The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 573

After two weeks of filming on the soundstages at Warner Bros., the production crew moved out onto the streets of Los Angeles to begin on-location shooting. Meanwhile, the exterior sets back on the studio lot were scheduled for corresponding adjustments. Director Peter Berg's plan was to wrap up all location scenes by September and complete principal photography by October, allowing the film to move into post-production by the middle of that month.

Warner Bros. had officially locked in the release date for "Hancock" for the Independence Day holiday weekend the following summer, which provided a slightly more generous timeline for post-production.

The film would rely heavily on CGI. Hancock was a superhuman, and many of the action sequences were simply impossible for a human to perform, requiring them to be shot in front of a green screen.

Leaving the Warner Bros. studio lot behind, the crew's first stop on the streets of Los Angeles was Century City.

On a typical weekday morning, just as the sun was rising, the area in front of the Century City Mall, near the infamous "Death Star building," was already buzzing with activity. Dozens of police cars from the Beverly Hills Police Department roared onto the scene, sirens blaring, and surrounded a storefront that the film crew had temporarily rented in front of the mall.

The crew had coordinated with the Beverly Hills Police Department in advance, and the local police were more than happy to assist with the shoot.

Much like the Pentagon, many government agencies—including the police, the CIA, and the FBI—have Hollywood liaison offices specifically to handle business with the film industry.

Not only did standard police cars and officers arrive for the shoot, but a bomb squad vehicle and a SWAT team were also on hand.

Director Peter Berg was exceptionally busy, as he had to personally oversee a scene of this magnitude, something he hadn't done before as a lead director.

However, he wasn't entirely without experience in this arena. Before directing this film, he had worked as an assistant director for Michael Mann, assisting on films like "Heat" and "Collateral." He was one of the on-set coordinators for the classically realistic police shootout in "Heat."He still had some experience handling scenes like this.

And his mentor, Michael Mann, was also here, though Michael wasn't saying anything, just standing off to the side, observing.

Inside a massive trailer, Matthew finished with makeup, picked up his costume, and put it on. The crew had initially designed a skintight suit, similar to a comic book superhero's, that would have required lubricant to even get into. He had rejected it without a second thought. After a discussion with Akiva Goldsman and Peter Berg, they had changed it to a black, close-fitting suit that resembled a police Kevlar vest.

This kind of outfit was easy to put on and didn't restrict his flexibility during action scenes.

He had seen Scarlett Johansson in her costume tights, and these superhero suits were nothing like the gear athletes wore. Athletic wear prioritized practicality, making it easier to move and perform. The so-called superhero suits, on the other hand, were all about the visual effect.

After putting on the costume, which was actually very light, Matthew moved his arms and legs to make sure it wouldn't interfere with his movements before stepping out of the makeup trailer.

He stood in the doorway of the trailer and looked toward the side entrance of the Century City Mall, where the set was primarily located. Dozens of police cars surrounded a glass-walled bank, with one car out front littered with prop debris. In the back seat of that car, a blonde actress was talking with an assistant director.

Matthew scanned the area, then walked onto the set and saw Director Peter Berg standing next to an older man with white hair.

Matthew approached the older man, who was well-known in Hollywood. Though he had never met him before, he recognized him instantly.

"Hello, Mr. Mann." He extended his hand.

Michael Mann saw Matthew approaching, shook his hand, and said with a smile, "Hello, Matthew. Just call me Michael."

Matthew replied politely, "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Peter and I are friends." Michael didn't mention that Peter Berg had been his assistant, instead gesturing toward the towering Death Star building nearby. "I was on my way to CAA for a meeting, and since I was passing by, I thought I'd stop in and have a look."

Matthew had heard from Akiva long ago that Peter Berg had been Michael Mann's assistant before striking out on his own, and he figured Mann had come by specifically to check on his former student.

They chatted for a few minutes, the conversation circling around the film and naturally turning to the scene they were currently preparing to shoot.

"Looking at this setup," Matthew remarked calmly, "it reminds me of your film 'Heat.' That shootout scene became a classic."

Michael Mann smiled. "It's a shame the film as a whole wasn't better received."

Matthew, however, countered, "With a scene like that, it's timeless."

The shootout in "Heat" frequently lands in lists of the top ten classic scenes of the nineties. Because of the film's ridiculously slow pace, he had never managed to watch it all the way through, but he had rewatched the bank robbery shootout scene many times.

The scene had become so influential that it was even used as a case study in many film schools, its impact extending far beyond the movie itself.

After the North Hollywood shootout in 1997, where two robbers armed with automatic rifles held off over a hundred police officers, the police searched their home and found a copy of "Heat" on VHS.

It's believed that the robbers watched the shootout scene repeatedly before attempting their own bank heist.

In a way, many Hollywood directors, screenwriters, and production designers are geniuses of criminal design.

In fact, after September 11th, authorities in Washington D.C. gathered numerous Hollywood directors and screenwriters and asked these film industry professionals to brainstorm what they would do if they were terrorists planning an attack on the United States.

Although Hollywood has never admitted that criminals imitate its films, it's true that many of the criminal techniques depicted in Hollywood movies are later copied by real-life offenders.

***

Soon, everything was ready. Director Peter Berg exchanged a few words with Matthew, and the cameras started rolling immediately.

The first shots were all stunt work. Matthew didn't perform any of the dangerous actions himself; they were handled by stunt doubles.

The primary reason was insurance. For a star of Matthew's caliber, the production had to pay tens of millions of dollars for his personal safety insurance. An insurance company representative on set could shut down the director on the spot if they saw him performing dangerous stunts.

Secondly, it was a matter of responsibility to the cast, crew, and all the investors. If the lead actor were injured, the film would inevitably be delayed, and time is money.

Finally, Matthew himself was well aware that he was no longer a penniless, up-and-coming actor. A major star had to act like one.

This wasn't irresponsibility; rather, it was a sign of responsibility and professionalism.

No one—not the audience, the media, or the crew—would say a word, because this was standard practice.

A minor accident occurred during the filming of a stunt sequence. While completing a shot of Hancock landing from the sky, one of Matthew's stunt doubles jumped awkwardly from a high-platform wire rig, and his entire ankle swelled up. The crew immediately sent a dedicated vehicle to rush him to the nearest hospital.

However, the shoot didn't stop. The production continued, and the crew kept working. Matthew had several stunt doubles. The one who got injured would be well taken care of—the compensation was usually more than enough—and another stunt double was brought in to continue the location shoot.

Even though Matthew maintained his physical fitness and practiced sparring year-round, he didn't overestimate his own abilities. No one could guarantee he wouldn't get injured during this kind of filming, no matter how athletic they were.

Most of the time, Matthew stood on the sidelines. Typically, after the stunt performers completed their action scenes, he would step in to film the subsequent close-ups, which would be seamlessly edited together in post-production.

If you pay close attention to Hollywood action films, it's easy to notice that in almost all action sequences, the lead actor has a limited number of frontal shots. These are often intercut with the action, which is essentially filmed twice: the stunt double shoots the action scene, and the lead actor handles the close-ups, which are then spliced together.

A while back, he had visited the set of "Iron Man" and watched Scarlett Johansson film an action scene as Black Widow. Scarlett Johansson's stunt double was a man of a similar build!

He wondered what audiences would feel, watching the sexy Black Widow execute all sorts of combat moves and swallowing hard, if they knew that the vast majority of those shots were filmed by a man wearing prosthetic breasts under that tight-fitting uniform...