The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 342

On the last weekend of April, the plaza in front of the Century City Mall was packed with people. Summit Entertainment and Universal Pictures, along with the cast of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," were holding an open-air press conference—the final major promotional event in Los Angeles before the film's release.

A large number of Matthew's fans and Charlize's supporters had flocked to Century City from all over Los Angeles early in the morning.

...

Inside the Century City Mall, in a room specially rented by the film crew, Matthew sat down in a chair. He took the engagement ring box Helen had handed him, opened it, glanced inside, and asked, "How much did this cost?"

"The diamonds on the ring are fake," Helen replied immediately. "A thousand dollars, tops."

Matthew snapped the small box shut and asked, "Did you let Charlize know about this beforehand?"

Helen nodded, pulled up a nearby chair, and sat down. "She didn't have any comment on it," she answered.

It was a synthetic diamond, impossible to distinguish from a real one at a distance, and even up close, you couldn't tell the difference with the naked eye.

The film crew was covering the costs of the publicity stunt, so naturally, they were mindful of the budget. They weren't about to buy a real diamond ring just for one fake proposal.

Matthew put the box away, and Helen reminded him, "It's almost time. Are you ready?""It's just a proposal, isn't it?" Matthew said with a wide grin. "This may be my first time, but I've seen it done in the movies."

Helen nodded. "Just don't mess it up."

She stood up to leave. "I'm going to have a word with Goldsman."

"By the way, Helen," Matthew suddenly remembered something and lowered his voice. "Goldsman mentioned earlier that he has a new project and is interested in working with me."

"Oh?" Helen raised an eyebrow. "I'll look into it."

...

The crowd in the plaza outside the Century City Mall grew steadily. What started as a gathering of fans soon swelled, drawing in a large number of shoppers who were just passing by.

"Alright everyone, remember to scream your lungs out the second Matthew appears."

Standing near the stage, Brian Lister instructed the two dozen young people he had brought with him, "This is Matthew's last event in Los Angeles before the 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' premiere, and who knows when we'll get another chance to see him this close."

Maria, who was Brian's best friend, said, "Stop nagging, Brian."

She glanced at the teenagers around them. "We're all Matthew's fans. No one is less passionate than you are."

Brian rubbed the back of his neck and smiled. "I'm just giving you a reminder."

With that, he unzipped the large backpack on his shoulders and pulled out a thick stack of posters. "These are the posters I got for 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith.' Don't forget to hold them up when Matthew comes out."

The girl next to Maria frowned and exclaimed, "Brian, we're not idiots. Stop stating the obvious."

With Maria's help, Brian quickly handed a poster to each of the two dozen fans. When some of the onlookers saw the new posters, they came over to ask for one, and Brian happily distributed the remaining dozen or so.

After passing out the posters, Brian checked his watch. There was still some time before the press conference was scheduled to start.

"Brian," Maria asked, walking up to him, "where did you get so many posters?"

"My dad deals with people in Hollywood all the time," Brian offered an excuse. "I got them from him."

In reality, his father had brought a young, red-haired woman to see him the other day. She'd claimed to be part of Matthew's team and had asked him to organize a group of his Los Angeles fans to come and show their support today.

At his father's prompting, Brian had quickly agreed. However, Matthew's West Hollywood fan base was rather disorganized, and though Brian was considered one of its senior members and organizers, he had only managed to get in touch with two dozen people.

Yesterday, he had received a package containing the new posters.

It was only natural to cheer for Matthew, and Brian simply wanted to give his favorite star a few more supporters.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded on the stage, and Maria nudged Brian. "Look, the press is here!"

Brian looked up to see about two dozen reporters with press badges filing onto the stage and taking seats in the arranged chairs. They began setting up their cameras, making him wonder if the event would be recorded or broadcast live.

"Look!" Maria cried, pointing to a pretty girl on stage who looked no older than herself. "She's younger than me!"

Brian followed her gaze and nodded. "She looks like she's still in high school."

"Can just anyone be a journalist these days?" Maria asked, sounding quite indignant.

...

Onstage, Lily Collins sat with her notebook open, going over her prepared questions again and again. Curious glances kept coming from those around her, as if they were wondering how a minor had managed to blend in with the press corps.

But Lily didn't come from an ordinary family, and she wasn't bothered by the strange looks from the other journalists. Besides, she was a journalist now herself.

Sensing that the male reporter to her left was still staring, Lily snapped her notebook shut and looked right at him. "What are you looking at? Never seen a teenage reporter before?"

"Uh... no." The male reporter, not expecting such a fiery temperament from the girl, averted his gaze.

Lily huffed and turned her head to survey the stage, where the chairs for the cast and crew now stood empty.

"Matthew Horner, Charlize Theron," Lily muttered. "How did they even get together? The last time I interviewed Matthew, he didn't mention a thing about it."

Thinking of Matthew, Lily felt a bit frustrated. Her request for an interview had gone unanswered for a long time, and all she got was an invitation to this public press conference. It wasn't enough.

A one-on-one interview would have been much better.

Lily sighed and suddenly overheard two journalists in the row ahead of her talking about Matthew and Charlize, so she perked up her ears and listened intently.

"Do you think Matthew and Charlize have become the most talked-about stars since the Oscars?" the female reporter sitting in front and to the left asked.

The male reporter next to her replied, "I'm not sure, but it feels like last year's Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie can't even compare to these two in terms of buzz."

The female reporter said dismissively, "Don't compare that disgusting pair with Matthew and Charlize. These two are truly in love."

"Truly?" The male reporter scoffed, his tone even more contemptuous. "Do you actually believe true love exists in Hollywood? The only place you'll find sincere love between stars is in the movies."

"I still think they're really in love," the female reporter insisted, clearly having a soft spot for the couple.

The male reporter shook his head. "Given Matthew's reputation, he'd be in bed with another beautiful blonde the day after the wedding."

Hearing this, Lily grew angry and wanted to stand up, but she restrained herself, shooting the man in front of her an irritated glare.

Was there a better star in all of Hollywood than Matthew? When her principal had been bullying her, Matthew had responded to her letter for help and had actually come to her school. How many stars would do something like that for their fans?

And in Charlize's case, if Matthew hadn't stepped in, she would have been beaten by that scumbag boyfriend of hers.

What other celebrity had such a good character?

How could those two idiots compare Matthew to a couple like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie? It was foolish to even put Matthew in the same category as them.

Lily glared at the pair of journalists still talking in front of her and muttered under her breath, "Stupid pigs."

At that moment, a drumroll suddenly erupted from below the stage, followed by a cacophony of sounds and faint shouts of "Matthew" and "Charlize." Lily looked down toward the front of the stage, where posters of Matthew were raised in unison, as if the fans were acting on a single command.

She then turned and looked across the stage to see the main cast and crew of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," led by producer Akiva Goldsman, making their entrance. Matthew and Charlize walked hand in hand, occasionally leaning in to whisper in each other's ears and share a happy smile.

"The perfect couple!"

Lily heard someone to her right exclaim.

"Matthew! Matthew! Matthew!"

Immediately, the roar of voices from the crowd below began to merge, with chants of "Matthew" drowning out everything else, as if every single person there was his fan.

The cast and crew took their seats opposite the press area, and Lily got her notebook ready as the press conference began.