The crew's filming progressed according to plan.
For Landon, when Jennifer Connelly had scenes and needed to perform delicate or intense exchanges with Russell Crowe in front of the camera, he most often retreated behind the monitor or looked for interesting pastimes in the break area.
He had a quite compatible chatting partner—Ed Harris.
This actor, who played the secret agent leader Parcher in Nash's hallucinations, was cold and tough on screen but a man full of stories off-camera.
Although the two had no direct scenes together, both being Nash's hallucinations allowed them to indirectly share the frame in some scenes.
More importantly, Landon found chatting with this veteran actor thirty years his senior to be quite interesting.
Ed Harris's own experience was quite legendary.
When he first entered Columbia University, he was an athlete focusing on baseball and football.
After moving, he transferred to Oklahoma State University to study drama and later went to the California Institute of the Arts for further studies, obtaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1975.
Since entering the entertainment industry in 1977, he has created many impressive characters. In 1983, he played astronaut John Glenn in "The Right Stuff," and "Newsweek" even used his movie still as a cover story, making Harris famous overnight.
But what Harris relished most was his recently completed directorial debut, "pollock the painter," which he also wrote.
This film finished shooting last September. He planned to take the work to the Toronto International Film Festival and the Venice International Film Festival this year, hoping to make a run for the Golden Globes and even the ※_24 hours_⛬ after its North American release at the end of the year.
"Hey, boy! You know what?" Harris always started with this address that secretly annoyed Landon, lowering his voice with a fanatical light in his eyes.
"For this 'pollock the painter,' I prepared for a full ten years. I read all the materials about pollock the painter, watched video records of every one of his paintings, and even learned to mimic his drip painting technique—the kind where you drip, flick, and splash paint directly onto the canvas. It's gotten to the point where I feel like I'm becoming half a great painter myself! Haha!"
Harris's laughter carried a sense of pride, but to Landon's ears, it was a bit eerie.
Frankly, Landon respected Harris's "director's dream" and his ten-year dedication, but he wasn't very interested.
He was more willing to hear Harris tell anecdotes about working with James Cameron while filming "The Abyss," or some gossip about those superstars when he shared the stage with Al Pacino and Kevin Spacey in "Glengarry Glen Ross."
These were the seniors he should be learning from; following Harris's path seemed to have no future.
"What are you talking about? You look so happy," Jennifer Connelly's voice rang out.
She walked straight to Landon's other side and sat down, naturally taking his arm and leaning her body slightly against him.
"We were talking about Harris's self-written and directed 'pollock the painter.' He's going to take a few days off in a while to attend the premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival."
Landon replied, his tone unconsciously carrying complex emotions—respect, hard-to-conceal envy, and a hint of loss.
After all, Ed Harris had already reached a position where he could fully control a film project, while he, Landon Williams, didn't even have a single film or television work officially released yet.
"24 hours," "A Beautiful Mind" filmed this year, and "the fast and the furious," which was about to start shooting in July, wouldn't meet the audience until next year at the earliest.
This made Landon a bit depressed and more urgent to get "Yeah!" produced quickly.
Jennifer Connelly saw Landon's envious and somewhat lost gaze and found it a bit funny.
Why was this little lover of hers so cute?
His first film work was an important supporting role in a top-tier production aimed at the ※_24 hours_⛬ like "A Beautiful Mind," a starting point so high it was out of reach for countless actors his age, yet he was still unsatisfied.
However, she spoiled her own man and didn't say much, just stroking Landon's arm with her hand.
Zoe, standing not far behind them, also felt Landon's strangely low-spirited aura.
She couldn't help but roll her eyes internally.
Her boss's ambitions were too big; he seemed never satisfied.
Zoe silently did the math.
She had only been with Landon for over three months, and how much had this guy done?
Played an important supporting role in "24 hours";
Filmed two commercials, one of which was based on his own creative idea, and filmed it with Catherine Zeta-Jones, even tricking the big star into bed.
Appeared on the cover of "Marie Claire" magazine.
Now he was playing a role with significant screen time in "A Beautiful Mind."
That wasn't all. Zoe knew very well that Landon had written two songs himself, both of which had been recorded, and after filming the MTV this week, they would be ready for the market.
Although she didn't know much about the music market, her best friend Catherine, who dreamed of becoming a star and was also Landon's little teacher, was full of praise for these two songs.
Most importantly, after finishing "A Beautiful Mind," Landon would immediately join the crew as the male lead of "the fast and the furious"!
Even so, her boss actually felt it wasn't enough and was still anxious?
Zoe felt speechless and couldn't stop complaining in her heart.
After finishing work at night, the hotel suite became a private island isolated from the outside world.
Jennifer Connelly seemed to see through Landon's desire for the direct teaching he missed during the day and also understood the subtle restlessness in his heart caused by career comparisons.
She came out after showering, but didn't change into comfortable pajamas as usual, although she didn't bring back the costume for playing the student Alicia.
But she wore Landon's slightly oversized shirt, the hem just covering the base of her thighs. Under the light, the fabric faintly revealed her beautiful body curves.
Mimicking the young Alicia in the movie, she lay on the sofa by the window, then turned her head and looked at Landon quietly with those soul-stirring, deep eyes.
There were no lines in that look, yet it was more of an invitation than any dialogue.
A silent understanding belonging to the adult world flowed in the air.
Thus, a unique "teaching" session began.
Only this time, the "student" was exceptionally naughty, and the "teacher" had to take stricter disciplinary measures.
In the end, Jennifer didn't dare to be deliberately naughty anymore.
It wasn't because of the skin that looked white and rosy under the dim light, like a ripe peach, nor the scenes that sparked imagination.
When everything returned to calm and only their intermingled breathing remained, Landon's arm was around Jennifer, his fingertips unconsciously twining around the tips of her hair.
In another suite separated by a wall, Zoe wore noise-canceling headphones and turned the music up very loud.
She swore that this time she really didn't hear any strange sounds—at least that was what she firmly believed.