The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 143: A Tarnished Reputation

The final scene of the day with Matthew and Duff Villa required several more takes, so by the time they wrapped, it was already late. After removing his makeup, he went to the publicist's office and found everyone waiting for him.

The publicist and Helen Herman weren't the only ones in the office; producer Sean Daniel, who oversaw matters big and small on set, was there as well.

Matthew greeted them all and took a seat on the sofa next to Helen.

"Everyone's here." The publicist glanced at Sean. "Let's begin."

Sean said nothing, merely nodding.

The publicist then explained, "I asked you all to come here today because the production team has a promotional plan in mind."

He looked first at Matthew, then at Kelly Hu. "And I need to ask your opinion on it."

Hearing this, Matthew couldn't help but feel curious. The production team had come up with a promotional plan, and the actors were expected to cooperate. Neither he nor Kelly were big-name stars, so since when did they need to be consulted?

He glanced over at Kelly, who looked just as puzzled as her agent.

The publicist quickly clarified, "If possible, we'd like to ask Matthew and Kelly to announce that they're dating during the pre-release promotion. Of course, all you'd have to do is play the part of a couple in front of the public and the media to generate some buzz for the film."Matthew understood immediately. They just wanted them to pretend to be a couple to attract attention.

He wasn't opposed to such tactics; film promotion was full of stunts, and much of it was fake. The recent press conference with Sean Daniel, Stephen Sommers, and Chuck Russell, for instance, had been pure fabrication.

But just because he wasn't disgusted by the idea didn't mean he would agree to it.

"May I speak?" Matthew interjected, taking advantage of a pause from the publicist.

Helen shifted her gaze to Matthew but didn't try to stop him. She knew what he was going to say. This kind of thing had to be voluntary; no one would force them if they didn't agree.

The publicist looked over at Matthew. "Yes?"

Matthew didn't beat around the bush. "Sorry, I can't do it. I have a girlfriend, and I don't want any misunderstandings."

Britney had a way of looking at things that he could never predict, and he'd rather not test those waters.

"You have a girlfriend?" The publicist was a little surprised.

This wasn't his first time working with Matthew; he had been the publicist on the set of "The Mummy Returns" and had never heard anything about Matthew having a girlfriend.

Matthew glanced at Helen beside him. "We've been together for over a year. Helen knows."

Helen saw that Matthew didn't want to mention Britney's name and added casually, "It's true."

The publicist threw up his hands and said nothing more. He had assumed both actors were single, which was why he'd suggested the idea. Now that one party disagreed, there was no point in pressing the matter.

Kelly's side quickly excused themselves and left, while Matthew exchanged a few more words with Sean.

Helen, meanwhile, was speaking with the publicist—an important position on any film set. It would be beneficial for Matthew's personal promotion if the two of them worked well together.

The publicist then led Matthew and Helen to a large office next door to get the footage shot the day before so Matthew could upload it to his personal blog. If he could leverage the Angel Acting Agency's promotional channels, all the better.

As he took the USB drive, Matthew spotted a poster mock-up the team was developing for the initial promotion. It wasn't that he was trying to see it; it wasn't a confidential project. The mock-up was hanging in plain sight on the wall directly opposite the office door.

It was clearly a theatrical poster, not one for individual characters. And although the title and actors' names hadn't been added yet, the images of the main cast were already laid out.

Matthew took a closer look. As the lead actor, he was in the center of the poster with Kelly beside him. Flanking them on either side were the other actors, like Clark, Duff, and Steven.

"Something's not right with this poster." Helen frowned slightly.

Matthew had already noticed it himself. Even though he was the absolute lead and positioned in the center, he didn't stand out from the rest of the cast.

But neither of them said a word. This wasn't the right place, not to mention the poster wasn't finalized. And with Matthew present, starting a fight would not reflect well on his relationship with the crew.

The two didn't linger and left soon after.

It was already late, so Matthew and Helen quickly left the production office area, found a four-wheeled electric cart, and Matthew drove to the studio entrance.

"If the final version of the poster still looks like that..." Matthew said directly to Helen, "Can you do something about it?"

Helen didn't mince words. "I can."

Matthew turned the wheel, and the electric cart entered the roadway that led straight to the studio entrance.

A minute later, the cart pulled up in front of the studio, and Helen was the first to get out.

She told Matthew, "If the posters the team designed really turn out like that, I'll handle it."

Matthew's acting contract included a clause that gave his side the right to make suggestions regarding things like posters and stills featuring the male lead.

"Great." Matthew hopped off the electric cart and said to Helen, "See you, Helen. Have a good night."

Helen walked out of the studio without another word.

Matthew drove home and uploaded the photos he'd received to the top of his blog. His blog now had an audience in the thousands, and even newspapers were reprinting photos and posts from it.

But he couldn't just post any stills and photos of the cast and crew from the shoot; he had to get permission from the publicist before publishing them.

For the next few days, Matthew continued with filming as usual.

When the scenes shot in the studio were finished, and with the Warner Studios' backlot requiring scheduling coordination, the crew left Los Angeles and headed to the Nevada desert to begin shooting on location.

In his first scene in Nevada, Matthew had to be buried alive by the crew.

The crew had dug two large pits in the sand and buried special boxes inside them. Matthew and the other actor, Duff, stood in the boxes, which were covered with a lid, leaving only their heads visible. Sand was then spread over the lid to create the illusion that they were buried alive.

It was the simplest method, but it meant the actors had to endure the grueling heat. A more comfortable way to shoot would have been on a green screen, but that was more expensive, and the production team clearly wanted to save money.

There was no real danger, anyway. With all the safety precautions in place, Matthew simply followed the plan to complete his scenes.

Soon, filming began.

The bright sun beat down from overhead, and beads of sweat soon formed on Matthew's face—the desert sun was scorching. He looked ahead and saw a skeleton lying there, rendered with unnerving realism, complete with what looked like rotting flesh.

"Awesome, isn't it?"

The voice came from beside him. Matthew turned his head to see that Duff, like him, had only his head sticking out of the ground. He gave a strained smile. "They use smoke to drive fire ants out of their nests so they'll crawl all over our heads."

The appropriate tension appeared on Matthew's face as he glanced at Duff, then at the piled-up anthill, and began to struggle.

"Hahaha," Duff suddenly laughed.

"You think this is funny?" he asked the guy beside him, who was still laughing.

Duff looked relaxed. "Actually, yeah, because I'm going to escape. And you? You're going to be here waiting for a gruesome death."

...

The shoot went smoothly. In a single morning, the crew filmed all the scenes of Matthew and Duff escaping from being buried alive. As for the non-existent fire ants, they would have to rely on special effects to add them in post-production.

After lunch, one of the handlers brought a white dromedary camel over to Matthew. He had a great number of scenes on camelback coming up and needed to get acquainted with the specially trained animal as soon as possible.

This camel was also a highly-paid animal actor in the production; its salary was higher than Duff's.

Matthew knew that in Hollywood, some animal actors earned huge paychecks for their work, especially cats and dogs. The top performers could make as much as a B-list star.

To be honest, he wasn't a big fan of pets. He was content to see them as decorative objects, an attitude that stemmed from the life he once led. When he had to fight for survival at the most basic level, he had no time to worry about the life or death of other creatures.

Fortunately, the camel was well-trained and naturally docile, offering no resistance when he was allowed to ride it.

This also made everything much less of a hassle. Matthew was able to practice riding the camel without any trouble, taking his time and eliminating the need for a stunt double.

While filming in Nevada was proceeding smoothly on Matthew's end, Helen, who had remained in Los Angeles, approached the production team to discuss the pre-release promotional posters.