Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion

When Link arrived at the movie theater lobby, the cast and crew of "Fighter" had almost all assembled, including producer Darren Aronofsky, director David O. Russell, Christian Bale, and others.

Since leaving the set in April, Link hadn’t seen many of them. Now that they were gathered together, they inevitably had a lot to talk about.

"Link, when is your next album coming out? I’m a fan of your music now,"

Christian Bale said with a smile.

"Really? Around March or April,"

Link said with a light smile, and introduced Selena to Bale.

Selena said her favorite Bale role was Batman and that she was a super fan; Bale was delighted and kept praising her as beautiful and cute.

Link also chatted with director Aronofsky about his new movie "Black Swan" and asked if there were any suitable supporting roles, expressing his willingness to give it a try.

The director laughed and said if he was willing to wear tights and learn ballet, he could consider him for a role.

Link thought it over and decided to pass, as the image of a boxing champion dancing ballet seemed quite odd.

He then found director David O. Russell and inquired about any new projects.

He remembered Russell had a movie called "Silver Linings Playbook" that was well-received and even helped Jennifer Lawrence of "The Hunger Games" win an Oscar Best Actress award, although he had no idea when production would start.

He took the opportunity to let the director know in advance that if there was a need for a male lead, he was willing to try, and if there was a need for investment, he could contribute too.

After chatting with everyone, he realized someone was missing—Amy Adams, the lead actress.

Since finishing "Fighter," he hadn’t seen Amy, only reading about her marriage to her boyfriend in the newspapers. He was about to ask director Russell about Amy when,

Amy Adams walked in from the corridor, wearing a flowing green dress that couldn’t conceal her rounded belly despite its loose cut.

Seeing the pregnant Amy, Link was momentarily stunned, recalling the night they spent together and couldn’t help feeling anxious.

However, he then remembered that Amy Adams got married and had a baby that year, which likely had nothing to do with him.

"Hey, Amy!"

As everyone went to greet her, Link also walked over and said hello to Amy.

Amy Adams saw him and smiled gracefully. "Link, you’re really popular this year. I can hear your songs everywhere."

"It’s not too bad. Congratulations on becoming a mother,"

Link said, glancing at her belly.

"Thank you!"

Amy Adams caressed her belly, her face adorned with a tender smile that, matched with her fair and soft cheeks, made her look radiant.

The movie premiere began, and Link and the main members of the crew talked about the filming on stage, answered a few questions from the media, and then the movie started playing.

The opening scene was Link training in the boxing ring with Bale’s character Dicky coaching by the side.

An HBO director kept interrupting, saying they were going to make a documentary about Dicky.

Dicky thought it was promotion for his comeback and excitedly told everyone about his impending return.

In reality, it was an HBO documentary about the dangers of drug abuse, with the former professional boxer Dicky as a cautionary example.

Link’s character Micky also worked as a road paver, fixing highways with his tools. His mother, once Dicky’s boxing manager, was now acting as his manager.

But she was more concerned about Dicky’s comeback than his own boxing career.

In one match, Micky was set up in a lopsided fight and got badly beaten.

Because of this, Micky had a falling out with his family and met the female lead in a bar, falling in love, and with her encouragement, found a new manager and won several matches in a row.

This caused discontent in Micky’s family who thought he was being led astray by his girlfriend—choosing her over his family led to a heated argument, with his mother demanding that he choose between his family and his girlfriend.

As the protagonist faced a severe crisis, the ultimate choice was between his career or his family.

This type of storyline was something David O. Russell excelled at, making the film very compelling.

Link, Bale, and Amy’s performances in the movie were excellent, and they worked together in perfect harmony, especially Link and Amy Adams in their love scenes, which were captivating.

Before, Link had felt that the Oscar for Best Actor was a bit out of reach for him.

After watching this movie, he felt he had performed superbly and it wasn’t impossible for him to take home the Oscar.

"Selena, what do you think of my performance?"

Link casually asked, but when he didn’t hear a response, he turned and saw Selena sleeping sweetly in her seat, eyes closed, with a tiny trail of drool at the corner of her mouth.

"..."

Link shook his head. The last time at Selena’s film premiere, he had fallen asleep. Now, at his own premiere, it was Selena who was sleeping. It was a taste of his own medicine.

"Link, you were fantastic!"

Amy Adams whispered with a slight smile beside him.

"Thanks, I owe a lot to your guidance on set. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to perform at this level."

"Don’t mention it,"

Amy Adams shrugged casually, and then let out a soft exclamation while covering her mouth with her hand.

"What’s wrong?"

Link asked with concern.

Amy Adams smiled faintly and, holding her belly, said, "The baby just gave me a kick."

"How many months along are you?"

Link inquired, looking at her protruding belly. Your journey continues with

"Almost six months."

Amy Adams glanced at him and said with a small move of her lips, "Don’t overthink it, it has nothing to do with you."

"I... Well, I did consider that possibility."

Link spread his hands and exhaled in relief, grateful that the incident from that time hadn’t led to serious consequences or damaged Amy Adams’s marriage.

But after the sense of relief, there was an inexplicable touch of disappointment, a very strange feeling indeed.

Applause!

The movie ended, and a round of warm applause filled the venue.

Selena was jolted awake by the applause and immediately sat up straight, her eyes wide as she blanked out for a few seconds. She looked around, then suddenly stood up and started clapping her hands while shouting:

"Wow, that was amazing, this movie is so exciting, Link, your acting was incredible, definitely Oscar Best Actor level, absolutely Oscars..."

"Enough! That’s too exaggerated."

Link shook his head. If he hadn’t just seen her sleeping and drooling, he might actually have been fooled by her.

"Spill it, what were you up to last night?"

"Emm, reading books!"

Selena blushed and stuck out her tongue.

"Reading books?! Do you think I’d believe that?"

Link pointed at her forehead.

The reason Selena was in Los Angeles was partly to promote her new album. She was signed to Hollywood Records, a division of Walt Disney, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, and the promotion of her album was also focused there.

On the other hand, Catherine and Mandy had their recent work centered in the area. Mr. Gomez was busy with business, leaving her in New York unattended, addicting to online games and chasing TV series all day.

Mandy brought her over with the thought of urging her to study as well.

But Selena’s current state clearly showed her bad habits were hard to break and that she needed Catherine and Mandy to take more care of her.

"These days Catherine and Mandy are busy and have no time to look after you, so you’re staying at my place. You’ll get up early to run with me every day."

"Ah? Have to run every day?"

Selena frowned slightly, feeling a bit troubled.

"Aside from running, you’ll also practice boxing. How can you protect yourself without learning boxing when you’re so pretty?"

"OK!"

Selena, hearing him compliment her beauty, paid no mind to the rest and agreed without hesitation.

The movie premiere ended, and on the same day, the movie was shown in 6 theaters across the United States, earning $28,000 at the box office, with an average of $4,667 per theater and an occupancy rate of 68%. In the category of art films, these were good opening figures.

The media reviews for the movie were also very positive.

Some praised director David O. Russell for telling a compelling and amusing story with his unique directorial style, saying that ’Fighter’ was a movie worth watching.

Some newspapers praised Bale’s explosive acting, suggesting he could be in contention for an Oscar Best Supporting Actor nomination next year, and called Amy Adams’s performance as always exciting, highlighting her as a powerhouse actress.

As Link was a popular star, the media had even more to say about him.

Famous film critic Adam Simmons wrote in the Los Angeles Times, "When I first heard that ’Fighter’ was preparing to cast Link Baker as the male lead, I thought director David O. Russell had made a terribly wrong decision.

Link is a world boxing champion, but not a world-class actor. To have him play the leading role in an art film, I had low expectations for the film. With this mindset, I’ve been watching the film’s progress from start to finish...">

"This past Friday, I couldn’t wait to enter the cinema and watched ’Fighter’. After seeing it, to my surprise, Link wasn’t out of place at all. His performance in the film wasn’t particularly outstanding, but he certainly did not waste his character nor affect the quality of the movie...

Link’s performance in this movie has improved compared to ’Deep Sea Quest’, but he still has a lot of room for improvement, I give him three and a half stars."

The New York Post commented, "The film is filled with the style of a David O. Russell movie, with a rich storyline, showing the emotions and outbreaks of a powerful and strong boxer...

The leading actor Link is also quite a revelation, his impressive acting skills shine through, holding his own in scenes with Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo, which is quite an accomplishment and successfully shut up those who doubted his acting."

Variety magazine commented, "There’s no doubt, with his wonderful performance in ’Fighter’, Link has made a comeback. However, Christian Bale’s performance in the drama is comparably more brilliant."

Along with the praise, there were many criticisms as well.

The New York Times said his performance in the movie wasn’t as strong as Christian Bale’s and that the character he portrayed wasn’t as rich and dimensional as Bale’s Dicky. They also said he was ten movies away from becoming an actor known for his skills.

Hollywood Reporter said he chose the right role but not the right partners, calling a rookie actor daring to act alongside powerhouse actors such as Christian Bale and Amy Adams in this movie ’masochistic’.

Rolling Stone and Ring Magazine criticized him for not focusing on his career, advising him to devote more time to his new album and boxing matches. At twenty years old, he had plenty of time ahead; if he wanted to become an actor, there was no need to rush.

Overall, around sixty percent were good reviews, with forty percent bad, a sizable improvement from the seventy-thirty split for ’Deep Sea Quest 2’.

"Link, your performance in this movie was good and acknowledged by many. If we increase our PR efforts, there’s a chance to win some film awards. Do you want to give it a try?"

Eva called and asked.

"Is there a chance to get the Oscar statuette?"

"Of course not!"

Eva said bluntly.

"All right, I was joking. If it’s not the Oscars, then forget it. My goal as an actor is the Oscar statuette, the Golden Globe is also fine, but I’m not interested in other film awards for now. Besides, I still have a lot of room for improvement in my acting; we can talk about PR for awards in a couple of years."

Link thought for a moment and replied.

"Also, get ready for the possibility that you might not win many awards at the American Music Awards because of MJ. Prepare yourself mentally."

Eva said.

Link nodded, indicating his understanding, and seeing Taylor and Selena coming down the stairs hand in hand, he said goodbye to Eva and hung up the phone.

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