The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 180

As soon as the new week began, Helen hurried to the offices for the Pirates of the Caribbean team at Walt Disney headquarters to begin negotiations with Jerry Bruckheimer. Matthew, naturally, wasn't about to step into a potential verbal battleground like that; he would simply await the final outcome.

Even though Jerry Bruckheimer was an A-list producer and Pirates of the Caribbean was one of the industry's biggest productions, Helen was prepared to fight tooth and nail for her client's interests.

An agent's job was also to act as a buffer between him and the production team.

Helen had also informed him that The Scorpion King had finished its theatrical run. With a box office of $100 million in North America and $200 million worldwide, his salary as the lead in a new film was guaranteed to be in the seven-figure range.

Now that he had landed the role of Will Turner, he was looking for an assistant. Mira had returned to Los Angeles from London last week and, after getting in touch, had agreed to meet with him today to discuss the possibility.

"We've worked together twice."

In the café, Matthew looked at Mira from across the table. "Mira, I need someone familiar and trustworthy," he began. "I can't think of anyone better than you."

Mira remained silent, clearly mulling over his offer. She had worked on numerous productions as a temporary assistant for many actors, and when it came to difficult personalities and strange quirks, Matthew definitely had the fewest. He had also been the one who treated her most kindly.

Matthew asked, "Are you working right now?"

"Yes," Mira nodded. "I'm a temporary assistant on the set of Stephen Sommers's Van Helsing."It was a position, much like an actor's assistant, with low status and even lower pay within the film crew.

"What's your salary?" Matthew knew this was the deciding factor. "If you work for me, it's $2,500 a month, with a double paycheck at the end of the year. And if you ever want to join a guild or association in the future, I'll cover the membership fees."

While the offer was merely average for a Hollywood star's personal assistant, it was significantly more than what Mira had earned on the sets of The Mummy Returns and The Scorpion King.

Matthew wasn't offering an exorbitant salary, deliberately leaving room for future raises. This was a business arrangement, after all, not an act of charity.

"I'd like to ask," Mira said, seemingly moved by his generosity. "Would I be your personal assistant just while you're shooting your new film?"

"No," Matthew explained. "I'm looking for a permanent personal assistant, not a temporary one."

Mira grew thoughtful, still undecided. "I need to think about it," she said.

Matthew was patient. "When can you give me an answer?" he asked.

If his terms weren't enough for her, he would have to find someone else.

"Three days." Mira held up three fingers. "In three days."

Matthew nodded in agreement.

After talking for just half an hour, Mira took her leave. Matthew then headed to the Screen Actors Guild to pay his membership dues for the coming year. The fee was no longer a significant expense for him, but it was still a necessity.

At noon, Helen called to report that her negotiations with Jerry Bruckheimer had gone quite smoothly. They had reached a general agreement, with only a few minor details to be ironed out with another producer that afternoon. She expected the contract to be finalized by the end of the day.

This was largely because Helen and Matthew knew exactly where they stood, and because the film's budget was more than generous.

Of the terms already settled, the first and most important, naturally, was his salary for the role of Will Turner. At two million dollars, it was a fourfold increase from what he'd earned on The Scorpion King.

The salary would be paid in three installments, with no deferments beyond the standard union-mandated holds.

Next were the standard perks, like a private trailer. Major Hollywood productions were typically generous with food, accommodations, and security, and everything provided was in keeping with his status as one of the film's two male leads.

Helen had also secured the right to review and request changes to promotional posters and the film's billing. As she explained it, with three leads—one of them an Oscar winner—there would be fierce competition over marketing placement, and that kind of control had to be fought for.

On the whole, Matthew's demands hadn't been excessive. After all, he didn't yet have the clout to ask for more.

Helen also shared two other pieces of news: first, the team had officially cast seventeen-year-old British actress Keira Knightley as the female lead, Elizabeth Swann. Second, she'd learned that Johnny Depp's salary was five times his own—a full $10 million.

Johnny Depp was considered a B-list star at best, not an A-lister. He rarely appeared in purely commercial blockbusters, and his previous salaries had never come close to the ten-million-dollar mark.

As for the female lead, since Keira Knightley had just been cast, her salary wasn't public knowledge yet. Matthew made an educated guess: even by the most optimistic estimate, her pay wouldn't exceed his.

He recalled that around the same time The Scorpion King was released, a film starring Keira Knightley had come out—Bend It Like Beckham, he thought it was called—which had grossed over $10 million in North America.

However, it was a well-known fact that Hollywood had a pay gap between men and women, so she likely hadn't been paid a huge amount for that film.

That afternoon, Helen finalized Matthew's contract with the production team. On Tuesday morning, she, Matthew, and their lawyer, Wilson, hurried to the Disney headquarters to sign the contract for the role of Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean.

With that, Matthew officially joined the cast of Pirates of the Caribbean.

The terms of his contract stipulated that he was to report to the set in July to begin pre-production preparations.

To ensure Pirates of the Caribbean looked as realistic as possible, Jerry Bruckheimer had mandated a five-week training program for all actors playing pirates and members of the British fleet. To choreograph the action, the production team had hired top industry professionals, including stunt coordinator George Marshall Luger, sword master Bob Anderson, and his apprentice, Mark Ivy.

Matthew also learned that Bob Anderson, though not well-known to the public, was a legendary fencer who had been working in the industry for fifty years. He had trained Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and countless stunt performers for The Mask of Zorro, and the results spoke for themselves.

He had even trained the very fencing instructor who had taught Matthew.

While modern competitive fencing required a level of precision very different from the choreographed battles seen in movies, certain fundamentals were universal: how to hold a sword, how to attack, how to defend. These were the very basics Bob Anderson focused on teaching.

This was also precisely the core of Matthew's own training.

He was confident that once training started, he would get up to speed much faster than the other actors.

...

On the day he signed the contract, Matthew received a reply from Mira. She agreed to become his personal assistant but said it would take a few days, as she needed to give her notice on the set of Van Helsing.

Matthew was in no rush and told her she could start in July.

When Helen saw that Matthew had hired an assistant, she didn't comment. She was sharp enough to understand his reasoning.

Leaving the Disney headquarters and heading home, Matthew was in high spirits and briefly considered throwing a party to celebrate. Then he remembered he had to tell Britney about the new role. He immediately dialed her number, but there was no answer.

This was becoming a pattern. His phone calls with Britney grew less frequent, sometimes only once every three or four days. Instead of returning to Los Angeles after her overseas promotions, she had gone straight to Nashville to begin preparing for her new tour.

Matthew sensed a growing distance between them, but he had been too busy with auditions for Pirates of the Caribbean to fly out to Nashville.

They had barely seen each other in the past six months.

He called her a few more times and sent a text, but still received no response.

His celebratory mood vanished. Forgetting about a party, he simply called and booked a flight to Nashville. He had to see Britney before leaving for the Pirates of the Caribbean shoot.

Around eight that evening, a text from Britney finally came through: "I'm in rehearsals, getting ready for the tour. Can't answer calls."

Matthew tapped out a reply, letting Britney know he was flying to Nashville on Thursday.

He made sure to call Helen and give her his itinerary in case anything unforeseen came up. Helen knew about his relationship with Britney and didn't say much, only urging him to be back in Los Angeles by July and not to neglect his commitments.

Early Thursday morning, Matthew boarded a plane at Los Angeles International Airport, bound for the nation's famous music capital.