Landon met Jennifer's gaze, smiled calmly, took the initiative to step forward and put his arm around her waist, then kissed her on the cheek. "Good morning, darling. Did you miss me?"
Jennifer, disarmed by his natural intimacy, gave his arm a gentle pinch and asked in a low voice:
"Hmph. What on earth were you up to so mysteriously over the weekend?"
Landon remained mysterious and winked: "You'll definitely know in a few days. It's a surprise."
It was the same excuse, but this time it seemed more justified; after all, the MV shoot was a tangible result.
"A surprise?" Jennifer raised an eyebrow, clearly dissatisfied with the answer.
Jennifer pinched him again, using a bit more strength this time, but she didn't press further.
She understood this industry; there were some things he chose not to say for the time being, perhaps for his own reasons.
After weeks of working together, the crew of A Beautiful Mind had become like a big family.
The initial doubts about whether the young, parachuted actor Landon could handle the complex hallucination character of "Charles Herman" had long been dispelled by his performance.
Whether it was his scenes with Russell Crowe or handling the presence of a hallucinated character on his own, Landon demonstrated understanding and expressiveness far beyond his years.
Therefore, when he returned to the set, he was greeted by friendly nods and greetings from his colleagues.
Today, Landon had an important scene to shoot. It was the first time the character Charles Herman had an intense emotional outburst in the film, directly clashing with Nash, and it was the scene that best showcased the complex core of his character.
In the plot leading up to this scene,
Professor Helinger talked with Nash after the midterm review. Although he allowed him to stay at the school, he denied his fantasy of entering the top-tier Wheeler Laboratory. Nash wanted to fight for it again, hoping Helinger would arrange a meeting with Professor Einstein.
Helinger arranged for him to witness a scene where an old professor received recognition from numerous Nobel judges, ultimately telling him bluntly that with his current state, he had nowhere to go.
Nash fell into deeper despair and returned to his dorm, frantically working through his game theory, but he still couldn't find a breakthrough.
"Action!"
Inside the dormitory, Nash (played by Russell Crowe) stared at the formulas covering the windows with chaotic eyes, his fingers trembling nervously, his voice carrying a desperate, tearful tone: "Why can't I see it?"
Extreme anxiety and self-doubt almost drowned him.
The next second, at the peak of despair, he slammed his forehead against the window. Blood immediately flowed down his temple, a shocking sight.
"God! John, don't do this!" Charles (played by Landon) wore an expression of anxiety and reluctance. He was wearing a beige sweater, which formed a sharp contrast with Nash's disheveled state.
"I can't fail. This is my everything," Nash said, his voice choked with tears.
"Come on, let's go for a walk." Charles walked toward Nash while gesturing with his head toward the door.
"I have to produce results." Nash was completely broken, crying as he stumbled toward the desk piled with papers.
"Staring at the sky isn't the solution." Charles caught up from behind, grabbed Nash's coat, and tried to stop him from continuing to obsess over it.
Regardless, Nash used all his strength to shove the heavy desk away.
"John, that's enough!" Charles put his hands on his hips helplessly and raised his voice. He switched tactics, almost commanding: "Face the wall."
Nash ignored him, continuing to stubbornly push the table, wanting to push it out of the dormitory.
"You want to do this the hard way, no problem." Charles was provoked. He rolled up his sweater sleeves, walked to the other side of the table, and each of them took a side, beginning to wrestle.
"Stop wasting time!" Charles yelled angrily.
"Screw their classes!" Nash roared, breathing heavily.
"Why don't you just smash your head open and kill yourself?" Charles, also enraged by the stalemate, shouted angrily.
He suddenly abandoned the table and instead pushed Nash's shoulders hard, shoving him toward the window where he had just hit his head,
"Fine, go ahead! Stop wasting time!" Charles pushed Nash again. "Go! Smash that useless head open."
Charles was extremely harsh, his movements rough, and he even stepped forward to grab Nash by the collar.
"Asshole! Charles, you asshole!" Nash was completely enraged. The pent-up despair turned into violent strength, and he shoved Charles away hard in return.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Charles was caught off guard and fell heavily to the ground.
He lay on the ground, his chest heaving violently, gasping for breath, but he pointed a finger at Nash and said, word for word: "I don't have a problem!"
Charles continued to point at Nash,
"And it's not your problem either! It's their problem! You can't find the answer by facing the wall! The way you've been doing it isn't wrong!"
Charles struggled to stand up. He walked toward the desk that symbolized his shackles once again, exerted force, and pushed it toward the window.
Then, under Nash's astonished gaze, he lifted the heavy desk with all his might and threw it straight out the window!
Nash rushed to the window, watching the table shatter into pieces, a complete mess.
Charles held onto the window frame, also breathing heavily. But as he looked at Nash, a bright, mischievous smile, as if a prank had succeeded, slowly bloomed on his face:
"That table was really heavy!" Charles said after he caught his breath a bit.
"At least Newton's laws are correct. He's really amazing!" He laughed, and the laughter echoed in the empty room. "He's really smart!"
Nash was stunned at first, and then a sense of relief washed over him. He couldn't help but laugh along, laughing louder and louder, as if he wanted to laugh away all the pent-up frustration in his chest.
"Don't worry, it's mine. I'll go clean it up in a bit!" Charles shouted to two students who happened to be passing by downstairs.
Then Nash and Charles, like lunatics, gasped for air while laughing uncontrollably, saying intermittently: "Oh my god!"
"Cut!" The voice of director Ron Howard rang out with uncontrollable excitement. "That was amazing!"
At the same time, warm applause erupted on the set.
This time was different from the previous scenes; this was a real acting duel between Russell Crowe and Landon. The director had intended to polish this scene continuously, and if the emotion in any part of the scene wasn't right, it would have to be reshot.
But the two men's performance far exceeded the director's expectations and conquered everyone present on the crew.
They had witnessed the birth of a brilliant performance.
Landon stood up first, reached out, and pulled up Russell Crowe, who was still sitting on the ground, a bit exhausted.
Russell stood steady and gave him a high-five, creating a crisp sound.
Then the two men hugged each other tightly and patted each other on the back; everything was understood without words.
Landon returned to the resting area, and Jennifer handed him a glass of water, asking softly: "Tired?"
Landon nodded, took the water, and took a sip, but his gaze involuntarily drifted toward Zoe, who was packing up her things.
The punk girl seemed to have finally recovered a bit of energy, but the dark circles under her eyes were still obvious.
Landon recalled Zoe's awkward state in the car that morning, and then remembered the faint sounds from next door the night before, and a flash of doubt crossed his mind.