Chapter 482: Audition Unexpected Incident

Chapter 482: Chapter 482: Audition Unexpected Incident

The audition venue was set up in a professional audition studio long-term leased by Echo Pictures in Burbank.

The venue was spacious and transparent, with lighting, sets, and sound-recording equipment all built according to live-action shooting standards, and accompanied by an independent waiting area, dressing room, and judges’ seat on the side.

This place did not exist originally.

After the company had more and more projects on hand and had to borrow other people’s venues for every audition, Irene Coppola felt a lot of inconvenience, so she integrated resources and set up the actual sound stages, production department, and post-production studio in Burbank, while the company’s administrative, distribution, and commercial headquarters were set in Century City.

This was also the model chosen by most film and television companies, and in the future, Irene Coppola would integrate the administrative departments of all companies under her umbrella into one building, which could also save a lot of time.

Early in the morning, various vans arrived outside the audition studio one after another.

A group of invited actors arrived successively with their agents and assistants, orderly signing in, receiving script segments, and familiarizing themselves with audition lines and emotional rhythms.

The entire scene was orderly, with a professional yet tense atmosphere.

Numerous dazzling new-generation actresses gathered together, forming the top lineup pattern of Hollywood’s new generation.

Among the slender actresses with varied temperaments, the figure of Anne Hathaway was particularly striking.

Today, she did not deliberately pile up gorgeous outfits.

Wearing a simple and clean white shirt paired with light-colored casual suit pants, and with a clear and elegant makeup look, she perfectly matched the character setting of a college student newly entering the workplace.

Sensing that Irene Coppola and others walked into the audition site, Anne Hathaway immediately raised her eyes to look over, an iconic smile blooming on her face.

Unlike the innocent and purely sweet girl’s smile during The Princess Diaries period, her smile at this moment faded away the childish ignorance, carrying transparency and confidence in the depths of her eyes after carefully polishing the role.

Obviously, during this period of time, she had not wasted her time.

Instead, she concentrated on studying the script, dissecting Andy’s character core, repeatedly pondering the psychological changes of a workplace newcomer, seriously studying the character setting, and polishing her acting skills, making full preparations for this audition and for the cooperation with Irene Coppola.

Irene Coppola watched quietly, feeling secretly satisfied in her heart.

Anne Hathaway’s plasticity and upward drive far exceeded the batch of new-generation actors of the same period.

In fact, in Irene Coppola’s heart, this large-scale public audition was originally just a public ceremony to go through the motions, and more of a decent facade to show to the partner Condé Nast Group.

As for the candidate for the female lead Andy, she had already determined it from the very beginning of the project setup.

From beginning to end, it was Anne Hathaway, and there had never been a second candidate.

Even though Condé Nast, as the exclusive fashion sponsor of this film, held the right to speak on actor aesthetic review and circle suggestions, even if the other party raised objections to the candidate later and tried to interfere with the casting results, Irene Coppola would not compromise or make concessions at all.

Fundamentally speaking, the full production cost and shooting funds of the entire film The Devil Wears Prada were exclusively borne by Echo Pictures, making it a main-control project invested entirely by Irene Coppola personally.

Condé Nast only provided fashion resources, real-scene venues, clothing sponsorship, and promotional assistance, without participating in any capital investment, let alone holding shares and decision-making power.

Irene Coppola was not only the director and screenwriter of this film, but also the sole largest investor, holding absolute final decision-making power, and had no need to cater to the preferences and thoughts of any partner.

Precisely because she needed to go through the formal process of public audition, the candidate list for the female lead this time, besides the predetermined Anne Hathaway, still included several top-tier new-generation powerful actresses in Hollywood today.

Among them, the two popular candidates, Kate Hudson and Claire Danes, were both seed actors heavily pushed by the top agency CAA, carrying mature acting skills and national popularity.

The two had cultivated drama films and urban-themed works all year round.

Their acting skills were solid, their emotional expressions were delicate, and their stage experience was sufficient.

Solely speaking of professional acting skills, they were almost on par with Anne Hathaway, who attentively polished her role, each having their own characteristics and hard to distinguish.

But objectively speaking, compared to Anne Hathaway’s highly recognizable pretty face, the facial features, temperament, and appearance atmosphere of the two were indeed slightly inferior.

As for the candidate who surprised Irene Coppola the most in this audition, it was none other than Natalie Portman.

Until the audition list was finally made public and all personnel arrived, Irene Coppola learned that Natalie would participate in this heroine competition, and before that, unexpectedly no one had reported to her in advance.

Unlike the conventional candidate actors pushed by CAA, Natalie Portman was a candidate directly parachuted and recommended by the top management of Condé Nast Group, with substantial background weight, completely embodying circle privilege.

Natalie Portman had always established herself in Hollywood with the persona of a high-IQ academic genius and a talented powerful actor.

She became famous at a young age, was full of aura, had solid acting skills, a solid general audience base, and carried an advanced, aloof screen temperament.

Her acting path leaned toward calm, transparent, and highly intellectual elite roles.

This character trait happened to partially overlap with the later workplace elite state of Andy’s transformation in The Devil Wears Prada.

However, once she played the female lead, the style of the entire film might shift by a large angle, turning from "the workplace growth and transformation history of an ordinary girl" into "the workplace advancement record of a high-IQ elite," and the nature of the film would be completely different.

Therefore, in Irene Coppola’s evaluation system, Natalie Portman’s interpretation conflicted with the work concept she wanted.

The sense of rationality, sobriety, and elitism on her body was too heavy, carrying a condescending restraint from beginning to end, completely lacking the most core soul trait of Andy’s character—that pure "foolishness" of stepping into society for the first time, harboring enthusiasm, daring to give up stability for ideals, and rushing to the unknown for love.

Andy’s touching part was never being born wise and carrying an aura, but the clumsiness, sincerity, struggle, and growth of an ordinary girl.

It was the transformation after shedding childishness and experiencing polishing.

This grounded worldly flavor was a trait that Natalie did not possess.

Of course, what made Irene Coppola feel even more displeased in her heart was this arbitrary operation by Condé Nast Group.

Echo Pictures and Condé Nast Group had a mutually beneficial cooperative relationship, not a subordinate bundling.

Even if the other party held top fashion resources, they should not cross the director and production team to temporarily parachute core character candidates on the day of the audition, without prior communication, without reporting, and secretly meddling in core casting.

This behavior was essentially testing or even provoking her absolute authority as the sole investor and chief director of this film.

Irene Coppola was not necessarily dependent on Condé Nast.

The cooperation between the two sides was a two-way win-win.

The other party provided resources, and she fed back top fashion promotion and enhanced brand style, achieving each other.

The other party’s cross-border operation this time seemed to just push one more candidate, but in reality, it was an attempt to interfere with the film’s core creation and test the right to speak, which made her exceptionally disgusted.