door plate labeled H33, to determine that he did not find the wrong place, which knocked on the door, but after half a day, there is no reaction inside.
Michael Newman knocked again, the result was still the same, he then remembered that shouted out definitely some bubbling stupidity of the code, holding the mindset of trying, he knocked on the door after the third time, lifted his voice and shouted, "I'm a fool!"
No sooner had he spoken than the door of the room opened of its own accord like a ghost, and immediately afterward a head stuck out from behind the open door, and Michael Newman was startled. He recognized it as Billy Olsen, which caused him to pat himself on the chest, "Thank God you jumped out of nowhere, I thought I'd seen a ghost in the middle of the day!"
Billy Olsen skimmed his head towards the room, "You knocked three times before you remembered to say the password, and your brain is slow enough to react, come on in, everyone's in the house waiting for you!"
Leading Michael Newman into the room, Billy Olsen first pointed at Lin Ming Yang sitting on the side of the sofa, "He doesn't need me to introduce him more, right?"
Michael Newman nodded, he was eager to walk up and shake Lin Ming Yang's hand at this time, but was stopped by Billy Olsen, who inclined his hand pointing at Lin Ming Yang to the right, "Don't worry about it yet, there's another one over there, he's the special advisor for the cast of The Three Stooges, and also one of the judges."
Green Nutt nodded mechanically at him, his expression empty, honestly Michael Newman was not his favorite type. As an interviewer, Michael Newman would have been doubly devastated if he had known that the judges had made such a bad first impression of him. But if he had known about Glyn Nutt's "gayness", he would have rejoiced.
Billy Olsen invited Michael Newman to sit at the other end of the sofa, while he himself sat on Lin Mingyang's left hand side.
Flipping open the roster, Billy Olsen opened his mouth in a serious manner and asked, "Auditionee number 26, Michael Newman?"
Hearing that he had already had 25 auditioners before him, Michael Newman's heart was tense, he straightened his back, and his look was no longer as casual as it was just now. The fact that there were no auditioners in the straight press besides him was a gimmick Billy Olsen's had come up with, even the numbers were made up by him.
Seeing that the trick he came up with worked, Billy Olsen was secretly delighted, and then he proceeded to ask a few questions such as "Do you have a girlfriend?" "Any history of drug use?" This kind of nutrient-less questions made Michael Newman confused.
Green Nutt's question was very direct, asking Michael Newman whether he had read the novel "Five Points Man", Michael Newman shook his head honestly, Green Nutt did not continue to ask questions.
Lin Mingyang came up and asked Michael Newman if he would be nervous about being in front of the camera, Michael Newman told him that he and a few friends often shoot some interesting short films, to be precise this is not considered a real acting experience, but Lin Mingyang still nodded, and magically carried a video camera out from behind the sofa, and set it up on his shoulder.
"Then you'll do an impromptu performance, you're now a freshman who's been assigned to our dormitory, how do you greet us after knocking on the door and coming in. I'll be in charge of filming, and then Olsen and Nat will accompany you in your performance."
Michael Newman considered a little for a few minutes, then nodded and stood in the doorway of the living room, signaling that he was ready. Lin Mingyang set up the camera and made an OK gesture towards Newman.
As soon as he entered the filming state, Michael Newman's face immediately changed to a curious look, and he didn't rush to greet the others after walking into the living room, but instead looked up and down before muttering under his breath, "This house is really shabby!"
"If it's too shabby, you can go outside and stay in a hotel!" Green Nutt snorted coldly through his nostrils, although it was only an audition performance, he was also very dedicated.
"But I don't have that kind of money either!" Michael Newman threw his hands up in a bummer, "At least not yet, hello, my name is Michael Newman!"
"I would never shake that guy's hand if I were you!" Billy Olsen said with a wicked grin as he put down the magazine in his hand.
"You're Billy Olsen?" Michael Newman blinked and looked at him with feigned surprise, "I've heard a lot about you, and on the Harvard online community, your homepage has the most hits. I didn't realize we were in the same dorm, and I even left you a message, did you forget?"
"I usually only reply to messages from beautiful women!" Billy Olsen struck a Pose that he thought was cool, "If you don't have a girlfriend yet, I can introduce one to you!"
"Stop!" Lin Mingyang put down the camera, he felt that filming up to this point was already fine.
"How was my performance?" The first one to open his mouth to inquire was actually this Billy Olsen guy.
"Average!" Lin Ming Yang's cold reply severely hit his confidence, then Billy Olsen pointed at Michael Newman, "What about him?"
"Not bad!" Lin Ming Yang nodded as he extended his right hand to Michael Newman in a friendly manner, "Welcome to join us!"
Michael Newman felt like he was dreaming, his fingers, who hadn't been nervous in front of the camera, were actually shaking with excitement. "So I passed?"
Lin Mingyang smiled and nodded, "As you wish!"
----
After determining that Michael Newman would play the lead role of Rancho, the only remaining character in the mix of the three fools was Razu, who came from a poor family, and the casting of the role was still up in the air. In the Five O'Clock Man novels, Razu is a young man who dreams of becoming an engineer, but has no self-confidence and is superstitious about God and Buddha. His family is very poor, his father used to be the postmaster, now paralyzed at home, his mother is an extremely nagging Obasan, and there is an older sister because of the lack of dowry into the leftover girl. Later, he goes through a suicide to realize his life, and finally succeeds in a job interview before graduation.
This role Lin Mingyang initially intended to find a black man to play the role, but then he suddenly changed his mind. In the novel "Five Points Man", he wanted to use the character of Raju to reflect the reality of the serious gap between the rich and the poor in India. And Lin Mingyang in order to make the adapted script closer to the reality of the American society, the role of Razu is positioned in the descendants of Mexican immigrant smugglers.
Mexican smugglers has been a major problem plaguing American society, although the United States has set up a variety of barriers on the border, and the use of unmanned reconnaissance aircraft patrols back and forth along the long border, but still can not stop the constant flow of smugglers to the United States. Every year, more than 10,000 people from Mexico sneak into the United States through various means.
In the U.S., even though they live at the bottom of the ladder and do the coolest, most exhausting jobs, they are able to get paid more than they would in Mexico, and then they save and send that money back to Mexico to support their loved ones.
In Lin Ming Yang's script setting, Razu's parents are Mexicans who managed to sneak into the United States before Razu was born, befriended and gave birth to Razu. According to the laws of the United States at the time, birth on American soil granted American citizenship. Razu was born an American, but his parents remained Mexican, and because of their lack of a household registration, they were eventually discovered by the immigration authorities, and both of them were deported back to their home country.
With the support of a local charitable organization, Razu was able to enroll in North Harmon Institute of Technology. His greatest hope is to earn his way into society and bring his parents to the United States to live with him.
Again, the same character reflects the social reality that because of the difference in the overall standard of living, the gap between the rich and the poor in the United States is not as serious as it is in India. At the beginning, Lin Mingyang was limited to the idea of the novel, so he considered positioning Razu as a black man living at the bottom of the American society. However, considering the fact that there are a lot of films focusing on the survival of black people at the bottom, in addition to the gap between the rich and the poor, there are other problems in the American society, and the living condition of the marginalized people is more worthy of attention.
And Billy Olsen played the letter of the law in the original childhood ideals is to be a photographer, but forced by the pressure of the family on the engineering school, has been Rancho's loyal diehard, he went to the dean's office to steal the paper for the sake of Razu together with Rancho, and eventually gave up the opportunity to interview and father to show their own ideals, recognized by his father, and finally became a famous animal photographer.
Obviously, the author of the original novel of the family background of the French letter is set in India's middle class, but in the intervention of their children's growth choices, the American parents do not have as strong as the Indian parents look forward to their children's mentality. It would also obviously be inappropriate to transplant this character into the script in a rigid manner.
In the process of the script's reimagining of the novel's story, Lin Mingyang set Fa Han's family background as an affluent American. His father owns a company and wants Fa Han to follow in his father's footsteps. Although Fahan has no aspirations to do so, his father forces him to choose a subject he dislikes by holding him hostage to the cost of living.
What gives Lin Mingyang the most headache is the setting of the protagonist, Rancho. A bridge like a poor boy imposting his master's son to attend college just doesn't work in American society.
Lin Mingyang really ran into a problem this time, and he thought about it every day. His thoughts ran fast, and his thoughts were a mess. Then they all gathered in one place, tangled together, and couldn't be solved. The harder he tries to solve it, the more he can't. The more he thought about it, the more confused his mind became, and it was as if a stone had been shoved into his head, and his thoughts could not be sorted out.
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