Hollywood: The Greatest Showman

Chapter 215: Impressive

"What do you mean?"

Vin was full of questions, completely missing Renly's underlying message: Kiefer Sutherland had long been famous, while Renly was just emerging. This was clearly a disadvantage, so why would Renly say it was an advantage? And why would Renly bring up his disadvantages compared to Kiefer, knowing he was overall inferior? Was he ignorant or arrogant?

Vin looked to Neil for clarification, but Neil's polite smile gave nothing away. Then Neil turned to Andy, half-joking, "Are all young people this confident nowadays?"

Andy, who had been observing quietly, immediately shrugged and nodded, "The Millennial generation might just be like that. Haven't the recent news been all over the place?"

Neil quickly caught on—Andy was referring to the "Transformers" crew incidents, where first Megan Fox cursed out the director and complained incessantly, then Shia LaBeouf got into a drunken fight in a nightclub. Both were representative Millennial actors.

"Young people are always full of vigor. Does this mean we're all old now?" Neil joked, "These past few days at Telluride, I've seen so many young faces. Even Colin Firth is considered an old-timer now."

Vin was even more confused now. The topic had suddenly shifted, and it seemed Neil had no intention of pursuing Renly's meaning. Neil and Andy had started chatting casually. What was going on?

"Neil?" Vin couldn't help but call out, feeling frustrated. But Neil just turned to him with a smile, "Didn't you watch 'The Social Network' today? How was it?" Before Vin could answer, Neil laughed, "Oh, I forgot. You're one of the older ones too. Are you part of the Baby Boomer generation?"

Colin Firth was born in 1960, and Vin Diesel in 1967.

Vin could sense the firmness in Neil's words, swallowing his reply and forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace, "No, I'm not that old. I'm Gen X, just like Paul."

Vin realized that the audition was over. It had started subtly and ended just as unnoticeably. There was so much hidden information in the brief exchange, but Vin had no idea why it ended now, how Neil felt about it, whether the audition was a success or failure, or what would happen next.

Taking a deep breath, Vin remembered something crucial: it was all just a smoke screen, a smokescreen to make Dwayne Johnson yield.

Realizing this, Vin felt relieved. He didn't like Renly or dealing with people like him. Although Dwayne was no easy target either, Vin preferred dealing with him. Physical confrontations were simpler.

After that, they didn't bring up "Fast & Furious" again. Instead, they chatted about Telluride's happenings, as if they were old friends attending the festival. Fans recognized Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, excitedly asking for photos. Some journalists also noticed them, stopping by for a chat. The entire dinner was light and pleasant, lasting nearly two and a half hours.

Everything went according to Neil's plan. They chose a public setting for the audition because it was open and full of reporters and fans. They had arranged for journalists to photograph the meeting, not just with Renly but with other auditionees as well, to create buzz online about their casting efforts. Given Telluride's environment, this all seemed natural.

By midnight, news of their friendly chat with Renly would likely be all over Facebook and Yahoo.

However, Neil had an unexpected takeaway.

Renly's last words carried an implicit message: "Apart from the disadvantage of fame, I am superior to Kiefer in every way." Neil didn't miss this.

In terms of age, Renly was younger and more suited for action scenes. In terms of appearance, Renly's fresh face would be more exciting for audiences, especially women. Performance-wise, Renly had proven himself with two outstanding films. Popularity-wise, Renly was on the rise from Toronto to Telluride, and with "Buried" soon to be released, this trend would likely continue.

In other words, Renly indeed had many advantages, with fame being his only disadvantage.

The movie market is a balance of familiarity and novelty. On one hand, audiences trust familiar faces like Will Smith, Tom Cruise, and Harrison Ford, who bring instant appeal to their movies. On the other hand, audiences crave new blood like Megan Fox in "Transformers" or Jessica Alba in "Fantastic Four" and "Sin City."

Kiefer Sutherland's long-standing fame would naturally draw curiosity if he joined "Fast & Furious," much like Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, and Dolph Lundgren in "The Expendables."

This is the advantage of fame.

But why did Renly consider this "disadvantage" an advantage? The reason was simple: salary.

"Fame" demands high salaries. The higher the fame and box office appeal, the higher the salary. This was the crux of the conflict with Dwayne and the reason Renly got the audition. Essentially, it was Renly's greatest advantage.

As a newcomer with only one film under his belt, Renly's salary could be around $500,000 or less. Even considering the current situation of the "Fast & Furious" crew, any agent would negotiate higher, but it would still be a fraction of Dwayne's $3.5 million.

Neil's baseline for Dwayne was $2.5 million. Choosing Renly could save a significant amount of the budget. Saving money is not about being cheap but about maximizing every dollar to ultimately make more money, a continuous concern for producers from the project's inception.

Considering this, choosing Renly seemed advantageous—at least more advantageous than not. While they still needed to assess other actors, Renly's performance tonight piqued Neil's interest. There seemed to be no other young actors like him.

"What do you think of him?" Neil's sudden question in the car took Paul and Vin by surprise.

Paul smiled, but before he could speak, Vin bluntly said, "I don't like him. He's too sly and arrogant. God, he's a complete jerk."

"Vin, what are you talking about?" Paul frowned, defending Renly, "Renly a jerk? Are you sure we met the same person tonight? Renly was humble, courteous, and friendly."

Vin felt a pang in his chest. He just didn't like Renly, but couldn't articulate why, so he just stared at Paul.

Paul didn't back down, "I think Renly is the perfect choice. When we met climbing, I thought he was a great guy, not knowing he was an actor or that we might work together." Paul turned to Neil, smiling, "I think he's very suitable. Athletic and striking, don't you think?"

"Paul, don't forget we're just trying to warn Dwayne Johnson." Vin found his voice, seeing Paul's frustrated expression, and felt a sense of triumph. "Ultimately, Dwayne is the perfect choice."

Neil smiled at their bickering. It's said that strong personalities clash, making friendship difficult. Vin's dislike for Renly was understandable. Moreover, Vin, having barely made it to the A-list with "Fast & Furious" and now relishing his producer role, naturally resisted anyone challenging his authority. Compared to Dwayne, Renly seemed like a bigger threat.

Neil saw this as a positive signal—his goal was to find an actor who could challenge Vin, wasn't it?

"So you don't oppose me leaking the news that Renly is joining the crew to make Dwayne feel threatened," Neil said smoothly. Vin's retort stuck in his throat—he didn't want to praise Renly, even if it was just for show. "Vin, we need credibility to make the media and Dwayne believe it. This isn't a game. Renly makes a perfect decoy, don't you think?"

Vin tried to argue but couldn't find the words, finally muttering, "Why does it have to be him? He looks like a weak scholar, no match for Dwayne."

"Which makes him a bigger threat. If he were similar, there'd be no competition," Paul retorted. "Besides, Renly isn't weak. If you saw him rock climbing, you wouldn't think that."

Vin gritted his teeth but couldn't continue arguing, just grumbling, "Climbing, damn climbing."

Neil smiled, "Then it's settled."