King of Hollywood

```

If you are just a fan of American blockbusters, you probably wouldn't know what this name means. However, Adrian, who has seen countless movies and TV series, is not one of those people. Sarah Michelle Gellar, recognized as one of the few quality idols in the mid-to-late 1990s in the United States. A quality idol is a young actress who is vibrant, healthy in image, and without any negative scandals, loved by parents and children alike.

Most of the movies or TV series they starred in were of the youth genre, perhaps not widely influential, limited to North America, but still quite popular. The movie Adrian remembers most clearly related to Sarah is "Scream 2"—yes, indeed, the sequel to that teen horror movie he sold to Universal—and "I Know What You Did Last Summer"—another teen horror movie with a complex relationship with "Scream."

However, what really put Sarah on the throne of popularity was the TV series "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," a series that combined adolescent troubles and vampires reminiscent of The X-Files. Although it's not as popular as that vampire novel that caused a craze 20 years later, it is still considered one of the classic American TV series. As a quality idol, Sarah's beauty was undeniable, with a rare oval face for a Westerner and delicate features, though there seemed to be a bit of gloom between her brows.

Of course, now she was just a 13-year-old girl with baby fat on her face, looking cute and well-behaved, already showing signs of her future self, but not necessarily very charming yet. However, the way she looked when excited at the restaurant left a deep impression.

While preparing, Adrian glanced at Sarah, who was using the time to read lines with her mother. According to Laverne, Roselan, who also acted as Sarah's agent, was a bit hesitant after reading the script because it was indisputably a cut film. However, Sarah persuaded her mother. Although he didn't know how she did it, Adrian guessed some of it; in his previous life, he knew a bit about Sarah's family matters.

Maybe I can help her, Adrian thought, stroking his chin. While she was still a little girl now, little girls always grow up, don't they? Besides, in his plan...

Forget it, let's leave it for now; he was still far from achieving the popularity and fame he wanted. Adrian had made up his mind. Actually, it didn't matter much, at least they were acquainted now.

"Scene 178, take 231." With the sound of the clapperboard, the set returned to a filming state.

Although Sarah's scenes were added temporarily and would not be used in the final edit, it didn't mean they could be sloppy during filming. These were two different things, and Adrian knew that what he needed was more than just copying; the standards could be relaxed, but half-heartedness was not allowed. Besides, he didn't want Sarah to notice anything at this stage.

"Cut!" After calling for another stop, Adrian gestured, "Sarah, you can rest now."

"Mr. Director, did I do something wrong?" Sarah hurriedly asked, her little face full of tension and unease.

"Don't worry, don't worry, although it's not outstanding, it's already quite good." Adrian held up his hands in a soothing gesture, finding it a bit amusing. How many times was this now? From this, it was evident how much she cared about this job. Yes, indeed, acting was just a job for her.

"Listen to me, Sarah, you're not fully familiar with this role yet, so you don't need to worry too much. Sometimes, the more you try to play her well, the more likely you are to perform poorly, understand?" Adrian said comfortingly, patting her head, "You've done very well; now go reflect and continue tomorrow. You've played a few roles before, so you should know you have to listen to the director on set."

When he first reached out, her body leaned back slightly, but when he actually placed his hand on her head, she remained still.

"I understand, Mr. Director." Sarah nodded and went over to her mother.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, Sarah is taking a break, but you cannot yet. Continue in fifteen minutes," Adrian said at this time, which immediately elicited a chorus of sighs. However, they knew this wouldn't change Adrian's decision, so they sighed as they tried to make the most of the time to rest.

Actually, if Adrian wanted, he could have filmed most of Sarah's scenes on the first day and wrapped up on the second day. The role he added for her was as Kate's sister, a somewhat introverted girl cared for by her sister. Now, only the scenes in the room were left to film, aside from some fragmented shots related to Dennis.

But this had its benefits; some scenes were shot before Thanksgiving, giving Adrian more freedom when inserting new plotlines. Plus, since they wouldn't be used post-production, shooting them wasn't constrained by the original plot.

The problem was how tight the schedule was. Two days were only enough for him to rush out the script; he hadn't completely formed the shot breakdowns in his head. So, after shooting intermittently on the first day, he let Sarah rest, to find a way to complete the plot after finishing today's progress; after all, it was just an extra day.

Time always passes quickly; three days went by in the blink of an eye, and the scenes Adrian temporarily added were basically shot. Because the entire crew was very cooperative and no mishaps occurred, they even managed to shoot several proper storyline scenes during breaks.

"It's been a pleasure working with you, Sarah; you're a fine actress." Adrian shook hands with the little girl, then extended his hand to Roselan, "You have an outstanding daughter, ma'am."

"Thank you, Mr. Director, Sarah is my pride," Roselan, with one arm around her daughter, said excitedly.

Sarah's performance over these three days was quite impressive; not that her acting skills were exceptional, but that her attitude was very earnest. Not only did she not complain about repeated shooting, but each time she performed meticulously. She even kept shooting and held back her pain once when she sprained her ankle going down the stairs—luckily, it was nothing serious.

In the end, everyone looked at her with new eyes, and even Kate privately praised the girl's resilience, changing her opinion of her greatly. As for Adrian, he naturally took care of the little girl sympathetically.

"Coincidentally, Haggis and the others are going back to Los Angeles; let them take you back," Adrian escorted the mother and daughter to the door of the set's housing and then called over his assistant, Haggis, who was preparing the car.

Watching them walking towards the car, and just as Adrian was about to go back, Sarah, who had been glancing back at him, suddenly broke free from her mother's hand and ran back as swiftly as the wind.

"Did you forget something?" Adrian showed a look of surprise.

"No... it's just…" Sarah took a slight breath, looked at Adrian for several seconds before slightly bowing her head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Adrian."

"Oh?" Adrian smiled, "If you're apologizing for what happened that day, I accept. It's no big deal, I understand how you feel. Remember what I told you? Things will get better."

Sarah opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something but hesitated for a long moment before softly saying, "Thank you, you are a good person."

Oh, damn, couldn't you use another term? Adrian felt a little frustrated inside, then felt arms suddenly wrap around his waist as Sarah rushed forward and hugged him, even burying her head into his lower abdomen!

This state lasted for about ten seconds before she released her arms, smiled at Adrian, and then ran back to her mother. Adrian was stunned for a moment, and then a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes. Did she... find out?!

How could that be? She was only a 13-year-old child, and besides, everyone had disguised it so well... Okay, maybe not that well, but regardless, she shouldn't have... Okay, perhaps she was just guessing, not certain, but I still underestimated her. She was, after all, a precocious child. Adrian shrugged and quickly pushed the matter to the back of his mind. Whatever it was, it could wait; for now, he still had to continue working hard.

After Sarah left, everything returned to normal. Thanks to the accumulated work in the previous three days, they spent a day and a half shooting the scenes between Dennis and Kate in the room, as well as those scattered shots. Then Adrian's second film smoothly wrapped its production.

Naturally, the next step was to disband the crew, take a good rest, and prepare for the post-production work. Although everyone had just celebrated Thanksgiving, accompanying Adrian to make up for that little girl for three days of futile work was still exhausting.

Moreover, Kate also should return to London; she had stayed in Los Angeles for half a month. Although graduating high school wasn't a problem, it didn't mean she could openly skip classes. Besides, she had decided to apply to the California Institute of the Arts, which wasn't an easy thing to do either.

Of course, before leaving, the two had to revel in the villa just as they did during the Venice shoot. The young Kate, nurtured by Adrian, became more and more enamored with this aspect. Especially after making a minor breakthrough during their last bath together, the two played even more happily this time; perhaps they would have tried experiencing it in the garden if not for the cold weather.

Well, enough said about that; no matter how reluctantly, they had to part ways. After that, Adrian properly rested for two to three days and then dived headfirst into the company's editing room to begin post-production.

Originally, he could have had two months to slowly work on the post-production, but given the days wasted for Sarah, plus the upcoming Christmas and New Year, and the need to submit to the Berlin Film Festival in advance, he had at most a month and a half for post-production.

Some might say that's still half a month more than "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," so it should be enough, but the problem was that "Memento" required much more post-production effort than "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels," and one and a half months still wasn't enough. What annoyed Adrian even more was that apart from editing, he also had to sit in front of the typewriter for two or three hours each day after returning home, pounding out manuscripts, and it was voluntary. No one was forcing him.

I am truly fucking insane. Adrian said this in his heart more than once. But every time, it was as sweet as honey.

Let's start from Christmas!

(Depressed, after finally uploading a rather explosive chapter yesterday, there was no reaction at all...)

```