[Chapter 221: Leonardo]
"Hey guys, guess what I just saw?"
On the set of The Butterfly Effect, Leonardo sat down with a plate, winking at his co-stars Mark Wahlberg and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
"Aliens?" Mark joked.
Leonardo looked around and lowered his voice. "I saw Renee. She went to Link's office alone!"
"What's the big deal? You've been to Link's office before," Mark replied.
Philip, the heavier of the two, chuckled while munching on pizza.
"It's different. When we go there, it's about work. The papers say Renee is Link's girlfriend."
Leonardo glanced around again and added, "One of them."
"Still, it doesn't matter. Link isn't even married," Mark retorted.
Leonardo smirked slightly, glancing at Philip. "Phil, don't forget we have kissing scenes with Renee. Is Link going to get mad about that? I've heard some people are pretty particular about these things."
"Are you kidding? Link is a professional director. He wouldn't care about that stuff," Mark said.
Leonardo thought about it. It did seem unlikely. He shrugged and returned to his food.
Once lunch was over, everyone headed back to set to continue filming.
...
"Scene 137, take 6, action!"
In the dormitory, Evan lay on his bed, reading from a diary aloud to the girl. He was recounting the time when he was thirteen, telling a story about Tommy, the 'little devil,' who burned his pet dog alive at the junkyard. He and his chubby friend Lenny had gotten beaten up, but suddenly he passed out while reading.
That was Evan's first trip back into the past.
When he woke up, he didn't care about dating the girl anymore; instead, he drove back to where he used to live. He found Lenny and discovered that Lenny had turned into a recluse as a result of Evan's time travel.
His first love, Kayleigh, became a waitress struggling in life, and because of his visit, she was pushed to commit suicide.
After returning to school, Evan continued reading the diary, determined to change the terrible past and save Kayleigh and Lenny.
He traveled back to when he was seven years old. Kayleigh's abusive father forced him and Kayleigh to film a porn movie. He harshly scolded Kayleigh's father, threatening to kill him if he ever did that again.
When he woke up, Kayleigh had become his girlfriend, now in college, their relationship blooming, and life was looking good.
However, Kayleigh's brother, Tommy, was affected too; he had turned into a violent criminal, just out of prison.
While Evan was on a date with Kayleigh, Tommy suddenly appeared, leading to a confrontation where Evan accidentally killed him and ended up in jail.
Since Evan had a delicate appearance and was physically weak, he quickly found himself taken through the back door.
To change this disastrous situation, Evan retrieved the diary again and traveled back to the junkyard, where he urged Lenny to kill little devil Tommy early.
As a result, Lenny was taken as a mentally unstable person and locked away in a hospital. Kayleigh had become disfigured and turned into a prostitute, living a life worse than the last time.
Seeing his friends and first love in such dire straits, Evan went back once more, returning to age thirteen, during a moment when they pranked by placing firecrackers in the neighbor's mailbox, which led to accidentally killing Mrs. Halpern and her child.
This time, Evan bravely stepped in to stop Mrs. Halpern from getting close to the mailbox. However, when the firecracker exploded, he was too close and was severely injured, losing his arms and legs.
Upon waking up, he had become a disabled person, while Kayleigh and Lenny became a happy couple right in front of him.
Tommy had turned into a model student in college, and all three friends treated him well.
Yet, Evan's mother, affected by his disability, developed a smoking addiction and was in the late stages of lung cancer, nearing death.
Unsatisfied with his situation, Evan again traveled back to the past, returning to when he was seven. While filming porn footage in the basement, he attempted to blow up Tommy and Kayleigh's abusive father, but accidentally killed Kayleigh.
Upon waking, he was labeled mentally unstable and confined in a hospital.
As he prepared to travel through the diary again, his attending physician informed him that there had never been any diary.
All previous events were his fantasies, including going to college, being in prison, and losing limbs; they were all his way of escaping the guilt of accidentally killing Kayleigh.
Evan refused to believe this and, using home videos from his mother, traveled to the moment before his birth, where he committed suicide with the umbilical cord around his neck.
Originally, the film's ending had two versions.
The other version had Evan traveling back using the video tape to a family gathering as a child, bullying Kayleigh, making her hate him. Ultimately, Kayleigh and Tommy lived with their mother, free from their father's abuse.
Later, they would encounter each other again in college as strangers passing by.
However, the version where he committed suicide with the cord was more iconic and well-received by audiences. Link chose this ending when filming.
...
"Cut!"
"Leonardo, bring some emotion; you need to immerse yourself into the character. You have to embody Evan from within to do this role justice."
"I got it, director. I'm working on it," Leonardo replied with a shrug and a smile.
"You are the most talented actor I've worked with, and I believe you can do even better," Link stated earnestly.
Leonardo's eyes lit up, and he nods with excitement, assuring he would nail it.
The crew continued filming.
...
Evan returned to the dorm, digging through all the diaries, flipping through them one by one.
He took out the earliest one and opened it to read.
"I never wanted to be in the movie anyway and it was cold so I wanted to wear my clothes but Mr. Miller took his shirt off--" Leonardo furrowed his brow, staring at the diary, his expression growing complex.
Watching Leonardo on camera, Link couldn't help but recall his performances in Shutter Island and Inception, where his roles were somewhat similar, portraying characters with mental struggles.
Although Leonardo's performance at this stage was still youthful and lacked the finesse of ten years later, it nevertheless showcased potential, making him seem more fitting than the original lead.
Link figured that casting Leonardo in the lead would likely boost box office returns.
"What the fuck are you doing?" a chubby classmate from the dorm asked.
"Shhh! I need quiet for this," Evan replied.
"Are you stupid or what?" the roommate walked over, snatching the diary from Evan's hands.
"What?"
"Shucks, I dunno. But maybe there's a reason why you've repressed the one day when some old lecher had you in your tighty whities, dammit!" After reading a couple of entries in the diary, "Yeah, man. I'd think twice about this. You could wake up a lot more fucked up than you are now."
"Worse than this?" Evan laughed self-deprecatingly. "You think you know me? I don't even know myself."
Evan grabbed back the diary, staring at it, and considering his roommate's suggestion, he closed the book with a thud.
...
"Cut!"
"Leonardo, in this next part, the emotional outburst isn't intense enough. Evan is a perfectionist; before he opens the diary, he believes his life is perfect. But as he scrolls through the diary and recalls those almost-forgotten dark memories, he nearly breaks down. You need to grasp Evan's emotional state. If you can't connect, think about past experiences that almost sent you over the edge."
Link was guiding Leonardo into the role.
Although getting actors into character could sometimes skew their perceptions and make it hard for them to separate from the role, this method of direction proved effective and boosted productivity during filming. This was why many directors encouraged their actors to dive deep into their characters.
Leonardo nodded, beginning to adjust his emotions and prepare for a fresh performance.
*****
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