The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 581

A short while later, inside the makeup trailer, Matthew leaned back in his chair. His eyes were on Nina, but his gaze was unfocused, as if he were lost in thought.

She watched Matthew, a smile playing on her lips.

Matthew quickly collected himself and gestured to the makeup chair beside him. "Have a seat."

He hadn't expected the young woman to be so direct.

Nina pulled the chair over, sat down across from Matthew, and said, "Now I see why Armani asked you to be the face of their men's underwear line."

Matthew didn't reply. Instead, he picked up a glass of water and took a long drink.

Nina had made her intentions clear. Seeing Matthew's silence, she offered another smile, reminding him, "We have a scene together in a few days. You'll get to see just how good I am then."

She straightened her back, accentuating her impressive chest. "I used to be an Olympic champion on the Canadian national gymnastics team. I can pull off a lot of complex moves."

Matthew smiled. "You were in the Olympics?"

Nina just laughed without answering. From the moment she was cast, she knew she'd be sharing two scenes with Matthew. She understood it was a rare opportunity and had her agent ask around; Matthew had an excellent reputation in the industry and was considered quite trustworthy in these matters.She'd transitioned from Canadian gymnastics to the Canadian entertainment scene, and then to Hollywood, without any real advantages or resources to speak of. She landed this role because her agent had done a favor for Peter Berg, and Berg wanted to return it. So, she simply chose the most direct and effective path. It wasn't as if she were the first; plenty of actresses in Hollywood had climbed the ladder this way.

Matthew had no intention of turning down the offer; he was, of course, already aware of the implicit terms.

"Are you interested in racing movies?" Matthew asked, not waiting for her to reply. "I'm working on the sequel to 'The Fast and the Furious,' and there's a female role with about a dozen scenes."

"Perfect." Nina knew a deal like this wouldn't land her the female lead, but a supporting role with a bit of substance was exactly what she was hoping for.

Matthew was only talking about minor roles; he wouldn't be giving away a significant part, and he certainly wasn't going to take any risks with the franchise.

The fourth 'Fast and the Furious' film had a production budget of $120 million. What new Hollywood actress was worth that kind of gamble?

If she were a major star he recognized, he might have offered a more substantial role. But Nina Dobrev—that was a name he'd never even heard before.

"There's a big press conference for the cast next month, and I expect hundreds of media outlets will be there. I'll have a word with the person in charge of publicity for the film, and you can come for an interview then."

He was leveraging someone else's event and using it as a personal favor. For him, it was no more difficult than saying a few words.

Nina knew about the press conference. She'd seen it on the crew's schedule and understood it was a major preliminary promotional event.

Even back when she was on the gymnastics team, she had understood the importance of publicity.

"Yes!" Nina couldn't wait to agree, and just in case Matthew changed his mind, she added, "I'm really looking forward to shooting our next scene."

She stood up. "I'll see you around."

Matthew gave a slight nod. "See you."

As he watched Nina leave the makeup trailer, he stood up and stretched.

She had a naturally stunning figure, but unfortunately, Hollywood was never short on beautiful women.

He then finished removing his makeup, left the trailer, and got in the car for the drive back to Beverly Hills. After chatting with Bella for a bit, he closed his eyes and began to mull over some details for the fourth film.

He and David Ellison were splitting it fifty-fifty. Currently, the production team, with Bearded Jack as the direct producer, had confirmed Justin Lin as director and was negotiating film fees with the agents for Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster.

Of the two, Paul Walker was barely a B-list star, and Jordana Brewster was a minor star at best; neither commanded a particularly high salary.

But the negotiations weren't easy. Although both had confirmed they would return to the series, their agents had to fight for the best possible deal—it was a sequel, after all.

He didn't get involved in the negotiations, leaving that to the professionals. Besides, it would be foolish to offer Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster salaries that didn't match their value—that would be utter idiocy.

A business partnership was a business partnership. He had a whole series planned, and if he overpaid Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster now, future installments would become a problem.

Aside from the actors, the screenwriting team was continuing to polish the script with Justin Lin, and Bearded Jack was preparing to hold auditions for a number of roles at the end of the year, based on the key characters outlined in the script, with the goal of finalizing the cast before the New Year.

This would require funding from Matthew and David, which would be provided on schedule.

Matthew was considering the financing. Investing under his own name wasn't ideal, as it would create a lot of tax and liability issues. He initially considered investing through his two charitable foundations, but he dropped that idea after talking to Amanda and Helen. They suggested that the charities bearing his name shouldn't be directly involved in commercial investments and operations.

Always one to listen to advice on matters he wasn't well-versed in, he abandoned the idea. After returning from Geneva, he discussed it in detail with Helen and decided to set up a film studio to handle the investment side of the movie.

Like most studios owned by Hollywood stars, it would be a film studio in name only—a shell company, unlike David's Skydance Pictures, which actually produced and shot films.

Investing in a film through a company would come with tax and policy benefits in most states, and certain types of work would be easier to manage.

For now, Helen was ready to handle that aspect. He already had a name for the studio: No. 13 Film Studio.

The studio would be registered in the state of Delaware, which had some of the most favorable business tax policies in the country, as well as professional business equity courts. A great many companies, like Apple and Disney, were registered in Delaware, as were the film studios of many Hollywood stars.

In a country so focused on commerce, the time and process required to register a company weren't particularly burdensome. Helen would delegate the preliminary matters to professional firms and law offices. According to her, it would take a month to a month and a half, and then No. 13 Film Studio could be officially established.

By then, all the money he had already invested and would soon invest could be transferred to the accounts of this shell studio.

As was typical for a shell studio, it would only require sharing an office with other companies in Delaware and hiring a partnered telephone operator.

Of course, Matthew would also hire a couple of professionals in Los Angeles.

As for the accounting, it would be entirely entrusted to PricewaterhouseCoopers, the firm whose accountants he had worked with for years and whose service he was satisfied with.

Besides, having a studio like this would make it easier for him to approach Disney and Andrew Stanton to "negotiate" a collaboration.

He still didn't know how things were going with Natalie Portman.

He hadn't asked Natalie Portman for a meeting or brought up the subject with her; their encounter in Geneva had been perfectly natural.

They were both Goodwill Ambassadors for some UN organization, invited to the event by the UN. And they weren't the only two Hollywood stars present—Emma Watson was there as well.

Back when he was still in Los Angeles, he had reached out to Emma, asking her to be sure to contact him when she came to the city so he could play the part of a proper host.

Apparently, he had made such a good impression on Emma that she promised she would definitely get in touch when she came to Los Angeles.