Chapter 56: The First Shot of the Interview

  Dream Illusion Entertainment, interview scene.

  "Alright, next is Mr. Bill, please go in for the interview." Rabbit Bill shouted while holding his materials.

  A white man with a stylish haircut walked out and said, "Hey guys, I'm Billy. Can you tell me what questions you'll be asking later?"

  Rabbit Bill: "The questions are random, just answer them seriously."

  "Oh, damn it, asking is just like not asking!" Billy shrugged and walked in.

  Interview area inside.

  "Are you Billy?" Yì Fēi Yáng asked.

  "Yessiree, partner, I'm Bill, but you can call me Billy the Kid, it's a mighty fine cowboy name!" said the young white man proudly.

  "What position are you applying for?"

  "Hey, buddy! Look at my great appearance, don't you know who I am? Check me out, I'm frowning like Alain Delon, sneering like Sylvester Stallone, brooding like Al Pacino, and furious like Robert De Niro. And hey, my girlfriend says that when I put my hand under my chin and gaze forward, I look just like the movie emperor Marlon Brando!" The white boy kept changing his poses and expressions, looking like a super movie star.

  Yi Feiyang thought that if this guy was born a few decades earlier, he would be perfect material for America's Got Talent. Thinking of this, he immediately checked the box on his personal file.

  "Cough cough. What you said is right, your external conditions are very good, so I want to know, why did you come for an interview?" Yi Feiyang asked while holding the materials in his hand.

  "Does it need to be said? Of course, it's for fame!" The white young man was quite frank. "I read your introduction, buddy, aren't you guys going to put on three plays? Ha, three plays, at least one of them will suit me! How can I say this, I think this is an opportunity, so I came."

  "So you mean you want to play the male lead in these three plays?"

  "Of course!" The young white man shrugged, "A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier! Similarly, an actor who doesn't want to be the lead role is absolutely not a good actor! Choose me, no problem!"

  Very confident, huh?

  Yi Feiyang ticked another box on the form.

  "Heh heh, being confident is not wrong...... but being the male lead isn't easy, after all there are many people competing for this position. I want to know, compared to them, what's your special talent?" Yi Feiyang asked.

  "Me? Haven't you seen it yet, old brother? I'm handsome enough, that's my specialty!"

  "If being handsome is a talent, then being fat is an advantage too!" Yi Feiyang smiled and glanced at the chubby Jack beside him.

  Jack Black shot him a look: "That joke wasn't funny at all."

  "So apart from being handsome, what else can you do?" Yi Feiyang couldn't help but laugh.

  "I'll also... um, I hosted a talk show in college, and I think my mouth is pretty good. Yes, I think this is one of my strengths. At least as an actor, you have to be able to speak well, right?!"

  Yi Feiyang nodded, "You're right, friend. Alright, I'll ask one last question, if you were asked to play a supporting role, would you be willing?"

  "Supporting role? Oh, God, although I yearn to be the leading role, but if it's really a supporting role......I'm also willing to accept!" The white young man thought for a moment, looking very sincere.

  "Alright then, congratulations to you, Billy the Kid, you've been chosen!"

  "Oh, God, thank you so much!"

  ……

  "What's your name?" Yì Fēi Yáng asked the next interviewee.

  The interviewer was a rough-looking guy with a tiger's back and bear's waist, who rubbed his nose hard and said, "You can call me Quin."

  "Is that Quin? What's your specialty?"

  "What's so special?" Quinn snorted and spat out a wad of phlegm.

  Yi Feiyang furrowed his brow and drew a cross on the document.

  "This... I'm very skilled in bed, does this count?"

  "Oh, sorry, I think you may have come to the wrong door, we want a DV male lead, not an AV male actor!"

  "You mean..."

  "What I mean is you can go now."

  "Oh, damn it! You'll regret this, when I'm famous you can invite me but I won't come!" Quinn roared.

  ……

  "Hey, are you Katie?" Yi Feiyang asked a black girl while looking at the personal file in his hand.

  "Yes, I'm Katie Alice." The black girl's hair was braided into many small plaits that hung down over her forehead, very distinctive.

  "According to your profile, you graduated from the drama department of University of California, but why are you here applying for a job with us?" Yi Feiyang looked at the black girl in front of him with confusion. In Yi Feiyang's opinion, someone like her who was both talented and well-qualified should be able to find roles in other film companies.

  The black girl shrugged her shoulders, "See, dear sir, it's just because I'm black."

  Yi Feiyang didn't understand for a moment, and next to him, Rabbit Bill said in a low voice, "Hollywood still has discrimination against black actors."

  Yi Feiyang was taken aback, this wasn't what he had imagined. It seemed that many Hollywood blockbusters had black actors in supporting roles.

  "Let's choose her, it can only be good for us and can't be bad," Bill suggested.

  Yi Feiyang didn't have time to think about why, and after simply asking a few necessary questions, Yi Feiyang carefully checked the boxes on the form.

  The black girl was hired.

  ……

  Time flies.

  After about an hour of busy selection, Yi Feiyang only chose two or three more suitable ones from the long line of male and female actors, and the rest were all rejected on the spot.

  During the break, Yi Feiyang was organizing his interview materials in his hand. Rabbit Bill brought over a cup of coffee and handed it to him, saying: "Have one, refresh yourself."

  Yi Feiyang smiled and suddenly asked: "Why did you suggest I choose that black girl?"

  Bill smiled, "Don't you understand Hollywood yet? As the Chinese saying goes, 'Want to be a prostitute and also put up a virtuous signboard...' Yeah, that's what it means. Hollywood looks glamorous on the surface, with equal opportunities, but the treatment and gap between white stars and black stars are even more obvious than Marilyn Monroe's beauty mark!"

  "Yeah, buddy. That's Hollywood for you, it's tough for black actors to make it unless they kiss the lucky lady's toes or want to be the next Eddie Murphy, Denzel Washington, or Will Smith, which is harder than going on a Mars expedition!"

  Then Bunny Bill gave Yifei Yang a very detailed account of some Hollywood history regarding black actors.

  Due to racial issues, early American films often cast people of color in villainous roles. In the 1930s, black characters began to shed their one-dimensional villainous personas and some loyal servant roles emerged. With the rise of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, films reflecting social issues gradually increased. Racial problems, as a chronic disease of American society, also started to be noticed by filmmakers and repeatedly brought to the screen.

  In 1980, Ronald W. Reagan defeated Carter by a landslide to become the President of the United States. This president had been an actor for twenty-eight years and perhaps it was his good luck that brought Hollywood into a more prosperous period than in the 1930s. During this time, heroic blockbusters dominated Hollywood, giving rise to super action stars like Harrison Ford, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Their movies often had clear moral contrasts, with heroes who were full of justice, intelligent and brave, ultimately defeating evil villains from other countries, or even saving the world, with a strong sense of nationalism. Like previous action stars, these men were all white.

  Of course, American filmmakers also noticed the racist tendencies in films and took a rather clumsy remedial measure, letting white and black action stars pair up. The pioneer in this aspect was "48 Hrs." in 1982, where white actor Nick Nolte and black actor Eddie Murphy had a perfect collaboration. Later on, this "black-and-white pairing" almost became the standard pattern for action films, and people saw combinations of "black" and "white" action stars in later films like "New York City Cops".

  After listening to Bunny Bill's narrative, Yi Feiyang seemed to understand that Hollywood was indeed very discriminatory. Although black actors had gradually gained some status on the big screen, it was still difficult for most blacks to get roles in movies. Yi Feiyang seemed to hear again the voice of the black girl from earlier, "Why did I come here to audition instead of going to those major film companies? Because I'm black."

  "Now, my dear old chap, do you understand why I suggested keeping that black girl? Blacks make up 12.4% of the total population in America, about thirty-six million people. In the future, if we want our films to occupy the box office in North America, black audiences are a must-win object, so to speak, having a few more blacks in the play will only be beneficial for us, not harmful." said Bill the Bunny with cunning.

  Yi Feiyang couldn't help but think of another question: if it's so hard for blacks to make it in Hollywood, what about Chinese people?!

  It's worth remembering that this year is also the year when Hong Kong superstars Ching-Po Chang and Jet Li both entered Hollywood, one filming "Romeo Must Die" and the other filming "Lethal Weapon 4". Especially Jet Li, known as the "Emperor of Kung Fu", in the film can only play a sinister and ruthless villain who is finally killed by the white hero...

  The sorrow of Hollywood's blacks, isn't it also the sorrow of Hollywood's Chinese?!

  Yi Feiyang fell silent.

  (Sorry for the delay in updates as the background was locked. Two updates today, the first one is here.)