Chapter 140
In the bright office, Eric appreciated the beautiful of her little baby fat face for a while, his eyes gradually lost focus, and he couldn't help but think of the divorce case of the previous life. It should be next year. Even though Eric at that time doesn't care much about entertainment gossip, but Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman are really too famous. Now that he is in that circle, it is impossible to to avoid hearing people talking about this kind of news.
But until the two officially divorced, the specific reasons behind their divorce was not exposed, and all kinds of speculations were flying everywhere.
The most interesting of the few guesses Eric heard was that the two got divorced because of Kubrick’s 《Eyes Wide Shut》, as Kubrick had Nicole play around with a male model, Gary Cuba, in the movie. The relationship between the two was said to have produced irreconcilable cracks. With Kubrick's personality, Eric though tis matter was quite likely, but Kubrick was a jerk and not a madman. Though the truth of the matter is unlikely to be disclosed because of Cruise, and even this news came out after the divorce only.
Two years before the couple divorced, a maid of the Cruise family accidentally revealed to the media that the two people were not getting along when they were at home, and there was no conversation between them. The maid had succumbed to a lawsuit because of this news. After winning the lawsuit, the Cruises also publicly showed a few intimate moments to maintain their image, but after two years the couple divorced inexplicably.
The media at the time speculates several reasons for the divorce. Firstly, some thought that Nicole had given Cruise a green hat and cheated on him, and as such her child that she bore for three months was not Toms. Eric thought this was the most likely, as Nicole left him with only the clothes on her back on her back, and the disposition of a western women would have meant that she should have taken half of Toms property, as Californian law states that after ten years of marriage the woman is entitles to half and Nicole signed the divorce days before their tenth anniversary. When George Lucas divorced his wife he lost a huge amount of property and had to sell Pixar. Viacom's chairman Sumner Redstone was also overwhelmed by his wife's divorce. Lacking a prenuptial agreement, Nicole would have been entitled to half of Tom Cruise's vast 360 million USD fortune, but it is said that she left with just one piece of art after the divorce.
In that moment in the office, Nicole Kidman noticed Eric's sorrowful expression with a little dissatisfaction. Am I not attractive? The man who is three years her younger was distracted.
After a few more minutes of silence, Nicole finally couldn't take it and spoke first: "Eric?"
"Oh, sorry, Nicole, I was remembering something." Eric finally recovered. He apologetically smiled towards Nicole and asked: "Nicole, your file shows that you were developing well in Australia, why did you suddenly make the move to Hollywood?"
"All actors globally yearn to prove themselves in Hollywood, and I am no exception, so I hope I can develop myself in Hollywood for the better."
"It's not easy, you haven't even shot a Hollywood movie before, and if you wanted to prove yourself in Hollywood, you shouldn't be auditioning for a role in a TV drama."
"I just... didn't find the right role," Nicole fumbled for a reason within her guilty conscience: "I think this TV show should be good, so I came to try."
Nicole might have wanted a role in a movie, but she had no luck in her life. She came to Hollywood at the beginning of the year. Like all the budding new actors, she came to the centre of global cinema with all kinds of unrealistic fantasies. Several months later, she had participated in several auditions, but only got a role in one film. It was a small supporting role in which she couldn't even be counted as a vase. In the end, she had to turn her attention to TV series. From the small screen to the big screen, was the road to fame of many Hollywood stars.
Eric suddenly though of one thing and curiously asked: "Nicole, did you come to Hollywood alone?"
"Yeah" Nicole answered, felling a bit puzzled.
Eric nodded.
After a few seconds of silence in the office, Nicole couldn't help but ask the question on her mind: "So, Mr. Director, I... Did I get the role of Phoebe Buffay?"
"Sorry, no, the role is already set as another person." Eric shook his head and replied honestly.
Nicole was stunned, this is... what's going on, if the other person had said something like 'I'm still considering' or 'this depends on your performance now,' she could still understand what she should do, but she did not expect that the other party would directly tell her that the role was given to someone else.
"Can you tell me why?" Nicole's thoughts were a little chaotic.
Eric shifted to a more comfortable position and explained: "I decided this with the other producers, because you, um, you are too beautiful."
"Ah?" Nicole was struck dumb. She had no words.
"This is the case" Eric sat up straight and explained: "In the setting of the story, Phoebe is a very frustrated girl. She was abandoned by her biological parents since she was a child. Later her stepmother committed suicide, and at only 14 years old, the girl made her way alone to New York, and struggled at the bottom before finally becoming a masseur."
"Does this have anything to do with appearance?"
"There is a big relationship," Eric continued. “Do you think that if a beautiful 14-year-old girl was on the streets of New York, she would grow up to the age of twenty living an ordinary life. Would she still have a large group of good friends?"
Of course it was impossible. As Nicole Kidman was born into a good middle class family, she did not see the dark side of society. If Phoebe was very beautiful, with a little luck, she could find a good man to marry and become a housewife. After all, beauty is not a scarce resource anywhere. But if luck is bad, then one's end will be rather miserable.
"Eric, if this is the case, then why are you still waiting for me here?"
"Because... curious, I am very curious about you, so I wanted to talk to you."
"Just this?" The girl was looking at Eric distrustingly, as the reason is too far-fetched.
Eric shrugged and stood up and said: "Just this, I just want to talk to you, but it's late, Nicole, as a sorry for having you wait so long, I'll invite you to dinner."
"Okay, Nicole Kidman stood up in disappointment, put on her high heels, walked out of the office with Eric, and went down together under the watch of the security guard.
When they were dining in a nearby restaurant, the tall girl looked quite serious. It seemed she was struggling with something in her heart. Eric was eating with relish, and chatted with her as if nothing had happened.
After going out of the restaurant after dinner, Eric got into his car. Nicole looked at Eric with the intention to say goodbye, but finally couldn't help but open Eric's door and sit in the co-pilot's seat. She understood very well that if she misses this opportunity, she would likely return to Australia in vain.
In her months in Hollywood, Nicole had seen a lot of Hollywood's brutal competition. The person with the highest status she had worked with was just a director with no fame in Hollywood. Her performances had won her several small awards in Australia, but these had nothing to do with Hollywood.
"Nicole..." Eric looked curiously at the girl who got into his car, with her own car stopped adjacent to his.
"Well, Mr. Williams, what do I have to do to get the character, please tell me directly?" As she said this sentence, her breathing became a little short, and her pair of blue eyes stared at Eric earnestly. Her eyes held in them grandeur, but also the willingness to sacrifice.
"But the role has already been chosen." Eric replied with similar gusto.
"Then why did you have to do these extra things, giving me hope, only to burn it out so quickly, don't you think this... is this too much?"
"Okay, I apologise, I really just because... because I was curious."
"You let a woman wait in the office for a few hours, only to talk about six or seven irrelevant matters. It's ridiculous. Do you think anyone would believe it?"
"What?" Eric was getting a little impatient.
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