The Best Movie Actor In Hollywood!

Chapter 99

It was another ordinary workday when Stephen Sommers arrived early at Pinewood Studios, walked into the pyramid-shaped soundstage, and began his daily routine.

For years, he had made it a professional habit to inspect the set first thing in the morning.

The official call time was eight o'clock, but in reality, some departments started as early as two or three in the morning. As Sommers wandered through the set, crew members from various departments were already hard at work inside the studio.

He arrived at one of the locations, a space surrounded by green screens, and suddenly heard the voice of Felipe, the stunt coordinator, coming from within.

“Don't expect every actor to be Matthew Horner; not many actors are as dedicated as he is,” Felipe seemed to be explaining to the stunt team. “I spoke with most of the actors yesterday. Matthew, as usual, won't need a stunt double, but the other main actors have complex action scenes. You'll have to cover for them, so start preparing immediately.”

Sommers didn't linger; he just moved on.

After walking a short distance, he approached a side exit of the studio where the crew's temporary medical room was located. The door was ajar, a sign that the on-set doctor had also come in early.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps. A young woman with short to medium-length black hair hurried through the doorway, likely not noticing him, and passed by before heading straight for the medical room.

Sommers paused, watching as the dark-haired girl found the on-set doctor.

“Dr. Raymond.” The girl's voice carried through the open door. “Do you have Matthew's medicine yet?”Then came the voice of a middle-aged male doctor: “Yes, here's the ointment. Have him rub it thoroughly into his injuries; it will reduce the swelling.”

He added, “He's had so many bumps and bruises lately that we need to use this ointment sparingly. The next supply shipment won't arrive for another two days.”

“I told him the same thing,” the girl replied. “But he wouldn't listen. He just said the scene he's filming is important, and that if he stops, the whole production will grind to a halt. He also said his injuries are nothing and won't affect his performance.”

The girl sighed. “Dr. Raymond, do all actors work as hard as Matthew? Do they come to you for ointment, too?”

“All actors?” Dr. Raymond's voice was slightly dismissive. “The older generation of actors, you could still call them responsible, but the young actors today...”

Although he didn't hear the rest, Sommers knew what Raymond was about to say, and he found himself agreeing rather than judging. In all his years of experience, he had only encountered two or three young actors in their twenties who worked as hard as Matthew Horner.

After circling the studio, Sommers reached the main entrance just in time to see Rachel Weisz walking in with Freddie Boath, the young actor who played her son.

Sommers greeted them, “Good morning, Rachel. Good morning, Freddie.”

“Good morning, Stephen.”

“Good morning, Director.”

Rachel and Freddie greeted him from a distance but didn't come closer, continuing into the studio. As they walked, Freddie pleaded, “Rachel, please talk to my mom and let me join the party tonight, okay?”

Their conversation wasn't whispered, so the words naturally reached Sommers's ears, and he couldn't help but wonder: was someone throwing a party tonight?

He heard Rachel ask, “You want to go, too?”

“Of course!” young Freddie exclaimed, sounding excited. “You're going, Brendan, Arnold, and John are going, so why can't I? I want to thank Matthew, too!”

“Alright, I'll talk to your mom, but you have to...”

Sommers stopped listening, stepped out of the studio, and gazed at the sun just cresting the eastern horizon.

It seemed that most of the crew considered Matthew a good actor.

Is Matthew Horner a good actor? Stephen Sommers asked himself, and the answer was, in fact, perfectly clear.

Setting aside all other aspects of the production and focusing solely on the role of the Scorpion King, Matthew Horner had displayed every possible strength—or, at the very least, Sommers had seen no weaknesses.

The situation now made him somewhat glad that he hadn't insisted on casting Johnson.

As more people began filing into the studio, Sommers pushed the thoughts aside and returned to the soundstage to oversee the final preparations. By 8:30 AM, all the actors were in position, and filming began right on schedule.

The production had been running smoothly lately, and today was no exception. All of the scenes involving the Scorpion King were completed by 10:30 AM.

But instead of dismissing the crew for a break, Sommers remained on set, replaying the footage and poring over every detail.

At some point, the producer, Sean Daniel, appeared and stood beside him, watching the footage on the director's monitor.

After reviewing all four scenes and confirming there were no issues, Sommers pressed the stop button.

“I hear things have been going well lately,” Sean remarked.

Sommers didn't deny it. “The Scorpion King's scenes were wrapped up three days ahead of schedule.”

“Matthew isn't so bad after all, is he?” Sean glanced over at the set where Matthew was chatting with crew members. “Many people have mentioned what a great job he's done.”

“For the role of the Scorpion King,” Stephen Sommers admitted frankly, “Matthew Horner is a good actor.”

In his eyes, Matthew was a near-perfect fit for the Scorpion King, to the point that he had completely forgotten about Dwayne Johnson.

Sommers stood up, his expression unusually serious. “I want to apologize,” he said, “and at the same time, thank you. You were persistent, and you kept me from making a mistake.”

Sean was magnanimous. “We're all here for the sake of the project. You were just trying to make a better film.”

Sommers gave a resigned smile. “In any case, thank you.”

He suddenly raised his voice, shouting to the crew, “That's a wrap for this morning! We resume at one o'clock sharp!”

Matthew said his goodbyes to several people and left the set, as he wasn't scheduled to return.

A few of the actors he had gotten along with had invited him out to dinner, but not many.

He said goodbye in turn to Felipe, the stunt coordinator; Raymond, the on-set doctor; and Sasha, the makeup artist. Then he took the glass of water offered by his assistant, Mira, and downed half of it in one go.

“If you ever make it to Los Angeles,” Matthew told the young woman, “feel free to give me a call.”

Mira nodded.

Matthew then asked, “Do you plan on continuing to work in this industry?”

“I have a limited education,” replied Mira, who had grown comfortable with Matthew over the weeks. “I can't find a better job right now.”

“You're an excellent assistant,” Matthew joked. “I'm very satisfied. In fact, I'd love to have you continue on as my personal assistant, but unfortunately, I'm just a minor actor and can't afford to pay you.”

After a moment's thought, he found a pen and a slip of paper, jotted down a string of numbers, and handed it to her.

“You can't be an assistant forever.” There wasn't much Matthew could do, but he offered what he could. “Here's the number for my agent, Helen. If you decide to come to Los Angeles and want to stay in film and television, give her a call. Maybe she can help you out.”

Realizing Matthew was trying to help her, Mira said sincerely, “Thank you!”

Matthew simply smiled and walked over toward Director Sommers. He was still a short distance from the director's monitor when he saw producer Sean Daniel walking toward him.

“Hello, Mr. Daniel,” he greeted him politely.

Sean beamed at him. “Matthew, I made the right choice casting you as the Scorpion King.”

Matthew quickly replied with modesty, “I was just doing my job.”

Sean was impressed, but there was work to be done. They chatted for another moment before Sean left the set.

Matthew walked up to the director's monitor, where Stephen Sommers was standing, clearly waiting for him.

“Director Sommers, I'm leaving London tomorrow.” Matthew was just as humble as he had been with Sean. “I want to thank you. Your guidance has been a great help to me.”

Stephen merely gave a slight nod.

Seeing the director remained as cold as ever, Matthew assumed he was still disliked and added, “Goodbye, Director Sommers.”

Sommers's expression remained cold. “Goodbye.”

Matthew smiled, turned, and started to walk away.

“Wait.”

But from behind him, Sommers suddenly called out. Matthew turned back, confused. The director looked as impassive as ever.

“Matthew,” Sommers said calmly. “You're a good actor.”

Hearing this, Matthew froze for a moment, then a smile spread across his face. “Thank you!”

He added, “Your approval means a lot to me!”

At that moment, he felt a wave of relief, a sense that all the effort he had poured into the role had finally been recognized.