Pressure always exists—it's only a matter of how much.
If you want to survive long-term in Hollywood, it's impossible not to bear pressure. But at the same time, pressure is also motivation—motivation that fuels creativity.
It's precisely because of competition that good works keep emerging. Everyone knows that without quality, the market will soon eliminate you.
Perhaps that's one of the reasons why, more than a decade later, Hollywood began to decline—besides being hit by political correctness.
Once you reach the top of the world and have no real competitors to threaten you, the lack of pressure leads to stagnation.
Fortunately, in this era, the internal competition pressure was still strong.
As for Scarlett's role in Iron Man, it was true that her scenes weren't many—Gilbert personally added them in.
If memory serves, in the previous timeline, the character of Natasha Romanoff didn't appear until Iron Man 2. But Gilbert made a clever move and decided to introduce her in Iron Man 1.
In the first film, the character doesn't have much screen time, but Scarlett's participation in the project was mainly to set up for the future.
After Iron Man 1, Marvel Studios would begin producing The Incredible Hulk, followed by the introductions of Thor and Captain America.
Agent Romanoff would serve as the key character linking all these heroes together. She could even appear in Captain America: The First Avenger.
As long as the character was written as someone who had been injected with a special virus, allowing her to slow her aging, it would make sense that she still looked young—but in reality, she would be the legendary "Grandma Black Widow."
Based on this setup, Gilbert made it clear during the writers' meeting that all romantic storylines involving Black Widow were to be removed.
Black Widow might tease a few superheroes, but she would never fall in love.
After learning that she carried such an important responsibility, Scarlett was so excited she couldn't sleep for several days. However, she knew Gilbert was looking out for her, so she trained diligently and vowed to portray the role perfectly.
Of course, today she decided to take a short break and came over to watch the auditions.
Once everything was ready, the auditions began. Young actors were called in one by one, and came out one by one.
Compared to adult actors, the biggest issue with these young performers was instability and poor stress tolerance.
Some child actors performed well in practice but froze during the actual audition when they saw Gilbert and Tom Cruise sitting there—nerves completely took over.
Some even forgot their lines or made small mistakes, then broke into tears on the spot.
Faced with situations like that, Gilbert could only feel helpless.
Fortunately, Annie came up with a suggestion: give each young actor some plush toys or small gifts—something to encourage them even if their auditions didn't go well.
It was a great idea, so the team prepared lots of toys, most of which were merchandise from Gilbert's films.
Scarlett's eyes lit up at the sight. She quietly grabbed a few, only to be caught by Gilbert. She gave an embarrassed smile but once the toys were in her hands, there was no chance she'd give them back.
A few Disney child stars performed fairly well. After all, they had received professional training from Disney and didn't suffer from stage fright. Still, their performances were far from meeting Gilbert's standards.
Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus both did reasonably well, but after watching their auditions, Gilbert turned to the Disney talent manager and said, "These two are better suited to be singers."
Miley Cyrus, bold as ever, asked directly after her audition, "Can I be your girlfriend?"
"???" Everyone in the room—including Tom Cruise—was left with question marks floating above their heads.
Miley continued confidently, "I don't mind if you have lots of girlfriends. I'm bisexual—maybe they'll like me too."
Before Gilbert could say anything, Scarlett snapped, "Hmph, you? No figure, no face—what makes you think you qualify?"
Miley replied proudly, "I can work on my figure, and I'll be prettier once I grow up. Besides, I know how to have fun—I've seen a lot of movies from the San Fernando Valley…"
Before she could say anything more outrageous, Gilbert waved his hand quickly and signaled for someone to escort her out.
"Ahem," Charles Roven coughed deliberately. "Well, uh, she's… quite something. Just make sure to tell her agent not to spread this story around."
The audition hall fell silent for a moment—then someone couldn't hold back a laugh, and soon the whole room erupted in laughter. They had seen weird auditions before, but never one this bizarre.
It had to be said—the post-90s generation was really something. They dared to say anything.
Gilbert didn't take it to heart and simply brushed it off as childish nonsense.
Still, it proved that thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girls were, in some ways, already quite mature—they understood a lot, though not really enough.
The mention of bisexuality also reminded Gilbert of certain social trends—it seemed that even now, those tendencies were already beginning to emerge.
The auditions continued, and Emma Watson took her turn. Her performance was far better than anyone before her. Over the past few years, her acting had improved tremendously—unlike in the previous timeline, when she relied entirely on the goodwill earned from playing Hermione.
It might have been because the Harry Potter series had replaced the male lead with a genius actor, Haley, which forced Emma Watson to work harder.
At the same time, Emma often received special coaching from Gilbert—something she herself mentioned to the media—so her acting at this stage was far superior to what it had been in the previous timeline.
She couldn't yet be called a true "acting powerhouse," but she had at least reached a solid, professional level.
After running through the scene with her, Tom Cruise said on the spot, "Not bad. She's got a good feel for it and at least she's not nervous."
Hearing that, Emma Watson's eyes lit up. The male lead recognized her performance—if Gilbert also thought she was good, then she'd basically secured the role.
Gilbert, however, simply said, "If you've acted in Harry Potter and you're still nervous, then all that experience was wasted.
Emma—"
"Yes?"
"Go back and wait for our notice," Gilbert said calmly. "If there's any progress, we'll let you know."
Emma Watson hadn't gotten any clear promise, and she felt a bit disappointed. But she knew that being pushy right now would do no good and might even irritate Gilbert
so she bowed respectfully and excused herself.
"Who's next?" Gilbert asked.
"Saoirse Ronan," Charles Roven replied. "She's played a few small roles—an Irish actress."
Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Let her get ready."
It had to be said—some people were simply born with a gift. Emma Watson was already very hardworking, but when it came to pure talent, she couldn't compare to Saoirse Ronan.
These naturally gifted actors carried a kind of aura in their performances, something that couldn't be taught.
After reading lines with her, Tom Cruise was even more impressed. "I thought Emma Watson was already a remarkable young actress," he said, "but I didn't expect to see someone even better.
What's your name?"
"Saoirse Ronan, sir."
"Excellent," Tom Cruise said happily. "If you ask me, Gilbert, I think she's the best choice. But of course, the final decision's yours."
Gilbert stroked his chin and asked Charles Roven, "What do you think?"
"I agree—Saoirse Ronan is outstanding. The scene she performed was challenging, one that even mature actors might struggle with, but she handled it with ease."
Charles Roven sided with Tom Cruise, clearly impressed by Saoirse's performance.
Scarlett chimed in as well. "I think she's great too—definitely stronger than Emma."
Gilbert didn't make a hasty decision. Instead, he turned to Saoirse Ronan and said, "You can go for now. We'll contact you if there's any progress."
Saoirse Ronan showed no disappointment. She gave a graceful bow and left the audition room with quiet confidence.
.....
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