The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 87

Upon returning to Los Angeles, Helen immediately contacted the team from The Fast and the Furious to arrange an audition for Matthew. News soon came back that the original supporting role wouldn't work due to a scheduling conflict with The Mummy Returns. He was left with two options: either drop out of The Fast and the Furious entirely or audition for a different, much smaller supporting character.

Matthew had specifically asked Helen to pursue it, and for an agent of her caliber, it wasn't a particularly difficult task. Since filming for The Fast and the Furious was set to begin in July, there was indeed a small supporting role available. The character would appear in the early stages of shooting, ensuring there would be no overlap with The Mummy Returns.

His contract for The Mummy Returns had no restrictive clauses, so taking on this minor part wasn't an issue at all.

The small role amounted to only a few scenes in total.

In the spirit of gaining more experience and earning more money, Matthew decided to go ahead with the audition for The Fast and the Furious, albeit for the smaller part rather than the more substantial supporting role.

If he could have, Matthew would have gladly taken a lead role; after all, he knew the franchise had the potential to become a massive hit, but the chances of that were practically zero. When Helen had first brought him the information, the main cast was already set, and he now knew the names of the two leads: Paul Walker and Vin Diesel.

The names jogged his memory: one, an actor who died tragically young, and the other, the bald man who was always going on about family.

After all, he had seen bootlegs of the later Fast and the Furious films online, and while he hadn't been overly impressed, he remembered bits and pieces.

Two days later, Matthew went to the Universal Pictures lot for his audition with The Fast and the Furious production team. Thanks to his considerable standing within this small pool of actors, his strong physique, an excellent audition, and Helen's expert maneuvering behind the scenes, he successfully landed the part.

The role paid just $6,000, but the main advantage was that it would be paid in two installments: Matthew received $3,000 upon signing the contract, with the remaining $3,000 to be paid upon completion of his scenes.This was precisely why Matthew hadn't wanted to give up on the audition. He was running low on cash. His role in The Mummy Returns came with a hefty $100,000 paycheck, but the first installment wouldn't arrive until he was on set, and the subsequent payments were tied to the completion of filming and post-production.

Six thousand dollars was enough to keep him afloat until filming for The Mummy Returns began and to avoid going into debt to the Angel Acting Agency.

He wouldn't have even had to borrow the $3,000 from the Angel Acting Agency if he hadn't spent it on his last date with Britney.

In addition to the good news about landing the role in The Fast and the Furious, Matthew received another welcome update: Britney's world tour was ending in late June, and she would be returning to Los Angeles for next month's MTV Music Awards.

Although Britney would be busy preparing for the awards show, they would finally be able to spend some time in the same city.

Matthew wouldn't have any acting work until after the MTV Music Awards. His role in The Fast and the Furious required him to be on set for some training sessions in July, followed by the actual shoot, which would take no more than a week.

Until then, his time was his own.

But free time didn't mean downtime. He asked Helen to help him find a gym in Westwood with a top-notch fitness instructor—the same one, Helen mentioned, that Hugh Jackman had used to train for X-Men.

Both the gym and the trainer were highly professional, and their fees were steep. Matthew discovered to his dismay that his first paycheck from The Fast and the Furious was just enough to cover the gym membership and the trainer's fee.

Initially, Matthew had planned to just keep up with his running regimen, but after consulting with a few professionals, he realized that jogging was no substitute for specialized fitness training if he wanted to achieve a leaner, more muscular physique.

He was preparing for the role of the Scorpion King, and with a director on the project who was already biased against him, Matthew didn't want to give him any excuse to find fault. As Helen had told him, actors in Hollywood could be big names, but they still had to be dedicated to their craft.

Parting with the money was painful, but it was a relief that he could pay in installments. That way, Matthew didn't have to worry about being unable to even afford his rent when Britney returned to Los Angeles.

He could always get a loan, of course. With his contract for The Mummy Returns, securing a loan for tens of thousands of dollars wouldn't be a problem, but Matthew wouldn't resort to that unless he absolutely had to.

After getting his gym membership and paying the first installment for the instructor, Matthew had a sudden realization: he seemed to be earning more, but he was also spending more—not on things like a house or a car, but on his career.

He considered himself very frugal in his daily life, but he was still tight on funds. In the future, his income would continue to rise, but he had to make sure his expenses didn't outpace his earnings.

Lost in thought, Matthew scratched his head. It seemed that beneath the glamorous facade of this career lay another side he didn't quite understand.

But he didn't waver. Since he had chosen this path, he would follow it with unwavering resolve.

...

In the days that followed, in addition to his usual practice of pantomime, reading, and writing, Matthew added fitness training to his daily routine. He hit the gym five days a week, following a targeted workout program designed specifically for him by his instructor.

His evenings, on the other hand, were dedicated to writing, which included updating his online blog.

"Things have been on a roll lately. I landed two roles in auditions, and I'll be filming for The Fast and the Furious and The Mummy soon. Hope both movies come out quickly. Band of Brothers, which we shot last year, hasn't even started editing yet. Post-production should be starting soon, I guess. When will it air on HBO? Can't wait."

Unfortunately, only three people were following his blog so far, and the only one who had ever left a comment was Ilana.

After posting the new entry, Matthew took out a USB drive he had borrowed from his fitness instructor. It contained a few pictures they had taken at the gym. With a few clicks, he uploaded the photos to the top of his latest blog post.

Several of them showed Matthew sparring with his instructor during a boxing session, both of them in full protective gear.

Boxing was now a part of Matthew's daily workout. According to his trainer, it was an effective way to burn fat.

The instructor had designed a comprehensive boxing program for him that included movement drills, coordination exercises, specialized physical conditioning, heavy bag work, and practical drills, all of which would effectively improve his fitness and coordination.

Plus, combining boxing with general fitness training made the whole process less monotonous.

To be honest, Matthew was genuinely interested in boxing and other combat training. The previous Matthew had spent a lot of time on the streets and had been in his fair share of fights, so one could say he was already "experienced" when it came to brawling.

The boxing regimen was designed specifically for him by his instructor, who knew from the start that Matthew was preparing for an action role, not just building muscle. The training would improve his coordination and make him more adept at performing fight scenes.

At the end of June, driven by his growing interest, Matthew asked his instructor to add a weekly sparring session to their schedule—always in full protective gear, of course, to minimize the risk of injury.

In his first sparring match, he was thoroughly outmatched by the professional-level trainer.

This didn't discourage Matthew, however. He figured that having a solid foundation in combat skills would be invaluable for the action films he was likely to star in frequently in the future.

The first half of 2000 passed in a blur of self-study and training for Matthew. The arrival of July brought with it the best news of all—Britney was back in Los Angeles.