The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 361

The moment Keira started to speak, Matthew already understood what she was getting at, so he simply let her speak.

"Bill Nighy is auditioning for the role of Davy Jones."

The room was empty at the moment, which made it the right time for her to explain, "He’s a friend of my parents and he sought me out, so I couldn’t refuse."

The name was familiar to Matthew. He wondered, isn't that the man who played Davy Jones?

When Matthew didn't immediately respond, Keira added, "It's the final round of auditions for Davy Jones. Ian Gray, Jim Broadbent, and Richard E. Grant are all candidates, along with Bill Nighy, who isn't feeling very confident about his chances."

Matthew had already mulled it over. Since this was the final round of auditions, he reasoned that Bill Nighy must at least fit the production's criteria for the role.

"What do you need me to do?" Matthew asked.

Keira replied, "I'm going to speak with Director Gore Verbinski and Mustafi, the casting director. I think Bill's chances of getting the part will be much higher if you talk to them as well."

Not long ago, the core production team of Pirates of the Caribbean had weathered a fierce power struggle between producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski, a conflict that was only temporarily resolved thanks to mediation from Disney Pictures.

However, when The Curse of the Black Pearl became a massive hit, director Gore Verbinski’s influence was bound to grow. In the end, Jerry Bruckheimer conceded to Disney Pictures' mediation, and the casting of new characters was largely left to Verbinski's discretion. The original casting director was even replaced by a candidate Gore himself had recommended.This also had to do with the failure of King Arthur, an epic that had flopped at the box office, making Disney Pictures a bit less enchanted by Jerry Bruckheimer's signature as a "golden producer."

If it weren't for the failure of King Arthur, Disney Pictures would have certainly reined in Gore Verbinski from the start.

Matthew had been following the key players and had a fairly complete understanding of the production's internal dynamics.

The male lead, plus the female lead, both approaching Director Gore Verbinski... that should be more than enough to sway him.

Their sway might be less decisive for a role as crucial as Davy Jones, but then again, it was a first-rate part, and their input would surely be valuable.

"Alright," Matthew agreed. "I'll speak with Gore and the casting director."

In any case, he wasn't guaranteeing any particular outcome.

Keira smiled. "I'll treat you to a drink sometime."

"That's not necessary," Matthew said, then paused for a moment. "But there is something I'd like to ask of you, too."

He explained, "Helen has a client named Eva Green."

"The name sounds familiar," Keira said, certain she'd heard it somewhere before.

"She was the female lead in Bernardo Bertolucci's film, The Dreamers," Matthew explained. He had tracked down the movie after the Kingdom of Heaven premiere, and a scene where Eva Green recreated the Venus de Milo had impressed him. "After that, she came to Hollywood to build her career and was cast as the female lead in Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven."

Matthew leaned back in his chair. "The failure of Kingdom of Heaven hit her career hard. She couldn't find work for a while, so Helen advised her to come here and audition for the witch role."

He said simply, "When you talk to Gore Verbinski and the casting director, mention Eva."

"Of course," Keira replied without hesitation.

Then, her curiosity piqued, she asked, "This Eva Green isn't some secret girlfriend of yours, is she?"

"What are you thinking about?" Matthew chuckled. "There's nothing going on with Eva. I'm just doing Helen a favor."

Keira believed him. After all, it wasn't unusual in the industry for star actors to help out their agents when they could.

The conference room door opened again, and people began to file in one by one. Most of them were familiar faces from the main cast and crew, people they had worked with before, like Geoffrey Rush, who was set to play Captain Barbossa.

Next, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski entered, one after the other.

The last to arrive was Johnny Depp. Captain Jack Sparrow himself looked like he hadn't quite woken up yet, his eyes narrowed to slits.

He sat down next to Matthew right away and greeted him and Keira. The three of them, along with Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski, formed the core power structure of the film.

"Party last night?" Matthew murmured to Depp. "Why didn't you give me a call?"

Depp seemed to be channeling an early-morning Jack Sparrow, his voice raspy as he replied, "No party. I just flew in from France last night."

"The prodigal son returns at last," Keira remarked.

It was common knowledge that Depp's move to France was entirely his French girlfriend Vanessa's idea.

The three of them huddled together, murmuring quietly, while the others kept their distance, not forming their own groups. The trio had formed a tight-knit clique within the cast and crew during the filming of The Curse of the Black Pearl.

After a few minutes, Matthew noticed Depp had leaned back in his chair and dozed off. Even though Depp now owned a private jet, the long flight and the jet lag were still torture, especially since he wasn't in the best of health.

Matthew had crossed swords with Depp countless times during the last film, so he knew firsthand that Depp's body was, to put it mildly, not in peak condition thanks to his various indulgences.

At the head of the conference table, Jerry Bruckheimer had already started discussing some key production points. Depp was still sound asleep, and Matthew had no intention of waking him. As the number one star of the cast and the face of the wildly popular Captain Jack Sparrow, Depp had earned that privilege.

In fact, no one would have dared disturb him or Keira if they had dozed off either.

To put it mildly, the collective power of the three main actors in the making of these two sequels was so great that them ganging up to strong-arm director Gore Verbinski wasn't an impossibility; they just wouldn't do something like that without good cause.

Matthew listened for a while as Jerry Bruckheimer went over the production plans, which mostly consisted of logistics: location scenes would be shot in the Dominican Republic, they would be respectful of local customs, and so on.

Frankly, these meetings were often quite dull, but the good news was they never lasted too long. Forty minutes later, it was over.

"Wake up, Depp."

Matthew spoke to Depp as he saw Jerry Bruckheimer and Gore Verbinski leaving the conference room one after the other.

Depp rubbed his eyes. "Is it over?" he asked.

Matthew nodded.

Depp got to his feet. "I'll buy you a drink sometime. Right now, I just want to go home."

"Don't drive yourself," Matthew advised.

"My driver brought me here." With that, Depp was gone.

Once the conference room had mostly cleared out, Matthew turned to Keira. "Are you going to see Gore first?"

"Yes." Keira glanced at her watch. "Come by in about fifteen minutes."

Matthew nodded. After Keira left, he waited fifteen minutes before heading first to Gore Verbinski's office, and then to the office of Mustafi, the casting director.

Everything went as expected. Gore Verbinski didn't make any firm commitments, but he did mention that as long as their auditions weren't terrible, they would be given priority.

An arrangement like that would benefit Bill Nighy and Eva Green at the expense of the other candidates.