The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 414

After receiving word from Akiva Goldsman, Helen Herman set aside her other work to focus entirely on negotiating Matthew's contract for "I Am Legend." Although both sides had already settled the main point of contention—the salary—a major star's contract often contained hundreds of clauses.

Instead of handling the negotiations alone, Helen brought in five other agents from the agency. She oversaw the overall strategy, while each agent negotiated with the production team on a specific aspect of the deal, such as filming schedules, accommodations, travel, publicity, and security.

For a contract worth twenty million dollars, the complexity of the negotiations and the agreement itself was immense.

According to Helen, even if the talks went smoothly, it would take at least ten days to finalize everything.

"I heard you beat out Will Smith?"

James McAvoy approached Matthew in the rehearsal studio and asked, "He didn't give you any trouble, did he?"

"I didn't beat him out," Matthew replied, setting aside his prop sword. "It was the 'I Am Legend' team's decision. He tried to take the role from me, but he failed."

Matthew walked to the edge of the training floor, waited for James to follow, and then added, "From what I'm told, Will Smith won't do anything. It's just standard competition for a role. We were competing for a job, there's no personal conflict. I hear Will's a smart guy; he's not foolish enough to start trying to sabotage me."

James's expression shifted as he nodded. "I thought you were in the same boat as me and Michael."

He shook his head. "An A-list star and a regular actor are two completely different creatures. Their battles aren't fought so simply."Matthew turned to him with a smile. "You and Michael will be big stars soon enough."

James shrugged. "I hope so."

Then he offered a word of caution, "But you should still be wary of Smith."

Matthew nodded. He didn't know Will Smith personally, but if their roles were reversed, he wouldn't have simply let it go if he'd lost a major part and had a chance to retaliate.

From what Helen had heard from her contacts at CAA, neither Will Smith nor his agent, Kevin Huvane, were targeting him, despite Smith's disappointment over losing the role.

****

"Ever since Will came to Hollywood, he's had dozens of failed bids for roles. If he had to go up against the winner every time he lost a part, he'd have no time left for his actual work," Jada Pinkett Smith remarked to Naomi Harris, who sat across from her at a café overlooking the shopping center.

Naomi replied, "I still think it's a shame to lose the lead in a major project with a one-hundred-and-fifty-million-dollar production budget."

Jada felt the same way, but Will had talked her through it, helping her see the bigger picture. "Will is an A-list actor. Of course, I'd be happy if he got the part, but if not, there are always other opportunities."

Naomi, however, couldn't quite see it from Will Smith's perspective.

She had grown close to Jada Smith over the past year, and they found they had much in common.

To her surprise, neither Jada nor Will Smith seemed particularly upset about the failed audition.

Hearing Jada's words, Naomi shook her head a few times before it finally clicked. For an actress at her level, every chance at a lead role was a precious opportunity. She had to fight tooth and nail even for supporting parts, like the witch in the two "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequels. But Will Smith was in a completely different league. He was one of the biggest stars in the business, fielding at least a dozen offers a year.

"Still, I really thought Will would get the part," she said. "I never expected them to go with Matthew Horner—he's a much less established star than Will."

Jada took a sip of her coffee, recalling what Will had told her. "Matthew Horner was the production team's first choice for 'I Am Legend' from the start," she explained. "They only sent Will an audition invitation when their negotiations with Horner hit a snag. Will knew they were just using his name to put pressure on Matthew, but he's a huge fan of Richard Matheson's book and was genuinely interested in the role. So he decided to make a real play for it."

She set down her coffee cup and sighed. "In the end, it didn't work out."

Naomi was still persistent. "Jada, last time you said that Will and CAA went to great lengths to secure the role. To lose it just like that... Wasn't all that effort wasted?"

"You can't just give up if it looks like it won't work out," Jada countered. As not only Will's wife but also an actress with years of experience in Hollywood, she knew the game. "Even if there's only a one percent chance, you have to fight for the role."

She shook her head and said, "Naomi, you don't really think an A-list star can get any role they want without putting in the work, do you?"

Naomi quickly shook her head. "No, of course not. I'm not that naive."

Then she added, "I'm just wondering, are the producers and director of 'I Am Legend' so dense that they'd choose a B-lister like Matthew Horner over a superstar like Will?"

"A B-lister?" Jada was quick to correct her. Even though she wasn't a fan of Matthew Horner, she couldn't deny the basic facts. She laughed. "Naomi, if Matthew Horner is a B-list star, then how many people in Hollywood can even be considered A-list?"

Without waiting for Naomi to answer, Jada continued, "The rumor is that Matthew Horner negotiated a twenty-million-dollar salary with the 'I Am Legend' team. Naomi, can you really call a member of the Twenty Million Dollar Club a B-list star?"

"What?" This time, Naomi's shock was genuine. "Matthew's salary is twenty million dollars?"

Jada nodded.

Naomi's head was spinning. Twenty million dollars? She might never earn that much money in her entire life. If only she were paid that much for a single film, there was so much she could do.

"He's..." Naomi muttered, "just lucky."

Jada couldn't help but shake her head, sensing Naomi's clear dislike for the man.

Of course, she wasn't fond of Matthew either, but some facts were simply objective and couldn't be denied.

She had discussed Matthew in private with Will Smith, a man whose own track record was something rising stars could only dream of. In just six or seven years, Horner had gone from the very bottom to joining the Twenty Million Dollar Club—a truly rare feat in Hollywood.

That kind of success couldn't be explained away by luck alone. Luck might make an actor successful once or twice, but not so many times in a row.

Thinking about it, Jada Smith sighed. Everyone considers Will's journey legendary, but Matthew Horner's ascent is the real legend here.*

Jada Smith had no doubt that even if Matthew Horner failed to achieve anything more in the next few years, a Hollywood biopic would be made about him in a decade or two.

Will Smith didn't want to get into a conflict with another star of his caliber over a single role.

Of course, that was only one side of the story.

Smith had also told her another side to it: when Matthew Horner finalized his deal for "I Am Legend," the person most upset was the director, Francis Lawrence. That was because Matthew was now a credited co-producer on the film, giving him leverage over the director, and he had already proposed his preferred candidate for the supporting actress role.