Inside an audition room at Disney Studios, Matthew, following Jerry Bruckheimer's instructions, finished a performance. Emulating Helen Herman, he adjusted his glasses and stood in front of the camera, awaiting the next stage of instructions.
Jerry Bruckheimer, who was leading the audition, appeared calm and said, "Alright. Matthew, that's all for today. I'll inform Helen of the results as soon as possible."
"Okay." Matthew didn't say much. He turned and left the audition room, following a staff member to the makeup room.
In the audition room, Jerry Bruckheimer turned on the monitor in front of him and re-watched Matthew's audition tape. Anderson Martinez, who was beside him, was also watching intently.
After the tape finished playing, Anderson Martinez frowned slightly and muttered, "I just feel like something isn't quite right."
He didn't need a reminder; Jerry Bruckheimer had already noticed something was off during the audition itself.
Jerry Bruckheimer replayed the audition tape again. Anderson Martinez scratched his head as he watched, "What exactly isn't right?"
With his eyes fixed on the monitor, Jerry Bruckheimer remained silent until the audition tape finished playing. He then stood up and said, "Later, you personally call Helen Herman and tell her that Matthew Horner is not suitable for this role."
Anderson Martinez was stunned, knowing that Jerry Bruckheimer had been leaning towards Matthew Horner for the male lead before the audition.
He ventured to ask, "is there really a problem?"
As this was one of his most trusted assistants, Jerry Bruckheimer didn't hide anything. He replayed the audition tape and, pointing at Matthew on the screen, said, "Have you noticed? Matthew has developed a masculine, tough, and even somewhat domineering aura that matches his rugged appearance. Even when wearing a suit and glasses, he still displays this quality during his performance. This temperament makes him excellent in roles like a powerful blacksmith or a professional soldier, but for a scholar-type male lead..."
He shook his head, "The audition was significantly different from my expectations. Matthew isn't suited for this type of role; he's more suitable for King Arthur."
Jerry Bruckheimer sighed. Clive Owen's performance in "King Arthur" was only passable, falling short of expectations. For such a tough role, Matthew Horner might have been as outstanding as Will Turner.
It now seemed that Matthew Horner could not be used for the male lead in "National Treasure."
Even if Matthew Horner dressed like a scholar, he lacked the historical depth and scholarly demeanor required for a deciphering expert. If he were to stand before the villain and be threatened physically, that scene wouldn't be about deciphering; it would directly turn into a comedy.
Thinking about it, he had simply had too high expectations for Matthew Horner. As for Matthew Horner's acting skills... Jerry Bruckheimer quickly formed a clear concept: Matthew Horner had no problem with roles that matched his inherent temperament, but for roles with a contrasting temperament, his acting was somewhat insufficient.
Since he wasn't suitable, he certainly wouldn't risk using him. This was Hollywood, and finding a suitable young actor wasn't difficult.
Subsequently, Jerry Bruckheimer handed over the remaining wrap-up work to Anderson Martinez and left the audition room first.
Helen Herman received Anderson Martinez's call in the car, on her way from Disney Studios back to Angel Agency.
"Hmm, alright." She sounded calm. "Thank you for calling to inform me, Anderson."
After a few polite exchanges, he hung up. Helen Herman closed her phone and turned to Matthew, who had already roughly guessed the audition results from the tone of her conversation.
Sure enough, Helen Herman said, "I have bad news for you. We're out."
Matthew asked curiously, "Why?"
Helen Herman stated directly, "Jerry Bruckheimer believes that the personal temperament you displayed differs too much from the scholarly temperament required for the role."
Matthew understood the implication behind her words. "He thinks there's a problem with my acting?"
"You could say that," Helen Herman thought for a moment and said, "Anderson just told me that Jerry Bruckheimer has finalized the protagonist's character design with the screenwriter and submitted it to Disney Pictures. It won't be easily changed. This is a scholarly role, and while the film is action and adventure, it's primarily adventure, with very few action scenes for the male lead."
Matthew curled his lip. Wasn't Anderson Martinez being a typical Monday morning quarterback?
Helen Herman seemed to guess Matthew's thoughts and said, "Anderson Martinez is one of Jerry Bruckheimer's most important assistants. If Jerry Bruckheimer had a request, even if we have a good relationship with him, would he risk being fired by Jerry Bruckheimer to leak information to us?"
Matthew shook his head slightly, "I'm just a bit frustrated. We've been following this project since this time last year, right up until now, only to end up being out. It just doesn't feel right."
"I'm frustrated too." Helen Herman didn't show it. "But this is Hollywood. Even as a second-tier star, there are plenty of people who can replace you."
A flash of self-mockery crossed her face. "You don't think we can get any role we want, do you?"
Matthew raised his eyebrows and looked at Helen Herman. "Am I that stupid?"
No one wants to see such a failed audition result, but it's also quite normal for it to happen. He had heard earlier that other second-tier stars like James Franco, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell also participated in this audition, and it wouldn't be surprising if any of them won out.
It's just that he's been following Jerry Bruckheimer's new project since last year, and now it's all come to nothing. It's inevitable to feel a sense of unwillingness.
As they got out of the car and entered the Angel Agency, Matthew's reluctance gradually faded. After all, he was just a second-tier star, neither Tom Hanks nor Tom Cruise. Just as Helen Herman said in the car, there were simply too many people who could replace a second-tier star.
"Are you okay?"
Entering the Angel Agency's front lobby, Helen Herman glanced at Matthew, confirming, "You're fine."
Matthew shrugged, "I'm a man. Am I supposed to wallow in self-pity all day over something like this? The audition failed, so I'll just go and try for the next job."
"Good attitude." Helen Herman rarely praised Matthew.
Matthew was a little unaccustomed to it, and waved his hand casually, "You go ahead and be busy. I'm going to the entertainment room to play some games."
As he spoke, he ignored Helen Herman and walked directly down the adjacent corridor, deciding to relax thoroughly today and stop thinking about all those messy things. With Helen Herman handling the search for new work, he didn't need to worry too much.
At his current level, just as endorsement deals can't be taken lightly, film roles also can't be accepted indiscriminately. Carefully selecting work is very important. Sometimes, taking on too many roles isn't necessarily a good thing; it can easily lead to bad films. If a bad film bombs at the box office, it will not only affect one's standing but also directly lower the pay for the next film.
Hollywood's film market mechanism only looks at the box office performance of films released in the last three years. If the box office isn't high, the salary will decrease, and even Oscar winners are no exception.
Many fallen superstars actually started by taking on a super bad movie, like the former Nicolas Cage. Because he was broke, he didn't even look at scripts, accepting almost everything, which led to the biggest problem: filming too much directly caused his value to plummet.
In Hollywood, it's not the case that the older you are and the more experienced you are, the higher your salary and prestige will be.
Ultimately, everything is determined by the market.
Pushing open the door to the entertainment room, Matthew found a game console and started playing Super Mario and Contra.
A few days later, news came that James Franco, who played the Green Goblin in "Spider-Man," had landed the male lead role in "National Treasure."
When Matthew heard this, he wasn't surprised, as his appearance had led to many changes in this film, and no one knew if it would ultimately be successful.
Because Matthew and Helen Herman adhered to the principle of quality over quantity when accepting roles, they didn't find a suitable crew or role until December, apart from the clone project that DreamWorks was collaborating on with Michael Bay.
Matthew wasn't in a hurry. During this time, he went to the set of "Dawn of the Dead" for a voice-over session and had a good afternoon chat with Zack Snyder. They had highly unified views on the background artwork and the use of high-speed slow motion in the film.
Of course, it was mostly Zack Snyder talking, and Matthew listened intently, as he knew very little about such specialized directorial knowledge.
From Zack Snyder's words, Matthew could tell that Zack Snyder was severely restricted by Sean Daniel during post-production, and his strengths couldn't be fully utilized.
Matthew couldn't help but think of "300 Red Trousers" (300 Spartans). He vaguely remembered it was about ancient Greeks fighting off the invasion of ancient Persians, and it seemed to be based on a novel or comic. Perhaps he could look for it. After Zack Snyder finished "Dawn of the Dead," perhaps they could collaborate on "300 Red Trousers" together?
This could only remain an idea for now, because without the support of a reliable film company, it would be too difficult to produce such a film.
Anyway, there was no rush now. After all, "Dawn of the Dead" hadn't been released yet, and it wouldn't be too late to wait until this zombie film was released.
If "Dawn of the Dead" was successful, everything would be fine. If it failed, Zack Snyder would definitely be blacklisted by various film companies and investors, and subsequent films would be out of the question.
Moreover, Matthew still had work to do. The agreement signed with Disney Pictures included relevant awards season clauses. He and Johnny Depp, the two critically acclaimed leads, also had to rally support for Disney Pictures' "Pirates of the Caribbean" Oscar campaign.