Not a chit-chat

Rob stood next to the long table and looked on both sides. Neither side was suitable for him to sit as there were only five people in total. If they sat face to face, one person would inevitably face the air. So he walked to the side of the long table, took a chair and sat down, "I'll sit here."

With Rob's move, Hugo and Joseph sat on one side, while Brad and Martin sat on the other. The seating arrangement was immediately settled. Hugo originally thought that there would be at least five or more people for the audition, but now it seemed that there were only two people, himself and Brad, of course, with Tom Cruise as the first alternate.

Opposite Hugo was Brad, with Rob on his left and Joseph on his right. Hugo's gaze met Brad's, and the two young men exchanged a smile before quickly looking away. Hugo could see the lofty fighting spirit in Brad's blue eyes, full of vitality and confidence. Although Hugo and Brad had not yet reached the stage of sparking a fierce fight, there was no doubt that the two had met again after "A River Runs Through It", and no one wanted to lose in the competition.

As a veteran agent, Martin sat down and immediately started to lighten the mood, "This is your first work in two years, right? I heard you've been preparing for a long time, but you've raised our expectations. Brad and I were just revisiting "When Harry Met Sally..." last month, right?"

Brad knew that the last question was directed at him, so he immediately took over, "Yes, I was even asking Martin at the time if it would be great if I had the opportunity to audition for your future film."

Hugo watched the two people opposite him skillfully playing the double reed. However, Hugo and Joseph had only been together for two months and obviously lacked tacit understanding. He didn't seem nervous at all and even took the opportunity to turn his head to look at Joseph as if saying "look at how excellent Martin is". However, he was fiercely stared back by Joseph.

"Directing is always a hurried job, isn't it? I don't want my directing career to be just "When Harry Met Sally..."." Rob held the menu and looked up and down, smiling as he spoke. His words were actually gentle, not harsh or sarcastic, but his response made Martin and Brad both feel a bit stiff, and they could only nod and laugh.

Watching the awkward appearance of the two people opposite, Hugo and Joseph laughed heartlessly.

"Let's order first. I've been craving their grilled chicken breast for a long time. Actually, the chicken noodle soup is pretty good too." Rob was reading the menu very seriously, and he seemed really hungry.

Hugo originally wanted to take the initiative to speak, because being a passive introvert wouldn't work during the audition. However, seeing Rob's demeanor, he obviously didn't plan to get into business right away, so Hugo started to read the menu carefully. The United States is an immigrant country, and they don't have their own characteristic cuisine excluding the indigenous one. With just a quick glance at the menu, all Hugo could see was fried chicken, which made him miss the diverse assortment he had back in China.

"Hugo, how is it? Is there any dish that you like?" Rob took the initiative to start the conversation. It seemed that Brad had performed well earlier, so he decided to give Hugo a chance.

"Uh, I'm not sure. I saw Mrs. Knott's Fried Chicken." Hugo was really reading the menu, so he answered the question a bit haltingly. He was reading the detailed explanation under the dish, "I was wondering, is this really Mrs. Knott's special fried chicken?" Since this restaurant is called Knott's Berry, this dish should be one of their specialties.

Hugo's words made the four men next to him laugh, including the two competitors opposite him. Although Martin's smile was more disdainful.

Hugo couldn't help but smile, "Okay, I know, I'm not a food expert. I admit this sad fact."

"Since you're curious, just order it and try it." This was Rob's comment.

Hugo really ordered the dish called "Mrs. Knott's Fried Chicken". After the appetizer and salad, when Hugo saw the main course being served, he was really dumbfounded. There were only four pitiful wings on a white plate, "Uh, are you sure this will be enough to eat?"

Although Hugo lowered his voice, everyone except Joseph on his right heard it. Brad's eyes were filled with laughter. The focus of today should be the audition, not the meal. However, Hugo seemed to have misplaced his focus. But it couldn't be denied that Hugo's honesty was sincere, not the vulgar ignorance that made people dislike him, but rather the adorable kind.

But Martin Baum, as a manager, didn't think so. He said with a smile, "If you can't eat enough, you can order more." This sentence was full of sarcasm as if Hugo had come here just to eat for free.

Rob was not surprised by this scene. In Hollywood, there is no future without competition, and humility and politeness will not lead to success. Martin's verbal dispute was just a sprinkle of water. But Rob didn't want to sit here and watch them bickering, so he took the initiative to speak, "Isn't the Rodney King case going to trial next month? I've seen the Los Angeles Times reporting on it for two consecutive weeks. It's probably going to be very lively recently."

Although Rob seemed to be chatting casually, everyone present, including Hugo, knew that this was an audition. The conversation was not just small talk, and the Rodney King incident that Rob mentioned was a variant topic related to the audition for "A Few Good Men".

Brad was obviously more experienced than Hugo, not only in terms of audition experience but also just simply as an American, so he quickly picked up the topic, "We must uphold the fairness of the law, right? The actions of those four police officers must be punished."

At first, Hugo didn't understand what the Rodney King incident was all about. He had only been in the United States for two months and was not familiar with local news events. But with Brad's answer, Hugo quickly understood because even as an outsider, he knew that this incident had caused a sensation across the United States and had a significant impact globally.

"But the one who really made the mistake was Rodney King, right?" Hugo said, "It was the media that led all of this, and they convicted those four white police officers, created public opinion, and led to the current situation, right?"

Hugo's point of view was completely different from Brad's, which made Brad suddenly raise his head and look at Hugo with incomprehension and anger. Even Rob was the same, with an expression of disbelief, which made Hugo feel like he had done something terrible.

Here's what happened: Rodney King was a black man with a criminal record. In March of last year, he got drunk with two black buddies but insisted on driving them home. He was then stopped by a patrol car, and the police sounded the siren, demanding that Rodney stop.

Rodney's companions realized that the police were there and asked Rodney to stop, but Rodney, who was drunk, pretended to be crazy and started playing a car racing game on the highway. In fact, Rodney knew he was a parolee with a criminal record, and if he was caught drunk driving again, things would be bad, so he started running away.

But in the end, the police stopped him, and after the patrol car requested backup, the police set up a dragnet and successfully surrounded him with more than 20 police cars. After getting out of the car, Rodney's two buddies immediately put their hands behind their backs in accordance with the rules and accepted the arrest, but Rodney knew he was in trouble and started provoking the police with all kinds of gestures.

The police gradually surrounded Rodney and issued verbal warnings. After they proved ineffective, four officers approached and attempted to apprehend him. However, Rodney, who was tall and strong, was not intimidated at all. He engaged in a fierce fight with the officers, during which one of them was even knocked down. This prompted the other three officers to use high-voltage electric batons to exert pressure, but the muscular Rodney stood up again and engaged in a one-minute confrontation with the officers. The officers had to use their batons to beat Rodney brutally and finally succeeded in subduing him.

Surprisingly, this beating scene was filmed by a resident named George Holliday. He surreptitiously recorded 81 seconds of live video footage, which did not capture the part where Rodney provoked the police or the scene where Rodney knocked down the officer. The footage only showed Rodney fighting with the officers and then being brutally suppressed by them.

The next day, George brought the footage to the local Los Angeles television station KTLA. The struggling KTLA, which had been experiencing declining ratings, saw the footage as a treasure. After the president made the decision, the editors trimmed the original 81-second footage down to 68 seconds, creating the illusion of white police officers unilaterally beating a helpless black citizen.

This footage was repeatedly broadcasted on major American television stations hundreds of times, becoming a sensational racial discrimination event that shocked the whole country. Sensitive black people felt that their lives were under serious threat, reminiscent of the horrific scenes of the Gulf War not long ago, which then developed into a riot that rocked the entire United States and even the world.

In the following year, the Rodney King incident became a thorn in everyone's hearts, and its sensationalism was unmatched even by the U.S. presidential election of that year. The upcoming court debate next month had also attracted everyone's attention.

Brad, Martin, Rob, and others apparently watched the original 68-second footage. Even though they were all white, they also knew the viciousness of this incident, but Hugo said something completely different. This was tantamount to shit-stirring. Seeing everyone's surprised expressions, Hugo said innocently, "Don't you guys watch CNN news?"