America 1987

Chapter 9 Reversing the Heavenly Gang

"Thank you for your compliment, David," Catherine smiled, then picked up her cup and took a sip of her now-cold coffee.

However, she didn't notice, because David's words had indeed made her think.

To be honest, there was something wrong with what David just said.

If we strictly follow the definition, even if Catherine really became famous for the role of "Molly", she would not be classified as a "brat" or "inexperienced" person.

"Molly" is not the kind of character who is flamboyant and rebellious.

However, she did not refute it, because she felt that the so-called "youngsters" were just a collective prejudice of film critics and mainstream award judges against actors who became famous at a young age and were extremely good-looking.

Any celebrity with a refined appearance will likely be labeled with a nickname like this.

But she didn't care.

She began learning ballet at the age of five, starred in "Anne" at the age of eleven, and established her position in "42nd Street" in London's West End at the age of fifteen.

From childhood to adulthood, almost all of her performances have been in musicals and stage plays, and each time she performs on stage, she directly faces and interacts with hundreds of audience members.

The applause and standing ovations that followed her performance after she bought tickets and filled the seats were the reward she deserved for all her years of hard work and training.

She enjoys this tangible, real-time audience feedback and needs it to affirm her self-worth.

Compared to the closed environment of facing the camera and staff during the upcoming film shoot, she actually prefers the stage performance where she can "see the audience fall for her every night".

Besides the practical factor of needing higher pay to supplement her family income, she also had an inner psychological factor in choosing to make movies: a desire for more audiences to see her performances.

More than the approval of professional judges, she craves the love and support of the public.

In fact, looking at all of Catherine's works in the original timeline, one can find that commercial value and artistic depth were always her priorities, while awards were merely a secondary consideration.

His breakout film in 98, "The Mask of Zorro," was a standard commercial movie. His subsequent film with Sean Connery, "Entrapment," was also a typical spy thriller.

The 02 musical film "Chicago" won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, but she was willing to star in it simply because the musical genre suited her taste and could satisfy her desire to showcase her dance skills.

Moreover, even "Chicago" can hardly be considered an art film or an art movie. With a box office of $1.7 million, which is $4000 million higher than the later "La La Land", it is undoubtedly a commercial film.

It's highly unlikely that Catherine would take on those profound, oppressive, and obscure art films in pursuit of awards.

After the unexpected win of Best Supporting Actress for "Chicago," she should have taken the opportunity to transition into art films, strike while the iron was hot, and take on more art films to compete for Best Actress, or at least get a nomination to solidify her status as an Oscar-winning actress.

However, Catherine did not do that at all. She continued to follow her previous preferences and took on all kinds of commercial productions such as "The Terminal," "Ocean's Twelve," "The Legend of Zorro," and "Red 2," which had nothing to do with mainstream awards.

Even her first choice after her postpartum comeback was a commercially viable romantic comedy, "Delicious Romance".

All of this suggests that Catherine is not particularly fond of so-called art films; big-budget, star-studded, high-exposure commercial films are her favorites.

To understand the reasons behind this psychological development, we can trace it back to the environment in which she grew up.

Catherine was born into a working-class family in Wales, England, and grew up in that environment.

As early as the late 19th and early 20th centuries, due to the rise of the coal and steel industries, a unique culture emerged among the working class in Wells, which can be called the Welsh working-class culture.

They are accustomed to seeing themselves as part of a group and answering the call of the group. This culture does not encourage individuals to separate themselves from the collective or pursue the approval of a few elites, but rather values ​​"shared culture" and "democratic participation".

Zeta-Jones's declaration during her Oscar acceptance speech, "To everyone in Swansea, South Wales, I love you all!", perfectly exemplifies this sense of collective identity.

Upon closer examination, it becomes understandable that Catherine prefers commercial films (popular culture) to art films (elite culture).

"However," Catherine paused intentionally, then smiled, "you said we'd just meet up for coffee to get to know each other and smooth things over, but just talking about movies and gossip like this probably isn't enough."

"Oh?" David was somewhat surprised.

"You probably want to ask me what my thoughts are on the kissing scenes during filming, David?"

David, still surprised by Catherine's previous words that had turned the tables, was taken aback once again.

However, Catherine continued to answer the question on her own.

"In acting, kissing scenes, intimate scenes, and even nudity scenes are all unavoidable."

As long as it's not too outrageous, it's acceptable. Since I've entered this industry, I'm bound to have some necessary mental preparation.

It would be even better to be able to "hide without revealing".

I've also read the script for "Ghost". The intimate scene wasn't too explicit; it was subtle and elegant.

The atmosphere was well-created and suited my aesthetic preferences.

Besides, it's such a handsome guy like you acting opposite me, so I can totally accept it.

After saying all this, Catherine asked the waiter to get her a new cup of coffee. "David's first time directing, he's actually a little too cautious."

"Directors don't need to be so considerate of new actors' feelings."

David choked for a moment, then chuckled dryly, "I never imagined I'd gone to all this trouble."

"No, no, no," Catherine said, shaking her head as she handed over the slightly scalding coffee. "When I said you were considerate of the new actors' feelings, I was praising you for being more humane than other directors."

"What if you're being overly cautious?"

"You're definitely being overly cautious!" Catherine stirred her coffee listlessly. "At the rate you're going to talk like that, by the time we've built up a rapport, the filming will probably be over."

"Hmm? So what do you think we should talk about?"

David Ovitz was somewhat embarrassed. After transmigrating, he was determined to date many female celebrities, but the first one he met complained that he didn't know how to flirt and that he was too slow. He was a disgrace to transmigrators and had completely lost face for them.

He was just sitting there berating himself when Catherine kicked him under the table. "Let's pay the bill and go. I'll teach you how to quickly build rapport."

David's mind went blank for a moment. After mechanically paying the bill, he was led away from the coffee shop by Catherine's arm.

Kiss me.

In a quiet alley behind the café, Catherine leaned against the wall, wrapped her arms around David's waist, and stared into his eyes with her captivating amber eyes, her tone carrying an irresistible air.

其实大卫·奥维茨是要比凯萨琳高的，前者有6英尺2英寸（188cm），后者只有5英尺8英寸（173cm）。

David was almost half a head taller than her, but he felt that Catherine, who was looking up at him slightly, was more like a conqueror.