Chapter 61 - 061 The Enemy's Road is Narrow

The Farmers Market, located between Beverly Boulevard and West 3rd Street, was established in 1934. It was an idea conceived by a group of farmers during the Great Depression to centralize and sell fresh produce from their farms directly to nearby residents at low prices.Over decades of development, the stalls gradually expanded. Then, as the area declined, the market gradually lost its essential civic value and transformed into a tourist destination.Due to the complex mix of people who make up the area, the market developed a character that was casual and comfortable, rustic yet infused with an exotic flair. Boutiques, restaurants, jewelry stores, and cinemas were dazzlingly numerous.The warmth and comfort of a traditional market were certainly a unique and bright feature. Of course, no one could forget the freshly made toast, muffins, and golden crisp biscuits sold there, making the entire market exude an approachable liveliness.It only took about fifteen minutes to get from Sunset Plaza to the Farmers Market. Joseph looked around and quickly found their destination. "It's over there, Knott's Berry," he said. The film crew arranged to meet them at this restaurant next to the main entrance of the Farmers Market, and the two hurried over.Joseph spent quite a bit of effort finding a parking spot. After parking the car, Hugo adjusted his collar in the rearview mirror. Joseph said with slight worry, "Are you sure this is really okay?"Hugo, however, was very composed. "I'm fine, really." After tidying his clothes, Hugo opened the car door and stepped out. Standing in the parking lot, he spread his arms toward Joseph. "See? Doesn't this feel great?"Since Hugo hadn't had time to open his luggage, he ultimately had to get help from Alex and came to the audition wearing Alex's clothes—this was why he had asked Hugo for his height and weight. Currently, Hugo was wearing a bright blue tennis shirt paired with light blue jeans, topped with a navy blue baseball jacket. The whole look made him appear youthful and energetic, but the subdued colors and pairing kept him from looking too casual.Joseph was still a bit worried. Showing up for an audition like this without formal attire was already bad enough, but not even wearing a shirt was truly unsettling.Hugo seemed to sense Joseph's inner struggle. He smiled, turned, and pointed toward the Knott's Berry restaurant. "If you had asked me to wear a shirt to this interview, never mind how the interviewers would feel, I think I would have felt completely uncomfortable myself, wouldn't I?"The Farmers Market was inherently a traditional market, and one could even see many farm-style outfits with plaid shirts or work pants. Knott's Berry was a very famous chicken restaurant, and showing up in formal attire would be somewhat out of place.Viewed this way, Hugo's outfit was actually quite fitting for the theme; it wasn't too casual nor too formal.Joseph nodded. There was no use regretting it now. He locked the car door, pointed toward the restaurant, and said, "Let's go."It was only six in the evening, still some time before dinner. Not many people were dining, but people could still be seen coming and going near the entrance.Joseph suddenly grabbed Hugo's arm and whispered, "The competition is here."Hugo followed Joseph's gaze and looked forward, immediately spotting two people stopping at the restaurant entrance. One man, dressed impeccably in a suit, looked completely detached from the surroundings—like someone wearing leather shoes walking onto a farm—which was quite amusing. This face was unfamiliar, but Hugo recognized the other person: Brad Pitt.Brad was wearing a light blue shirt today, without a tie. The top three buttons of his shirt were undone, hanging loosely and casually, allowing glimpses of his healthy, wheat-colored chest. Although he was also wearing formal trousers and a dress shirt, his languid and unrestrained demeanor strangely harmonized with the environment, so he didn't look too jarring.Seeing Brad, Hugo's first reaction was: Had 'a river runs through it' wrapped up filming? He thought it would take longer, as 'a river runs through it' was supposed to film far away in Montana, making it much more complicated than the shoot for 'scent of a woman'.The second reaction immediately followed: Enemies meeting on a narrow road; they were competing again after 'a river runs through it'.Brad and the other man standing at the door paused only briefly. The other man smiled at Joseph in greeting, but the smile looked somewhat condescending. Then, the two directly entered the restaurant.Joseph then whispered in Hugo's ear, "That's Brad's agent, a big shot in the industry. Martin Baum, one of the five founders of Creative Artists Agency."Hugo instantly understood. No wonder Martin looked at Joseph with a sense of superiority; he had the credentials for it. Forget comparing to Joseph, even Ron Meyer was a generation behind Martin.The origin of American talent agencies was the William Morris Agency, founded in 1898. They laid the foundation for the entire agency industry. However, in 1975, five young agents at William Morris Agency who hadn't yet made a name for themselves were highly dissatisfied with the company's seniority-based system and jointly founded a new company.These five young men built the company through sheer stubbornness, relying on $21,000 in savings, a $36,000 loan, and two cars. This company is today's Creative Artists Agency, and Martin Baum was one of those original five young men.Creative Artists Agency and International Creative Management were both founded in 1975, and both are now ranked among the top three agencies in America. Thus, the two have always been competitors as well as partners.With Martin personally accompanying Brad today, it was clear they hoped to successfully secure the role in 'a few good men'; they were coming on strong.After explaining, Joseph suddenly remembered something, and his expression immediately darkened. "Tom Cruise is also an artist under Creative Artists Agency." It seemed Martin was determined to win. Internal transfers within the same company were the most normal thing. If the soaring Tom was unwilling to take the role, then Brad from the same company would replace him—this was a perfect transition.But Hugo didn't seem as tense. "How do you know they aren't competing internally within the company?"Where there are people, there is competition; that is the truth. Even within the same company, agents must compete, just like Joseph and Ron. What if Tom and Brad's agents were also competing? Then Brad's chances today wouldn't just be smaller than imagined; he might even face obstruction from Tom's agent.Joseph knew he was being overly nervous. Although what Hugo said might not be entirely correct, the audition was about to start, and worrying more was useless. It was just like the audition for 'a river runs through it'; even knowing failure was inevitable, one still had to try their best.Although Hugo didn't show it outwardly, he was tense inside.While Hugo seemed to have many opportunities recently, fundamentally, before 'scent of a woman' was officially released, the industry's attitude toward Hugo was largely consistent. This meant today's audition was inherently no less difficult than the previous two. Now, with the added competition from Tom and Brad, Hugo was at an even greater disadvantage. This was another opportunity Hugo faced after transmigrating, but the difficulty was multiplied. Therefore, it was impossible for Hugo not to be nervous.Taking a deep breath, Hugo slowly put his feet forward and walked alongside Joseph toward the restaurant. Upon entering, Joseph began scanning the entire space.The environment here was more akin to a family restaurant, making the atmosphere relatively much more relaxed. Although there weren't many diners yet, one could still clearly feel the low murmur of noise constantly warming the air."Sir, how many in your party?" the host standing at the door asked politely."I have an appointment, Mr. Reiner," Joseph said. The host looked down to confirm, then looked up and said with a smile, "Please follow me."The host led Joseph and Hugo through the restaurant, finally stopping in front of a long table—a table that could seat eight people. Three people were already seated. Seeing more people arrive, the three politely stood up. The old man with a white beard seated at the far end of the long table chuckled. "Welcome, welcome."Standing opposite them were naturally Brad and Martin, who had entered first, and this old man with sparse hair and a large white beard was naturally the director, Rob Reiner.Hugo involuntarily fixed his gaze on Rob. This old man, who started as an Actor but made his name as a director, was the director who made masterpieces like 'when harry met sally', 'Misery', 'The Bucket List', and 'Flipped'. All these films were favorites of Hugo.Although Rob's fame didn't match many commercial directors, he always managed to dig out the extraordinary spirit within ordinary people, thereby touching the heart. He was indeed an outstanding director.Not long ago, the director Hugo had worked with, Martin Brest, only had two outstanding works in his directing career: 'scent of a woman' was the peak, and the other was 'Beverly Hills Cop', released in 1984—this film held the North American box office record for an R-rated movie for twenty-five years until it was broken by 'The Hangover' in 2009.However, Rob Reiner was clearly more outstanding. His works spanned from the 1980s into the second decade of the 21st century, consistently maintaining an excellent creative standard. He could be called a very capable director."I hope you don't mind that I chose this place for our meeting. I couldn't help it; my desire to eat chicken tonight was almost irresistible, so even though I knew this wasn't the most suitable setting for a serious talk, I stubbornly chose it anyway," Rob joked with a full smile.