The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 381

"Who's the most influential group in Hollywood?"

In the studio lounge, when Eva Green posed the question, Matthew answered without hesitation. "Definitely not us actors."

Eva, dressed in the costume of a medieval witch, asked with genuine curiosity, "Then who is it?"

From the set, the call to begin filming echoed through the studio. Matthew glanced over as Depp started running in front of a green screen, a group of pursuers dressed just as bizarrely as Captain Jack Sparrow hot on his heels.

Eva glanced over as well. Having joined the set for the final two days of shooting, she was struck by the stark difference from her experience on "Kingdom of Heaven." Matthew and Depp were clearly at the top of the food chain here. Director Gore Verbinski treated them with such deference that she'd even heard a rumor they had once teamed up to force a script change, leaving both Verbinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer with no choice but to compromise.

She was certain that Matthew and Depp were, without a doubt, part of Hollywood's highest echelon.

Individually, perhaps one of them might not have held enough sway over the production, but the two were obviously close friends and saw eye-to-eye on most matters.

Just then, the scene on set wrapped up. Eva picked up where she had left off. "When actors step in front of the camera, no one can ignore them."

"I agree." Matthew gave a gentle nod, acknowledging her point, before adding, "But Hollywood, at its core, is a producer-driven system. If you had to single out one group, besides the powerful investors who fund the movies, the Producers Guild of America is the most significant one."

He reminded her, "Eva, in Hollywood, you have the actors' guild, the directors' guild, the writers' guild, the cinematographers' guild, and so on. But it's the Producers Guild that all the strikes, grievances, and negotiations are aimed at."Eva, who had studied at New York University, immediately grasped his meaning. "The Producers Guild represents the interests of the capitalists," she said.

"Bingo!" Matthew snapped his fingers. "We're all just the poor working class, getting squeezed and exploited by them."

That made Eva laugh. "Matthew, if you can be considered working class, does that make actors like me proletarians?"

Matthew smiled back. "A proletarian has no career ladder to fall from."

Suddenly, footsteps sounded from behind and to his left. Matthew didn't even need to turn around to know it was Keira.

"The blacksmith and the witch," a British accent chimed in. "Quite the pair."

Eva glanced at Keira, then stood up and said to Matthew, "My scene is about to start. We'll talk later."

Matthew gave her a slight nod.

Eva trailed her medieval dress behind her as she walked toward the center of the set.

Keira, watching her go, pulled out a chair and sat down next to Matthew, remaining silent.

Matthew thought for a moment before asking seriously, "I heard you're in the running for a Chanel endorsement. Which product is it? Chanel No. 5?"

"No." Keira shook her head. "It's Coco Mademoiselle."

Matthew didn't know much about fashion, but he knew that both were top-tier fragrances. "Not bad," he said. "An endorsement from Chanel puts you that much closer to the A-list."

Keira's reply was flat. "I haven't gotten the endorsement yet."

She hesitated. "I have a competitor, and I don't exactly have an edge over her."

"Who?" Matthew asked.

"I used to be her body double." Keira didn't answer directly, only saying vaguely, "A lot of people thought I'd never be as good as she is."

Matthew had a vague suspicion. "Hmm?"

Instead of continuing, Keira pointed to the set. "There's the assistant director. It's your turn."

Seeing that Keira didn't want to talk about it, Matthew didn't press the issue. He stood up and headed to the set after the assistant director came over to remind him about his scene, ready to start filming.

The set was essentially just a massive green screen, with only a few set pieces—frames built from wood and resin to resemble a ship's hull—providing a physical backdrop. It was here that Matthew was supposed to fight Davy Jones in a hand-to-hand combat scene.

Captain Jack Sparrow, of course, was also part of the battle.

Although Will Turner had been one of the two main heroes in "The Curse of the Black Pearl," earning acclaim and popularity second only to Jack Sparrow, Matthew had to admit that after the first film, Jack had become the heart of the series.

Matthew's version of the character was popular—far more popular than Orlando Bloom's Will Turner ever was—but there was no denying that if Captain Jack Sparrow were stripped of the neurotic flair Depp had given him, "Pirates of the Caribbean" would be like a dessert without any filling.

In this scene, Matthew and Depp were facing off against actors covered from head to toe in motion-capture sensors.

The shots of Davy Jones and his crew, their appearances, their actions, and even the magical ship, the Flying Dutchman, were all being created with computer graphics. The scenes were first shot with actors and then handed over to the special effects team to be composited into CGI.

This made for a rather tedious shoot, with frequent pauses due to problems with the motion-capture equipment. Matthew found himself taking constant breaks, with no single take lasting more than ten seconds.

Later, when they had to use the same set to film some high-altitude scenes for the third movie, "At World's End," he simply stepped aside and left it all to the stunt doubles.

After returning from the Dominican Republic, the crew began shooting both sequels back-to-back whenever possible. This was a decision made by director Gore Verbinski and Disney Pictures, not just to save time and effort, but also to ensure that the scenes and characters in the "At World's End" finale would echo the first two films.

The fight scene between Will Turner and Davy Jones, which had started in the morning and continued intermittently until nearly 3:00 PM, was temporarily halted when the British actor, Bill Nighy, couldn't keep up. They would have to reshoot the scene the next day.

With that, Matthew's workday was over. He returned to his dressing room to have his makeup removed and head home.

The makeup artist had just finished when a knock came at the door, and Bella walked in.

Matthew looked at her and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Bella nodded but said nothing.

Matthew said to his makeup artist, "Mia, you can take a break."

The makeup artist, Mia, took the hint and immediately left the room.

Bella closed the door behind her and said at once, "Helen just called. Harvey Weinstein approached her today."