The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 313

Standing behind the barrier of the film set, Stuart kept his hands stuffed in his pockets. Not a hint of a smile touched his pale, brooding face—for some time now, he'd been grappling with a growing unease on film sets, stung by overheard whispers like "just the Oscar winner's boyfriend," "a total failure," and so on.

It was deeply hurtful, but he couldn't argue with it.

Compared to Charlize, he was an actor with no fame and no significant roles to his name.

Stuart recalled that when he first met Charlize, they were both up-and-coming actors with promising futures. Who would have thought that just a few years later, the gap between them would grow so vast?

It was a difficult reality to accept.

It wasn't as if the industry hadn't seen similar couples, like Julia Roberts and her fiancé from a few years back, who eventually broke up.

Stuart could have chosen to break up with Charlize, but the thought of the house, the car, and most of their daily expenses—all covered by Charlize—immediately squashed that idea.

His hopes of landing a new role and turning his life around were also tied to Charlize, who had recently put him up for several parts.

If he left her, all those opportunities would vanish, and he'd never be able to turn his career around.

More importantly, his quality of life would plummet by several notches from what it was now.It was a good thing Charlize was head over heels in love with him...

Just as these thoughts were swirling in Stuart's mind, a voice spoke up beside him.

"Hello." He turned his head and saw a female reporter with blonde hair, who asked, "Are you Mr. Stuart Townsend, Charlize Theron's boyfriend?"

Stuart recognized her as a member of the paparazzi and quickly nodded in response. "Yes, that's me. I'm Stuart."

He wiped the gloom from his face and forced a smile for the camera lens behind the reporter.

The blonde reporter asked politely, "Mr. Townsend, I'm so glad I ran into you. May I ask you a few questions?"

Stuart couldn't remember the last time a journalist had interviewed him. Flattered by her tone, he nodded. "Yes, feel free to ask."

"Thank you." The reporter remained polite, but her question was anything but pleasant. "Mr. Townsend, has Ms. Charlize Theron's Oscar win for Best Actress put a lot of pressure on you?"

The smile vanished from Stuart's face instantly, but he still managed to reply, "No, I'm happy and very proud of her."

The reporter then asked, "What do you think of the term 'just the Oscar-winner's boyfriend'?"

The question struck a nerve, and anger flared within him.

However, having worked in Hollywood for many years, Stuart knew how to hold his tongue and understood he needed to deflect the question.

But the blonde reporter didn't let him off the hook and pressed on. "We have information that Ms. Theron pays for your living expenses, including the house you live in and the car you currently drive. As a man, do you find that appropriate?"

The words stung even more sharply than before. If her previous question had only poked at a sensitive spot, this one ripped open a wound he would never admit to having.

Trying to keep the anger from his face, Stuart replied with what he hoped was a casual tone, "The information you have is false."

After saying this, he glanced at the reporter and the cameraman behind her. To prevent her from asking any more uncomfortable questions, he simply stepped over the barrier set up by the film crew and tried to walk onto the set.

"Stop right there."

A crew member, who clearly didn't recognize Stuart, approached and stopped him. "They're filming here. Please stay behind the barrier."

Stuart had to stop and look back. The reporter was still standing nearby, and the camera behind her was still rolling. It was as if they had been waiting for this exact awkward moment.

"You don't know who I am?" Stuart's voice rose involuntarily as he pointed at himself in frustration. "I'm Stuart Townsend!"

"Stuart Townsend?" The newly hired crewman didn't recognize him at all and muttered quietly, though loud enough for Stuart and the reporter to hear, "Is he supposed to be famous?"

Faced with such an idiot, Stuart was at a loss for words, his lungs feeling ready to burst with anger.

He spun around, pointed at the reporter, and snapped, "That's enough! Stop filming!"

As a professional paparazzi affiliated with TMZ, she wasn't about to listen to Stuart.

The reporter merely smiled at him, a smile that Stuart was certain was filled with mockery and contempt.

The crewman warned, "Look, this area is temporarily leased by the production, so if you trespass, I'll have to get security to remove you."

"Why, you..." Stuart began indignantly, speechless for a moment.

"This is a hundred-million-dollar blockbuster starring A-listers like Matthew Horner and Charlize Theron," the crewman cut him off, scowling at Stuart. "If you ruin a shot, it's my neck on the line, so please, step back behind the barrier."

Stuart was so angry and humiliated that all he could do was shout, "I'm Charlize's boyfriend, and I'm here to see her!"

The crewman's eyes widened in disbelief. "Charlize Theron's boyfriend?"

He scoffed. "Nice try, buddy, but that's not gonna work. Don't say I didn't give you a chance to leave peacefully."

First the reporter, now a common crew member—no one took him seriously. Stuart truly felt the sting of being a small-time actor.

The argument soon attracted the attention of an official security guard, who walked over and asked, "What's going on?"

Then he saw Stuart and said hurriedly, "Hello, Mr. Townsend. Are you here to see Ms. Theron?"

When the crewman heard this, his eyes widened, and he hastily stepped aside.

Seething with humiliation, Stuart wanted to say a lot of things to that fool, but knowing the camera was still on him, he forced himself to stay silent. The guard led him to a trailer on the outer edge of the set, but he couldn't go any further.

"I'm sorry," the guard said with a smile. "They're in the middle of a take, and the director, Doug Liman, gave orders not to let any outsiders on set."

Stuart wasn't a Hollywood outsider. He knew directors hated having outside elements interfere with filming, so he waited patiently.

Although Stuart couldn't get past the trailer to escape the sight of those two damn reporters, he felt much calmer now that he didn't have to answer their cursed questions.

He glanced back and was surprised to see that the two bastard reporters still hadn't left.

Stuart stood there shaking his head in frustration, fires of resentment burning in his heart that he couldn't extinguish. He began to pace back and forth.

As a grown man, Stuart wasn't so foolish that he couldn't recognize the indifference and contempt coming from the journalist, the crewman, and even the security guard.

No one took him seriously. No one took the name Stuart Townsend seriously. His only label was "just the Oscar winner's boyfriend," and that label frustrated him to no end.

"Should we go grab a coffee?"

Behind the barrier, the male cameraman asked the blonde reporter, "We can't get in, anyway."

The blonde, still watching Stuart, replied, "We can't leave. Our job is to follow him, interview him, and film whatever happens around him."

The cameraman kept filming as he asked curiously, "It's weird. Why does the boss want us to follow this guy? He's not a star."

"Are you that stupid?" The woman shot him a look of utter contempt. "Who is Stuart's girlfriend? Charlize Theron! An Oscar winner!"

She glared at Stuart. "You think I want to be stuck tailing this loser?"

She grumbled, "But if we can get a rise out of him, or catch him having a meltdown, it could be a big story."

They chatted while watching Stuart, who, presumably because of filming rules, couldn't go inside and was forced to pace back and forth on the perimeter of the set.

After a while, the faint sound of a megaphone came from the set, and the blonde woman, after a moment of careful observation, said, "Looks like the crew has stopped filming."

Then the cameraman exclaimed, "Look, Charlize is coming out."

The reporter also saw Charlize, who emerged from behind the trailer and headed toward Stuart, waving as she walked.

At the same time, she noticed Matthew Horner, who had also come off the set and was standing around the corner of the trailer, looking like he was talking on the phone.