The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 165

With the scripted press conference over, Matthew made his way to a side door of the Shrine Auditorium. Even before he stepped through it, he could hear the buzz of voices outside, and he knew instantly that it was swarming with reporters.

He didn't need to peek outside to know the area was packed wall-to-wall with reporters. Fortunately, the staff was well-versed in handling these kinds of situations. As soon as the black Mercedes pulled up to collect Matthew, four security guards immediately escorted him through the door, and before the reporters could even react, Matthew had slipped into the car.

On any other occasion, he would have willingly thrown himself to the pack of reporters, since it would have been good for the film's promotion. But today, the cast and crew had already provided enough stories—so many, in fact, that it would take the media two days just to digest it all, and he wasn't about to add anything unnecessary to the mix.

But the journalists who hadn't been allowed inside the theater and couldn't get the quotes they wanted weren't about to leave empty-handed, blocking Matthew's car and refusing to clear a path.

The journalists—or more accurately, the paparazzi—were brazen enough to hold their ground, even as the driver honked the horn.

Helen tilted her head and asked, "I hope you're ready for this?"

Matthew settled back comfortably in his seat and asked, "Ready for what? Being hounded by the press and paparazzi now that I'm famous?"

Without waiting for Helen to reply, he declared, "I've been waiting for this day for too long. To me, all this attention is a celebration."

Helen remained silent, merely glancing at him.

In response, Matthew closed his eyes, a look of deliberate pleasure spreading across his face.In truth, he was savoring the feeling.

Just a few months ago, he had to beg the media for an interview, and even then, hardly anyone paid him any mind. And now? Even when he was hidden away in a car, refusing to come out, he was still swarmed by paparazzi.

After five minutes, with the help of the security staff, the car finally broke free from the throng and slowly pulled out onto the Avenue of the Stars. Matthew turned his head to look back and saw, unsurprisingly, that cars and motorcycles were trailing them. The paparazzi weren't giving up.

A thought suddenly occurred to him, and he turned to Helen and remarked, "They must have seen you and are trying to figure out our relationship."

Helen ignored Matthew and addressed the driver, "Take me to my agency in Burbank."

The black Mercedes soon pulled over to the curb in front of the Angel Agency. Helen got out, leaving Matthew to continue the journey north alone.

Ten minutes later, Matthew was home. After a quick shower, he went up to the attic specifically to survey the surroundings. In the dim glow of the streetlights, he could just make out the cars and motorcycles parked outside his house. It seemed the paparazzi were settling in for the night and had no intention of leaving.

Matthew came down from the attic, powered on his computer, and checked Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb. Neither of which had unlocked the film's ratings yet; they would likely go live tomorrow.

As was standard industry practice, Universal Pictures had invited prominent critics to the premiere. These critics, unlike the cheerleaders at the earlier internal screenings, were relatively more impartial. And while film criticism had long since become a business, these particular individuals were scrupulous, often with an eye on their own reputations and long-term prospects.

According to Helen, these critics weren't easily bought by the studios and certainly weren't impressed by petty payoffs. Their columns and industry reputations held a certain commercial value in and of themselves.

Matthew knew perfectly well that once those critics' reviews hit the press tomorrow, the film's "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes would be updated.

As for IMDb, he hadn't made a special study of it and didn't know much about the site's scoring rules or anything of that sort.

As midnight approached, Matthew went back up to the attic to check again. He found that the paparazzi outside still hadn't left, apparently refusing to leave until they had a big story to shoot.

What these paparazzi loved to shoot were scandals and gossip, but unfortunately for them, Matthew currently had next to nothing to offer.

Britney was in Australia, and after that, she was heading to New Zealand, so she wouldn't be back in Los Angeles anytime soon.

Thinking of Britney, Matthew went downstairs and picked up his cell phone to call her. It had already been three days since they'd last spoken on the phone, and with the time difference, it was difficult for him and Britney to talk during their already limited free time.

As expected, he couldn't get through to Britney, so he typed out a text message and sent it instead.

It was getting late. After waiting for over half an hour with no reply, Matthew decided to just go to bed. Even though he didn't have to be anywhere tomorrow, he couldn't stay up too late. If he got dark circles under his eyes, it would be a problem for his media appearances over the next few days.

The next morning, after waking up, Matthew called a local shop to order breakfast for delivery and asked them to bring him all the current newspapers on the market.

When the delivery arrived, he carried the stack of newspapers into his dining room and enjoyed his breakfast while flipping through the news about "The Scorpion King."

First up were the review columns in some of the major newspapers with nationwide circulation.

After skimming through a few papers, Matthew got the general gist of the reviews. They were a mixed bag, about half positive and half negative, though the positive ones slightly outnumbered the bad.

Kenneth Turan, the critic for the Los Angeles Times, noted that "The Scorpion King" delivered plenty of sensual stimuli—cartoonish violence, harmlessly exotic eroticism, and excellent action sequences.

He also singled out Matthew for his excellent performance, calling it the most joyful aspect of the film.

In contrast, the San Francisco Chronicle panned "The Scorpion King," stating, "The script was poor, the story felt uninspired, and the dialogue wasn't quite period-appropriate."

However, the article did mention Matthew, the lead actor, in a complimentary light: "Lead actor Matthew Horner was a standout in an otherwise mediocre film; it was his smoothly defined muscles and excellent fight scenes that saved the whole thing from being a total bore."

The New York Times, one of North America's most influential papers, didn't rate the film very highly either: "The plot was one-dimensional, the settings were unimpressive, and there were no mummies or monsters. The 90-minute runtime clearly indicated this was a low-budget production that was purely a rehash of 'The Mummy' series, with its only saving grace being Matthew Horner and Kelly Hu."

The Washington Post, one of the country's three largest newspapers, gave a somewhat better review: "'The Scorpion King's' action sequences are well-crafted, and the three long takes at the beginning, middle, and end showcase the crew's ambition. Lead actor Matthew Horner perfectly captures the essence of those three long scenes and delivers several classic action set pieces."

Matthew scanned a few more papers and found that regardless of whether the film was praised or panned, the criticism aimed at him as the lead actor was minimal. Even the worst reviews conceded that he had done his job well enough.

Most newspaper reviews agreed that his presence as the leading man and his action scenes were the most notable and appealing parts of the film.

The criticism mainly focused on the film's plot and the dynamic between the protagonist and antagonist.

To be honest, Matthew agreed that the film's plot was cliché. It was typical of Stephen Sommers's style and Hollywood's common risk-averse approach.

In a purely commercial entertainment film like this, an overly convoluted or high-minded plot would have just been a hindrance.

The production team had made it clear from the very beginning that the main selling point of "The Scorpion King" was never going to be its plot.

Having finished his breakfast and perused all the newspapers, Matthew turned on his computer. Just as he'd expected, the "Fresh" rating for "The Scorpion King" was now live on Rotten Tomatoes.

The average rating, however, wasn't particularly high—a 6.2, which was just slightly above average.

Among the reviews aggregated by Rotten Tomatoes, Matthew saw one negative comment about his own performance: "Matthew's acting struck me as a bit odd; it seemed he was better at beating up bad guys than at flashing a realistic smile for the camera."

Matthew scratched his head. Then again, he did find the supposedly more complex action sequences easier to film than the emotional scenes.

Leaving Rotten Tomatoes, he went back to IMDb, found the page for "The Scorpion King," and saw that the average score for the film had not yet been calculated.

He scrolled down the page to find the user reviews and gave them a quick scan.

Compared to the professional critics, ordinary viewers were more forgiving of "The Scorpion King," and their ratings were higher.

While Matthew was holed up at home, secretly browsing the positive reviews about himself, a special FedEx truck was pulling out of a New York distribution center and heading toward a specific suburban address.

The surprising thing was that the delivery van was being followed by a dozen media vans, emblazoned with the logos of various newspapers, magazines, and television stations.