Chapter 23
Not much to say here. Questions at the bottom of the page that I need some help with.
Oh, and a quick fyi: I have started rewriting all my earlier chapters. Cleaning them up a bit and adding a few things here and there. Nothing that will change the overall story, but in case things get a bit confusing down the line, it's because I added some things here and there.
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"Welcome back, everyone, to CBS Good Morning. I am your host, Gayle King, and with me today is David Boreanaz, best known for his roles in the hit TV shows *Buffy the Vampire Slayer*, *Angel*, and his most recent success, *Bones*. David, it is wonderful to have you here today," Gayle says to the man sitting across from her.
David, wearing a not-so-small smug smile, replies, "Thank you, Gayle. I am happy to be here today."
"Let's get right into it," Gayle says, pausing for a moment. "In 1998, you and Sarah Michelle Gellar were both nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor and Actress in a Drama Series. This marked the first time in TV history that a supernatural drama had ever been nominated for an Emmy."
"Or since," David adds.
"Or since," Gayle repeats.
It truly was an unbelievable event, David thought to himself, reminiscing about those times as if they were just yesterday. The high he experienced back then was immense, and he had, to be honest, become somewhat of an arrogant asshole. However, he was brought back down to earth by the same man who had made it all possible.
"What was that like? I mean, to receive an Emmy nomination for a genre that never really got that kind of attention before?" Gayle asked.
"It was wild. The whole experience was crazy. The first season of *Buffy* was successful, which was wonderful. But then, suddenly, our ratings for season two just skyrocketed—especially after the two episodes that Caesar Espinar directed himself," David replied.
"That was his first time directing, right?" Gayle asked.
"It was, and the fact that both episodes attained over 10 million in viewership was incredible," David replied.
"That is amazing. Were there any doubts on set while filming those episodes?" Gayle inquired.
David laughs, "Oh, absolutely! People often don't realize this at the time because, in hindsight, we can say, 'There was no doubt at all.' However, on that day, everyone on set was concerned. Many forget that Caesar had never gone to film school. He had previously worked as an Assistant Director twice, and suddenly he was stepping up to direct. It was quite chaotic."
"Wow, there must have been a lot of pressure on set, right?" Gayle asks.
David thinks for a moment, trying to recall the emotions he felt that day. He replies, "You know, there was pressure, but there also wasn't. Sure, we all knew it was his first time directing, but we were more focused than anything else because Caesar has a unique ability to help you concentrate on the present moment."
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean is, he has this unbelievable confidence—not in himself, but in the people he works with. When he talks to you, he instills a belief that you're going to be great, and as a result, you truly are great. You give your best, and that effort is rewarded. There's a reason why he's known for making stars," David says with absolute confidence.
"Did you think you would win an Emmy for your role in Buffy?" Gayle asks.
David lets out a small groan and replies, "Ah, that's a tricky question to answer. I was quite a bit older than most of my co-stars, so when I was nominated, I was both surprised and ecstatic. However, I also knew we probably wouldn't win. Of course, I didn't say that out loud."
"So you weren't disappointed when you didn't win?" Gayle inquires.
"Oh, I was disappointed, that's for sure. It's one thing to assume you probably won't win; it's quite another to actually lose," David said.
"Do you think you should have won?" Gayle asked.
"Yes, and to be honest, I was a bit upset that neither Sarah nor I won. But I've moved on. As Caesar once said, it doesn't matter if you win an award or not. In the end, we made our mark in TV history, and I am proud of the work we did," David replied with a smile.
-1998-
I had mixed feelings about appearing on the Howard Stern Show. Don't get me wrong; I admire his body of work and consider him a genius of our time. He is, after all, the original shock jock, the prototype that every radio host aspires to emulate, even if they don't want to admit it. However, I was uncertain about coming on the show because many people overlook the fact that, behind all his outrageous antics, Howard is a tough interviewer. He knows how to ask difficult questions and isn't afraid to upset people.
Still, when I got the call that he wanted me on his show, I said yes, even though I was trying to take a step back from the spotlight. With two movies coming out and Buffy season two just starting to air, I had to do some legwork. Get people interested, so to speak, so that I could move on to my next project, and God knows that was going to be a headache. Luckily enough, Howard wasn't different today.
He kept things mostly relaxed. He asked a few questions and made some jokes, but overall, we were enjoying ourselves. We took a few shots of whiskey while discussing various topics. I was having a good time with my fellow guest, Fairuza Balk, who was set to appear in Fight Club.
"Let me make sure I understand this correctly, Caesar. You wrote the script for the upcoming movie 'Fight Club', and Fairuza, you'll be acting in it, but you didn't actually work on set?" Howard begins to say. I then interrupt him by saying,
"Ah, here we go."
"I'm just trying to understand this," Howard says with a wide smile. "You, Caesar Espinar, the macho man of Hollywood—the unquestionable badass of the industry. You gave up working on what appears to be a dark and intense film to do what?"
"I'm not answering that. I'm not," I reply.
"To do a rom-com with Gwyneth Paltrow," Fairuza interjects with playful disgust.
"Really? Wow!" Howard exclaims in feigned disbelief.
"Yes, yes, go ahead. Get it out of your system. Make your jokes, you bunch of idiots," I respond in a deadpan voice as they start to tease me. But I can't help but smile and laugh it off.
"But jokes aside, Caesar, why did you choose not to work on Fight Club?" Howard asks.
"Well, I didn't actually pass on it, Howard. I started working on Shakespeare in Love back in 1995," I reply.
"This was around the time you had written your first script, right? Se7en—great movie by the way; I'm a huge fan," Howard says.
"That's right, and thank you," I replied.
"Was this before 'Scream' or after?" Howard asked.
"It was after. You know, it really started more as a joke than anything," I explained.
"What do you mean?" Howard inquired.
"Well, after we finished filming 'Se7en,' Gwyneth and I started talking—more like joking around. She commented that while I did well portraying a married couple in 'Se7en,' she bet I couldn't do an actual romantic movie. I'm sure she meant it as a joke, but I took it as a challenge," I told Howard.
"And you just thought, fuck it, I'm going to show her that I can write a romantic comedy?'" Howard said with a smile.
"Pretty much. As I said, it started as a joke. I never intended to write a full script, but as I kept writing, I realized, 'Wow, I might actually have something here.' So, I decided to show it to Salma, whom I was dating at the time," I explained.
"Still hard to believe how that happened, but go on, what did she think of it?" Howard asks.
Taking a moment to reflect on that day, I reply, "Well, at first, she couldn't believe I could write something like this. By that point, I had written 'Se7en,' and 'Scream' had just come out. So I was pretty much established as a horror and suspense writer. She had no idea that back in juvie, I had read all of Shakespeare's works and could actually write something halfway decent. Of course, she broke right into me afterward."
"Is that where she and Gwyneth come in as co-writers?" Howard asks.
"Yep. They made it very clear that while a lot of the script was good, the romantic parts were…" I begin, struggling to find the right words.
"Complete shit," Fairuza finishes, and everyone starts to laugh.
Looking at her with a smile on my lips, I say, "I was going to say not very good, but okay, yes, 'complete shit works."
Everyone laughs again until Howard asks, "Was it really that bad?"
"Let's just say it will be a long time before I do something like this again. The only reason I was even on set is that Steven Spielberg was directing it. Otherwise, you wouldn't have gotten me within a hundred yards of it," I say to him.
"Do you think it's a good movie? I mean, I've seen the trailers, and it's coming out next week, but I assume you've already seen the finished product," Howard asks.
"Let's just say Steven is a genius and leave it at that," I reply before we return to discussing Fight Club.
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"Premier night felt just like any other night for me," I thought as I walked the red carpet with my girlfriend, Tiffani, on my arm. We both looked fantastic, though she certainly stood out in her pink Chinese dress adorned with white flowers—a Cheongsam, I believe she called it. To be honest, I've never been that into fashion, so I didn't pay much attention to the details. All I knew was that the high slit rising up to her hip offered a glimpse that she wasn't wearing any panties underneath. She was a striking combination of sexy, elegant, and cheerful.
In contrast, I wore a dark gray and black three-piece suit, complete with a gold chain and a fedora hat. If I'm honest, I looked more like a 1920s gangster—not the fun, Halloween kind, but more like someone ready to cause trouble. Surprisingly, we complemented each other well; her warm and welcoming demeanor balanced my more abrasive nature. Later, magazines would describe us as a perfect example of how opposites attract.
Personally, I think it was more Tiff than me that everyone was looking at; I was just in the background, so to speak, highlighting and enhancing what she already had. That was perfectly fine with me, especially since Tiff was going to be in one of my upcoming movies. Filming for *The Strangers* was already underway, the cast was set, and Joss was feeling optimistic. With me now free to work on other projects, he hoped I would join him on the set. Unfortunately, I had other commitments.
As we spoke with the media for a bit, I reflected on Buffy and the episodes I had directed. The ratings had come in, and they were frankly off the charts, performing far better than either WB or I had expected. This forced WB to acknowledge my directing skills and green-light *The Sixth Sense* with me as the director. They weren't too pleased about it, but there wasn't much choice when it was announced that *Buffy* had also received an Emmy nomination—a surprise that caught me off guard, as that wasn't supposed to happen.
At this point, it was just one more unexpected occurrence that I chose to ignore. I focused on what lay ahead instead of dwelling on the past. After all, there was no reason to worry about it. I had other matters to consider right now. The premiere didn't really matter either; what truly mattered was what came next.
I had already begun discussions with various groups around the world about adapting X-Men into a movie. At that point, the major studios had made it clear they didn't want to be involved unless they had complete control. They wanted to dictate what films were made and how they were developed, so I dismissed their offers outright. Essentially, they aimed to buy me out in exchange for the rights to write for them and possibly direct a film, depending on how *The Sixth Sense* performed. This project was already generating buzz in Hollywood, where many believed I was too young to direct a major motion picture.
That was honestly the most flattering thing they said, and Warner Bros. was prepared to write off *The Sixth Sense* as a loss. However, they would soon change their tune. As for what I called Project MCU, I moved forward by contacting Joss Whedon, who I knew would eventually write Marvel's *The Avengers*. After I shared my plan with him, he quickly jumped on board, and we began discussing how to execute this vision without the major studios, who only understood that I wanted to make an X-Men movie—not an entire universe where one film connected to the next.
We quickly realized that we weren't going to receive any help from within the US. While we had some interested parties, they could only offer limited support. Therefore, we decided to seek assistance from external sources. We started getting interest from countries like Germany, France, India, and, surprisingly, the United Arab Emirates. Each of these nations wanted to break into the American movie business. There was even some emerging discussion from Japan and Hong Kong. At this point, my name was becoming well-known as someone who had yet to fail. Although I was young, my impressive earnings at Warner Bros. drew the attention of many outsiders who saw me as a valuable opportunity to enter Hollywood.
Once Tiff and I made it inside, I spotted Gwyneth. I walked over to her and greeted the star of the movie, saying, "Good evening, Gwyneth."
She turned to face me with a smile and replied, "Ceaser, Tiff. It's great that you could join us tonight."
Tiff and Gwyneth leaned in for a hug, but there was palpable tension between them. I wasn't sure when it started, but their relationship began to deteriorate shortly after our group acquired the rights to Marvel's characters. I blame myself because, although I didn't know when it began, I understood why. About a month after we bought the rights, Gwyneth and Brad broke up. It wasn't a surprise—everyone could see it was coming, even if no one talked about it. It was evident that they had been drifting apart for months before finally parting ways. Fortunately, their breakup was amicable and didn't harm the group as a whole.
Some may wonder how this situation impacted me and why it led to tensions between Gwyneth and Tiff. The answer is straightforward: while Gwyneth was an actress, she primarily identified as a businesswoman. She aspired to excel in that role and was already serving as the spokesperson for the Apple Board, doing an excellent job. Given this, it seemed natural that she would play a significant role in Product MCU. This meant that Joss, Gwyneth, and I spent a lot of time together, particularly Gwyneth and I. This became an issue for Tiff.
I wasn't even sure if Tiff fully realized that she was feeling jealous, but I did, and if I noticed it, you could bet Gwyneth did too. This made Gwyneth unhappy. She took pride in herself, and while Tiff never explicitly stated her concerns—perhaps because she didn't genuinely believe anything was happening between Gwyneth and me—the implications of cheating were certainly present.
Honestly, a wise man in my position would have backed off. I should have spent less time with Gwyneth to keep my girlfriend happy. But I was smart, not wise. When it came down to it, Gwyneth was too skilled at what she was doing for me to just tell her to leave me alone. If that meant dealing with an angry Tiff later, so be it. I was no longer pursuing success solely for myself; there were two others in my life now who depended on me, and their well-being came before anyone else's.
Getting straight to business in hopes of proving that nothing was going on between Gwyneth and me, I asked, "So, any word yet from Hong Kong?"
As soon as I asked, Gwyneth adopted her professional demeanor and replied, "Nothing yet. They seemed interested over the phone, but I think we'll have to rule them out as a possibility."
I pause for a moment to think, then say, "That leaves us with the Germans and the Arabs."
"They have the most attractive offers. We could attempt to renegotiate with the French, but even then, we would still need to cover at least 40 percent of the budget," Gwyneth replies.
Gwyneth was genuinely excited about the project when she grasped the full extent of Ceaser's vision. While most members of their small group believed that Ceaser's goal was merely to create a single superhero movie, she never shared that view. If Ceaser's ambition had only been to make a few superhero films, there would have been no need for him to persuade them to purchase the rights to all the Marvel characters. They could have simply acquired the rights to the specific characters he intended to use.
Knowing that his plans were not quite what they seemed, she confronted him and plainly asked what he was planning. That was when he laid everything out for her. He had notebooks full of ideas and plans for what he called the Marvel Cinematic Universe, or the MCU, as it was then called. In a few words, it was a huge, ambitious project that seemed foolish and would require a tremendous amount of money to bring to life. If even one movie failed, it would all be over. Yet, despite the risks, Gwyneth couldn't hide her excitement as he shared this with her. Acting was just a job to her, but running a business was a passion, and she desperately wanted to see this vision come to fruition on the business side. She wouldn't lie; for a brief moment, she considered jumping into bed with him. Not that she would ever admit that to him.
"I can't afford that," I say while contemplating the situation.
Between the two offers, the Arabs were presenting the best deal. They were willing to cover 100 percent of the budget in exchange for relatively modest demands. One of those demands was to be repaid with interest and to cast one of their picks for the role of Storm. It was genuinely a great deal—hands down, the best. However, I was hesitant to agree for the same reason that Gwyneth was. While I may not be the most educated person in the world, I wasn't ignorant of current events.
The United Arab Emirates, in a word, wasn't a very nice place. Their actions and suppression of human rights are viewed negatively by the Western world. Although many Americans may be uninformed about global issues, the media certainly isn't. If I, or we, were perceived as collaborating with them, the media would have a field day. I might be able to spin it somehow, but was it really worth the risk? Honestly, most likely, yes.
On the other hand, the Germans were also offering a good deal. While it wasn't as favorable as the Arabs' offer, they were willing to cover up to 80 percent of the budget through tax write-offs and incentives. In return, they wanted a guaranteed first pick for funding any future movies, along with assurances that we would film and hire a mostly German crew. They wouldn't interfere with casting or the hiring of top-level personnel, but they required that most of the crew be German. It was a solid offer, but we still needed to find the remaining 20 percent of the budget, which was no easy task.
Letting out a sigh, I looked at Gwyneth and said, "I think the Germans are our best bet at this point."
"Agreed. That's why I've already taken the liberty of reaching out to other potential investors. Nothing yet, but I think after tonight, we may have better luck," Gwyneth replied.
"You're that confident in your movie, huh?" I asked her.
"Very," she said, just as we heard the bell ring, signaling that it was time for us to enter the screening room.
I was just as confident, to be honest. Not only did I believe in my mind that the film would be a success, but I also had the advantage of seeing the final cut. While "Shakespeare in Love" was not to my taste as a movie, I couldn't deny that what I saw on screen was a far superior product compared to what I had envisioned. Steven had taken my ideas and refined them, addressing a few problematic scenes and, in my opinion, making necessary cuts that had previously been harmful. In retrospect, these were small changes, but they made all the difference and highlighted the difference in skill level between Steven and the original director, John Philip Madden.
By the time the movie ended and I looked around at everyone, I knew I had another hit on my hands. How big it would be remained uncertain. Perhaps it would perform just like my previous films, or maybe it would do even better. Regardless, it would certainly help in negotiations for my Marvel Cinematic Universe project. That said, it was now time to focus on "The Sixth Sense," which would be the most challenging project I had ever undertaken. Although it had been greenlit, Warner Bros. was still not entirely happy with me as the director. I needed to be cautious, or I risked being forced out, regardless of the deal I had in place.
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So just to cover a few things, yes, I made it so Buff got nominated for an Emmy, primarily for shits and giggles. And to show that things are really going in a direction the MC can't predict anymore.
As for my questions, First, who do you all think he should make a deal with, Germany or the United Arab Emirates? On one hand, Germany is the safe bet, but the Arabs, especially with 9/11 coming up, could land him in hot water, which could be fun to write about—especially seeing as I am playing it as the MC doesn't know about the attack. Sure, he could find out by watching a few movies, but he is not paying too much attention to that. I mean, Hollywood likes to blow shit up all the time, so he probably doesn't think something like that would ever really happen.
Second question: while I have the MC switching between Salma and Tiff for the next few years, how do you all feel about Gwyneth hooking up with him at some point? I am personally on the fence.