Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio .
After reading their names, a list of movie names immediately popped into his mind, but he quickly dismissed them . With those images and names put in the corner, he got back to reading the names . In addition to the two previous superstars, he no longer saw any familiar names, even Chris O'Donnell who was in the original version of "Scent of a Woman" couldn't be seen due to him making the film 3 years before the original version was made .
Although Chris O'Donnell was 18 years this year, the same age as him, he will only show up in a movie called "Men Don't Leave" two years from now .
Of course, even if his name were on the list, Eric wouldn't give the role to him, because he didn't show a strong performance in the original version . Although there is Al Pacino performance to mask his weak presence, his performance was too lackluster and dull, so why bother wasting such important role on him .
After quickly going over the information of the thirty candidates, Eric took a pen from Martin Brestand put a mark behind Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio's names . But after hesitating for a moment, Eric decided to choose Matt Damon for the role of Charlie Simms, he decides to give him the role, because he was handsome, and he had just turned eighteen this year, you could even say he was perfect for the role . As for Leonardo DiCaprio, he was 14 years old this year, plus he looked scrawny .
After drawing a circle on Matt Damon's name, Eric told Martin Brest who was closely watching his movements: "Martin, give the role of Charlie Simms to Matt Damon, as for Leonardo Dicaprio, give him the role of Charlie's classmate George Willis . Also, I don't care if they are part of a brokerage firm or have their own broker if they want the role, they have to join the UTA . "
"Eric, if the two don't agree to join the UTA?"
Eric gave Martin a strange look and said: "What qualifications do they have to refuse?"
At first, Martin Brest was surprised by what Eric said, but when he recalled the information of Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio, he laughed and said: "Indeed, the two rookies have no grounds to refuse . "
Seeing Eric choose the two actors, in such a short time Martin Brest felt that Eric just wanted to show his dominance over the movie, just like Jonathan Demme felt when he saw Eric choose the young actors for "The Others" .
Although Martin thought that Eric was hasty and childish, he didn't refute him . After all, he was already forty years old, in his eyes, Eric was really just a child, so he couldn't blame him for doing such a thing . All he and Al Pacino can do is to screen out the right actors, so no matter which one Eric chooses, they will end up with good actors .
Eric didn't have any justification to why he choose the actors without reading all their resumes, and the reason he did so was exactly as Martin and others thought .
They spent forty minutes going from Columbia studio to Malibu, on the way Eric choose the actors for the other roles from the list, he mostly followed Martin advice, on who to select .
At the intersection of the Malibu coastal highway, Martin's car stopped, and Eric, wearing sunglasses and baseball caps, got off and said: "Thank you for bringing me here, Martin, Goodbye . "
"Goodbye," Martin waved toward Eric and told the assistant to drive away .
After the Passat drove away, Eric walked to the villa not far away, took out the key Virginia give him, opened the gate, and walked in .
It was late in the afternoon, so the villa lights were already lit . As he walked through the door, he found Virginia standing there, she was wearing casual clothes, and carrying two big garbage bags . "
"Ah!" Virginia was startled, by Eric who suddenly appeared in front of her, which made the hand garbage bags slip from her hands and fall to the ground .
"Eric, you! . . . How come you're here?" she asked as she walked up to him to give him a hug .
Eric smiled and embraced her fragrant body, and give her a kiss on the cheek: "Why are you so nervous, you wouldn't be hiding a man at home?"
"I just didn't expect you to come to my home these days . " Virginia rolled her eyes and said: "Even if I hide a man, what can you do to me?"
Eric pinched her cheek and said with a poker-face: "Well, there's a lot of methods to punish you, In some Eastern countries, women who cheat, will be sentenced to stoning . And in ancient times, in the east of China, they got drowned, they stripped the women, put her in a cage, then they throw the cage into a pond until she drowns . "
"How could there be such a barbaric thing?" Virginia shivered .
"ah, I actually appreciate the way they used to punish women for cheating in India . it was very humane . "
"Oh," Virginia showed a curious look .
Eric grinned and said: "In some parts of India when a woman was found cheating, the village head would summon the finest men in the village, and have the woman serve them one by one to ensure that the woman wouldn't want a man for the rest of her life . "
"Wow, disgusting, you are only eighteen years old . Where did you learn such messy things . "
"I learned them when I was born," Eric told the truth .
"Well, Mr . knowledgeable, is there any way to punish a man who cheats on his girlfriend? please tell me the cruelest one . "
Eric coughed twice and said: "ah . . . . . . have sex with him . "
Virginia rolled her eyes and said: "don't talk nonsense, you go ahead, and I'll throw out the trash . "
"Come on let me do it, it looks very heavy," Eric said as he grabbed the plastic bag .
"Just throw it into the garbage bin at the door," Virginia said as she pointed a bin by the villa gate .
When he came back, he found Virginia in the kitchen, making a cup of coffee with sugar and milk for him, so he said as he hugged her from behind: "Actually, I don't like coffee very much, I prefer drinking boiled water, boiled water is said to be a secret to longevity . "
Virginia smiled and said as she added powdered coffee to a cup of hot water: "Why are you thinking of longevity at your young age, are you afraid of death?"
"Of course not, I'm not scared of death, I'm just afraid of regrets . "
"Sorry, what regrets?"
Yes, what regret?
Eric put his chin on her shoulder and thought, about his regrets, he regretted not being able to see his kids grow up, and he also regretted not being able to shoot a movie on his own in his past life . Even though when he recriminated the film industry in China was dwindling, and he was past his forty's, he still didn't give up on making his own movie . He and several of his friends, spent a few years writing a script for a film but in the end, they didn't have enough money to make the film by them self, so they started searching for investors, but he found that they didn't have the connections to get the investment .
Unfortunately, the plan wasn't implemented, and he inexplicably incriminated in America in the year 1988 . Now less than a year later, he was finally able to achieve his dream .
"Why did you suddenly stop talking?" turned and asked him .
"Nothing, I'm just wondering if I suddenly die, what regrets would I have?"
Virginia put down the kettle of hot water, turned and looked at Eric's face with concern: "Eric, if you have the problem of always think about the issue of death, then I suggest you find a psychologist as soon as possible, maybe you are under too much pressure?"
"Of course not," Eric hastened to deny when he saw the worry in her eyes, he wanted to explain, but he didn't know where to start .
"Let's go to the living room to talk about it," Virginia said as she handed Eric his cup of coffee, and went to the living room with her own cup of coffee in her hand .
After sitting on the couch, Virginia asked: "How come you're here today? Aren't you living with Aniston?"
Eric gave her a bitter smile and said: "After what happened last time, Jane refused to come live with me, she went to the Burbank to rent her own house . "
If he didn't happen to fall downstairs that day, Eric was sure getting Aniston back was gonna be close to impossible .
When he woke up from the come that morning, he took advantage of Aniston's exhausted mind, and her soft heart, to stop her from leaving him . And he even managed to get her agree to be a cast member of "Friends" . But then he made another big mistake, he let her and Drew sleep on both sides of him on the hospital bed .
As a result, when he returned to his ward, after eating dinner with Jeffrey and Kapoor in the hospital restaurant . He found a scene of chaos, the pillow, and the quilt was thrown on the ground, and the girls fighting like two wild cats that have gone mad, they were twisted together on the hospital bed, screaming and tearing each other clothes, and trying to push each other off the bed, as if the bed was Eric himself and the last one on the bed is the one who will stay with them .
After a lot of coaxing Eric was able to break them apart, then Aniston wiped away her tears and accused Eric of always taking Drew side, and Drew also opened her smart mouth and advised Aniston to break up with him, so she doesn't suffer pain in the future when Eric leaves her . But Drew words had the opposite effect, instead of her breaking up with him, those words successfully aroused Aniston rebellious psychology, she publicly vowed that she will never leave Eric to her .
Hearing Aniston pledge not to leave him to Drew, Eric was secretly happy, but he quickly realized that she still didn't forgive him when Aniston chose to rent an apartment and not to live with him in the villa . Although she didn't say anything about breaking up she didn't let him have sex with her, instead, she started playing a cold war with him . And because he began working on "Running Out of Time", he didn't have the time to coax her, so instead he started calling her several times a day, to try and gain her forgiveness .
"Just throw it into the garbage bin at the door," Virginia said as she pointed a bin by the villa gate .
When he came back, he found Virginia in the kitchen, making a cup of coffee with sugar and milk for him, so he said as he hugged her from behind: "Actually, I don't like coffee very much, I prefer drinking boiled water, boiled water is said to be a secret to longevity . "
Virginia smiled and said as she added powdered coffee to a cup of hot water: "Why are you thinking of longevity at your young age, are you afraid of death?"
"Of course not, I'm not scared of death, I'm just afraid of regrets . "
"Sorry, what regrets?"
Yes, what regret?
Eric put his chin on her shoulder and thought, about his regrets, he regretted not being able to see his kids grow up, and he also regretted not being able to shoot a movie on his own in his past life . Even though when he recriminated the film industry in China was dwindling, and he was past his forty's, he still didn't give up on making his own movie . He and several of his friends, spent a few years writing a script for a film but in the end, they didn't have enough money to make the film by them self, so they started searching for investors, but he found that they didn't have the connections to get the investment .
Unfortunately, the plan wasn't implemented, and he inexplicably incriminated in America in the year 1988 . Now less than a year later, he was finally able to achieve his dream .
"Why did you suddenly stop talking?" turned and asked him .
"Nothing, I'm just wondering if I suddenly die, what regrets would I have?"
Virginia put down the kettle of hot water, turned and looked at Eric's face with concern: "Eric, if you have the problem of always think about the issue of death, then I suggest you find a psychologist as soon as possible, maybe you are under too much pressure?"
"Of course not," Eric hastened to deny when he saw the worry in her eyes, he wanted to explain, but he didn't know where to start .
"Let's go to the living room to talk about it," Virginia said as she handed Eric his cup of coffee, and went to the living room with her own cup of coffee in her hand .
After sitting on the couch, Virginia asked: "How come you're here today? Aren't you living with Aniston?"
Eric gave her a bitter smile and said: "After what happened last time, Jane refused to come live with me, she went to the Burbank to rent her own house . "
If he didn't happen to fall downstairs that day, Eric was sure getting Aniston back was gonna be close to impossible .
When he woke up from the come that morning, he took advantage of Aniston's exhausted mind, and her soft heart, to stop her from leaving him . And he even managed to get her agree to be a cast member of "Friends" . But then he made another big mistake, he let her and Drew sleep on both sides of him on the hospital bed .
As a result, when he returned to his ward, after eating dinner with Jeffrey and Kapoor in the hospital restaurant . He found a scene of chaos, the pillow, and the quilt was thrown on the ground, and the girls fighting like two wild cats that have gone mad, they were twisted together on the hospital bed, screaming and tearing each other clothes, and trying to push each other off the bed, as if the bed was Eric himself and the last one on the bed is the one who will stay with them .
After a lot of coaxing Eric was able to break them apart, then Aniston wiped away her tears and accused Eric of always taking Drew side, and Drew also opened her smart mouth and advised Aniston to break up with him, so she doesn't suffer pain in the future when Eric leaves her . But Drew words had the opposite effect, instead of her breaking up with him, those words successfully aroused Aniston rebellious psychology, she publicly vowed that she will never leave Eric to her .
Hearing Aniston pledge not to leave him to Drew, Eric was secretly happy, but he quickly realized that she still didn't forgive him when Aniston chose to rent an apartment and not to live with him in the villa . Although she didn't say anything about breaking up she didn't let him have sex with her, instead, she started playing a cold war with him . And because he began working on "Running Out of Time", he didn't have the time to coax her, so instead he started calling her several times a day, to try and gain her forgiveness .
Hearing Eric's explanation, Virginia blushed and said: "You should spend more time with her, all girls like getting attention from their boyfriends . "
"Well, let's not talk about it, I came to see you because I heard you are going to England the day after tomorrow? I spoke to Jonathan, and he said he will finish "The Others" before September, before the Venice Film Festival, so you are expected to stay in the UK for a long time . "
Virginia took a sip from her cup of coffee, and asked: "Aren't you going to visit the crew in England?"
Eric shook his head: "I'm not sure, "Running Out of Time" is scheduled to be released in July, if I can smoothly finish filming by the middle of May, then I will go to England, if the shooting is not smooth, then I probably won't go . "
"Oh," Virginia nodded and changed the topic .
After chatting for a few minutes, Eric patted his stomach and said: "Ah, Vicky, I'm hungry . "
Virginia hurriedly got up and said: "I'm gonna go to the supermarket, so what do you want to eat?"
Eric stopped her and said: "don't bother, just casually make something light . "
"Well, I have spaghetti," Virginia said as she walked into the kitchen .
After Virginia walked into the kitchen, Eric got up and walked upstairs to the second floor .
He went to the balcony in Virginia's bedroom, it was getting dark outside, but he could still see the sharp corner of Malibu from this balcony, he could even see a dim silhouette of the construction, it was expected that the building will be completed by the end of the year .
In addition to the iron man mansion, several villas and buildings will be built on the estate, to be used to entertain guests or for parties r for the staff .
Eric has seen the design of the entire estate, the villas and buildings were located on a flat terrain, away from the cliff, they were built there to save on the cost and to put more emphasis on the luxurious iron man mansion . In the design draft provided by Frank Gehry, the buildings were naturally fused together, with tunnels underground, and were separated with Facilities like gardens, stadiums, roads and so on, giving a totally natural feeling .
Of course, the entire project cost more than $20 million, he even had to hire a special accounting firm to monitor the financial situation of the project, since he made up his mind to build an ideal luxurious mansion . As long as the Frank Gehry didn't use any tricks to swallow the project funds, Eric didn't mind spending more than $20 million to build the mansion from his dreams .
After dinner, Eric was very tired, but he still patiently watched a boring soap opera with her .
"Eric, I heard that you intend to shoot a TV series?"
"Yes ah," Eric said as he put his hand on Virginia big chest: "it's a sitcom, A lot of big stars will be needed in cameos in the future, would you like to have a part?"
Virginia gently gasped, and said after she gave him a kiss: "if you want me to, then I will do it . "
"Before you agree you should know that Jenny is one of the leading characters . "
Virginia laughed, and said: "Oh, then I have to go, but you will have to tell your girlfriend not to bully me in public, anyway, you are the one responsible for coordinating this show, so I'd like to see how you will handle your girlfriend when she starts bullying me in public . "
"I wouldn't care," Eric laughed and said: "According to some ancient traditions in the East . If the house girl gets bullied by the first wife, the husband isn't allowed to intervene . Well, I will be happy to see how you will deal with her . "
Although Virginia did not understand what a house girl meant, it didn't prevent her from understanding the meaning of the words . Acting hurt, Virginia bit him on the arm and said: "You're such a jerk . "
Eric massaged his arm, and drew Virginia into his arms and sad: "All right, how about we go upstairs so I can show you how sorry I'm . "
"Mmmm . . . . . . ah, let me first turn off the TV . "
Eric grabbed the remote control, turned off the TV, picked Virginia up, and walked upstairs .
The next day, Eric woke up at seven o'clock, he hastily consumed his breakfast and let Virginia drive him to the studio .
Although they left before finishing the scene, Cruise and Hanks quickly got back into shape and completed the scene without any mistakes . And surprisingly Joe Pesci, who was sad after hearing the bad news about missing the chance to star in "Home Alone" the day before, was very energetic this morning and ended giving a stellar performance . When he was performing his lines, some people in the crew couldn't help but laugh, because of Joe Pesci joyful voice . Even Tom Hanks showed concern that he may be suppressed by Joe Pesci performance .
For the next period of time, "Running Out of Time" shooting went according to plan, although the filming was advancing slowly, he still has a lot of time .
A few days later, the crew of "The Others" departed to the United Kingdom, in addition to the actors, the crew staff was selected by Jonathan Demme, Eric didn't intervene, after all, Jonathan has spent most of his adult life in Hollywood, not only does he have more experience than Eric, he even has more connections and contacts .
Eric didn't take the time to send them off, instead, Jeffrey who acted as one of the producers went with them, but after a few days with the cast in England, he came back .
By the middle of April, Martin Brest officially started shooting "Scent of a Woman", and at the same time, after more than 10 days of filming inside the studio, Eric finally completed all the indoor scenes, and began shooting the most difficult scenes, although he had all the scenes in his mind, when he started shooting them, he found that thing isn't as easy as he imagined .