Chasing Stars in Hollywood

Ignoring Arya's compliment, Simon remembered something and asked, "By the way, how tall are you?"

"5 feet 9 inches."

The Indian girl didn't understand why Simon suddenly asked this but answered immediately.

As she spoke, she stood up to show Simon.

Arya was only wearing a light blue knitted pullover and white jeans in the apartment. Despite the slightly loose sweater, it couldn't hide her well-proportioned and curvaceous figure. Even if it was easy to discern her ethnicity from her black hair and facial features, she would undoubtedly attract a lot of attention if she walked down the street.

Dismissing the idea of pulling the girl over to play, Simon shook his head and said, "Too bad, you're too tall."

Seeing Simon retract his gaze, Arya squatted down next to him again, maintaining her position with her arms on the sofa's armrest, and asked, "Sir, is that a problem?"

Simon said, "If you were under 5 feet 6 inches, there would be a role perfect for you."

Arya showed no disappointment and glanced at the storyboard sketches in Simon's hand, asking, "Is it for the movie you're currently preparing?"

"No," Simon shook his head, "another one called 'Scent of a Woman.' There's a tango scene where the male lead needs a dance partner. Unfortunately, you're a bit too tall for it."

In the original "Scent of a Woman," the tango girl, Gabrielle Anwar, actually had half Indian ancestry.

If Arya wasn't so tall, Simon would have liked to see her, with her superior looks and temperament compared to Gabrielle Anwar, give it a try.

However, at 5 feet 9 inches, over 175 cm, that's already model height.

Al Pacino, on the other hand, was barely 170 cm tall.

If Arya wore high heels during filming, the scene would be very unbalanced.

Arya didn't pursue the matter of "Scent of a Woman" further. Her amber eyes looked at Simon, "Actually, I dance pretty well. If you have time, I can dance for you."

Simon didn't speak but slightly nodded in a direction.

Arya turned her head.

Janet was standing in the living room doorway, smiling at her.

For an ordinary Manhattan resident, a 120 square meter apartment in a skyscraper would be very spacious. This triplex apartment had over 1,200 square meters of space, indicating how large the interior was.

Simon and Arya were in the living room on the second floor of the triplex. The kitchen was on the first floor. The Indian girl had thought the hostess wouldn't suddenly appear, which is why she dared to approach Simon.

But she was caught red-handed.

Trying to stay calm, Arya stood up and faced Janet, saying, "Madam, um, I'll go downstairs now."

Despite saying this, under Janet's gaze, Arya hesitated to move.

Simon had just wanted to play a small prank by not reminding Arya that Janet was at the door. Now, sensing Arya's clearly frightened tone, he said, "Go downstairs and help AB prepare dinner."

With Simon speaking, and Janet stepping aside at the door, Arya was finally relieved and quickly walked out with her head slightly lowered.

As soon as the girl left, Janet pounced on Simon playfully.

Simon quickly dropped his sketchbook and grabbed Janet's waist.

Janet nibbled on Simon for a bit, then softly cuddled up with him, but continued, "I haven't settled the score with you about taking several women to Hawaii to fool around. Hmph, you're sleeping on the sofa tonight."

Simon gently kissed Janet's lips and smiled, "Sure, let's experience sleeping on the sofa together tonight."

"You sleep on the sofa."

"Then I'll miss you and won't be able to sleep."

"Ugh, you little rascal."

After some more affection, Janet brought up the main topic, "Dad wants us to go back to Australia for Easter."

"Sure, we can visit the kids too."

"And Aunt."

"…"

Janet pressed her forehead against Simon's and teased, "You're going back to Los Angeles tomorrow. Why not take Arya with you and have her dance for you?"

Simon tickled Janet's side, making her giggle and soften again.

After finalizing the acquisition strategy for LTD, Simon returned to Los Angeles the next day.

Daenerys Entertainment had many projects recently that needed Simon's personal involvement.

After the Oscars, "Scent of a Woman," starring Al Pacino, started filming on April 6th.

Since Arya wasn't suitable, to best recreate the classic tango scene from his memory, Simon personally chose the original actress, Gabrielle Anwar.

Additionally, Daenerys Entertainment had other significant projects in the pipeline.

One of them was "Forrest Gump."

Given the importance of this project, Simon had been spending his spare time writing the screenplay for "Forrest Gump" and personally drawing many concept sketches and storyboards.

However, because Tom Hanks had already signed on to Daenerys Entertainment's co-production with Disney, "Sleepless in Seattle," which was scheduled for release next summer, "Forrest Gump" could only be scheduled for late 1993.

With Pixar's second 3D animation "The Lion King" and the co-production with Paramount, "Mission: Impossible," the end of 1993 would be packed with Daenerys Entertainment's 'blockbusters,' leading to fierce competition.

Besides "Forrest Gump," there were other upcoming summer releases such as "A Time to Kill," based on John Grisham's novel. Daenerys Entertainment had secured the rights to adapt two more of Grisham's novels: "The Firm" and "The Pelican Brief."

Daenerys Entertainment had initially signed a three-book option agreement with Grisham.

In the original timeline, "A Time to Kill," "The Firm," and "The Pelican Brief" were all major box office hits in the 90s.

Unlike "A Time to Kill," which was published in the 80s, "The Firm" was just released last year and quickly became one of the best-selling novels of 1991. "The Pelican Brief" hadn't been officially published yet.

According to studio practices, they usually waited for a film adaptation of an author's work to be released before deciding whether to produce other adaptations of their work.

However, "The Firm" had gained enough popularity to justify an immediate green light. "The Pelican Brief," originally starring Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington, was pre-emptively greenlit to secure their schedules.

Moreover, securing the adaptation rights before "A Time to Kill" hit theaters could help Daenerys Entertainment acquire the project at a lower cost. Otherwise, if "A Time to Kill" became a box office hit, even with a first-option agreement, Daenerys Entertainment would have to pay a higher price.

On another note, before Easter, Daenerys Entertainment's summer releases, such as "Wonder Woman," "Indecent Proposal," "A Time to Kill," and "The Last of the Mohicans," were all in the final stages of editing, requiring Simon's significant involvement for final approval.

At Daenerys Studios.

In Simon's office, a meeting had just concluded, finalizing the last film in Daenerys Entertainment's ten-film slate.

To date, including the unreleased films for this summer, Daenerys Entertainment had completed nine of the initial four-film plans: "Hand That Rocks the Cradle" with Disney, "Sleeping with the Enemy" and "Terminator 2" with Fox, "Misery" and "A League of Their Own" with Columbia Pictures, "A Few Good Men" and "A Time to Kill" with MGM, and "The Fugitive" and "The Last of the Mohicans" with Warner Bros.

The last slot went to Warner.

Terry Semel chose "The Pelican Brief" over "The Firm," believing Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington offered more box office security.

As for "The Firm," originally starring Tom Cruise, Simon planned to cast Keanu Reeves.

After playing Sandra's boyfriend in "Run Lola Run," Keanu Reeves had starred in the successful "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" and "Point Break." This summer, he would also appear in Francis Ford Coppola's "Bram Stoker's Dracula," a box office hit in the original timeline.

Therefore, even though Keanu Reeves was not as popular as Tom Cruise, he was still a Hollywood A-lister.

In the original timeline, Keanu Reeves was primarily known for "The Matrix" as Neo, but he actually had a diverse range of roles.

For instance, "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" was a comedy, "Point Break" was an action film, and "Bram Stoker's Dracula" was a fantasy horror film.

In the original timeline, Keanu Reeves also starred in a similar film to "The Firm," "The Devil's Advocate," both about young lawyers grappling with justice and ambition. Both were box office hits.

Given the past issues, Simon wasn't inclined to collaborate with the "Rain Man" trio again, unless it was a special case like Meg Ryan. Simon's insistence was backed by Daenerys Entertainment's strong position. A single film's failure wouldn't be catastrophic.

Moreover, Simon was confident in casting Keanu Reeves for "The Firm." Without Cruise, the production cost could be reduced from over $40 million to $25 million, further minimizing Daenerys Entertainment's risk.

After sending Terry Semel off, Simon headed to a meeting for "Desperate Housewives."

Besides the main creators, the supporting cast for "Desperate Housewives" had also been finalized. The set for Wisteria Lane in Universal Studios was under construction.

In the meeting room, Simon listened to Robert Iger

 outline the production plan while reviewing supporting actors' profiles.

One name caught Simon's attention.

This was the actress playing Julie Mayer, Susan Mayer's daughter, one of the four housewives.

In the original "Desperate Housewives," Julie was supposed to be around 14 or 15, but the actress, who looked almost 20, was unremarkable and left little impression.

The one Simon was looking at now was far more famous to him.

Sarah Michelle Gellar.

This 15-year-old actress, in the original timeline, was the lead in the famous 90s show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and starred in several successful teen horror films. She was one of Simon's favorite actresses.

According to her profile, Sarah Michelle Gellar was only 5 feet 2 inches tall, about 157 cm, much shorter than the original actress who was almost as tall as Teri Hatcher. Sarah Michelle Gellar was more fitting as a daughter.

After the meeting, Simon handed Sarah Michelle Gellar's profile to a "Desperate Housewives" producer, asking them to send a screen test to his office the next day.

He didn't expect that, later that evening, at a party hosted by Barbra Streisand in Beverly Hills, the young girl would be right in front of him.

The 15-year-old wore a somewhat mature black dress and makeup. Although short, she gave off a very mature vibe.

A WMA agent personally introduced her to Simon and then left.

"Hello, Mr. Westeros, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've seen all your movies, especially 'Batman: Year One,' it was so cool."

Sarah Michelle Gellar, not shy at all, chatted with Simon, gauging his expression, and carefully hooked her arm around his.

Seeing Simon didn't refuse, she stayed close, like a little bird.

Standing at 6 feet 1 inch, Simon, being held by a girl who was only 5 feet 2 inches even with heels, created a noticeable height difference.

There were many guests at the party, but everyone pretended not to notice the young girl next to Simon, or they did notice but acted accustomed to it.

Such things were indeed common in Hollywood.

Simon chatted with guests for a bit, then turned to speak to the girl when Madonna approached.

The Queen of Pop, with sharp eyes, glanced at the little vase beside Simon and directly asked about her own matter, "Simon, did you read that script?"

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