King of Hollywood-Chapter 210 - 210 On-Set Observations

Chapter 210: Chapter 210: On-Set Observations Chapter 210 -210: On-Set Observations With a thump, Natalie fell onto her bed and buried her head in the blankets, rummaging around for a while before lifting her head. She stared blankly at the small items on the bedside table for a long time, her pouted lips finally relaxing.

Although the standoff at the dinner table lasted for quite some time, with her mother’s intervention, her father eventually agreed to her request. But Natalie just couldn’t feel happy, the thought of her father’s stern look brought a sense of irritation surging into her heart. The last time the talent scout introduced Sandy, he opposed her going to act in movies without giving any reasons.

Natalie didn’t understand why she couldn’t act in movies, just like she didn’t understand at the age of six why she had to become a vegetarian, or why she had to strictly adhere to all those rules at the age of four. Perhaps she understood, after all, she was unusually intelligent for her age, she just didn’t want to acknowledge them.

Oh well, it was thought through; after all, Dad had already agreed. The girl flipped over and sat up, then her gaze fell on the choker that she had placed on the bedside table earlier. Adrian’s image suddenly came to mind, followed by a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

She had always thought directors were disheveled, loudmouthed, and condescending, but after meeting Adrian she realized how ridiculous her preconceptions had been. While he definitely couldn’t represent all directors, Natalie liked him a lot, he was witty, humorous, and… cute!

Yes, she thought Adrian was cute, often childishly playful with her, joking around, and even a few times made a complete mess of her. But at the same time, he was protective and took care of her, Natalie still remembered when she got hit by a prop box during a scene due to a mistake by the props master, and Adrian severely scolded him.

More importantly, although he often had a childish side while playing with her, when it came to serious matters he rarely treated her like a child, whether it was directing her acting or discussing current events, he approached her with the attitude of an equal, a friend.

“I never think of you as a child, Nata, you are much smarter and more mature than most of your peers, like Matilda. Although you might be a bit naive in some aspects due to lack of experience, but that can be made up for, right?” Adrian had said this when Natalie had asked.

The girl was very pleased with this, God knows how much she disliked the word “child.”

It had been a wise decision indeed. The girl picked up the choker and toyed with it, looking at the star pendant and chuckling softly. Her proactive attempt to showcase herself, besides finding the role of Matilda fascinating and feeling an inexplicable attraction to it, was also a tiny act of rebellion against her father. It just so happened that her agent Sandy had mentioned the director was also the owner of their agency, such a connection would be too bad to waste, and she hadn’t expected to meet such an interesting person.

After staring at the choker for a while, Natalie suddenly put it on her neck, then hopped in front of the dressing mirror and adopted a stern expression, making a gun with her hand and aiming at the person in the mirror: “I need a favor, Ed!”

After saying this with an indifferent tone, she took a closer look at her image in the mirror, her right hand imitating a gun while her left hand unconsciously cradled as if she was holding a Jade Plant.

Natalie suddenly burst out laughing, then rolled onto the bed giggling wildly. After a long while, she stopped, turned over and crawled on the bed. Then, her gaze fell on a photo on the bedside table, taken during a certain scene of the film, as such photos are often taken for archival purposes. The girl was wearing a striped short-sleeved tee and shorts, holding her knees, sitting sadly on the windowsill as the dim yellow sunlight streamed over her, creating a unique beauty.

“I must say, Nata, you look very beautiful and moving in this way,” Adrian’s voice suddenly echoed in her head, and an unusual feeling suddenly welled up inside Natalie.

She still remembered Adrian’s expression when he saw that photo, his fingers caressing it with an almost imperceptible smile, a mixture of excitement, admiration, pride, and… longing? As if he was touching the face of a lover?!

Natalie’s heartbeat quickened slightly, her cheeks also felt a bit hot. Oh, hell, what am I thinking! She sat up abruptly, covering her mouth and coughing lightly, but the way Adrian had looked at her after asking for the photo as a keepsake—the look, even though fleeting—was incredibly clear.

Alright! Enough with these bizarre thoughts! After taking several deep breaths, Natalie finally settled down and sat down at her desk to start working on her homework. Although her father had agreed that she could visit the set the day after tomorrow, these could absolutely not be neglected. However, even she didn’t notice, a tiny sense of pride was swirling in her heart, refusing to dissipate.

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The dining room, decorated primarily in red and yellow hues and featuring semi-European style decor, along with a dazzling crystal chandelier in the center, looked luxurious and extravagant. In the middle of the dining room, a man and woman were arguing about something. The woman, hands on hips and staring down the other party, appeared very assertive, while the man seemed indifferent, as if nothing mattered.

Surrounding them, photographers, lighting technicians, sound engineers, and even director Mandy Gale sat in their chairs, holding their breath and focusing intently on the actors’ performance. After nearly a dozen NGs, it was time to get it right.

“Nata, what do you think about shooting our restaurant scene here?” Adrian, standing in a corner, suddenly asked the girl beside him, but after asking two or three times, the girl looked up somewhat blankly, “Huh?”

Thankfully, Natalie quickly recovered, “Here? Seems a bit too lavish, doesn’t it? Even though Lyon must have made a good amount of money, there’s no need to bring Matilda to this kind of restaurant, right?”

“Why not enjoy life?” Adrian shrugged his shoulders and, seeing that the shoot was over, immediately went over to talk to Director Gale.

Natalie pursed her lips and slowly started walking around the set. To be honest, the crew here was different from what she had imagined. She thought it would be as lively as on ‘The Professional’ set during breaks, but in reality, people kept to their small groups, chatting in pairs or threes, and the volume was low.

Indeed, every director has their own style, even the atmosphere on set is different. Natalie observed her surroundings, shaking her little head. She hadn’t come away empty-handed; she had seen different directorial and acting styles and had gained a lot of insight. In her view, although the lead actress Monica Bellucci’s performance was decent, if it was her in the future, when she had grown up, she would surely be better than the other.

With that thought, Natalie involuntarily started looking for the lead actress, then her brow slightly furrowed. At a nearby small table, Adrian was joking with Monica, looking very intimate. Adrian pinched Monica’s chin several times while speaking, and Monica laughed in a very alluring and seductive way.

Unknowingly, Natalie bit her lip, her mood turning sour. At that moment, a somewhat frivolous voice came from behind, “Hey, are you Natalie Helarg?”

Natalie was slightly startled, finally coming back to her senses, and took a few deep breaths to stabilize her emotions, then turned around with a forced smile, “Yes, and you are?”

Before her stood a girl about her age, with golden curls and a round face that was both cute and pretty, with a distinguished air, though there seemed to be a hint of arrogance in her expression.

“Kirsten Dunst, nice to meet you.” The other girl squinted her eyes as if she sensed something but then offered a naive smile and reached out her hand.

“Hello, Kirsten, I’m Natalie,” the girl shook her hand, then looked reflective, “Have we met before?”

“Oh, yes, I also auditioned for ‘The Professional.'” Kirsten said straightforwardly, “Unfortunately, I didn’t get the part, Ed didn’t think I was right for the role.”

“That’s a real shame.” Natalie raised an eyebrow slightly when she heard the other girl calling Adrian “Ed.”

“But it’s okay, I got this role afterwards,” Kirsten’s smile became even cuter, “Even though it’s a mischievous girl with anorexia, I really like it. And you? How’s the shooting going?”

“Not bad, I also like the role of Matilda…” Natalie began recounting a few interesting incidents from the shoot, but for some reason, she always felt the other person was a bit fake and looked at her as if she were above her, which made her uncomfortable.

The two girls talked a little more, but it was all very superficial and didn’t delve too deep. However, Kirsten then left. Although she had a sweet and cute smile the whole time, that feeling of false superiority seemed to increase.

Weird girl. Natalie wrinkled her nose and muttered to herself, then pushed the thought aside and started looking for Adrian again. He had already left the spot where he stood before, and she had to circle the set a few times before finding him. Even though she found him, the idea of greeting him had completely vanished.

Adrian was at the back of a quiet corridor in the restaurant, together with lead actress Monica Bellucci, even closer than before, embracing each other like a couple.

In fact, Natalie knew a bit about Adrian’s situation. Although she wasn’t on set during the days Monica was in New York because she didn’t have scenes to film, she had heard plenty of gossip from the crew thereafter. But she had hardly seen Monica, even when she visited the set a few times to wait for Adrian, it was only a brief glimpse, no concrete impression like now, seeing everything clearly.

Her mood inexplicably soured even more as she stood not too far from the pair, but they were so engrossed in their affectionate conversation that they didn’t notice her. Natalie stamped her foot and turned away, heading elsewhere in a huff.

(To be continued. If you wish to know what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com. More chapters are available. Support the author, support genuine reading!)