Chapter 338: Casting Captain America

The Ellen Show, also known as The Ellen DeGeneres Show, is a popular talk show on CBS in the United States. It combines current events, celebrities, music guests, and human interest stories, and is one of the most popular talk shows among Americans.

According to Olson data, the show averaged 3.62 million viewers per episode in 2010, while Link's interview show had 10.15 million viewers on the day it aired, breaking the show's highest viewership record.

Link's announcement on the show that he planned to retire from the music industry after his fifth album was released quickly became the most sensational news in the American and even global entertainment industry after the show aired. It was reported and discussed by many media outlets, and many netizens were also talking about it online.

Some people thought it was a hype, a gimmick created by Link to promote his album "The Woman I Love" and get more people to buy his album.

Some people felt sorry for it. The quality of Link's first three albums was very high, and his songs were also very good. Retiring from the music industry too early was a loss for fans.

Some people expressed their support for it.

These people were mainly Link's boxing fans. They hoped that Link would put down all his work and concentrate on boxing training. In the future, he would have a great chance to become a boxing superstar comparable to Ali and Tyson. Becoming a sports superstar was more worthy of being remembered than a singer.

Link's music fans gathered under his Twitter account, asking about the situation and hoping that what he said on the show was not true.

Many fans confessed online, saying that they liked him because his songs were good, whether he was a playboy or not, no matter how many girlfriends he had, and they would not care about the media reports. They hoped that he would not have too much pressure and continue to create music.

There were more than 100,000 such comments, and the top one had 338,000 likes.

Link was also a little moved when he saw the fans' comments.

He posted a new tweet telling fans that he was not quitting immediately, but after releasing two more albums. In the coming time, he would work with several producers from Link Music to carefully produce these two albums and give fans better music.

He also told fans that if he had good songs in the future, he would give them to other singers to sing, or release new singles online, but he would no longer release new albums.

After this tweet was posted, it was retweeted by 1.03 million people within 24 hours, received 830,000 comments, and was liked 4.27 million times, setting a new record for likes and retweets on the Twitter platform. It was also the tweet that received more than 800,000 comments in the shortest time.

The number of fans of Link's Twitter account officially exceeded 60 million on June 26, 2010, reaching 60.69 million people.

He became the user with the most fans on the Twitter platform and one of the users with the most fans on all current internet social platforms, including Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, Weibo, and Instagram.

After the show aired, many acquaintances also called to ask about the situation. Link said it was true. He had been too busy these two years and had no time to rest and deal with some personal matters.

After releasing two albums and quitting the music industry, he would have more free time.

Paul Walker and others said that he had made too much money and wanted to quit the industry. He would never do this if he didn't have money.

Link did not deny that they were right.

Lady Gaga, Adele, and other musicians suggested that he make his last two albums into deluxe editions with 50 songs each, releasing one every three to five years, one album equivalent to five of others.

Link said he would consider it.

Selena, Lana Del Rey, and other familiar singers called and said that they hoped he could give them more guidance on their albums in the future and make their albums sell tens of millions of copies.

Link also said no problem.

Even Taylor, who usually ignored him, took the initiative to send a message.

"Are you really quitting? Why? I thought we agreed last time."

"Did we? My album sales are too high. If I don't quit, none of you can get ahead. I think you should be happy."

"You're too arrogant. Your album sales are only better this time, not every time. My new album will definitely surpass yours in sales."

"U.S. sales? Impossible, you don't have that chance."

Link remembered that her third album sales did not exceed Eminem's, about two to three million copies.

"Let's make a bet. If you lose, you'll take back what you said about quitting the music industry."

"What if you lose?"

"You say it!"

"Come back! Continue to be my girlfriend!"

"What about Eva Carter and your other rumored girlfriends? Are you willing to dump them? Scumbag!!"

"I mean, one of them."

"Get lost!!!"

"You're such a shameless jerk."

Taylor sent three messages in a row saying, "I lose, you can do whatever you want with me."

"???"

Link also sent two messages, "Are you serious? You should know what kind of person I am. I'm definitely not a gentleman."

"I know what kind of person you are, you pervert. I also know what I'll face if I lose, but I never believe I'll lose."

Taylor said.

"You asked for it. How do we calculate the time? It can't be ten years later."

"July 22nd next year, my new album is scheduled to be released on this day this year."

"That's too long. April 14th next year is the day you left the Bay Villa."

"April 13th, 13 is my lucky number, I will definitely beat you."

"You're such a competitive woman."

Link shook his head and sent another message asking if she had a boyfriend, hoping she didn't. Taylor replied that it had nothing to do with him.

"Remember the last time we had sex on April 14th, you asked me if there was a chance for us to get back together, even get married, if you succeeded in the future and I wasn't married yet.

Chapter 338: Casting Captain America

The Ellen Show, also known as The Ellen DeGeneres Show, is a popular talk show on CBS in the United States. It combines current events, celebrities, music guests, and human interest stories, and is one of the most popular talk shows among Americans.

According to Olson data, the show averaged 3.62 million viewers per episode in 2010, while Link's interview show had 10.15 million viewers on the day it aired, breaking the show's highest viewership record.

Link's announcement on the show that he planned to retire from the music industry after his fifth album was released quickly became the most sensational news in the American and even global entertainment industry after the show aired. It was reported and discussed by many media outlets, and many netizens were also talking about it online.

Some people thought it was a hype, a gimmick created by Link to promote his album "The Woman I Love" and get more people to buy his album.

Some people felt sorry for it. The quality of Link's first three albums was very high, and his songs were also very good. Retiring from the music industry too early was a loss for fans.

Some people expressed their support for it.

These people were mainly Link's boxing fans. They hoped that Link would put down all his work and concentrate on boxing training. In the future, he would have a great chance to become a boxing superstar comparable to Ali and Tyson. Becoming a sports superstar was more worthy of being remembered than a singer.

Link's music fans gathered under his Twitter account, asking about the situation and hoping that what he said on the show was not true.

Many fans confessed online, saying that they liked him because his songs were good, whether he was a playboy or not, no matter how many girlfriends he had, and they would not care about the media reports. They hoped that he would not have too much pressure and continue to create music.

There were more than 100,000 such comments, and the top one had 338,000 likes.

Link was also a little moved when he saw the fans' comments.

He posted a new tweet telling fans that he was not quitting immediately, but after releasing two more albums. In the coming time, he would work with several producers from Link Music to carefully produce these two albums and give fans better music.

He also told fans that if he had good songs in the future, he would give them to other singers to sing, or release new singles online, but he would no longer release new albums.

After this tweet was posted, it was retweeted by 1.03 million people within 24 hours, received 830,000 comments, and was liked 4.27 million times, setting a new record for likes and retweets on the Twitter platform. It was also the tweet that received more than 800,000 comments in the shortest time.

The number of fans of Link's Twitter account officially exceeded 60 million on June 26, 2010, reaching 60.69 million people.

He became the user with the most fans on the Twitter platform and one of the users with the most fans on all current internet social platforms, including Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, Weibo, and Instagram.

After the show aired, many acquaintances also called to ask about the situation. Link said it was true. He had been too busy these two years and had no time to rest and deal with some personal matters.

After releasing two albums and quitting the music industry, he would have more free time.

Paul Walker and others said that he had made too much money and wanted to quit the industry. He would never do this if he didn't have money.

Link did not deny that they were right.

Lady Gaga, Adele, and other musicians suggested that he make his last two albums into deluxe editions with 50 songs each, releasing one every three to five years, one album equivalent to five of others.

Link said he would consider it.

Selena, Lana Del Rey, and other familiar singers called and said that they hoped he could give them more guidance on their albums in the future and make their albums sell tens of millions of copies.

Link also said no problem.

Even Taylor, who usually ignored him, took the initiative to send a message.

"Are you really quitting? Why? I thought we agreed last time."

"Did we? My album sales are too high. If I don't quit, none of you can get ahead. I think you should be happy."

"You're too arrogant. Your album sales are only better this time, not every time. My new album will definitely surpass yours in sales."

"U.S. sales? Impossible, you don't have that chance."

Link remembered that her third album sales did not exceed Eminem's, about two to three million copies.

"Let's make a bet. If you lose, you'll take back what you said about quitting the music industry."

"What if you lose?"

"You say it!"

"Come back! Continue to be my girlfriend!"

"What about Eva Carter and your other rumored girlfriends? Are you willing to dump them? Scumbag!!"

"I mean, one of them."

"Get lost!!!"

"You're such a shameless jerk."

Taylor sent three messages in a row saying, "I lose, you can do whatever you want with me."

"???"

Link also sent two messages, "Are you serious? You should know what kind of person I am. I'm definitely not a gentleman."

"I know what kind of person you are, you pervert. I also know what I'll face if I lose, but I never believe I'll lose."

Taylor said.

"You asked for it. How do we calculate the time? It can't be ten years later."

"July 22nd next year, my new album is scheduled to be released on this day this year."

"That's too long. April 14th next year is the day you left the Bay Villa."

"April 13th, 13 is my lucky number, I will definitely beat you."

"You're such a competitive woman."

Link shook his head and sent another message asking if she had a boyfriend, hoping she didn't. Taylor replied that it had nothing to do with him.

"Remember the last time we had sex on April 14th, you asked me if there was a chance for us to get back together, even get married, if you succeeded in the future and I wasn't married yet. I've thought about it carefully during this time, and the answer is yes. Even if you become a notorious woman or a failed singer in the future, I'm willing to accept you. I find that I really can't forget you, you willful and stubborn woman."

"You're a jerk, a pervert, a scumbag! I won't become a notorious woman, nor will I be a failed singer. You'll never see that day."

"I hope so. Good luck!"

"Get lost! Jerk!"

Link smiled slightly. He used to be nervous when he saw Taylor angry and would think about how to comfort her, but now he felt happy. This was probably the difference between a girlfriend and an ex-girlfriend.

---

During the release of "Easy A," he participated in the second round of auditions held by Marvel Studios. Eight people participated in this round, mainly to assess the actors' acting ability and line skills.

In the audition, Link performed the dialogue between Captain America and Agent Carter before their farewell.

This was the end of the movie. Captain America decided to crash the out-of-control plane loaded with a nuclear bomb into the Arctic Ocean to save New York City.

Before the plane crashed, Captain America asked Agent Carter to dance, and Carter tearfully agreed.

The plot was very touching.

Because he had practiced well in the "Midnight in Paris" crew during this time and was good at acting emotional scenes, he also performed this scene very well, and his lines were also good.

He got a good score in the second round of auditions.

He also successfully entered the third round, along with Will Smith, Chris Evans, and Channing Tatum.

Seeing that four people were still selected, and the third round was not necessarily the final round, he announced through Mandy that he would give up this role and not participate in the next round.

After he became famous, the film companies knew what type of actor he was: good looks, good temperament, high popularity, good acting skills, and high box office appeal.

Based on these external conditions, when the film companies had a suitable role for him, they would directly submit the script to the agency, and even the salary was agreed in advance, so there was no need for an audition at all.

But Captain America was a very dispensable role, yet he had to audition three times. He didn't have that time or patience, and he also hated the feeling of being chosen.

However, on the day he announced that he would give up the audition, Joe Johnston, the producer and director of "Captain America," called and said he wanted to talk to him.

Link asked if he had the power to decide the role. If he did, he would talk to him, otherwise, it was useless.

Director Johnston said yes.

Link agreed and met Director Johnston and another producer, Stephen Broussard, the next day at noon at an Italian cafe on Hollywood Boulevard. Broussard had previously served as a producer on "The Incredible Hulk."

The three met and greeted each other.

Link looked at the two producers who were sizing him up and said, "Gentlemen, may I ask a question?"

"Please ask!"

"I have top looks, superb acting skills, box office appeal comparable to A-list movie stars, and I'm strong, a representative of the American Dream, a national idol, and my salary is not high. Is there any difficulty in having me play Captain America?"

Link asked seriously.

Director Johnston and producer Stephen were stunned for a moment, looked at each other, and were a little surprised.

After meeting Link, they were still thinking about how to introduce the topic and make the atmosphere of this meeting better.

But Link went straight to the core of the problem and asked why he couldn't play Captain America.

This question was also a topic that the "Captain America" production team had repeatedly discussed recently. What were the disadvantages of having Link play Captain America?

On the production team's whiteboard, Link's shortcomings were mainly three:

1. He was not a professional actor. He was a top singer with great influence in the music industry and worldwide. Having a singer play Captain America would have certain risks.

2. He was a part-time actor and had only made three movies so far: "The Fighter," "Into the Blue 2," and "Easy A," as well as the unreleased "The Expendables." Among these movies, except for "The Fighter," which he did well in, the others were just so-so. In this respect, he was not as good as Hollywood's top movie star Will Smith, and Chris Evans, who had starred in many comic book movies.

3. Although he was very famous, the movies he had starred in so far, except for "The Fighter," which had a global box office of over 100 million, had average results and had not yet demonstrated his box office appeal.

In addition to these three main problems, there were also some secondary problems, such as his hair not being golden brown, him being a playboy, his appearance being too handsome and beautiful, etc., all of which were minus points.

Despite these problems, the "Captain America" production team still considered him as the first candidate.

Because this guy was too good.

First of all, he was famous, famous all over the world.

The literary film "The Fighter," which was released at the end of last year, had an investment of 32 million and currently had a global box office of 156 million US dollars, of which overseas box office contributed more than 92 million. According to the survey, many viewers went to see it because of Link.

The literary films starring Link could get hundreds of millions of dollars in box office. If it was a commercial film, playing a comic book character with many book fans, the box office results would definitely be higher.

Using him to play Captain America, even if the movie was bad, his fans would push the box office results up.

This was a box office guarantee.

Secondly, Link was a guy with extremely strong physical fitness.

Olympic champion, boxing superstar, swimming star, known as 'Superman' by the media.

He was synonymous with strength.

Having him play Captain America was a dream combination that would give fans a strong sense of anticipation.

There were also many topics worth hyping up during the film's promotion.

Third, Stan Lee, the author of the "Captain America" comics, thought Link was good.

Because of these advantages and disadvantages, there was endless debate within the production team. Originally, the debate would continue, but Link suddenly sent a message saying he wouldn't play anymore.

Hearing that Link gave up, the production team suddenly reached a consensus again, feeling that it seemed good to have him play Captain America.

Although Chris Evans had good acting skills and experience playing comic book characters, his box office appeal was not as good as Link's, and Chris himself was not particularly interested in playing this role.

As for Will Smith, a black actor, and several other actors, their own problems were too big and they were even less suitable than Link and Evans.

After comprehensive consideration, director Johnston and producer Stephen decided to meet Link.

"Link, you're a singer, and the audience will be distracted by your identity when they see you playing the role. This is the biggest problem."

Director Johnston replied to Link's previous question.

"I'm a top singer, and I think this is a plus. Also, my acting skills are good. You can ask several directors I've worked with. My performance never disappoints people. I have confidence in this."

Link said.

Director Johnston and producer Stephen looked at each other, then suddenly stood up and extended their hands, saying, "Link, welcome to the 'Captain America' crew."

"?"

This time it was Link's turn to be confused. He had been preparing for this role for more than half a month and had participated in two rounds of auditions, but the crew had not shown any intention of giving him the role.

But now, he just boasted a little, nothing changed, but the crew decided to give him the role.

This change was very sudden.

He smiled slightly and extended his hand, saying:

"Happy cooperation!"

---

After finalizing the role, the two sides talked about the film's shooting plan, fitness training, costume design, firearms training, and other matters.

The pre-production work for this film was basically completed, and it would probably be shot between October and February of the following year. The shooting locations included Los Angeles, New York, and the United Kingdom, so Link needed to free up some time.

Also, after Captain America transformed into a super soldier, his muscles would be very developed.

With his current physique, he still needed to add some muscle mass.

Link said there was no problem with this. His match with De La Hoya was a cross-weight challenge, so it didn't matter if he was a little heavier during the match.

As for the salary, these matters would be discussed by Mandy and Marvel, and he and director Johnston didn't need to worry about it.

After the two sides reached an agreement, Marvel Entertainment also announced that Link would play Captain America, and Link also retweeted this tweet.

The news caused a great sensation in the entertainment industry, as well as a lot of controversy.

Link's fans were very happy. Link was already handsome and strong, and playing the role of Captain America would definitely make his image even more handsome and explosive.

Link was already a top figure in boxing and music, and if this movie was successful, he had a great chance of becoming a top actor in the film industry.

At that time, he would be a superstar across the music, sports, and film industries, which was very cool to think about.

Link's fans were proud to see him become more and more successful, and they all flocked to the Link fan club website to celebrate, causing the website to crash.

There was support, but there was also opposition.

Opponents said that he was a singer, and having a singer play Captain America was a bit out of place.

Some people also questioned his acting skills, thinking that he could not play the role of Captain America well, and that Will Smith should play it. Using Link was racial discrimination.

But there were more people who supported him than those who opposed him.

After the announcement, a topic was launched on the Marvel Comics Club website: Are you looking forward to Link playing Captain America?

Within three days, 2.04 million people voted to say they were looking forward to it, 362,000 people chose not to look forward to it, and 250,000 people remained neutral.

From this point of view, people's attitude towards Link playing Captain America was positive, but there was also some controversy.

And controversy was also a good thing. For example, after Marvel announced the candidate, Link and "Captain America" remained popular, hanging on the hot search lists of Yahoo, Twitter, MySpace, and other websites for three consecutive days.

"Damn, this guy is on the hot search again."

50 Cent looked at the news on his phone with a helpless expression.

Previously, Link announced his retirement from the music industry, and the related news was on the hot search for four days, and his news was all over the newspapers and the internet.

But before the popularity of the previous news had passed, the next one followed. It was too frequent, and it was like he had contracted the hot search list.

They were envious of Link's situation, but they couldn't replicate it.

Sigh. "If I had that many trending topics when I released my album, I definitely wouldn't have sold just 1.1 million copies by now," Usher said, holding a glass of whiskey, lamenting.

50 Cent glanced at him, noticing that he was becoming more like Kanye, constantly exuding negativity to everyone around him. Sometimes, when he and Kanye sat together, they would dampen the entire atmosphere of their booth.

"Usher, you're with SB Entertainment, which means you're practically working for Link. Link is a master of trending topics. If you want to go viral, you could just ask him for help. I doubt he'd refuse," 50 Cent said, teasingly.

Usher paused as he was drinking, suddenly thinking that 50 Cent might have a point. He's in a partnership with SB Entertainment, and Link Music is a major shareholder in SB. If he does well, it's beneficial for Link too.

Maybe he really could ask Link or Scooter for help with promotion.

As for whether the East Coast rap group would reject him, he didn't care. As a singer, selling records is what establishes his place in the music industry; everything else is secondary.

Usher nodded, finished his drink, and got up to leave.

50 Cent was stunned as he watched him walk away. Could this guy really be going to ask Link for help to get on the trending charts? Damn, the East Coast rap crew is going to fall apart.

"Miranda, how many copies of The Woman I Love were sold this week?"

In the president's office of Link Music, Ivanka turned to her assistant and asked.

"84,000 copies. The album is third on the charts, up two spots from last week, with total U.S. sales reaching 4.224 million copies," Miranda replied, looking at her tablet.

"Not bad. Have the PR department keep pushing it. Let's aim to sell 5 million copies in the U.S.," Ivanka said calmly.

"Understood!"

Miranda smiled slightly, then left with her tablet.

Ivanka stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, gazing down at the bustling streets of Manhattan, a beautiful smile playing on her lips.

(End of the chapter).