Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Exclusive Interview

“I’m telling you, Levitt, can’t you go any faster? If we keep delaying, we’re going to be late,” Haggis Painter, sitting in the passenger seat, said dejectedly as he watched the scenery on both sides of the street moving backward.

“Relax, Haggis, we’ll be there soon, I promise,” the carefree assistant driving the car replied.

“You’ve said that seven hundred times already, and yet we haven’t even seen a shadow of anyone,” Painter said irritably, then turned his head and looked at his assistant with a skeptical expression: “You couldn’t possibly be lost, could you?”

“How could that be possible? I’ve looked at the map of this place countless times before we left!” Levitt Duvall immediately raised his voice, sounding quite dissatisfied, although his eyes could not hide his guilt.

“Then please hurry up and find the place, thank you!” Painter didn’t bother to expose him, simply covering his forehead and sighing.

Just then, Duvall suddenly shouted, “Look, Haggis, there they are, the crew is over there!”

Following the direction he pointed, there was a film crew’s RV parked outside a music equipment store, a few crew members loitering around the entrance, and farther away, quite a few people were gathering in groups, many of them carrying cameras–it was clear they were entertainment reporters.

“Just park here; we’ll walk over,” Painter hurriedly instructed his assistant to stop the car at the curb and after getting everything ready, they both walked towards the music equipment store.

“We’re finally going to meet that incredible director,” Duvall suddenly grew excited as they neared their destination, “Honestly, Haggis, I still can’t believe there’s such a bizarre person in the world. I’ve been an entertainment reporter for a few years now and have never seen anyone like Adrian Cowell–Venice, Berlin, now the Oscars, God, how does he pull it off?”

“Hold your endless chatter, Levitt, if you keep this up, you can host the interview later,” Painter said without turning his head.

“Are you serious, Haggis?!” Duvall was overjoyed, but seeing Painter’s displeased expression, he immediately raised his hands, “Okay, I was just kidding.”

The two soon arrived at the storefront of the music equipment store, and Painter grabbed an employee and showed his press card: “Hello, I’m Haggis Painter, a reporter from the Washington Post, and I have an appointment with Mr. Adrian.”

After inspecting his credentials, the employee nodded, “Okay, please wait a moment, Mr. Painter.”

The employee entered the equipment store and came back out a few minutes later: “Please come in, Mr. Painter. The director is currently filming in the basement; you can go straight down there.”

Painter thanked him, and pulling his assistant, entered the shop, quickly finding the entrance to the basement. As they walked down the stairs, the scene inside left them both dumbfounded. In the center of the set, Bruce Willis and Ving Rhames were seated on chairs with their hands tied behind their backs and red gags in their mouths.

“Damn, this is the strangest film I’ve ever been a part of! I can’t believe I even agreed to this,” Rhames said morosely once a crew member removed his gag and untied him.

“Wow, wow, regretting it now? What will you do during your scenes later?” Willis, also freed, teased him with a snickering demeanor that was somewhat aggravating.

“Just enjoy your schadenfreude, Bruce, soon enough you’ll be in the same boat,” Rhames glared at him hatefully.

“Ving, your threats really lack punch, think of something better,” Willis snickered, wiping the drool from wearing the gag with a tissue passed by an assistant, then he couldn’t help but complain as well, “Damn, how many more scenes like this are there, Ed?”

“Ha, you can’t handle it now either?” Rhames seized the opportunity to retort.

“Alright, gentlemen, stop arguing endlessly about this. Take a break, so we can quickly finish this scene,” a young man in a long-sleeved t-shirt and dressed simply came over, smiling soothingly.

“Alright, Ed, that’s what you said,” Willis quickly spoke up, and Rhames also nodded his head, both men seemingly resistant to the scenes they had just endured.

“Well, let’s take a break then,” the young man laughed heartily.

“What were you doing just now?” Duvall, having witnessed everything, couldn’t help but ask in a low voice after a pause, “Aren’t you afraid Willis will break your neck in the next second with that get-up?”

Painter rolled his eyes, “Come on, Levitt, this isn’t the set of ‘Die Hard’!”

As he spoke, he pulled his assistant along.

“Hello, Adrian,” said Painter, striding up to the young man, “I’m Haggis Painter. Pleased to meet you in person.”

“I’m also glad to meet you, Mr. Haggis. Call me Adrian,” the young man said, shaking his hand with a smile.

Painter was about to say something when Duvall sprinted to Willis, who was standing beside Adrian, and, somewhat excitedly, took his hand, “Hello, Bruce, remember me? I’m Levitt Duvall! We met at the Holiday Inn. I wanted an autograph from you, but you were busy–maybe you have time today?”

“Um… thank you, Levitt. Nice to meet you,” Willis said, dizzied by his ramble, taking a while to regain his composure, “I think… I can fulfill your request.”

“Really, thank you so much! I really loved your performance in ‘Die Hard,’ especially when you menacingly stared down that man, ‘No one talks to me like that, you pay the price’! Wow, that was so cool!” Duvall said animatedly, imitating the movie’s action and tone as he quoted the line.

“That’s a line from ‘Billy Bathgate,'” Willis muttered under his breath with an eye roll.

“What?”

“No, nothing, I mean, thank you for your support.”

“Enough, Levitt, don’t you remember what you promised me?!” Painter called out, clearly exasperated, as Duvall seemed keen to continue.

“Um… okay, sorry.” Fortunately, Duvall still remembered what he was there for, though he couldn’t help but remind Willis to sign an autograph for him after the interview was over.

“Sorry, Adrian,” Painter apologized on behalf of his assistant after coming up from the basement.

“It’s okay, it’s normal. Everyone gets a bit starstruck when they meet their favorite actors,” Adrian said, understandingly smiling.

“Hey, did you hear that, Haggis? Adrian didn’t mind,” Duvall chirped, whistling.

“Alright, shut it, Levitt, or I’ll send you out,” Painter glared at him until he behaved, then turned to Adrian, “Can we start our interview now, Adrian?”

“Of course, please come this way.”

The three of them settled in a corner of the equipment store.

“Now everyone knows that you only started getting into movies in May ’90. What helped you accurately capture the rhythm of filmmaking?”

(Later I discussed this with friends in the afternoon, it seems realistic fiction is not very popular, readers prefer purer narratives, haha, I can only shrug. Also, too many women characters pushed forward?)