The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 231

Even if no critics announced their attendance, Disney Studios would make sure to invite a few of the most famous critics who were on good terms with the company. Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper, for example, had deep connections with the Walt Disney Group.

Their joint film review show, Ebert & Roeper, was originally syndicated by a Walt Disney-owned network. After Disney acquired ABC Television, their collaboration became even more frequent. Every year, Roger and Richard were featured on two of ABC's most prestigious Oscar night specials: Oscar Night: The Guests and Oscar Night: The Winners.

This partnership with ABC only served to further solidify Roger and Richard's standing in the world of film criticism.

So, for anyone even remotely in the know, their appearance at the premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was hardly a surprise.

In truth, it was easy to see how, without the backing of powerful media platforms, even the sharpest film critic could be rendered powerless and irrelevant.

"A muscle-bound hero, a high-society lady, and an eccentric," Richard whispered. "Heaven only knows what they've managed to cook up with that combination."

He shook his head. "Even Michael Eisner was convinced this would be a disaster."

Roger gave a slight nod, largely agreeing with Richard's assessment. He wasn't optimistic about the film either; if not for Jerry Bruckheimer's name attached as producer, he would have had no faith in it whatsoever.

The movie's subject matter—the long-dead pirate genre—was a major red flag. The director, Gore Verbinski, had never helmed a top-tier production, and the three leads had limited box-office appeal. None of it inspired much confidence.

Matthew Horner and Keira Knightley were relative unknowns. The most famous of the trio, Johnny Depp, was an eccentric who had consistently avoided mainstream movies, preferring to follow Tim Burton down the rabbit hole of indie cinema. He had never truly proven himself as a commercial draw.Could three actors like that really carry a blockbuster?

It was hard to say for sure, but Roger remained skeptical.

As the film began, his doubts seemed to be quickly confirmed.

The film opened with a brief flashback to Elizabeth and Will's first meeting as children before transitioning to their adult lives. As the grown Elizabeth Swann and Will Turner appeared on screen together for the first time, a collective sigh and a wave of whispers rippled through the audience.

"Wow, he's so handsome."

"So romantic!"

"They're made for each other."

The audience in the back rows was instantly captivated by the sight of Elizabeth and Will Turner.

Everyone loves a handsome man and a beautiful woman, and Roger was no exception. He had to admit, even in a classic gentleman's suit, Matthew Horner radiated a rugged, untamed masculinity. Keira Knightley, with her classic, ethereal grace, was the very picture of an English noblewoman.

Individually, both were undeniably attractive, in looks as well as in their on-screen presence.

But what in the world was going on between the two characters, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann? Was this supposed to be affection? Was this love? An English gentleman and a noble lady—is that how they were meant to express their feelings? Their eyes were completely vacant!

On screen, the two of them looked like they were just impatiently waiting for a sex scene to begin, as if the only thing they found interesting about each other was their physical forms.

Roger shook his head in disappointment and whispered, "The hero and heroine have zero chemistry. There's no connection between them at all."

Richard had noticed it too and stated bluntly, "Mediocre acting. They're just two pretty vases, nothing more."

Unlike the two critics, the rest of the audience was glued to the screen.

Maria, her long hair now dyed platinum blonde, covered her face with her hands as she gazed at Matthew on screen. Brian, sitting beside her, watched with rapt attention. All around them, the crowd seemed utterly enchanted by the film's heroes.

"Those two are perfect for each other." Many in the audience were recalling the recent gossip. "No wonder they started dating in real life."

Audiences are always forgiving when it comes to beautiful people on screen. As long as the leads were attractive, few cared if the chemistry between them wasn't quite right. Who would complain about getting to look at pretty people?

Of course, if an actress wasn't a conventional beauty but was still cast as the "pretty vase" in a commercial blockbuster—and failed to perform that simple role adequately—she would be savaged by audiences for being useless, even if she had an Oscar on her shelf.

Why does the "Best Actress" Oscar so often seem to be a curse?

For one thing, an Oscar represents the absolute pinnacle of achievement, and audiences inevitably grow tired of seeing the same faces after they win the coveted golden statuette.

On the other hand, most modern Best Actress winners aren't exactly household names. With the rare exception of someone like Julia Roberts, most haven't proven their box-office draw by the time they receive the award. This means they haven't made huge profits for the studios.

An Oscar campaign is incredibly expensive. So, to recoup the costs and cash in on their newfound fame, most winners pivot to purely commercial films. But in Hollywood blockbusters, there are precious few complex female roles. Most are purely decorative, requiring little more than playing the part of a ditzy blonde.

Ninety percent of Oscar-winning actresses are so adept at playing complex characters that the simplest "pretty vase" role becomes their Waterloo.

It's ironic, really. The stuffy members of the Academy and the high-minded critics champion these great actors, only to discover that they can't handle the most basic of roles.

...

Roger kept frowning until the second male lead, Jack Sparrow, made his entrance. Suddenly, something clicked.

This pirate was something else entirely. Hollywood had never seen anything like him. The moment he appeared on screen, Johnny Depp stole the show. The other two leads combined couldn't hold a candle to him.

"Helen, something feels wrong here," Amanda said in astonishment, watching Jack Sparrow cause chaos at the docks. "This character is so captivating that he's completely overshadowing Matthew and Knightley."

Sure, Matthew was handsome and cool, and he executed a few impressive moves when delivering the sword to the governor, but his performance paled in comparison to Captain Jack Sparrow's antics at the docks.

Helen maintained a calm exterior, but the hands clasped in her lap were trembling slightly. This was the first time she had seen the final cut. The initial scene with Matthew and Keira Knightley had been a stunning reveal of their star power, but the moment Johnny Depp appeared, the film became The Captain Jack Sparrow Show.

Despite her composure, she couldn't stop a knot of worry from tightening in her stomach.

If this dynamic between the three leads continued, Matthew would effectively be relegated from a leading man to a supporting actor. When it came time to negotiate for sequels, his salary would hardly see a significant jump. Even if the movie was a massive success, his role as a protagonist would be a miserable failure, and he'd struggle to break onto the B-list.

Amanda, as a casual moviegoer, wasn't thinking in such detail. All she saw was that Captain Jack Sparrow, the last to appear, was the true protagonist, while Matthew and the British actress were merely set dressing for his grand entrance.

"I see now," Richard murmured to Roger. "It's a fairly standard trick—use two generic supporting characters to make the main hero, the captain, stand out."

Roger nodded slightly. "It seems there's a disconnect between the film's marketing and the actual content."

If the pirate captain was the undeniable protagonist and the other two were merely his sidekicks—one lead with two supporting players—then those supporting characters needed to be more conventional. Otherwise, they would risk upstaging the main hero, which would be a disaster for the film.

From the moment Captain Jack Sparrow swooped in to save Elizabeth Swann to the scene where he swaggered into the blacksmith's forge, the audience was completely captivated by his magnetic performance. No one was paying attention to Will Turner or Elizabeth Swann anymore—not even devoted Matthew fans like Brian and Maria.

The captain's charisma was simply overwhelming, and even Matthew, sitting in the front row, had to admit it.

Michael Eisner had claimed that Depp was ruining the part, but the opposite was true. Depp had landed the role that would define his career, a character that perfectly showcased his eccentric talents. In Captain Jack Sparrow, the unique role had found its perfect actor.

People often say the role makes the actor, but Captain Jack Sparrow and Johnny Depp were living proof of the reverse.

In Matthew's opinion, the moment Pirates of the Caribbean was released, Johnny Depp became Captain Jack Sparrow, and from that point on, Johnny Depp was Captain Jack Sparrow.

In that regard, Depp was both fortunate and cursed.

After all, without some extraordinary opportunity, Johnny Depp would be typecast as Captain Jack Sparrow for the rest of his life.

It was inevitable that Jack Sparrow would be a breakout success.

But he knew that Will Turner wasn't completely overshadowed by Jack Sparrow. The dynamic would shift as the film progressed, because Will Turner's action scenes hadn't even started yet.

Will Turner's character was defined by his many action sequences. That was Matthew's ace in the hole, the one thing that would allow him to compete with Depp for the audience's attention.