"Simon, you must be deliberately flattering me. In 'Once Upon a Time in America', the most memorable female character should be the young Deborah".
"That's absolutely not flattery, Ms. Fluegel. I can't quite explain why, but I'm often drawn to some women's unintentional words in movies. Perhaps it's a 'sorry' said with a particular intonation, or a 'beg for mercy'. And then, I feel like they are simply captivating in that moment".
Coldwater Canyon community on the western edge of Beverly Hills.
At Jonathan Friedman's party, in order to impress Robert De Niro, the agent had clearly put a lot of effort into the party details, specifically inviting some WMA stars who had previously worked with De Niro.
The person Simon was chatting with at this moment was Darlanne Fluegel, the Hollywood actress who played Eve, De Niro's girlfriend, in "Once Upon a Time in America".
Darlanne Fluegel was around thirty, with blonde hair and blue eyes, a typical German woman's appearance, yet her looks and demeanour also had a hint of Naomi Watts.
At this moment, hearing Simon say this, Darlanne Fluegel looked at him with interest and said, "What about me, Simon? Which line of mine attracted you?"
Simon held back a little, saying, "You guess".
Darlanne Fluegel didn't have many scenes in "Once Upon a Time in America". She thought for a while, but still shook her head: "I don't know".
Simon listened to the woman's answer, a smile appearing on his lips, and said, "It's that line, 'I don't know'. At the beginning of the movie, several thugs break into Eve's residence to interrogate her about Noodles' whereabouts, and Eve says, 'I don't know', twice. Ever since I first watched 'Once Upon a Time in America' and heard those two 'I don't knows', I've always firmly believed that Eve is the most captivating woman in that movie".
"Oh, Simon, you are so observant and articulate," Darlanne Fluegel's beautiful blue eyes sparkled, and she said, "So, do you think I could try out for the role of Mia in 'Pulp Fiction'? I submitted my resume, but unfortunately, I was rejected".
Westerners are not known for their subtlety. Simon heard the woman seize the opportunity to recommend herself, but he just smiled and shook his head, saying, "It's a real shame, but Mia's role requires a height of around 180cm".
Darlanne Fluegel found Simon's use of metric units for height a bit odd, but she didn't give up easily, saying, "Can't I just wear high heels?"
"Mia is barefoot most of the time in the movie," Simon continued to explain, then added, "However, I think we definitely have a chance to work together. Perhaps, you could leave me your contact information".
Darlanne Fluegel looked at the harmlessly smiling big boy in front of her, her expression slightly hesitant.
After a moment of silence, just as the woman was about to speak, another white man, around thirty, jogged over from the villa. When he got closer, the man put his arm around Darlanne Fluegel's waist, looking at Simon with some uncertainty, and asked the woman beside him, "Darling, what are you two talking about?"
Darlanne Fluegel felt the change in Simon's gaze, forced a smile, and raised her hand to introduce the two: "Simon, this is my husband, Michael Small. Mike, this is Simon, Simon Westeros".
With the great success of two consecutive films, Simon had already gained considerable fame. However, he himself was not the type of person who liked to be in the public eye, so it wasn't surprising that Michael Small didn't recognize him immediately.
Upon hearing his wife's introduction, Michael Small's expression changed to one of realization, and he extended his hand to Simon very enthusiastically to greet him.
After chatting for a few more minutes, Michael Small took Darlanne Fluegel and turned to leave.
Simon raised the glass in his hand to his lips and took a sip of his cocktail, then walked over to Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves, who had been chatting nearby.
Seeing Simon approach, Keanu Reeves simply greeted him, then turned and left.
Simon watched Keanu's hurried departure, clearly suppressing some emotions, with a puzzled look, then glanced at Sandra in front of him, seeing a half-smile on her face, and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Sandra shook her head, the smile on her face growing wider, and she couldn't help but say, "I, just, I also just heard a very memorable line".
Simon made a helpless expression and said, "I didn't realize you had a hobby of eavesdropping on other people's conversations".
Sandra gave Simon a sidelong glance and retorted, "Keanu and I were standing here before you stopped that woman to chat, weren't we? I'm not deaf".
"Alright," Simon shrugged, "My bad".
Sandra made a 'it was your fault to begin with' expression, the smile on her face still not fading, and looked at Simon, saying, "Aren't you going to guess which line I found memorable?"
Simon retorted, "Is there a prize if I guess correctly?"
Sandra asked casually, "What kind of prize do you want?"
Simon didn't answer, but deliberately narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Sandra up and down.
The theme of today's party was relatively casual, so formal attire wasn't required.
Sandra was wearing a form-fitting black wool sweater and white casual pants. The high-neck sweater also revealed two rounded shoulders, making her look a little sexy.
Noticing Simon's gaze on her shoulders, Sandra suddenly felt a little self-conscious, quickly reined in her smile, and deliberately put on a fierce expression, glaring at Simon and saying, "What are you looking at?"
After saying that, Sandra regretted it a little.
That was so unladylike.
"Just, I suddenly thought of a joke," Simon pointed to Sandra's off-the-shoulder wool sweater and said, "And then I had an urge to sew up the shoulders of your clothes".
Sew it up?
Sandra was puzzled for a moment, then raised her hand and drew a square in front of her, saying, "You're so old-fashioned".
Simon looked at Sandra's gesture and laughed, "Have you read the script for 'Pulp Fiction'?"
Sandra's gesture just now was exactly what Mia did in 'Pulp Fiction' when she mocked Vincent for refusing to go to the Jack Rabbit Slim's restaurant. In old cartoons, characters often used the gesture of drawing a square to mock someone as old-fashioned.
"Yes," Sandra nodded, a hint of resentment in her eyes, and said, "Even though you didn't invite me, I still wanted to see if there was a suitable role for me in the script".
"I originally wanted to give you the role of Honey Bunny. However, upon further thought, this role wouldn't be beneficial for your career development, and it would instead damage the screen image you've built from 'Run Lola Run', so I decided against it". Simon also expressed some regret, then added, "By the way, I heard that the 'Back to the Future 2' project has also been put on hold. What was the outcome of your audition for the female lead?"
Sandra had actually thought of the Honey Bunny role.
If she could act in Simon's new movie, she wouldn't care about any impact.
However, hearing that Simon had thought of the same thing as her, and had even given up on the idea for her sake, Sandra's small bit of resentment immediately vanished.
Hearing Simon's last question, Sandra nodded and said, "Universal is in a hurry, they've offered several production plans, but Robert Zemeckis found himself too busy between 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit' and 'Back to the Future 2'. So, this matter can only be postponed until next year. However, Universal has already offered to sign me for the female lead role. They plan to shoot two sequels back-to-back, and Jonathan is still negotiating the salary with them".
Simon smiled after hearing Sandra's words and said, "Then congratulations to you".
After 'Run Lola Run', and if two more guaranteed blockbusters from the 'Back to the Future' series are added, Sandra's position in Hollywood would be thoroughly solidified. In the future, as long as she doesn't make a series of bad film choices, maintaining her A-list actress status for ten or twenty years wouldn't be a problem.
Sandra clearly understood the implications and was also very happy, smiling, but then suddenly remembered what had just happened and stared at Simon with dissatisfaction, saying, "You almost got me sidetracked. The line just now, are you going to guess or not?"
Simon said helplessly, "'This is my husband,' satisfied?"
Looking at Simon's gloomy expression and recalling the scene just now, Sandra couldn't help but laugh again, covering her mouth and making muffled sounds for a moment, tears even welling up.
After a while, Sandra asked Simon with a hint of schadenfreude, "How do you feel now?"
Simon reached into his trouser pocket, pulled out a business card, and dangled it in front of Sandra, smiling as he said, "Not great. Someone secretly slipped me a business card, and I'm still very hesitant".
Sandra stared at the business card in Simon's hand for two seconds, then suddenly reached out.
Simon easily dodged Sandra's small hand, then slowly put the card back into his pocket, saying, "I can't give this to you. If women steal from women, we men would lose too much face".
Sandra's gaze followed the business card as it disappeared into Simon's pocket, then she said, "You're not actually going to call, are you?"
"Didn't you just hear? If there's a suitable movie, I'd still very much like to work with 'Eve,' in a very proper way".
Listening to Simon's righteous tone, Sandra scoffed, "Do you think I'd believe that?"
"That's why there's no need to explain such things to you women, you won't believe it anyway," Simon said with a smile, noticing Jonathan and De Niro walking out of the villa together and looking his way, so he said to Sandra, "I'm going to chat with them for a bit. By the way, do you want me to give you a ride home later?"
As Simon spoke, he also pointed to the wine glass in Sandra's hand.
Sandra was about to say no, her assistant Gina was at the party and would take her home later.
However, after a pause, Sandra still said, "Okay".
"Then that's settled".
Simon didn't think much of it, nodded, and walked towards Jonathan and the other man who were already approaching.