The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 115

When it grew late, Matthew and Britney left the room and returned to the restaurant for one last dinner. This time, thankfully, they didn't run into anyone like Christina Aguilera.

"I forgot to tell you," Britney began, looking particularly thrilled and happy. "I ran into Christina Aguilera again recently. She tried to approach me, but I just told her my bodyguard was outside, and she scurried away."

Matthew offered his encouragement. "Good for you. Don't pay any attention to her provocations. There's always a way to hit back."

"Yeah, you're right," Britney said with a joyful laugh.

She brushed a hand across her pale cheeks and asked Matthew, "Do I really do things without thinking sometimes?"

Matthew considered it and decided to be honest. "Sometimes."

"Well, next time I start to get like that," Britney said, a little embarrassed, "Matthew, you have to be there to stop me in time."

Matthew took her hand. "Of course."

The food arrived course by course, and they chatted as they ate.

Britney looked a little worried. "You don't have to go out of town for a shoot anytime soon, do you?"Matthew swallowed a bite of food. "I'm not working for a while. I'll be here in Los Angeles. I've got some things to take care of."

"I see," Britney murmured.

A brief silence fell between them before she spoke again.

"I'm leaving again," Britney announced, her fork clattering against the porcelain plate. "I'm going to Nashville."

Back in the hotel room, Matthew had heard her mention it in passing. He tried to sound encouraging. "But you'll be back as soon as you finish recording the song, right?"

As he said it, he realized he had no idea if he'd be filming out of town by the time Britney returned to Los Angeles from Nashville.

The topic cast a slight pall over the conversation. After dinner, Britney went home as usual, and Matthew returned to his apartment to continue packing. After two years, he had accumulated quite a lot of things, especially books and videos, which now filled three large boxes.

After attending two HBO promotional events for "Band of Brothers" in Los Angeles, he was ready to find a new apartment.

Matthew’s initial thought was to stay put for a while, but Helen had objected, arguing that his old apartment no longer suited his income or his status as a rising Hollywood actor.

According to Helen, star-making was a systematic process, and image was everything. An actor aspiring to stardom had to be meticulously polished on the outside first.

Of course, Helen wasn't asking him to do anything beyond his means, and Matthew wouldn't have agreed to it anyway.

Helen's plan was for Matthew to rent a small, detached house on the outskirts of Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, or Burbank. If he couldn't find a suitable house at the right price, a nice apartment in a prestigious area of Westwood or North Hollywood would suffice.

Matthew left the search to her. As a Los Angeles native, Helen had a natural advantage.

Though he hadn't heard any concrete news from Helen yet, Matthew was already preparing for the move.

At first, Matthew had considered buying his own home instead of continuing to rent, but he changed his mind under Helen's guidance.

It took him two days to get his finances in order, after which Helen began touring neighborhoods with a real estate agent—in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, North Hollywood, and even Burbank.

Initially, Matthew took a liking to an apartment in North Hollywood. It was large and luxuriously furnished, but the rent was a steep $2,500 a month, a price that gave him pause.

Then they found a place in the suburbs north of Burbank, bordering the San Fernando Valley to the north and North Hollywood to the west. It was a detached brick-and-stone house with an attic that provided effective insulation from the scorching Southern California sun. The interior was just over a thousand square feet, with elegant European decor.

In front of the house was a fenced courtyard of about 650 square feet, enveloped in ivy that grew year-round, giving it a very charming look.

The location was secluded, with the nearest neighbors about a hundred feet away, ensuring a degree of privacy that was perfect for Britney's clandestine visits, away from prying eyes.

It also had easy access to California's Interstate 5; a two- or three-minute drive east on the community road was all it took. It was only a ten-minute drive north to the San Fernando Valley, which had plenty of large shopping districts where he could find almost any daily necessity.

Heading south, it was a ten-minute drive at most to downtown Burbank, which was only twenty miles from downtown Los Angeles, making it easy to get back into the city for any reason.

The drive to North Hollywood was even shorter, just ten minutes.

And the rent wasn't expensive—only twelve hundred dollars.

While twelve hundred dollars was a decent amount of money at the time, Matthew was no longer the newcomer he'd been when he first arrived. He had some sense of the Los Angeles rental market, and a house like this was far too cheap.

There had to be a very good reason for the price anomaly.

Matthew stepped out of the house and stood on the lawn in the yard, asking the real estate agent directly, "Is there something wrong with this house? The price is well below market value."

"There was a murder here a few months ago," the agent said bluntly, pointing to the right corner of the yard where a patch of turf was clearly missing. "The owner had a fight with her boyfriend. She was killed in that corner."

Matthew couldn't help but frown.

The realtor continued, "The woman's mother is European. She came over and dealt with the house briefly before turning it over to a management company. The murder was in the papers and on TV. The house is impossible to rent, so they had to get rid of it at a reduced price."

Matthew nodded. He walked over to the spot where the murder had occurred and looked at it. There was nothing special about it. Perhaps someone else would have turned tail and run, but he wasn't bothered by such things.

There was a time in middle school when he had to walk past a cemetery on his way to and from school, especially when night classes started and the sun was gone by the time he headed home in the winter.

As someone with a secular upbringing, he didn't believe in ghosts or gods, even if he had somehow ended up here himself.

Matthew was impressed with the house and didn't care about its history. He stood there for a moment, thinking, then said to the realtor, "One thousand dollars. I'll rent it for a thousand."

The house had probably been on the market for a long time. The realtor considered his offer for half a minute, made a single phone call, and finally replied to Matthew, "Alright, but you'll have to pay for at least one year's rent upfront."

Matthew quickly agreed. "Fine. Let's get the paperwork done as soon as possible."

...

That same day, the real estate agent had Matthew sign the official lease agreement. He paid the deposit and a year's rent, received the keys, and was free to move in at any time.

Before moving, however, Matthew hired a professional cleaning company to tidy up the place, had the missing patch of lawn re-sodded, and called a moving company.

Matthew had originally thought about inviting a few friends over for dinner after he moved in, but after calling around, he discovered that none of his friends, including Britney, were currently in Los Angeles.

Helen was here, but unfortunately, she and Matthew rarely saw each other outside of work.

As May approached, Matthew remained out of work. Helen hadn't found a suitable role or project for him yet, but he wasn't idle. He spent his time reading, writing, practicing pantomime, and working out. He was especially diligent about maintaining his fitness.

Thanks to the films and roles he'd had recently, he could see where his strengths lay. After shooting a few films, those strengths were slowly turning into a solid set of qualifications.

For an unknown actor, seniority was crucial.

Of course, if you had a rich and powerful father, or came from one of the most influential acting families in the business, that was a different story entirely.

In late April, Helen called Matthew to the Angel Acting Agency to give him some advice regarding the premiere of "The Mummy Returns" and the subsequent promotional tour.

"Your clothes, shoes, watch," Helen told Matthew seriously, "everything you wear must be brand new. You're an important supporting character in the film, so the brands you wear need to reflect that."

Matthew mostly just listened, knowing he had no experience in this area.

Helen stated simply, "It's best if you hire a stylist. Let them handle the design."

"This isn't the time to be frugal," Matthew replied readily. "I hope you can find me a stylist."

"And one more thing you should know in advance," Helen said, glancing at Matthew. "Universal Pictures has invited the cast of 'The Fast and the Furious' to attend the premiere, using the attention on 'The Mummy' to promote their film."

Matthew immediately understood the implication. "Is Vin Diesel going to be there?"

Helen nodded gently. "Yes."

Then she suddenly smiled. "But there's good news, too. The last time I had tea with Sean Daniels, I heard him mention that there's a lot of dissatisfaction with Vin Diesel at Universal Pictures. They don't plan on working with him in the future."