Quips

Once again standing at the entrance of the studio, Hugo had clearly adapted to many things. Although his rapid heartbeat still showed his nervousness, at least he was no longer clueless. This allowed Hugo to concentrate his mind a little. The young boy standing next to him wore earphones and held a folder in his hand. He was waiting for the director's command to inform Hugo to appear.

The boy listened to the sounds inside the studio, determined that they still needed a little more time, and glanced at Hugo, who was close by. After much hesitation, he mustered up the courage to say to Hugo, "Hugo, you're really great! This movie will definitely be successful!"

Although Hugo had felt a significant increase in his recognition in various aspects after the release of "Scent of a Woman", he still felt a sense of joy from the bottom of his heart every time someone cheered him on. He flashed a bright smile at the boy and said, "Thank you!"

Gaining the recognition of industry personnel was not an easy task for any actor. Perhaps today he was just a small assistant, but who could guarantee that Hugo wouldn't achieve even greater accomplishments tomorrow?

"Not long ago, this young actor appeared on our show and had a very pleasant conversation with me. Today, he has brought his new work, "A Few Good Men", to the stage once again. Let's welcome: Hugo Lancaster!" Jay's voice echoed in the studio.

The young boy made a gesture to Hugo, and Hugo patted the boy's shoulder with a smile. He whispered another "Thank you" and then took a step forward. The young boy remained in place, and a smile bloomed on his face.

As Hugo entered the studio, the two hundred audience members on his left immediately stood up and welcomed him with enthusiastic applause. Hugo smiled and waved at the audience. He instantly noticed the familiar sign that read "Hug Here", and today, the person holding the sign was Meredith Molins, whom he had seen once at the premiere. Hugo's gaze fell upon Meredith, and his smile deepened, causing Meredith's scream to reach a higher pitch.

Hugo shifted his gaze and looked in the direction of Jay. But before his gaze could fully shift, it was attracted by the amusing group of sculptures in front of him. The raspberry-shaped sculpture, resembling the Golden Raspberry Award trophy he visited last time, was still there. However, today it was surrounded by a circle of fist-sized raspberry sculptures, as if they were the children of the Golden Raspberry Award trophy.

This scene had a comedic effect reminiscent of an animated film, and it generated astonishing laughter. Hugo couldn't help but applaud and burst into laughter. It had to be said that The Tonight Show team had put a lot of effort into teasing Hugo.

Hugo walked up to the stage with a cheerful smile, giving Jay a big hug and deliberately patting him twice on the back to express his feelings about this "gift."

"Welcome back, buddy. It's great to see you again," Jay said casually, greeting Hugo from his seat.

"Same here, same here," Hugo replied simply, taking a seat on the couch and saying with a smile, "I had a feeling something good would happen tonight, and sure enough..."

"Of course, we're in Los Angeles, and this is how we work. You should get used to it," Jay said proudly, clearly satisfied with the trophy architecture.

"No, no, no. I think I'll take them all home," Hugo said confidently, pointing at the circle of Golden Raspberry Awards in front of him.

In response, Jay immediately said, "Oh, oh... That's a lot of movies. Are you sure?" implying that Hugo would win many Golden Raspberry Awards in the future.

In the face of such teasing, Hugo raised his hands in surrender and said, "I'm not sure, but at least I think they owe me two trophies, and I will get them back." Hugo was jokingly referring to his movies "Desperate Hours" and "The Adventures Of Ford Fairlane", suggesting that they should also receive Golden Raspberry Awards. This sarcastic remark elicited applause, laughter, and whistles from the audience.

"Did you see last week's Vanity Fair?" Jay pulled out a magazine from the side, and it turned out to be the latest issue of Vanity Fair featuring Kevin Costner on the cover. "Kevin and Whitney Houston..." Although it attracted criticism from the industry, it achieved unparalleled success in terms of 'romance' topics, especially the songs sung by Whitney, including "I Will Always Love You", which ignited the entire music scene. This made Kevin the cover story of the latest issue of Vanity Fair.

"Oh, no, I don't remember giving them an interview," Hugo shook his head, looking confused. In fact, Hugo has not yet had a magazine interview. Prior to this, interviews with newspapers and magazines like the Los Angeles Times were relatively short and not in-depth enough to be considered a feature report, so Hugo was unfamiliar with magazines.

"No, they didn't interview you, but they made some predictions and comments about your upcoming film "A Few Good Men"," Jay explained, "In the article, they briefly praised your excellent performance in "Scent of a Woman"..."

"Oh, that's good," Hugo nodded with a smile.

"And then they focused on commenting on your upcoming movie, saying that you would ruin it because you still have a strong sense of being a student, and this time it's not Jack Nicholson leading the plot, you are the protagonist, so the outcome is worrying. Do you agree?" Jay's following words were bad news, but they made Hugo burst into laughter.

The success of "Scent of a Woman" was undeniable, but amidst the praise, there were many discordant opinions. On the one hand, they believed that Hugo's outstandingness in the film was due to Al Pacino's brilliant performance, and Hugo's own contribution was not significant. On the other hand, the roles in which Hugo had truly achieved success so far had all been student roles, with "Dead Poets Society" and "Scent of a Woman" being particularly evident examples. It was clear that Hugo's scholarly aura had brought him opportunities and accolades but also constrained his development.

Vanity Fair was representative of these opinions. They still didn't have high expectations for the prospects of "A Few Good Men" and believed that Hugo will ruin the movie.

"No, of course I don't agree," Hugo denied straightforwardly, "If I agreed, I wouldn't have taken on this movie, would I?" Hugo's simple counter-question expressed his viewpoint. "You think I'm too much of a student, but that's because you haven't seen my masculine side. Once you see it, you won't have such ridiculous ideas anymore. You should know that I'm first and foremost a man, as well as an actor," Hugo joked.

"Oh, I hope I haven't seen it," Jay raised an eyebrow and responded, implying that he is heterosexual and not interested in Hugo's masculine qualities. This immediately caused the audience to burst into laughter, and Jay continued teasing, "How about you? Do you want to show it to me?"

Hugo laughed helplessly, and the laughter from the audience almost drowned out the sound of the microphone. After the laughter subsided a bit, Hugo paused and then spoke, "Of course, I don't mind showing it to you. Are you hiding any secrets? Afraid of being exposed in front of my masculine charm?" Hugo's counterattack was indeed sharp, causing the laughter from the audience to almost drown out the sound of the microphone.

Jay clapped and laughed, and after the laughter eased a bit, he raised his hands and said, "Believe me, if I had a secret, I would choose a marriage." This was clearly an allusion to the recent rumors surrounding Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman's marriage, which had caused a lot of commotion.

Although Tom and Nicole got married at the end of 1990, there had always been rumors that Tom, in order to conceal his homosexuality, had no choice but to divorce his former wife, Mimi Rogers, who had previously worked with Hugo in "Desperate Hours". Because Mimi was unwilling to continue hiding, Tom chose another safe haven: the aspiring actress Nicole, who could benefit from Tom's fame. And that's exactly what happened—Tom entered into a second marriage, and the rumors about his homosexuality were suppressed once again, while Nicole successfully gained overnight fame through this marriage.

However, recently, rumors about this marriage resurfaced because Nicole's acting career had failed to take off, and there were no signs of pregnancy after two years of marriage. Additionally, the buzz generated by the upcoming release of "A Few Good Men" had reignited the rumors.

Jay and Hugo bantered back and forth, making veiled jabs at Tom and Nicole, which elicited whistles from the audience. Everyone knew that Jay had an excellent way with words, but it was Hugo's composed response that surprised everyone.

"That was a wise choice," Hugo said with profound meaning, and he and Jay couldn't help but exchange a smile.

"So, you don't agree with what this magazine is saying," Jay brought the topic back, pointing to the magazine in his hand, asking for Hugo's opinion.

"Oh, no, of course not," Hugo waved his hands repeatedly. "If you don't trust me, you can just walk into the cinema and watch it. If you still feel the same after watching it, I'm willing to accept your criticism."

"You sly guy," Jay immediately saw through Hugo's little trick. Hugo was actually calling on the audience to watch the movie and contribute to the box office. "But I like it," Jay chuckled. "We'll take a break now, and after the commercials, we'll have even more exciting content."

After the live band started playing, Jay leaned closer to Hugo and whispered, "So, you're quite daring." It takes a lot of courage to publicly mock the highly successful Tom, and although they didn't explicitly say it, people in the industry knew what was going on.

Hugo innocently shrugged his shoulders, "Did we say something just now?" After all, he didn't name names, and it was up to the individuals to take it personally.

This immediately made Jay laugh and shake his head, "No, we didn't say anything."