In the second-floor office, sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the air was filled with the rich aroma of coffee. Luca and Jose sat together, chatting about the movie.
"Is the budget approved?"
"Yes, $3.5 million."
"That's good!"
Jose sipped his coffee and said, "I've pulled the crew together, all familiar faces. Once the funds are in place, the project can officially start."
Luca nodded. "Casting needs to start soon. This time, casting will be handled by you and the production department. We've got the budget, so let's bring in some strong actors."
"I understand."
Jose pondered for a moment, then pulled out some documents. "Luca, what do you think about having Rodrigo Santoro play the second male lead? His acting is solid, and he's got the looks. You two would make a great pair on screen."
"Santoro?" Luca glanced at the document.
Santoro was 30 years old, having debuted in 1998. He had starred in four films: Hurricane Hilda, Brainstorm, The Other Side of the Sun, and Carandiru. He was a B-list actor in the industry, with good looks and solid acting skills.
Before the last film, Burbank had considered using Santoro to replace him. If Santoro were to take on that role, it seemed like a good fit.
"I don't have a problem with it, but you'll need to discuss this with the production department," Luca said.
The production department consisted of producers from three different film companies. From project approval to the film's release, they handled everything. Since Luca was already playing the lead, he didn't want to seem too controlling by also selecting the second male lead.
"Actually, Santoro was the production department's suggestion. But since you don't seem to like him much, I wanted to check with you first to avoid any conflicts," Jose said hesitantly.
"Do I not like him?" Luca frowned.
Jose smirked. "Definitely. Every time Santoro's name comes up in the crew, your face goes dark. It's pretty obvious."
Luca shook his head and laughed. "Before we shot Buried, Mr. Burbank mentioned replacing me with Santoro, which put a lot of pressure on me. But now that the film's done, I have no issues with him."
"Haha, that's great." Jose sighed in relief. Since the film revolved around Luca, if he didn't approve, Santoro wouldn't get the role.
"Luca, do you have any recommendations for the female actors?" Jose asked.
"There aren't many scenes for women in this film, so the actress needs to be beautiful, in great shape, and of course, she should have decent acting skills."
Luca thought for a moment and suddenly glanced at Ambrosio, who was sitting nearby.
"What do you think about Ms. Ambrosio?" he asked.
"She's great," Jose agreed.
Ambrosio was gorgeous and quite famous. She had even appeared in the American film Entourage. The only question was whether she would be interested.
"Why are you two staring at me?" Ambrosio asked, putting down her phone.
"Hey, Ana, interested in playing a small role?" Luca invited.
"Me?" Ambrosio was surprised. "Why not ask Kate or Lima?"
"They can't act as well as you."
"Haha, well, for that compliment, I'll do it. But just to be clear, I'm not doing any erotic films."
Ambrosio laughed.
"Come on, we're all professionals here," Luca said, handing her a script. "Take a look. You'd be playing a psychologist—smart and cool."
"OK!" Ambrosio took the script and began reading it seriously.
Meanwhile, Luca and Jose started discussing the gunfight and action scenes in the script. These scenes were unavoidable in a crime film, but Brazilian films didn't excel at them.
Luca had watched a few films, and they often featured characters shooting guns in a crude, bloody manner, lacking the elegance of stylized violence. He suggested they bring in two action directors from Hong Kong.
Hollywood had done something similar when remaking Infernal Affairs, hiring many people from the original team.
Jose agreed with his suggestion.
"Ana, how's the script? What do you think of the role?" Luca asked from the front seat of the car in the afternoon.
"It's not bad," Ambrosio replied, putting down the script. "Did you write it?"
"Not entirely. I borrowed a lot from Hong Kong films."
The original script was 70% inspired by Infernal Affairs, but after several rounds of revisions, only 40% remained, and it had evolved into a distinctly Brazilian film.
"That's impressive! You seem to excel at everything now—modeling, acting, even winning Best Actor. How did you suddenly become so good at everything?" Ambrosio looked him up and down, amazed. Was this really the same guy everyone used to dislike?
Luca smirked. "I've always been great. I just kept a low profile."
"Yeah, right." Ambrosio chuckled. "Back then, the only thing you were good at was playing soccer."
"Was I really that bad? At least I looked good."
"Haha, a chubby guy? Where did you even get that confidence?" Ambrosio laughed.
Luca shook his head. Living as a big guy among a group of supermodels, he had to endure a ton of blows to his ego. It was a wonder he survived.
Half an hour later, the car arrived at the outskirts of a slum.
In Rio, there were two types of favelas. One was "tamed" by the government—though poor, these favelas had decent security. The other was untamed, where even the police didn't dare to enter, even with guns.
Thanks to efforts by law enforcement in recent years, over half of Rio's favelas had been cleaned up—some were demolished, some turned into tourist attractions, and others into film sets or sports courts.
The set for Saving Ronaldo was in one of the tamed favelas. Police patrolled the streets, and security was relatively good.
Filming had begun, and Luca was there to check on things. Ambrosio, bored, had decided to tag along for fun.
When they arrived on set, Luca got out of the car, wearing a baseball cap. Ambrosio, in a hat and sunglasses, followed behind him.
The set was in a narrow alley in the favela. With the crew and bystanders, there were hundreds of people crowding the space.
Luca followed the assistant director to the center of the action.
The crew was shooting the third act's action scene.
Marcio, playing a small-time gang leader, was chasing down Ronaldo to collect a debt.
Ronaldo had just received his wages, which he needed to buy medicine for his mother, so he couldn't give the money up.
He dribbled a soccer ball through the alley, dodging gang members with parkour-like moves, somewhat resembling kung fu soccer.
Marcio, thin and out of breath, chased after him, shouting and occasionally tripping, which made the crowd laugh out loud.
"Why don't they just shoot him? One bullet would solve the problem," Ambrosio asked.
"They can't shoot him," Luca chuckled.
"Why not?"
"That kid running with the soccer ball is Ronaldo, the film's main character. He's a promising young soccer player. His father, a gambler, racked up debts with the gang. Now that his father's dead, the gang is after him for the money. If they kill him, who will pay the debt?"
"That makes sense," Ambrosio nodded, accepting the explanation.
"But why did those two guys fly through the air when he barely moved his leg? There's at least ten meters between them. Does the main character have superpowers?" she asked, pointing at the alley.
"No, in reality, the protagonist kicked the soccer ball, knocking them over. That part will be shot separately and enhanced with special effects."
"Kicking a soccer ball can send people flying? That sounds ridiculous."
"It's a movie!" Luca reminded her.
This film wasn't strictly a crime drama—it had a lot of comedic elements and was meant to be fun.
"Stop! Don't run!" the thug shouted.
Boom! Boom!
Ronaldo took down two people blocking his path. He smiled smugly, "You think you can stop me? You'll need to run faster."
"Is that so?"
Marcio appeared out of nowhere, holding a gun to Ronaldo's head. "How about you keep running? Let's see if the bullet can catch up."
Ronaldo froze, giving up.
The crowd burst into laughter.
"This is pretty funny," Ambrosio said, smiling.
"Cut!"
The director called a halt, preparing for the next scene.
"Luca, how was I?" Marcio asked, running over, proud of his performance.
"Not bad. You've got a knack for comedy!"
Marcio was skinny, with expressive facial features and a knack for physical humor, perfect for comedic roles.
"Luca, I've always told you I'm good. I just never got the chance to show it. Will you write more scripts for me in the future?"
"Of course. Nail this role, and there'll be plenty more roles for you."
"Haha, that's great!"
Maceo, acting like a drama king, was so happy he started dancing around comically, making Ambrosio burst out laughing.
"Maceo, get ready!"
The stage manager called out.
"On my way! Luca, I'm off to film now, don't let me interrupt your flirting."
Maceo chuckled and ran onto the set.
"Attention, everyone. Scene 5, shot 4, take 1. Action!"
(End of the chapter)