Chapter 54: Interview 2

  Compared to the stand-up comedy shows Ryan has seen, Kate is relatively polite. Some sensitive questions are only touched upon and not dug deeper into, which is related to Pei Yuxin's previous public relations and his age.

  Besides, in the conflict with Tom Cruise, although he was the final winner, the media and the public still put him in a weak position, adults have some sympathy for children.

  "Strictly speaking, 'The Sixth Sense' was your first experience with acting, yet you delivered a performance that's astonishing. How did you do it?" Kate asked.

  "It's related to my experience, after all. The movie, apart from the thrilling parts, is based on my life...". Ryan pulled up that tiger skin again, anyway, lying wouldn't cost him any money.

  "Have you been abused in the orphanage?"

  "Nothing before the age of six." Ryan shook his head, furrowed his brow, "The orphanage is indeed a very apathetic place, to put it this way, except for Director Katie, I am not familiar with others. As for what happened after Director Katie retired, I don't want to mention it again."

  "Alright." Kate changed the subject, "What about Miss Nicole Kidman?"

  "Nikki is my only family and the most important person to me." Ryan replied without thinking, "Can you imagine, I escaped from the orphanage with nothing, wandering around asking for help but was rejected by people as a vagrant. In that situation, I met Nikki on Starlight Avenue, she helped me wholeheartedly without hesitation, spent all her savings to fight for my custody, even sold her house and car, and still owed a large debt."

  Although many media have reported on the matter between him and Nicole, this secret known to only a few people has not been dug up. At this time, the audience all let out an exclamation of surprise. If they were in each other's shoes, it would be impossible for them to do all this for someone they didn't know at all.

  "I know that some people never mind viewing others in the worst possible way, and to them, Nicole's fight for my guardianship was all about getting a huge payoff. But what they don't know is that at the time, Nicole had no idea about my writing career, and over these years, even during the toughest times, Nicole has not spent one dollar of mine, but rather she has been responsible for all my expenses."

  Ryan had just finished speaking when the audience erupted into thunderous applause. What could be more credible than words from the horse's mouth?

  "Ryan, I don't know if you've noticed or not, but there are many couples publishing declarations in the newspapers saying that you're their lost child."

  "I've said it before, I have only one relative in this world and that's Nicole Kidman!" Ryan said with a serious face.

  The program's director seemed to have told Kate something, she touched her earpiece and quickly changed the subject, "Your achievements last year were too dazzling, many people are saying you're God's favorite, what do you think?"

  "Definitely not." Ryan rolled his eyes in mock resignation. "I do have a keen sense of art, and some talent in that area too, but God is fair to everyone - if he gives you a pearl, he takes away a diamond. I actually have a really bad side, it's just that nobody knows about it."

  "Can you tell me about it?" Kate's eyes sparkled.

  "I have a hard time focusing, and I'm always zoning out." Ryan threw up his hands. "And I've found that I can't even go into the kitchen - one time I tried to make coffee and almost set the whole apartment building on fire, which led to complaints from the neighbors."

  The audience burst out laughing, in their eyes, such a boy is a normal person, with outstanding aspects and also with poor aspects.

  "Anything else?"

  "Hmm..." Ryan thought for a moment before finally saying, "Alright, this is my biggest secret."

  "Wows" echoed through the stadium, followed by cheers and applause.

  "I can't touch alcohol, I'm severely allergic to it. Don't worry, I've never snuck a drink, that was discovered by our family doctor when he used alcohol to disinfect me, and he warned both me and Nicole to stay away from alcoholic products if we didn't want to risk our lives."

  Across from Kate, and the audience in the field, all opened their mouths wide, although the law has provisions for drinking, but what is the actual situation, everyone understands, and a life that cannot be drunk, what a miserable life it is!

  "This... is just unbelievable." Kate said after a brief moment of stunned silence.

  Ryan shrugged his shoulders cutely and didn't say anything else.

  "Alright, here's a new segment on our show, Guest Income Exposed!" Kate pointed to the large screen above the stage, which listed a string of numbers.

  She looked at Ryan, "Mind if we take stock of your assets?"

  "It's okay." Ryan curled his lips, this one hadn't been communicated to him in advance, apparently the production side wanted to give him a surprise, or rather a small embarrassment.

  This is normal. In order to prevent accidents and unpleasantness, this type of program usually communicates with the guests before starting, but most will still leave some room for maneuvering, of course, without going too far.

  Kate looked at the big screen and started reading, "The Sixth Sense script $50,000, film salary $1.5 million, share $2.9 million, total $3.1 million, is that right, Ryan?"

  "That's right." Ryan could only nod his head, after all, this was the crew's publicly disclosed expenditure, and anyone who cared to check would know about it. However, they apparently hadn't included the red envelopes in their calculations.

  "Home Alone script and salary $3 million, backend profits $5.7 million, total $8.7 million. Terminator 2 salary $5 million, backend profits unknown."

  "Wow!"

  The audience in the stands began to exclaim in surprise.

  "Your earnings from films last year were... um, let me calculate, $16.8 million! Oh my god! I'm sitting across from an 11-year-old multimillionaire!" Kate made a very exaggerated expression.

  "It's not that much." Ryan waved his hand, "Don't forget, there are taxes too!"

  The IRS is the most powerful institution in the United States, and the CIA and FBI are nothing compared to it. If they catch you cheating on your taxes, you'll face a miserable life. The IRS has its own independent court, and there's no jury!

  "Don't forget, you also have book royalties. The publisher of 'Alien Body' won't reveal the specific figures to us. Can you tell us, Ryan?"

  "Sorry, I rarely concern myself with such things. You'll have to ask my accountant." Ryan brushed it off curtly.

  It was only the early 1990s, and his income from films alone was already staggering. If he added other sources of income to that, it would attract the envy of countless people, and he didn't want to become a target for kidnappers.

  "Alright then!" Kate blinked her eyes, "So that can reveal a bit, what new work have you been creating recently?"

  "One action script and polishing another one." Ryan made a you-know gesture.

  "We're looking forward to your good news!" Kate continued, "Next is the Q&A session with the audience. We will select two on-site audience members and one caller from the hotline."

  Under the stage, the audience had been waiting for a long time and raised their hands in unison.

  "Third row from the left, second miss!" Kate casually pointed one out.

  This is a girl of about fifteen years old, looking very cute. "Ryan, are you planning to find a girlfriend? Can you say what the standard is?"

  "Not for now! As for standards, I haven't thought about it yet." Ryan's face was somewhat unnatural.

  "The fifth gentleman from the left in the seventh row!"

  This time it was a middle-aged man who stood up and said, "Ryan, I have two kids who are fans of your books and movies. They couldn't come here in person because of their age, can you sign for them?"

  "No problem." Fans are all about management, having lived two lives, Ryan is very clear, "After the show ends, can you stay for a bit?"

  "Thank you!"

  "The next question is for the audience outside the venue, Kate said, "Please let the staff bring in the phone calls!"

  Soon, a call came in, sounding like an older man, "Ryan Jenkins, your work is all trash, except for being able to fool children, there's nothing worth praising."

  Everyone on site, including Kate, was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting such an unexpected event.

  "Would you mind not watching my work from now on?" Ryan said slowly. "I don't think the federal government would force anyone to go or watch any of Ryan Jenkins' work, do you?"

  "Alright, thank you Ryan, thank you to our studio and TV audience, today's Face-to-Face program has come to an end, we'll see you next week!"

  This was just a small episode at the end of the show, Ryan handled it easily and left the studio after satisfying the signature request of that father.

  After the "Face to Face" column, major and minor newspapers began to interpret what Ryan said, satisfying the public's gossip to some extent. The heat of his topic gradually decreased, especially the reporters surrounding the villa door, almost all disappeared, of course, occasionally there will still be a few paparazzi waiting outside, trying to dig out exclusive news.

  As for Ryan, he went back to school, but the way his classmates looked at him had changed. Even Jerry and Peter rarely hung out with him anymore. This was normal, just like Natalie's experience in school - kids who are too smart and mature often have a hard time being accepted by their peers.

  Ryan doesn't care, still repeating his own life, besides, he doesn't have that much time to deal with these little brats, to him, they are just passersby.

  He just didn't think that "Face to Face" would expose his income and bring him a lot of trouble.

  Thank you to several friends for their reward support, the pants have been pushed for two days, and the results are quite good, but I have enough mental preparation, American entertainment is a niche within a niche, self-entertainment... Don't mind the trouble, finally, as usual, asking for recommendation votes~asking for collection!