King of Hollywood-Chapter 557 - 278: Filming in New Zealand

It’s hard to describe the expressions of the people around at that moment: some were utterly astonished, some quite surprised, and some trying hard to hold back their laughter, but most had a mix of several expressions, standing there not knowing what to do. As for Adrian, his eyes were wide open, his mouth slightly ajar, the corners of his mouth twitching so much that he even forgot to call "Cut." If he had a mirror in front of him, he would certainly find that his expression was almost identical to the widely circulated "囧" character from his previous life.

"Um... Cut!" Adrian, finally coming to his senses, called out, then looked at McLaren with a mix of amusement and frustration, while the old man gave a very gentlemanly bow, as if to ask "Is there anything else you need?"

Many excellent actors like to improvise during shooting, and McLaren was no exception. Generally speaking, these spontaneous performances often turn out very well, especially for those experienced actors who had been in the industry for a long time. The improvisations often became highlights of the movie, such as Al Pacino’s scene in Heat, where he discovers his girlfriend has found another man and hilariously yells to take the TV away.

However, Adrian hadn’t anticipated that old McLaren would still remember that day’s joking remark, although he didn’t have a rifle in his hands, his stance with the walking stick was still full of vigor.

"Is there a problem with that?" Seeing his frustrated look, McLaren asked with a mischievous smile.

"No issues, you did... very well, Ian, I was just... caught off guard," Adrian said after sighing, scanning over Wood, Silver, and the others who were still laughing heartily nearby.

Whether acting or speaking, McLaren nailed the tone just right, fitting perfectly with Gandalf’s upright temperament and not at all out of place—truly extraordinary for a veteran actor. However, what Adrian cared about wasn’t that; he didn’t mind his version of The Lord of the Rings having some variations and more highlights, it was just that this particular change was a bit too peculiar.

That sort of time-space confusion, where things that hadn’t happened yet were affecting things that were happening, leading to the possibility that things that hadn’t happened might never happen, was something he had experienced plenty of, but rarely as directly and impactfully as now. Quite interesting, wasn’t it? This made Adrian realize once again that this was his world!

After this interlude, Adrian basically adjusted his mindset. When he first planned the Lord of the Rings trilogy, he intended to spend at least ten months on shooting. But with references at hand and well-prepared pre-production, the progress after starting was better than expected, and with his presence, many lengthy scenes didn’t need to be shot.

So Adrian had the idea of accelerating the pace; if he could shorten it to six months, that would be even better. This was also one of the reasons why, after his departure, the teams had already tried their best, but he was still unsatisfied and demanded they put in 200% effort. Now that Adrian had adjusted his mindset, he went with the flow. Ten months was already short enough, shortening it by another four months would be a tough ask. Besides, everything was in flux—who knew if there might be a need to speed up the schedule due to certain events? Of course, it could also be extended, but that didn’t matter anymore.

"Be careful, don’t fall into the water, and pay attention to safety," Adrian, with a megaphone, called out to the staff bustling around the stream, then turned and walked over to another group: "Liv, are you ready?"

"Yes, I’m ready." Liv, already made up and in costume, ran over excitedly, twirling in front of him: "How do I look, am I pretty?"

"Of course, you’re an Elf princess," Adrian said, giving her a thumbs-up with a smile, completely unconcerned with the surrounding gazes.

A high-necked deep green coat, tied in the middle with a purple ribbon hanging down, adorned with delicate and very Elfin patterns, long white lace sleeves peeking from the cuffs, along with leather gloves and boots. Her black hair was all combed back, giving her a dashing yet noble appearance, with pointed fake ears making her look extraordinary.

"The weather’s turning cold, so don’t move around too much, follow the horse trainer’s instructions; falling in the water would be bad," Adrian cautioned as he walked beside her.

"I get it." Liv made a face, then walked up to the horse and took the reins, affectionately petting it: "Patty is a gentle girl, no need to worry."

As if pleased with her praise, the pure white horse immediately snorted and came over to try and lick her. Liv dodged it with a giggle, but the horse would move to follow her wherever she went, making her laugh even louder. Adrian, watching from the side, shook his head with a smile. It would be nice if Liv could always maintain such an innocent and cheerful demeanor.

Liv had come to New Zealand the previous weekend and, after getting over the jet lag, filmed a few scattered scenes before starting the scene where she protects Frodo from the Ringwraiths at the edge of Rivendell. It wasn’t difficult; it didn’t require much acting. The raging river summoned by Arwen was added in post-production, with the only real concern being preventing accidents where the actors might fall into the river.

Now it was April, and the Northern Hemisphere was gradually moving into summer, while the Southern Hemisphere was getting colder day by day. Falling into water at this time wouldn’t be as bone-chilling as winter, but it was easy to catch a cold.

Thankfully, under his reminder, the shooting went smoothly without any problems, and then the crew took a break from the outdoor filming and went back inside the Queenstown-built studio to prepare for the Rivendell scenes. For instance, the formation of the Rings Protection Team, or the conversation between Boromir and Aragon in front of the shards of Narsil, and so on. As for the part where Arwen is racing across the plains with Frodo, that still had to wait a while.

Some of those scenes were slightly dangerous, especially the racing scenes. While a double could be used and cutting could be done in post-production to make it appear that the speed was very fast, many parts still required Liv to do it herself. Even though her horsemanship was quite good and the danger wasn’t too great, Adrian decided to wait a bit longer to let her adjust before proceeding.

"I don’t need to adjust, I can do it very well right now," Liv complained, a bit dissatisfied, when she was alone with Adrian.

"Don’t be so childish, dear. You surely don’t want to actually get a scar on your pretty face, do you?" Adrian teased, pinching her cheek with a grin.

In that riverside scene, because of the previous part where Arwen is protecting Frodo and gets a scratch on her cheek from a branch, the makeup artist needed to draw it on Liv’s face. Liv had privately told Adrian that if it really happened to her, it would definitely be a terrible thing, but now it seemed her opinion had changed.

"What does it matter? You don’t like it anyway," Liv said with a pout, climbing onto the sofa and propping her cheek with her hand, rolling her eyes somewhat defiantly.

"Hey, I only mentioned once that your cheeks are a bit long, no need to be mad about it till now," Adrian sighed. "Besides, I said it before, and you didn’t seem to care much then, did you?"

Liv huffed and turned over to lie on her back, not saying a word. Adrian smiled slightly and embraced her, "Alright, Liv, no one is perfect. You should see the good along with the flaws. Like your eyes, they are really beautiful, like sapphires in the night sky. You know, in the novel Arwen has dark hair and grey eyes, but I really didn’t want to hide your lovely eyes behind contact lenses."

"I knew it, you always know just what to say," Liv huffed lightly, but her tone was filled with affectionate complaint and a trace of fondness in her eyes. She obviously enjoyed Adrian’s compliments.

Adrian smiled softly and leaned down to kiss her lips, his hands becoming restless. Liv laughed quietly and then suddenly turned, straddling him and kissing him more passionately.

When a person starts to care about something or someone after having not cared about anything, anyone would become overly sensitive. Hence, before Liv could ignore Adrian commenting on her long face, but not now. However, no worries, after such a long time, especially after experiencing her father’s return, the relatively naive Liv was already firmly in Adrian’s hands.

Her performance in "The Lord of the Rings" crew had already said everything; her little temper was just for private show, at other times, she joked and was affectionate with Adrian without reservation, just like lovers. This made several young actors incredibly envious while also giving up on pursuing Liv, but soon something even more surprising happened.

"Here looks different from what I saw before, Aunt Liv," Lily said, cradled in the arms and looking around the studio curiously.

"What’s different?" Liv asked her with a chuckle.

"Um... it seems colder here," pitched Lily after thinking for a while, tipping her head to the side. Well, no matter how clever she was, she was still just a 4-year-old child.

"Alright, dear, stop bothering Aunt Liv now, come to mom, she needs to start working," Kate came over that moment and took Lily from Liv’s arms.

"Liv, are you ready?" Adrian approached.

"Ready," Liv immediately took off her coat, revealing the elaborate gown underneath with a crescent-shaped neckline, eliciting an impressed clap from the little one: "Wow, Aunt Liv is so pretty."

"Thank you," Liv waved at her, then headed to the set, while Adrian went up to Lily, kissing his daughter and then Kate before saying, "Just a little longer, there are over ten more shots, and today’s work will be finished. The day after tomorrow is the weekend, then I’ll take you both out for a walk here, New Zealand has plenty of places worth a visit."

At the same time, he winked at Charlize, who was behind Kate, and then he turned and headed toward the set.

The actors witnessed these scenes, not only the young ones were flabbergasted, but also veterans like Mortensen, Bin, and Davis couldn’t quite believe it. At first, when Lily rushed in and called Adrian "daddy," they thought she was his and Liv’s daughter, but when Kate and Charlize appeared afterward, Lily then hugged Kate and called her "mommy."

Well, it was possible that Adrian had once cohabited with a woman and got her pregnant, and although he was now dating Liv, he had to take up the responsibility of a father. But this conjecture soon became shaky because Adrian showed considerable closeness with Liv, Kate, and Charlize. It was particularly suspect considering Charlize was his secretary assistant; so young and beautiful, it’s absolutely impossible that nothing had happened between them.

What was even more incredible to them was that the three women seemed to get along fine, despite Liv’s relationship with Kate and Charlize being slightly more reserved, but it was still enough to make one’s head spin. So... the answer was... Adrian was maintaining intimate relationships with all three women? And the three of them got along with each other harmoniously?!

Of course, nobody would discuss this in front of Adrian, not even if McLaren were here—and the old man had gone back to the United Kingdom for a rest this week. But it was different when they were off work, especially on weekends.

"Do you know, I saw Adrian having lunch with his daughter, Liv, Kate, and that... Charlize at a restaurant in town at noon today, the atmosphere was really harmonious, it was so surprising," said Sean Austin, who played Sam, as he chatted with a few men while drinking in the bar.

"Maybe... Kate is just Lily’s mother, and Charlize is a friend, and Adrian is indeed only dating Liv?" Elijah Wood speculated hesitantly. Among them, he was rather young and preferred not to complicate matters too much, especially when the subject of discussion was the film’s director.

"How could that be," Davis shook his head, "you didn’t hear what one of the assistant directors, Hardley, said? That Charlize is Adrian’s secretary assistant," he continued, "Let me put it this way, if a big company’s boss has a beautiful female secretary, they are most likely very close. Besides, all three women are pretty, aren’t they?"

"Alright, John, this kind of topic isn’t something we should discuss," Mortensen attempted to halt the conversation.

"Come on, Vigo, if we don’t talk about this, then what’s left? As long as we don’t talk about it in front of Adrian, it’s fine. Even if he finds out, he wouldn’t care," Davis said nonchalantly, waving his hand, and then turned to look at Silver, who had been rather quiet, "What about you, Silver? I hear you and your brothers are quite close with Adrian."

"That..." Silver thought for a moment, "Well, I’ll only say this, just think about what other titles our Miracle Director has in Hollywood."

That single statement made everyone pause and think. After a while, Austin clapped his hands, "Right, Playboy!"

Several people revealed a look of sudden realization, and then their expressions turned envious. There was no need to say it aloud; they knew what the answer probably was. Although it was a bit exaggerated and unbelievable, if they considered Adrian’s achievements, it seemed plausible.

"Truly a man adept at creating miracles," one guy exclaimed.

"Right, for all we know, they might have even had threesomes or foursomes," another quipped.

Soon, the conversation delved into certain territories and then branched out to other topics, ultimately drifting to something completely unrelated.

Adrian had anticipated such conversations; since he openly showed his affection for Liv and the others on the set, it was quite normal for people to gossip behind his back. He wasn’t too worried; most of them had been in the industry for several years and knew what could and couldn’t be said. Mortensen, who was relatively upright, didn’t need any mention.

As for the younger ones, like Wood or Silver could give a heads up. The latter knew his style better than the other actors and had always been loyal to him. If it weren’t for his excessive passion for music, Adrian might even have considered making him the youngest Oscar-winning actor. Other than that, most of the team were veterans who had worked together for a long time, and they would help remind those who might get carried away. So, why bother about it?

"Alright, darling, if you keep pressing like that, the poor thing is going to run out of breath," Adrian poured himself a glass of red wine and said to Lily, who was giggling and pressing the puppy on the ground.

"No way, Lulu loves this," Lily didn’t even look up as she continued to "rough up" the small Pomeranian.

Loves it? Adrian shook his head as he watched the little dog being pressed to the ground and wailing pitifully. The dog couldn’t resist being handled like this; should he say the little dog was well-trained, or that Lily was very capable?

"Lily, listen to Daddy and let Lulu go," Kate, wearing a bathrobe, said as she came out of the bathroom.

"Alright, alright, I’ll listen to Mom," the little one stuck out her tongue and finally let go of the dog. Lulu, its fur all messed up, immediately darted out and squeezed under the sofa, refusing to come out—an understandable reaction, for the poor thing had been "roughed up" like this by Lily, the troublemaker, more than once. Adrian himself had seen it several times, not to mention the times he hadn’t seen it.

"Mommy’s done, it’s your turn now, Lily," Adrian said, finishing the liquid in his cup and approaching the little one.

"Why does Daddy have to do it and not Mommy?" Lily blinked and asked.

"First, Mommy has already taken her shower; second, soon I won’t be able to bathe you anymore; third, do you really dislike it when Daddy bathes you?" Adrian scooped her up.

"Of course not," the little one giggled, then curiously asked, "Why won’t Daddy be able to wash me later?"

"Because boys and girls are different."

"Why are boys and girls different?"

"Because that’s how God made people."

"How did God make people?"

"Oh, that’s a very, very long story."

"I want to hear the story."

"Okay, but you’re not allowed to splash water on me while I tell it."

Just then, the doorbell rang. Kate went to open the door, and Charlize, dressed casually, walked in: "I’ve played enough for the past few days, and there’s a lot of things I need to see, Ed."

"But I’m about to bathe the little one," Adrian said, glancing from Lily on his shoulder to her.

"I’ll do it," Kate shook her head, reaching out to take Lily, but Adrian refused.

"Come on in, and while I bathe the little one, you can start telling me about it," he said with a sly smile. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it and give it a monthly ticket at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

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