Chapter 207: Oscar’s Invitation

Chapter 207: Chapter 207: Oscar’s Invitation

Shelly knew Irene’s temperament well and had prepared a full public relations plan early on: no explanations, no conflicts, and no hype. Shelly simply glossed over it with the line,

"The director apologizes, as she is unable to step away due to the filming schedule," keeping all the fallout to a minimum in a professional and decent manner.

Those who could understand her naturally grasped her situation at the core of the crew, unable to leave for even a moment. For those who couldn’t, Irene never wasted her breath explaining.

Right now, for her, nothing was more important than steadily advancing the filming and ensuring the quality of the film. The noise and speculation of the vanity fair were firmly kept outside the mountains and seas of the set.

Days passed quietly in the compact and orderly filming, and Irene’s twentieth birthday was also spent plainly on the set.

There were no grand parties or red carpet celebrations, only a brief half-hour after work. Depp took the lead, with Keira, Henry, and the key crew members gathering around to present a simple yet warm cream cake, singing the birthday song softly, their smiles under the lights sincere and warm.

Irene smiled faintly as she blew out the candles, her wish being exceptionally simple: just that the filming would go smoothly, everyone would be safe, and the work would live up to expectations.

After a few short minutes of celebration, everyone dispersed to rest. The next morning, the set returned to its usual tension and focus. No one mentioned the birthday again, as if it were just a gentle interlude in the long filming process.

A few days later, Irene called Britney, who was far away in Los Angeles, to wish her a happy birthday and congratulate her. As soon as her new album was released, three songs debuted directly on the Billboard Hot 100, sweeping across the United States with great momentum.

On the other end of the line, Britney’s eyes shone with laughter. She looked toward Irene deliberately, her tone carrying a hint of mischief: "Is someone secretly feeling smug inside? I haven’t forgotten that we wrote all three of these songs together."

Irene raised an eyebrow, just about to push all the credit back to her, but Britney had already laughed and added,

"Many producers are asking me in private how much effort I actually put into these three songs, whether you are that legendary creative genius, and if you will have any more musical creations in the future."

Irene suddenly laughed: "For me, directing is my main profession and where my interest lies. As for whether I will write songs in the future, that’s not certain, but rest assured, if you face a ’transition’ again in the future, or if your popularity drops, I will still continue to support you and help you write songs."

"Hmph, I wouldn’t! Britney is always number one!" Britney said unconvinced.

"So confident? Then is there any hope for the Grammy this time?" Irene said deliberately.

"As for that, the secret cannot be leaked." Britney acted mysterious.

It wasn’t that she lacked confidence. In fact, the company had already given her a heads-up that she would at least be nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album at this year’s Grammys, while Record of the Year and Album of the Year might still require some luck.

But after hanging out with her good friend Irene for a long time, she learned one thing: don’t pop the champagne at halftime. So, she kept this news to herself without speaking of it, and didn’t tell Irene because she was afraid that if she didn’t win, Irene would have had expectations for nothing.

Just like that, in the last month of 2001, Irene was steadily rooted on the set, finishing the last of the year’s time amidst cameras, lights, and scripts.

No vanity, no disturbance, only day-after-day focus and persistence, kneading all her energy into every single shot.

Just the day after the Oscar nominations were officially announced, the entire filming of Pirates of the Caribbean was successfully completed. As the final "Wrap" was called, this long and tense filming journey finally came to a perfect conclusion.

Irene packed all her luggage, removed the work badge from the director’s chair, and amidst the farewells of the crew, set off on the journey back to Los Angeles once again.

...

Irene returned to her home in Malibu, Los Angeles. She had just dragged her suitcase through the door when the doorbell at the entrance rang immediately.

Shelly’s movements were even faster than she had expected. Almost as soon as she arrived, Shelly was right behind her, holding a thick document bag, with a look of excitement and certainty on his face.

Without waiting for Irene to speak, Shelly walked straight into the living room, placed the documents on the table, and got straight to the point:

"The Oscar organizing committee has officially sent an invitation, hoping you will serve as a presenter for the Best Actress award this year. You declined the Golden Globe Awards last time due to the tight filming schedule, and I was able to help you navigate that, but this time, you cannot be dismissive about the Oscar."

Irene was stunned for a moment, almost thinking she had misheard. She put down the water glass in her hand, raised an eyebrow, and was full of disbelief: "Me? Go present Best Actress? Are you not joking?"

She shook her head lightly in self-deprecation,

"Even if they wanted to invite me, presenting a technical award like Best Costume Design or Best Visual Effects would be justifiable. But Best Actress is one of the most high-profile core awards of the night, and it is usually presented by the previous year’s Best Actor winner. Who was the previous year’s Best Actor again?"

Irene thought for a moment, and before Shelly could speak, she immediately remembered, "Right, Russell Crowe. Is he unwilling to present the Best Actress award? Why would they suddenly come to me?"

Shelly looked at her, seeing her surprised but hitting the mark, "You probably aren’t clear on who the nominees for this year’s Oscar Best Actress are."

Irene still didn’t quite understand what Shelly meant, "Tell me."

"Halle Berry, Monster’s Ball; Renée Zellweger, Bridget Jones’s Diary; Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge!; Judi Dench, Iris; Sissy Spacek, In the Bedroom." Shelly recited each nominee one by one, unhurriedly.

Actually, there was no need to wait for Shelly to finish the entire list. When Irene heard the first name, she already recalled the winner of this year’s Best Actress. After all, there weren’t many instances in the history of the Oscars where the winner was as inflated as this year’s.

Of course, it was all just political correctness.

"Fine, I understand why Russell Crowe doesn’t want to present the award. But isn’t he afraid of being labeled, acting so obviously?" Irene asked curiously. The nerves of some people were very sensitive right now, and once labeled with racism, even an A-list actor would find it hard to escape.

"Some things can only be understood, not spoken. As long as you understand, that’s enough. According to reliable sources, Russell Crowe will go to present the Best Picture award because he says he is a fan of The Lord of the Rings and hopes to see his favorite work win."

Irene was shocked. It was hard for the other party to come up with such an excuse. Indeed, actors who could reach this level were not ordinary people.

"But I still have a question. Even if Russell Crowe doesn’t go, there are plenty of other candidates. Why would it be me?"