Chapter 11 The Road to Performing Arts

My mother always said that it was the famous French writer Claire who discovered her and guided her to the path of acting.Yes, all actors need to have a pair of eyes to discover before they can be successful, and someone needs to put the opportunity to show their talents in front of you.Before meeting Claret, my mother only played roles in some small-budget British films, such as "Laughter in Heaven" and "Shuang Shu Yan". What popularity has been achieved.But the next installment, Monte Carlo Baby, gave my mother a rare chance.When the crew came to the south of France to shoot, they happened to be staying in the same hotel as Kleite.Kleite was preparing to launch her own stage play "GIGI" (GIGI) in Hollywood. When she saw this girl who was struggling for her budding career, she couldn't help exclaiming excitedly: "I found My GIGI is gone."

Kleite is a genius, not only because of her talent and thoughts in writing, but also because of her accurate prediction of her mother's unusual life afterwards. Many people ask me, which one is my favorite among so many movies my mother has made?I have never answered this question head-on, and as you know, it is a very easy question for the media to make a fuss about.However, where there is no spotlight, my answer is always "Sweet Girl".It's a musical starring my mother and Fred Astaire, and I remember seeing this movie as a very young kid and making my mouth water.In this film, the mother played a very successful actress as a soloist in a club in Paris.Since then, my mother's acting career has skyrocketed like a spinning dancer with open arms.

Fred, who worked happily with his mother on Sweetie, later described his impressions of his mother in his memoirs. Being an actress is only the second choice of the mother, a helpless choice, but for the mother, it is the same as dancing ballet, and there are principles that must be followed: hard work, discipline and professionalism. When I was about 12 years old, I first fully understood what acting was really about.That time I participated in a play rehearsal organized by the school, and played a role in Molière's "The Heartbroken".The character in this play is not actually sick, but due to years of research on hypochondria, he has a fear of disease, which makes him think that he is suffering from an incurable disease.This character has a long monologue in the play. To the audience, his inconsistent language and topsy-turvy logic are ridiculous, but to the actors, this is a very obscure and difficult line.

I specifically asked my mother for this performance, and her advice to me was: read the script.But first you need to understand what the disease is and what kind of damage it can cause.Fortunately, my brother Luca's father, Andre Dotti, was a psychiatrist, and I asked him all the questions about hypochondria, which made it easier for me to play the role. But when the official performance was approaching, I became more and more nervous. I always felt that I hadn't memorized the lines at all and would make a fool of myself in front of the audience.My mother clearly sees through my anxiety, "Want to know how I do it? I'll read my lines aloud before I go to sleep, and then I'll do it again the next day when I open my eyes." That's it ?"I asked. "That's it." My mother looked at me, her voice full of strength.

So in the four or five days before the performance, I followed my mother's guidance to practice every day.On the day of the official performance, it was on the open stage, which was the first time for me.As she took me out to catch the school bus, my mother said to me: "When you come on stage, you will feel that you have forgotten everything. Don't be nervous. It's normal. Everyone feels this way. Just relax and follow along." Just play the rhythm, don't rush it." Of course, she was right.I stood on the stage in a daze for about a second, and then all the lines appeared in my head, and I felt everything, which was really interesting.The performance was very successful, with thunderous applause.When I calmed down, I found my mother standing in the shade of a tree in the distance. Later, she told me that she had been watching my performance secretly, but she didn't sit in the front row because she was afraid of affecting my emotions. In the corner, watching quietly.