Hollywood: The Greatest Showman

Chapter 126: Surviving the Fans

William Taylor pressed Graham Hans' shoulder with his right hand, straining on tiptoe, his body fully extended. He jumped up suddenly, but the crowd in front of him blocked everything. He couldn't see anything in the central square, just a few heads bobbing above the sea of people, not enough to tell if they were men or women.

Next to him, Hope Bates was squeezed by the crowd to the point where she could barely breathe. Her slender frame seemed ready to be swallowed up. She had to shout, "Can you all move forward instead of pushing on me? The 'Big Bang Theory' cast isn't standing next to me!"

Her clear shout was quickly drowned in the noise, but the people around her did ease up a bit, allowing her to catch some air, though it was still suffocating. She patted William's left hand, "Did you see him? Did you see Renly? Isn't he breathtakingly handsome? Isn't he? Isn't he?" She instantly switched to fangirl mode, a far cry from her earlier assertiveness.

William complained dejectedly, "No, I can't see anything!" He jumped a few more times, still to no avail.

"Let's do this then!" Graham lifted the banner in his left hand, which read, "Renly Hall, the Best Actor in My Heart!" They raised it high, waving it around, but the sea of fans in front of them, each holding signs like a forest of UN flags, drowned them out. Standing in the middle to the back, they were completely submerged.

William took the left support pole of the banner while Graham held the right. They stretched their arms to the sky, and Hope kept urging, "Higher, higher!" The banner finally stood tall, breaking through the crowd.

But the two guys couldn't hold it for long; their arms soon grew tired, and they had to lower it again. William grumbled, "Why are there so many people today? Isn't the Emmy Awards supposed to be less crowded?"

"It's all because of 'The Big Bang Theory' and 'Glee' fans, they've taken over." Hope rolled her eyes, showing no attempt to hide her displeasure.

Hope Bates, a freshman at UCLA, accidentally befriended William and Graham at the freshman orientation. Their common topic was "The Pacific"—more specifically, the character Renly. As a die-hard fan of "Band of Brothers," William unexpectedly became a fan of Renly, experiencing for the first time the distinction between an actor and a script. Some meanings come from the script, some are conveyed by the director, but some stories are brought to life by the actor. This made William a complete fan of Renly, who was only two years older than him!

However, after searching for a long time on the Yahoo community, William couldn't find many like-minded friends. "The Pacific" tapes hadn't been released yet, so the fan base was still very small. Over the past few months, Renly had almost disappeared from the public eye, and the initial buzz quickly faded.

So when William and Hope discovered they both liked Renly's performance and were both freshmen, they were ecstatic. Graham was thrilled too. After the Emmy nominations were announced, Hope was determined to attend the awards ceremony. It was a rare chance to see Renly up close, and since it was held in Los Angeles, they had no reason to miss it. William and Graham enthusiastically agreed.

William was excited; his love for "Band of Brothers" and "Harry Potter" had never driven him to leave his home and break the fourth wall to see his idols up close. Now, Renly Hall, this new actor, had finally prompted him to take the plunge.

Since William and Graham had classes in the afternoon, Hope went alone to the Nokia Theatre at eleven in the morning and easily found a spot in the front row. She was thrilled, thinking she could get close to Renly.

But at three in the afternoon, "The Big Bang Theory" fans arrived and took over the prime spots, pushing scattered fans like her to the corners. Hope, unwilling to give up her spot, argued with them. In response, a group of over ten people surrounded her and forcibly took her spot.

Hope was furious, filing a complaint with the event staff. But they explained that this wasn't a ticketed event, and once the lines were disrupted, they couldn't manage it. Hope, though dissatisfied, was helpless—especially as "Glee" fans soon arrived, vying with "The Big Bang Theory" fans, creating chaos and scattering individual fans.

By the time William and Graham arrived, they were already pushed to the sixth or seventh row. The crowd behind them kept growing, making them feel like a sandwich, unable to move forward or backward.

"Do you think Renly saw the banner?" William asked, still hopeful.

Hope and Graham fell silent. With at least 800 people in the audience, over 500 on the left and about 300 on the right, the dense crowd, numerous signs, and noisy shouts blurred their vision. Their small group was completely swallowed up, and the hope of Renly seeing the banner seemed slim.

Hope ground her teeth, "Damn hooligans." She glanced at the dense crowd in front, "The Big Bang Theory" lead character Sheldon's face was everywhere, his smirking expression plastered all over. "If only we could gather a few more fans."

In such a grand setting, their trio seemed too small.

Renly's view was filled with the boiling crowd, a blur of faces merging in the hazy light. All he could see were countless "Sheldon" faces, the mischievous grin everywhere. It seemed the Sheldon army had taken over the Nokia Theatre.

In contrast, "Glee" fans were less organized, with a variety of banners, photos, and signs, creating a chaotic yet vibrant scene. Despite possibly having more fans, their impact was less cohesive, giving the impression that the event was dominated by "The Big Bang Theory."

Renly found it amusing. In his previous life, he had only heard of fan enthusiasm but never experienced it firsthand. Now, even though the cheers weren't for him, he felt the overwhelming energy. It was as if a heatwave enveloped him, the energy ready to explode.

"What do you think Jim Parsons would feel seeing this?" James shouted in Renly's ear.

Renly imagined it and burst out laughing, "Imagine hundreds of your faces floating before you. It might be more surreal than the cloning scene in 'The Matrix'!"

"Maybe next year it'll be you facing this," James commented with a disgusted expression.

Renly calmly shrugged, "We'll see."

The square was filled with big-name actors, though they didn't have dedicated banners, their familiar faces drew cheers and screams. Elizabeth Moss, Jorge Garcia, and January Jones received waves of adoration from fans, creating a lively outdoor party atmosphere. Renly and his friends felt like newcomers, a bit lost in the crowd.

"Look, there's our show's fan group," Rami said, nudging Renly and pointing to a small group in the corner with "The Pacific" banners. Renly and James looked over.

Amid the massive "Glee" posters, a group held "The Pacific" banners, about a dozen in all. Though dwarfed by the surrounding displays, Rami's keen eye caught them.

Renly laughed, "Look, two of them are 'Band of Brothers' banners." They all laughed.

Despite "The Pacific" leading the nominations, its fan base wasn't as strong, especially given the controversies during its airing. With the tapes not yet released, only a few dedicated fans showed up.

They were content, seeing the banners was enough. Laughing and chatting, they waved at the small group of fans and entered the Nokia Theatre.

"Whew, that was a quick red carpet walk," Renly joked, making Rami and James laugh. Nearby, a smooth, elegant voice with a hint of teasing said, "I thought young people would want to stay and enjoy the cheers."