[Chapter 569: Hard to Believe]
At this moment, the young girl who would later become known as Natalie Portman was still called Natalie Hershlag. After her mother left with Eric's driver, she found herself staring at the young man squatting by the side of the road, feeling a mix of curiosity and intrigue. In her mind, the famous directors she occasionally saw on TV were either serious, funny, or eccentric. She thought most of them had to be putting on an act.
But this guy named Eric Williams, who seemingly had a string of box office hits, gave her an impression she couldn't quite get a read on. Normally, the boys in school would be the ones to put on a show in front of her.
His outfit struck her as a bit off, too. He wore an open black jacket over a T-shirt with some strange pattern, and his long pants looked a bit wrinkled. She thought he might just need a brightly colored hairdo with some flashy earrings to resemble the legendary bikers she had heard about.
Well, he still seemed like a somewhat handsome version of a biker, much better than a skinhead.
As she watched Eric lost in thought, the girl followed his gaze down to the road. Cars zipped past, some fast, some slow. Maybe he was contemplating robbing one of those cars instead.
Finding her thoughts amusing, she grinned, adjusted her white rollerblades, and edged closer to Eric's left. She squatted beside him, watching as more cars filled the roads heading home from work.
Chryslers, Toyotas, Chevrolets, Fords, BMWs...
That white convertible BMW looked the most expensive. She'd heard German cars were built really well.
Minutes passed, and Natalie suddenly remembered who this guy was. He was a big-time Hollywood director and the owner of a film studio, leading her to elbow him gently. "Mr. Williams?"
"Hmm?"
"Do... does your film company need child actors?"
Eric snuffed out the remains of his cigarette and tossed it into a nearby sewer. He set aside his musings and looked at the girl beside him, seemingly intrigued. "Yeah, we do."
"What do you think about me?"
Eric studied Natalie closely: her white T-shirt clung to her slender frame, khaki capris showed off her thin legs, and her shoes seemed a size too big for her. He shook his head, "You're too skinny."
"Aren't all the stars skinny?" the girl contested quickly. "When I was ten, Revlon invited me to be a child model, and I've been training at a drama camp for two years. I even filled in as the lead in the play Ruthless!, though I didn't get to perform in the end. But isn't that enough to show my acting skills?"
With a grin, Eric asked, "So you want to be a star or an actress?"
"Hey, I want to be a star! I don't want to grow up to be a housewife like my mom; that sounds so boring!"
"All right, then I'll give you a chance to be a star," Eric said, pointing to the car next to them. "Help me get the mobile phone from the front seat."
Natalie had been thinking of ways to convince Eric to give her a shot at a role, but his request nearly knocked her off her feet. Yet she recovered quickly, pushed herself up from the ground, and dashed over to the Toyota. She opened the door, hopped into the front seat, and quickly fetched the Motorola mobile phone, handing it to Eric without blinking.
He dug out a business card from his pocket and dialed the number. "Hey, Luc, it's me, Eric..." Upon Luc Besson connecting, Eric quickly cut to the chase. "I'm still on the road, but the car broke down... No, no, it's fine. I can handle it. I just happened to meet a little girl who I think is perfect for the role of Mathilda. Maybe you can give her the role... I'm serious, let her talk to you."
After saying that, Eric handed the mobile phone to Natalie without further explanation. He then pulled out another cigarette, lit it, and nodded at the girl.
Natalie held the mobile phone in surprise for two seconds before bringing the receiver to her ear. "Hello... Hi, my name is Natalie Hershlag."
Eric could faintly hear Luc introducing himself, then noticed the girl's bewildered expression. However, after a brief moment of panic, Natalie settled down, deciding to take the initiative. "Hello, Director Besson. Although I'm not sure what the character Mathilda is like, I believe I can give it a try if you could give me an audition... Oh, Manhattan, Hell's Kitchen, the Van Inn on Tenth Avenue... Yes, I noted it. Tomorrow morning at nine... I will be there on time. Thank you, goodbye."
After hanging up, the girl seemed almost unable to believe what just happened. But once she realized it was real, Natalie felt like jumping for joy.
Carefully returning the mobile phone to Eric, she wore an eager expression. "Mr. Williams, can you share some details about Mathilda's character? Maybe I can prepare a bit tonight."
"She's a precocious, rebellious little girl, somewhat like you."
Natalie wanted to protest, claiming she wasn't rebellious at all -- just a bit mischievous. But she swallowed that thought and asked, "Can you be a bit more specific?"
"That's enough already," Eric said with a mysterious smile. "What's meant for you will always find its way to you."
Unsatisfied and eager for more information, Natalie was about to press further when her mother, Mrs. Hershlag, returned in the car. The moment the vehicle stopped, the girl excitedly ran over to her, waving her arms and sharing the thrilling news.
Carter had just pulled a toolbox out of a white Chevrolet. Hearing the girl's words, he looked at Eric with interest before walking towards the stopped Toyota.
"Mr. Williams, I hope you're not joking with Nat," he said.
Eric handed the business card of Luc Besson to Mrs. Hershlag. "Here's the director's card. It might help you."
Mrs. Hershlag glanced at the card. Since Eric said so, she no longer questioned the validity of his conversation with her daughter. Still, she frowned slightly. "But Nat just started school. Acting could interrupt her studies, don't you think?"
"Mom, it's just a small role. It won't take too many days," Natalie replied.
Mrs. Hershlag felt her daughter might have a point, her expression relaxing slightly, but then Eric said, "It's not a small part; it's the leading role. If it happens, it could take two to three months."
"Wow," a tone of surprise broke out.
Mrs. Hershlag immediately furrowed her brow again. "If that's the case..."
"If Nat gets the role, the company will arrange for a private tutor to help her keep up with her studies. But that all depends on your decision."
"Then I need to discuss it with my husband."
"Of course, but this opportunity arose because the original lead had to drop out due to an emergency appendectomy. The production is already underway, burning through cash, so they can't delay for too long. They'll likely finalize a decision in two or three days at most."
"Mom, Mom," Natalie interjected, tugging at her mother's sleeve with a pleading expression.
Having done his part, Eric decided not to push further. After all, finding Natalie in the thousands of miles around Long Island made him think Mathilda truly belonged to Natalie Portman.
...
As Eric expected, the next day, Luc Besson called in from East Hampton, thrilled with Natalie's performance. Though her parents initially hesitated after reading the script, they ultimately agreed after Natalie insisted.
The trip to Manhattan became a small interlude in Eric's life as a caretaker in East Hampton, and the days returned to their usual calm.
Meanwhile, Jackson's case remained a hot topic in the media, likely to brew for months. If Eric found himself in such a situation, he would spare no expense to win the trial. That would be the best outcome, especially in a money-driven America, where someone like Jackson had a considerable advantage. The Simpson murder case was, in Eric's memory, the most beneficial proof of manipulating the law through financial power.
Unfortunately, despite Jackson's immense talent, he remained a child at heart, surrounded by too many people wanting to take advantage of him. This doomed the tragedy of the genius.
...
After a three-week break, Eric had to start working again as Firefly Pictures completed its divestment plan from Fox Television Network.
After employing a series of legitimate tax-avoidance methods and paying capital gains tax, Firefly ultimately received $650 million from News Corporation.
Thanks to Disney owning hundreds of Disney Stores and theme parks, Firefly Films enjoyed a far richer cash flow compared to other Hollywood studios. Adding in the generous profits from several blockbuster films, within two years, Firefly's cash reserves skyrocketed to an astonishing $4 billion, more than three times MGM's market value. With the summer blockbusters like Jurassic Park wrapping up box office accounting, this number was on the cusp of reaching the $5 billion mark.
In September, after some fierce "competition," Firefly Films naturally lost its bid for the Blockbuster Video chain to Viacom. While they secured the chain, Summer Redstone still felt terrible. What was initially secured for $8 billion rose by $600 million due to Firefly's involvement. After signing the purchase agreement, Redstone also realized Firefly didn't genuinely intend to buy Blockbuster. He publicly ridiculed them for wasting an extra $600 million.
...
After shedding Fox Television's shares, under Katzenberg's direction, Firefly began to gradually acquire shares in ABC Television. By this point, Firefly's real intentions could no longer be hidden, and the higher-ups had begun to boldly reach out to ABC, NBC, and CBS all at once.
After news broke, stock prices for the three major networks simultaneously began to climb, and share trading in the market intensified. This led to Firefly's discreet acquisition of ABC shares becoming less noticeable. During this period, Katzenberg submitted a plan to Eric, intending to use several scattered shell companies to acquire about 10% of ABC's circulating stocks before entering ABC's board and launching a formal takeover bid.
...
By late September, Chris finally returned to New York after spending several months in Northern Europe, accompanied by Nokia Group's CEO, Jorma Ollila.
Jorma Ollila personally signed several documents with Eric before meeting him for a few hours, then hurriedly left for Finland.
Standing alongside Chris on the road outside the East Hampton estate, Eric watched Jorma Ollila's vehicle disappear. He then asked, "He doesn't seem too happy, does he?"
"Of course, it's obvious," Chris replied with a sly smile as they walked back toward the estate. "I have to say, we hit the jackpot with this acquisition. You might not know, but five days after we signed the stock transfer agreement, multiple EU member countries publicly announced they would adopt the GSM digital communication network instead of the previously used analog systems. I was concerned that the GSM network might be replaced by another digital network developed by a big company, but once the EU released that news, GSM's dominance in Europe was all but secure. In the last week, Nokia's stock surged 27%. You can imagine how those who sold their shares are feeling right now. And Jorma Ollila originally didn't want the shareholders of the Bank of Finland to hand over the controlling stake, so he is so depressed now."
Eric chuckled, "So you're not second-guessing my decision anymore, are you?"
"Of course not," Chris replied, "Eric, I find your genius intuition is a hundred times sharper than all the smart people I've encountered in the last thirty years. I'm really curious how you saw this coming, like the Gulf War, Nokia, and Firefly's string of successful films?"
"If I said it was talent, would you believe me?"
Chris shook his head and laughed. "Not a chance. But seeing is believing, and I seem to have no choice but to believe you."
*****
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