The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 184: Success

Matthew was relaxing in the break room, half-watching the television, when Keira Knightley appeared with a bottle of water and slid into the seat next to him.

"I just saw Gore Verbinski."

Even though she only came in twice a week, she was a friendly, outgoing person, and Keira Knightley already knew Matthew fairly well. "He was with Jerry Bruckheimer," she added.

Matthew had never met Gore Verbinski before and asked curiously, "Where is he?"

Keira Knightley took a long sip from her water bottle before answering. "They were just leaving as I was coming over."

She asked Matthew, "He's a bit mysterious, isn't he?"

"Not really," Matthew explained. "My agent told me he's working on a horror movie called The Ring, so he hasn't been around much."

"I've heard about that one." Keira, flushed from her workout, fanned her face with one hand. "The lead actress... wasn't she the one David Lynch cast in Mulholland Drive? Naomi Watts, I think."

A dreamy, almost starstruck look came over her face, and a faint blush colored her cheeks. "When will I ever get to be in a David Lynch film? He's so..."

"Keira," Matthew cut in, a little sheepishly, breaking her reverie. "Who's David Lynch?""You..." Keira's eyes widened, and she bit her lip in disbelief. "You don't know who David Lynch is?"

Matthew just shrugged. "There are a lot of directors in Hollywood. I can't be expected to know all of them."

Keira seemed at a loss for words. After a moment, she managed, "Are you from another planet?"

"Is he famous?" Matthew asked, ignoring her jab. "More famous than Michael Bay?"

"Michael Bay?" Keira buried her face in her hands, as if mortified by his ignorance. "Are you seriously comparing Michael Bay to David Lynch?"

Matthew was baffled into silence.

Keira, who wasn't even eighteen yet, had the fiery impatience of youth. The idea that someone wouldn't know her favorite arthouse director was too much. "Forget it. I'm not talking to you."

She huffed and took a defiant swig from her water bottle.

Matthew paid her outburst no mind. He was a grown man; why would he get worked up over a seventeen-year-old's tantrum? He turned his attention back to the show on television.

After a few minutes, he noticed Johnny Depp had returned and, for some reason, had changed into his Captain Jack Sparrow costume. His hair wasn't styled and he wore no makeup, but the iconic tricorn hat was pulled low over his forehead. Suddenly, the Captain Jack Sparrow that Matthew remembered from the movies was right there before him.

Depp found an empty space in the room and began to mutter to himself, shuffling and staggering around as he tried to find his way into the character of Captain Sparrow.

Matthew vaguely recalled reading somewhere that some actors get so deep into a role they lose their minds. While he had never come close to that state himself, it looked like Johnny Depp was well on his way.

"Matthew."

Keira, who had been pouting, noticed Depp as well. Her annoyance forgotten in an instant, she leaned in and whispered, "Why is he staggering and swaying like that?"

Matthew answered without a second thought. "It's in the script. He's supposed to be drunk."

Keira fell silent for a moment, processing his answer. Then she started up again. "Hey, did you know about the whole thing with Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder?"

Matthew shrugged. "How would I know?"

"It's such a shame. A real shame." Young enough to be obsessed with celebrity gossip, Keira sighed dramatically. "When I heard about their breakup, I felt like I couldn't believe in love anymore."

Hearing that, Matthew couldn't help but think of Britney.

Keira was still on a roll. "But the one who really had it rough was Winona Ryder. They say that after she and Depp broke up..."

She glanced over at Matthew and saw he was lost in thought. She waved a hand in front of his face, annoyed. "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Matthew snapped back to the present. "I'm listening, Keira."

He prompted, "What was it that happened to Winona Ryder?"

The Winona Ryder he remembered was no saint, but then again, finding a true innocent in Hollywood was about as likely as stepping outside the studio and finding cash raining from the sky.

"She was devastated by the breakup, but she still tried to play matchmaker for other people," Keira continued. "You know Christian Bale?"

Matthew nodded. "I've heard of him."

Keira was a walking encyclopedia of gossip. "She's the one who introduced Christian Bale to his wife, Sandra Blazic."

Matthew, who couldn't care less, asked flatly, "Is that right?"

"Of course!" Keira's enthusiasm only grew at his response. "Sandra Blazic was Winona Ryder's personal assistant. Winona introduced them when she was working with Bale on the set of Little Women."

"Wow." Matthew gave her a thumbs-up dripping with false enthusiasm. "You really know your stuff, Keira."

She reminded him of James McAvoy—another walking encyclopedia—but while James was interested in everything, Keira's specialty was clearly industry gossip.

Keira declared, looking quite pleased with herself, "That's right."

She added, "I still feel bad for Winona Ryder, though. I can't believe she got caught shoplifting."

"What?" Matthew turned to her in surprise. "She stole something?"

"You didn't know?" Keira launched into the story. "Last year, Winona was arrested for shoplifting. She cut the security tags off more than four thousand dollars' worth of clothes and accessories and stuffed them in her bag at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills. The whole thing was caught on surveillance video. In the end, the court sentenced her to three years' probation, sixty days of community service, and a ten-thousand-dollar fine."

She asked, "It was all over the news. Didn't you see it?"

"No." Matthew figured he must have been too busy with filming at the time to pay attention to the news.

Did the NDA they signed become void when Winona's shoplifting addiction came to light? No, probably not. In any case, that was all in the past.