The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 157

"This is great barbecue!"

Michael's voice carried from the yard. "I never thought Matthew could cook."

Ben's voice chimed in, "Agreed."

James, ever searching for an excuse for another toast, raised his glass. "To Matthew's skills."

Everyone, Liv Tyler included, raised their glasses and drank.

Orlando turned his head toward the grill and nodded at Matthew, who was manning it, exclaiming, "Matthew, you're an excellent cook."

Matthew flipped the grilled chicken wings and smiled back.

The food coming off the grill was delicious, but that was mostly thanks to the thorough prep work by the chef from Red Penguin Services.

The chef had taken care of everything; all Matthew had to do was cook the food on the grill and baste it with a special sauce, also provided by the chef.

People in the yard ate, drank, and joked around. Matthew glanced over at them, his attention drawn to Orlando and his date, Liv Tyler. He was somewhat curious about her; he'd read up on a lot of information provided by the Angel Acting Agency while preparing for the Almost famous audition and knew she was the daughter of the famous Bebe Buell.To him, the actress seemed to have an exceptionally long face and a sturdy build, comparable to Ilana's, especially next to Orlando, who was leaner and slighter than her.

Matthew couldn't understand why Peter Jackson had cast her as Arwen. In Tolkien's books, elves, both male and female, were depicted as very slender and lean—just like Legolas in The Lord of the Rings.

As he was flipping the chicken wings, Michael came over for some fruit, and Ben grabbed a beer.

Then Orlando approached.

"Want me to help?" He offered a can of beer to Matthew, who took it, popped it open, took a sip, and said, "No, I've got it."

Matthew set the beer down and quickly turned the wings again, asking casually, "So, is Liv Tyler your girlfriend?"

Orlando shook his head. "No."

He lowered his voice slightly. "It's nothing serious. We're just dating."

That sort of thing was common enough, so Matthew wasn't surprised. He brushed sauce onto the wings and said, "You still have time for women?"

"What?" Orlando didn't catch his meaning.

Matthew smirked. "You're a hot commodity right now. I'm sure production companies are lining up, and your next string of roles is waiting for you."

"Unfortunately, it's not as great as you make it sound," Orlando said, without a hint of false modesty. "Yes, I've had a lot of offers, but they're all lead roles in smaller productions. None of them have a budget over a hundred million dollars."

In today's Hollywood, a hundred million dollars was the definitive line between A-list projects and everything else.

Matthew realized the Orlando of today was so ambitious he no longer even considered smaller productions.

But Orlando had the right to be arrogant; Legolas was incredibly popular with audiences—so popular that even someone as level-headed as Matthew couldn't help but feel a pang of envy.

"A big project over a hundred million?" Matthew said with deliberate calm. "Orlando, how many hundred-million-dollar projects does Hollywood even make in a year?"

Orlando smiled. "Wouldn't you want the lead in a project like that?"

Matthew glanced down at the chicken wings, flipped them, and then said, "No fool would turn that down."

Sensing his opening, Matthew began, "My agent and I are actually trying to land the male lead in a mega-production at Universal Studios. We're talking a minimum investment of a hundred and fifty million dollars, but it's a tough role to get."

Orlando's ears perked up instantly at the mention of one hundred and fifty million dollars.

Matthew put on a complaining tone. "My agent reached out to Universal Pictures, but they think I'm too unknown. No fan base. It's too risky to cast me."

This project between Stephen Sommers and Universal Pictures was still in the planning stages, not yet public, and very few people knew about it. If Helen hadn't been involved in Stephen's two Mummy projects and made such a good impression on him, she never would have gotten the inside scoop.

And in his opinion, Stephen probably had no intention of making him one of the leads anyway.

All he could do for now was shake his head, flip the chicken wings, and glance at Orlando. If Orlando wasn't interested, this would all be for nothing.

In reality, Matthew's strategy was simple. There was a scheduling conflict between Van Helsing and Pirates of the Caribbean. A person's time and energy are finite; it was highly unlikely he could land the lead roles in both films.

Once these two projects went public, they would become the subject of fierce competition within the industry. An agent's and actor's resources are limited. When faced with stiff competition, should they spread their resources thin or focus all their efforts on one target?

An experienced agent, he figured, would choose the latter.

Just like Helen. She'd love for Matthew to star in both projects, but she knew she had to focus her resources on one of them.

Matthew saw the chicken wings were done, so he grabbed a porcelain platter and began to load it up. Then he placed the grilled vegetables on another large platter.

"Matthew," Orlando asked with a slight smile, "a hundred-and-fifty-million-dollar project at Universal Pictures? Why haven't I heard about it?"

"The project's being kept under wraps." Matthew acted as if he truly considered Orlando a friend and had no intention of keeping it a secret. "The only reason I know is because of Stephen Sommers."

He explained, "Thanks to the success of The Mummy series, Stephen and Universal Pictures are planning to create a much larger fantasy-adventure franchise—an action film dominated by the male lead."

He put extra emphasis on "male lead" and "action."

Matthew sighed. "They're planning a minimum investment of one hundred and fifty million dollars! But unfortunately, I won't be able to..."

He shook his head in frustration.

Orlando took Matthew's words to heart. Looking across all of Hollywood, productions with a one-hundred-and-fifty-million-dollar investment were a definite rarity.

He didn't doubt Matthew's words, but as soon as he got back, Orlando would have his agent ask around and find out more about the project.

Matthew handed the platter of chicken wings to Orlando, then picked up the other platter of grilled vegetables and headed for the table. After a few steps, he seemed to remember something and turned back to Orlando, who was following him. "The project is still confidential at Universal, so don't tell anyone else, or I'll be in deep trouble."

Orlando immediately assured him, "I won't say a word to anyone!"

Of course he wouldn't say anything; that would be foolish. If he did, his advantage of being the first to know would vanish.

They reached the round table, and Matthew sat down next to Michael. "Let's eat!" he announced.

The atmosphere was lively as they all ate and drank together.

The barbecue lasted until 10:30 p.m., when everyone gradually started to leave. Matthew saw off James and Michael, the last to go, and then called Lister. The Red Penguin cleaning crew, who had been waiting nearby, arrived shortly after to clean everything up.

Matthew stood at his front door, gazing in the direction Orlando and Liv Tyler had gone, unsure if Orlando had truly taken the bait.

No one could ever be one hundred percent certain they could influence someone's future choices, but it was better to try than to just wait passively.

If he just waited, even if The Scorpion King was a box office success, he didn't think he'd become more famous than Orlando. The aura of Legolas was just too powerful.

Standing in the doorway, Matthew contemplated his next move. He had no idea how Orlando would actually land the role of the monster hunter, but he hoped Orlando would fall in love with Van Helsing, and that Stephen Sommers would fall in love with him.

Perhaps he could even give Orlando a little help in the right way—for instance, by introducing him to Stephen and putting in a good word when the time was right.

Maybe Stephen would be so taken with Legolas that he'd beg him to join his project?

Within half an hour, the Red Penguin crew had cleared the yard and removed all the equipment, leaving the lawn empty once more.

Meanwhile, Liv Tyler was giving Orlando a somewhat displeased look. Orlando appeared apologetic. "Sorry, Liv, I can't stay with you tonight. My agent wants to talk."