The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 698

It was dark on the Warner Studios set. Matthew stood with his back to the main camera, seemingly occupied with something. Emma Roberts walked slowly to the center of the set, just to the edge of the main camera's frame. She glanced curiously at Matthew as she slowly approached him.

"Were you trying to enter the dream alone?"

"No, I was just... running an experiment." Matthew turned his head quickly, as if he'd been caught. "I didn't realize anyone else was here."

He looked at her, her eyes seeming particularly bright in the dim light, and found himself blinking. "What are you doing here?"

Christopher Nolan watched the monitor. A flash of light flared. The gaffer had obviously set the eyelight incorrectly; it was too bright, causing the actor to blink involuntarily.

Still, he didn't call cut, allowing the two actors to continue the scene.

"Well..." Emma Roberts began sheepishly, glancing down at the totem in her hand before looking up and gesturing with it toward Matthew.

"I was just working with my totem."

The lights flared again, and Matthew blinked once more from the harsh glare. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he walked toward Emma Roberts. "Let me see it."

Emma Roberts quickly sidestepped him, tucking the totem into her pocket.Matthew stopped and smiled. "You learn fast."

Emma Roberts stood directly in front of Matthew.

"An elegant solution for keeping track of reality," Emma continued. "Did you come up with it yourself?"

Matthew's expression turned a little somber, his voice catching slightly. "No, it was Mol's idea."

With that, he pulled the spinning top totem from his pocket, slowly placed it in his palm, and held it up for Emma Roberts to see, explaining in a low voice,

"This totem was hers. She'd spin it in a dream, and it would never fall."

Emma Roberts looked at the top with curiosity.

"It would just keep spinning," Matthew said, holding the top steady in his palm.

Emma Roberts nodded at first, then asked, "Arthur said she died."

Matthew didn't elaborate, asking instead, "How are the mazes coming along?"

Just then, the light opposite them flared again. After several more successive bursts of blinding light, the discomfort in Matthew's eyes grew worse. But even if his acting wasn't the best, his professionalism was impeccable; he held his performance steady, waiting for the director to yell cut.

He was about to deliver his next line when director Christopher Nolan's voice rang out, "Cut! Everyone stop!"

The crew instantly ceased filming.

Christopher Nolan said to Matthew and Emma Roberts, "This isn't on you." Then he turned to the other side of the set. "Southgate, get over here! How did you set Matthew's eyelight? It's way too bright!"

Film could be described as a photochemical dream, with highly complex lighting requirements. Although much of the light could be blended in post-production, the lighting used on set was extremely important.

A makeup artist came over to blot the sweat from Matthew's face, and he pointed to his eyes. "Gently, please."

His eyes felt a little uncomfortable after the constant exposure to the dazzling light. The makeup artist took a special damp cloth and carefully wiped around Matthew's eyes a few times, which brought some relief.

Emma Roberts walked over and asked with concern, "Are you okay?"

Matthew blinked and replied with a smile, "It's a minor issue, I'm fine now."

"I was worried the director called a break because something was wrong with my performance," Emma Roberts confessed, standing beside him. "This role is much harder than doing teen idol movies."

Matthew didn't respond, just gave a slight nod.

Emma Roberts asked curiously, "This script is so complex, layer after layer. I got confused and still don't fully understand it."

"To be honest, I don't really get it either," Matthew said with a shrug. "I'm just as confused."

If he hadn't seen the movie before and read the script on his own, he wouldn't have been able to make sense of it either. Images were often far clearer than words.

"But you seem so confident," Emma Roberts said, even more curious. "Do you have a knack for this?"

Matthew slowly shook his head. "Speaking of talent..." He thought for a moment, then said, "I just try not to worry about the whole story and focus only on what Cobb needs to express in this particular scene."

Christopher Nolan had also asked him to create a husband-and-wife dynamic with Anne Hathaway on set, which was part of his life, but he had a lot going on off-set as well and barely interacted with her outside of work.

He had originally planned to go all out on Oscar night, but Harvey Weinstein had shown up and caused trouble. That, in turn, had thoroughly spooked Anne Hathaway.

He wasn't surprised. After all, Anne Hathaway had pulled something similar twice before—first with a con-man boyfriend and then with a thief—both times extricating herself faster than anyone else to save her own image.

"Is it really that simple?" Emma asked.

Matthew collected his thoughts and said, "The prerequisite is that I've established a strong enough emotional connection with Cobb."

Seeing Emma Roberts's curious expression, Matthew elaborated while Christopher Nolan and the gaffer worked on the lighting issue.

"I need to understand the emotions and motivation of the protagonist, Cobb. Why did he plan this whole operation?" Matthew spread his hands and whispered, "It's not as simple as just getting a financial reward."

Emma Roberts nodded. "My character's motivation isn't about money either."

Matthew smiled. "Actually, if you look at the Joker, and then at the motivations of other successful, widely popular characters, none of them are about money."

"Oh?" Emma Roberts thought for a moment and finally said slowly, "It seems that's really true."

Matthew added, "The emotional power and appeal of a character's feelings will always be stronger than money. Although I'm not a father, I know very well the place that family and children hold in the hearts of most people around the world. It's a universally shared value, and Cobb's primary motivation is that he wants to go home. He wants to fix his life and get back to his family."

It wasn't just him who had to get into character. Just as Christopher Nolan had designed action sequences specifically for Cobb, several screenwriters had specially adapted Cobb's lines and even his behavior to align with some of Matthew's own habits and traits, analyzing, deconstructing, and reconstructing them in the process of making the film.

This was done to make the character of Cobb a better fit for him, to make him seem more real and more relatable to the audience.

Of course, no one else enjoyed this kind of treatment. Of all the actors in the film, only Matthew was afforded such consideration.

***

Christopher Nolan managed to make the adjustments, and filming resumed immediately. But it seemed to be an unlucky day, and the rest of the shoot was so tense that only two shots were completed all morning.

In the afternoon, James McAvoy and Anne Hathaway also joined the shoot.

The filming in Los Angeles, aside from a single shot of a train rushing through the city streets, was completed at Warner Studios. After that, the crew would travel to Paris, Canada, London, Monaco, and Tokyo, respectively.

Six countries and six different cities—this was the largest number of locations for any film Matthew had been involved in.

Likely due to their trust in him and Christopher Nolan, Warner Bros. invested another $40 million in "Inception" at the start of filming, increasing the film's production budget from $160 million to $200 million.

A more adequate production budget was good news for the entire project.

Filming at the Los Angeles studios continued for just over ten days. Besides a few scenes with Emma Roberts, Matthew was filming the opening scene from the script—the scene where Cobb is looking for Saito.

The crew had constructed a water tank powered by a pneumatic cannon, which perfectly created the scene of a great flood of water washing over the dream world.