Entertainment: Starting as a Succubus, Taking Hollywood by Storm

Seven days later, Leonardo and Jessica returned to Los Angeles from Houston.

Leonardo looked thinner, his face drawn, eyes dull.

Jessica glowed, radiant and alert.

"How was it?" Martin asked.

"Fun!" Jessica beamed.

"Awful!" Leonardo groaned.

With the leads in place, Gravity filming commenced.

The first scene: Leonardo as Matt Kowalski, spacewalking to repair the Hubble Telescope.

Staring at the massive zero-gravity rig, Leonardo felt dizzy.

"I regret this now. Should've let Will have it."

"Cut it," Martin chuckled, but seeing Leonardo's pallor, he added, "You wanted to take Blake sailing, right? After your scenes, borrow my yacht—free."

"Deal." Leonardo finally smiled.

…

Inside a massive cubic prop, Leonardo in a white spacesuit was fixed to a long metal arm in the cube's center. The arm spun; the cube spun; he floated convincingly.

The walls were LED screens—1.8 million LEDs displaying hyper-realistic visuals. Now, it showed space: the blue Earth below his feet.

The arm held Leonardo's left side; two robotic arms flanked his right—one with an ARRI Alexa camera, the other a light source.

"Leo, next we shoot you banging on the Hubble lens. It's a POV shot—you stay still, the arm moves the camera toward you. But I need that desperate survival vibe. The suit's helmet cam will close-up your face—watch your expressions."

"OK, ready."

Though a cameo, Leonardo didn't slack, having prepped extensively.

The take wrapped in two tries.

Dismounting the arm, Leonardo collapsed into a chair, waiting for his equilibrium to return before standing and heading to Martin to watch.

Seeing Jessica enter the "LED box" simulating the space shuttle's interior, Leonardo marveled, "That lightbox idea is genius. Actors don't have to mime empty air—huge relief on performance."

"It is," Martin said proudly. "You don't know the effort and cash to calibrate the LEDs for CG compositing. We even patented 46 innovations. If any director wants to shoot space sci-fi, recommend this—royalties await."

"Haha, as if you need the money," Leonardo quipped, then curiously, "How's it look?"

"Stunning," Martin replied. "The LEDs create unprecedented realism."

The clip showed the silent black cosmos, the white Hubble gleaming yet tiny. Zooming in, Leonardo in his suit repaired it, floating authentically.

"Wow, it's so real—no LED seams," Leonardo, appearing beside him, exclaimed.

"Not bad—exceptional," Martin agreed.

This single shot evoked the universe's vastness, humanity's smallness, and the silent terror of endless darkness!!!