The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 193

The sun sank toward the west, leaving only a few people on the island: a British gentleman in a half-unbuttoned shirt, a grimy pirate, and a young woman in a dress. They sat on the beach, each with a glass in hand, laughing and talking as they savored their drinks.

"This is a pretty good drink," Keira remarked, taking another sip from her glass. "It's the first time I've had whiskey that tastes so pleasant."

It was clear this wasn't her first time drinking.

Matthew swirled the glass in his hand. "Depp, you really came prepared. You even had your assistant bring glasses."

Depp didn't answer. He opened another bottle of tequila, pulled three fresh glasses from a box in front of him, set them on the sand, and poured a small measure for each. In the voice of Captain Jack Sparrow, he announced, "Here, try some Mexican tequila."

Matthew raised his glass and took a sip. He’d had tequila before and found it more than agreeable. Keira, however, took one taste and immediately spat it out.

"What is that taste?" she exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand. "It's so strange."

Unlike the smooth brandy, the tequila had a harsh kick.

"Will, Elizabeth," Depp, who seemed to have fully merged with Captain Jack Sparrow, raised his glass to Matthew and Keira Knightley. "To our fantastic adventure!"

Matthew and Keira raised their glasses as well. "To adventure!"Soon, their glasses were empty, and Keira couldn't suppress a hiccup.

Matthew glanced at her. "Drunk?"

Keira snorted. "Like you're sober."

She gave up on the tequila, instead pouring herself half a glass of whiskey. She then filled Matthew's and Depp's glasses, declaring, "No one's going home until they're good and drunk."

Getting properly drunk was out of the question. With only five or six people left on the island, a speedboat soon pulled up, and a crew member came over to tell them it was time to leave. Matthew and Depp were still sober, but Keira was noticeably tipsy, shouting for them to keep drinking.

Matthew half-dragged her onto the speedboat. As soon as they cast off, the fresh sea breeze hit her, and she slumped onto the rearmost seat, drifting off.

There was plenty of room for the five or six of them to sit apart from each other. The sun had nearly set, and the wind was stronger than it had been that morning. Feeling the effects of the alcohol himself, Matthew sat down on the seat in front of her and began to drowse.

Soon, the sun dipped below the horizon. Opening his eyes, Matthew saw that the water seemed to be rising.

"High tide!" someone from the driver's seat at the front of the boat called out as a warning. "Be careful!"

The speaker was an assistant producer from the film crew, specializing in logistics, and was the one who had coordinated all the yachts and speedboats.

"Don't worry," the boat's driver said in heavily accented English. "There aren't many rocks in these waters, no need to worry."

As the sea level rose, rocks that were once exposed above the surface became treacherous submerged reefs. The driver slowed the boat considerably to avoid any accidents.

Matthew closed his eyes again, but just as he was about to fall asleep, the speedboat lurched violently. His eyes snapped open reflexively as he grabbed the side of the boat, which had veered off its original course and swerved sharply before grinding to a halt.

"A reef! We hit a reef!" Panicked shouts erupted immediately.

The jolt had fully woken Matthew. From behind him came Keira's dazed voice, "What happened? What's going on?"

Matthew turned to look back and saw her covering her head, apparently having bumped it in the collision. She looked completely bewildered.

"Don't panic!" the driver, remaining relatively calm, asked. "Where's the leak?"

Meanwhile, Matthew glanced at Depp, wondering if he was too drunk to notice or simply in a daze. He was sitting calmly in the seat beside him, his eyes narrowed, his face an unreadable mask.

"Here!" someone in the back exclaimed. "There's water coming in over here!"

Hearing that, more panicked voices rose from the boat.

The boat was ten meters long. Matthew went to take a look and saw that the leak wasn't severe; water was only seeping in slowly. He couldn't help but feel a wave of relief, knowing the boat wouldn't sink for some time.

But something was wrong with the engine. After the driver inspected the damage, he managed to restart the speedboat, but it could now only crawl along at a pace slower than a person jogging. Still, it was enough to keep the tide from carrying them off in an unknown direction or crashing them into another reef.

"We won't make it to shore, will we?" Keira came up from behind and grabbed Matthew's arm. "We're not... we're not going to sink to the bottom of the sea, are we?"

Matthew glanced at her. Keira had just hit her head, and the left side of her temple was red. He couldn't help but take her hand reassuringly. "It's okay. Someone will be here to help us soon."

Although the sun had set, the sky was still light, and they were clearly visible on the water. As long as the boat didn't sink, they would be fine.

Being under eighteen, Keira was still a girl and understandably anxious, especially since she had been sitting alone in the back row. She squeezed in between Matthew and Depp.

She grabbed Matthew with one hand and reached for Depp with the other, but after a single glance at Depp's thin frame, her hand retreated to grip Matthew's arm even more tightly.

Matthew could feel Keira squeezing his arm so hard it was starting to get uncomfortable.

"It's all right," Matthew assured her again. "Help will be here soon." As he spoke, he glanced back at the faintly visible island, calculating whether he could swim to it and wait for rescue if the boat did go under.

"What's wrong?" Depp seemed to have just woken up, looking utterly bewildered. He glanced around. "Why have we stopped? Are we planning to spend the night in the Caribbean? Don't be ridiculous, the Flying Dutchman will be here any minute."

The Flying Dutchman was a ghost ship that had been a part of maritime lore since the 17th century. Legend had it that anyone who encountered it would never return home.

Every actor and crew member had surely heard of the Flying Dutchman.

Keira couldn't help but press even closer to Matthew. He looked over at Depp, who seemed to exist in a world of his own, and asked, "Depp, what did you take besides the alcohol?"

Depp let out a strange laugh and magically produced a bottle of whiskey from beside his seat. He unscrewed the cap, took a long swig directly from the neck, and then offered the bottle over. "Want some?"

Keira shook her head, but Matthew took the bottle and had a drink himself. "Yeah," he said, "this is definitely the good stuff."

He continued to drink nonchalantly, because he could hear the distinct sound of a motor in the distance.

...

Soon, two small speedboats appeared. Jerry Bruckheimer, who hadn't left his yacht, had come over himself with a rescue team.

In the end, it was nothing more than a scare.

Matthew was fine; everything was fine. After all, the situation had never been truly dangerous.

Keira, however, was more troubled. She was clearly in shock.

Continuing to film after such an incident was impossible. Soon, Depp's and Keira's agents arrived on set, as did Helen, who had been staying in Acapulco.

Nothing serious had happened, so the production company offered appropriate compensation. Matthew received an additional bonus of $300,000. He didn't know how much the other two got.

He figured Depp would get more, while Keira would receive about the same as him.

The crew deliberately changed the shooting schedule to give the three of them five days off. Depp returned to Los Angeles, Matthew simply stayed in Acapulco, and Keira, not wanting to go back to her mother in England, remained as well.

Keira had known how to swim, but not very well. After the incident, she decided she needed some practice.

Matthew boasted about his excellent swimming skills and smoothly appointed himself as Keira's swimming instructor.

But when it came time for her first lesson, she refused to get in the water.

"Are you here to practice swimming, or just to enjoy the view?"

On the beach, Matthew, clad in swim trunks, walked alongside Keira at the water's edge. Keira pouted and pointed at the chest of her one-piece swimsuit. "I've been traumatized. Just seeing the ocean water makes my head spin. I'm not like you. I need to work through my psychological issues first."

She adjusted her swimsuit, and Matthew unconsciously glanced at her chest.

Keira caught his gaze. "Don't look at me so lecherously."

"Lecherously?" Matthew scoffed contemptuously, glancing at Keira's chest again before puffing out his own to make his pectoral muscles more prominent. "Your chest isn't even as big as mine. You think I'd be looking at you?"

Keira was about to retort, but when she saw Matthew's magnificent pecs, she fell silent.

A moment passed before she said sarcastically, "Your chest size must be a B-cup."

Hearing her jab, Matthew deliberately tilted his head and asked, "Well then, Keira. Let me ask you, do you even have an A-cup?"