The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 81: Humiliation

In the audition room, Cameron Crowe sat behind the director’s monitor, waiting for the next actor.

This project was his brainchild. He’d written, directed, and produced it, and it had taken a tremendous effort to convince DreamWorks to invest, followed by another struggle last year to secure funding from a film fund. To say Almost Famous was his baby would be no exaggeration.

Crowe had poured his heart and soul into this film, and he wouldn’t tolerate a single mistake.

That was why he was handling most of the work himself, including the initial auditions for the main cast.

A knock sounded at the door, and a young actor entered. The moment Crowe laid eyes on him, his own eyes lit up. The man was tall, with a clearly defined musculature and a strong, masculine face.

The young actor was in excellent shape.

"A shame..." Crowe muttered, giving a barely perceptible shake of his head.

The casting director, Gail, prompted, "Introduce yourself."

"I'm Matthew Horner. I'm twenty years old, from Texas."

Standing before the camera, Matthew held his head high, his introduction smooth and natural."That's enough," Crowe interjected abruptly. "You can go."

Matthew froze. That’s it? A bad feeling washed over him.

Gail understood the director’s intention and sighed inwardly, frustrated that an actor with such a strong resume had been dismissed so quickly by Crowe.

"Mr. Horner." He paused before delivering the standard line. "We’ll let you know about the results of the audition as soon as possible."

Hearing this, Matthew knew there was nothing else to do. He turned and left the audition room, finding Helen waiting for him in the lobby.

"So soon?" Helen frowned. "What happened?"

Matthew shook his head. "I don’t know. I introduced myself, Director Crowe said I could go, and then the casting director showed me out."

Helen’s brow furrowed, her expression serious behind her black-rimmed glasses. She motioned to Matthew. "Let’s go."

She led the way out of the studio, Matthew following close behind. "Did I just get cut?" he asked. "I didn’t even get to do anything."

Helen answered bluntly, "Ninety-nine percent of the time, yes."

A wave of frustration that had been building in his chest finally broke. Matthew’s expression soured. "After all that preparation, I’m just walking away with nothing?"

Helen didn’t say a word. Instead, she pulled out her phone and answered a call. A moment later, a polite, professional smile formed on her lips. "Alright, I understand. Thank you. We should get coffee sometime."

After ending the call and putting her phone away, the forced smile vanished. She shook her head. "Yeah, you didn't get it."

Though Matthew had been prepared for it, he still scratched his head in dejection. He wondered what went wrong. "There has to be a reason," he said.

"It’s simple. You weren’t a fit for the role." Helen looked helpless. "That was an acquaintance of mine on the phone. She just got word from the audition room that Crowe found your look too masculine, too far from the androgynous, decadent rock star image he had in mind."

Matthew spread his hands, equally helpless. In the end, all he could manage was a bitter smile.

Cameron Crowe had sole casting control over Almost Famous. If he didn't think you were right for it, there was nothing to be done.

"Let's go." Helen quickly regained her composure. "No point in lingering. That door is closed, so we’ll find another."

As he and Helen walked toward the studio gate, he couldn't shake the inevitable disappointment. After all the work he’d put in, he was out without even getting a chance to perform.

For this role, he’d studied every scrap of information the Angel Acting Agency had gathered, met twice with a veteran rock guitarist, and spent hours on research...

And it had all been for nothing.

It would be a lie to say he wasn’t upset, disappointed, and irritated.

As they reached the studio entrance, Helen asked unexpectedly, "Are you discouraged?"

Matthew shrugged, not denying it. "A little. This is my first failed audition."

Then again, he’d only ever been to a handful of them.

Helen, who didn’t seem shaken by the setback, said quietly, "There will be plenty more failures. You'll get used to it."

Matthew nodded but didn’t reply. He knew Helen was right. Hollywood was fiercely competitive. Even a small part could attract dozens of hopefuls, and there could only be one winner. Failure was just part of the game.

"I’m fine, just a bit down," Matthew admitted, not hiding his feelings. "Mostly because all that preparation was for nothing."

He shook his head and added, "Oh well. It’s over. Time to look ahead."

A setback of this scale might get him down for a little while, but it wasn't enough to crush him. And as Helen had said, failures were bound to become more common as he went out for more and more auditions.

Once they were through the studio gates and in the parking lot, Matthew reminded Helen, "Don't we have other prospects?"

"Of course." Helen walked to her car and opened the door. "I'll contact the people from The Mummy Returns when I get back. You should be prepared to go through even more material than before. We could be heading to England at a moment’s notice."

Matthew added, "And The Fast and the Furious."

Even if he didn't land a leading role, every audition was a rare learning experience, and every part was valuable practice.

Studying on his own and actually being on a film set were two completely different things. What he needed now was practice and real-world experience.

Helen got into her car and rolled down the window. "Right, right."

She started the car and pulled away. Matthew got into his own used Ford and left the parking lot as well.

Back in his apartment, he tossed out all the materials related to Almost Famous. They were useless to him now, a relic of the past. Then, he pulled out his copy of The Mummy Returns script and began to go over it carefully.

After failing the Almost Famous audition, Matthew was even more determined to land the role of the Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns.

"I think the guy who originally got this role went on to become a superstar," Matthew murmured to himself, propping his chin on his hand. "What was his name? I think he came from professional wrestling... or was it fighting? Something like that, which he turned into an acting career."

He was at a disadvantage when it came to sheer size compared to that guy, but his acting resume should give him an edge.

Over the past year, he had grown a little too comfortable, taking some things for granted.

Take this failure, for instance. He thought he had been well-prepared and that, even if he didn’t get the part, he’d at least sail through the initial audition. And what happened?

In this hyper-competitive world, it was naive to assume things would always go his way.

Matthew felt that this failure wasn't entirely a bad thing. It had served as a reality check, clearing his head, which had grown a little clouded and dizzy from his recent successes.

It also gave him a much clearer picture of his current standing in the industry.

It was simple: a production could reject an actor at his level without a second thought, while he had to work twice as hard to land even a supporting role—and even then, success was never guaranteed.

The sudden ring of his Nokia phone interrupted Matthew’s introspection. Seeing Britney’s name on the caller ID, he quickly answered.

"Matthew, did you have your audition today?" Britney’s voice was filled with concern. "Did you get it?"

"No, I didn't," Matthew said calmly. "The director didn't think I was the right fit for the character."

Britney immediately fired back, "That's because he's blind! He can't recognize a great actor when he sees one!"

Matthew chuckled. "Thanks."

He added, "Don’t worry, I’m okay."

"That's good." Matthew could hear shouting and hurried footsteps on her end of the line. She lowered her voice. "I’m heading into an event. I have to go."

"Yeah, of course," Matthew replied. "Talk to you later."

Tossing the phone onto the sofa, Matthew wondered if he should fly to Vancouver to see Britney, since he wasn’t heading to London anytime soon. Even if they could only meet briefly, it would be better than their short daily phone calls.

A little later, Ilana called to ask about the audition. When she heard he hadn't even made it past the initial screening, she couldn't resist making a few snide remarks.

Matthew knew her personality, so he wasn’t bothered. The fact that she had even called to check in meant she considered him a friend, or at the very least, a valuable professional contact.

In the following days, Matthew completely shook off the effects of the failed Almost Famous audition and threw himself into preparing for the role of the Scorpion King. Preparation didn't guarantee he would get the part, but without it, his chances were close to zero.

To immerse himself in the world of The Mummy, he rented nearly every classic monster movie Universal had ever made from the local video store. There were a lot of them; Universal had been churning out films about mummies, Frankenstein’s monster, and their ilk since the 1930s and 40s.

He also tracked down tapes of other films by Stephen Sommers, the writer and director of The Mummy Returns, studying them to get a feel for the director’s style and preferences.

At the end of May, word came from Helen: the team behind The Mummy Returns had sent the Angel Acting Agency a formal invitation for Matthew to audition for the role of the Scorpion King at a studio just outside London.