On the last weekend of July, just as the sun was turning westward, Matthew arrived by car at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. The 2004 Teen Hollywood Awards ceremony was being held here. According to the results of Helen Herman's communication with the organizers, he was among the stars who would walk the red carpet early on.
Similar to most red carpet ceremonies, the stars who walk at the very beginning and the very end often have higher status.
This was a purely commercialized teen award, and superstars rarely appeared. A currently popular second-tier star like Matthew could be classified among the big names of the ceremony.
Furthermore, as one of the most prominent names attending the ceremony, the organizers had promised him a major award as compensation when Matthew confirmed his attendance.
Unlike ceremonies like the Oscars, this type of award, established only in the 1990s, needed to borrow the fame and appeal of stars to expand its own influence.
After the red carpet ceremony began, Matthew was the third to walk onto the red carpet in front of the Wiltern Theatre. Much like participating in a film premiere, he struck his most handsome and coolest poses for the media photographers, interacted with fans on both sides of the red carpet, and then reached the interview area at the end of the red carpet to be interviewed.
Since most media reporters were busy interviewing Anne Hathaway, who had walked the red carpet just before him, not many people came to interview Matthew.
Matthew glanced over at Anne Hathaway's side, remembering that he had seen a large poster for "The Princess Diaries 2," which she starred in, on a roadside billboard while driving over. It seemed the film was set to be released next weekend.
Standing in the interview area, Matthew routinely answered some reporters' questions about the "pirates of the caribbean" sequel, as well as "national treasure" and the currently filming "mr. & mrs. smith." Then, led by a member of the organizing staff, he specifically went to the youth reporter interview area.
Since it was the Teen Hollywood Awards, teenage boys and girls were naturally the primary audience for the awards.
Matthew quickly spotted Lily Collins waving at him from among the group of young reporters and directly asked the staff to let her interview him.
Lily Collins came before Matthew, looking quite excited. She blinked her bright eyes and said, "Matthew, I've prepared so many questions!"
"Don't make things too hard for me," Matthew said jokingly. "It'll be embarrassing if I can't answer."
A burst of cheering came from the red carpet. Matthew turned his head to look and saw three blonde girls walking onto the red carpet. The older pair looked very similar,
seemingly twins.
Lily Collins also glanced over and said, "The twins are the Olsen Twins, and the younger one is their sister, Elizabeth Olsen."
Matthew nodded. Although he didn't know the Olsen Twins, he had heard of their fame and knew they were the most famous twin sisters in the North American entertainment industry.
"Let's begin." Lily Collins stopped looking at the red carpet. She had been looking forward to today for a long time. Matthew withdrew his gaze and nodded, "Let's begin."
Lily Collins pulled out a pen and a notebook, flipped to the first question, and asked, "Matthew, at what age was your first love?"
Matthew hadn't expected the first question to be gossip, but looking at Lily Collins, a girl not even sixteen yet, she was at the perfect age for gossip.
"Let me think." Matthew propped up his chin and considered for a moment before saying, "It should be nineteen."
"Nineteen?" Lily Collins was very surprised. "Are you serious? First love at nineteen, doesn't that mean..."
Matthew tilted his head and looked at Lily Collins. "is first love at nineteen strange? Lily, have you already been in a relationship?"
"Uh..." Lily Collins scratched her head at Matthew's question and said, "Not yet, I was just curious."
She then complained, "I'm the one interviewing you, why are you asking me!"
Matthew could tell that Lily Collins didn't understand interview techniques at all and simply said, "Go ahead and keep asking."
Lily Collins asked, "There are many rumors about you in the media. Are they all true?"
"Some are true," Matthew replied casually. "Some are false."
"So that means you've had several girlfriends?" Lily Collins looked up at Matthew.
Matthew nodded, "Yes."
Lily Collins asked again, "What is your ideal perfect girlfriend like?"
How to answer this kind of question? A perfect girlfriend? Matthew didn't even have a concept of it himself. What exactly was perfect?
He looked at Lily Collins across from him and made something up on the spot. "She should have long brown hair similar to mine, a delicate and pleasant face, and her looks should be pure and sweet..."
Lily Collins kept taking notes in her notebook. For some reason, she felt what Matthew was saying was quite strange, as if the person described was very familiar.
Finally, Matthew emphasized one point, "She also needs to have a pair of thick, beautiful eyebrows."
After saying this, he nodded to Lily Collins, "Lily, let's stop here for today."
Lily Collins subconsciously touched her own eyebrows. "Ah... ah, okay, Matthew. I'll send the other questions to your email."
Matthew smiled at her, turned around, and walked toward the theater.
Watching the departing Matthew, Lily Collins blinked her eyes repeatedly, one hand still touching her thick and beautiful eyebrows, and she unconsciously began to smile.
She looked down at the notes in her notebook. Now she had material to write for her column in "Elle Girl."
Matthew entered the theater. There was still some time before the red carpet ended, so led by the organizing staff, he entered the VIP lounge on the second floor of the theater. Quite a few people had already gathered here.
For example, Anne Hathaway, who had walked the red carpet before him, the three Olsen sisters, Hayden Christensen who played Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars Prequels, and so on.
The stars appearing here shared a common trait: they were very young, and most were typical teen idols. A star like Matthew, who hadn't followed the teen idol route and had stepped directly into the ranks of adult actors, was practically unique here.
Perhaps Hayden Christensen counted as one, but he rose and fell with Star Wars. Anakin Skywalker made him explosively popular, yet it also caused him to be criticized as worthless by everyone from the media to critics to ordinary moviegoers.
The current consensus in the industry was that if Hayden Christensen didn't have a god-tier performance in next year's "Revenge of the Sith," his future in Hollywood would basically be over once the Star Wars prequel trilogy concluded.
Of course, Matthew's view was somewhat different. Two years ago, he had specifically gone to the theater to see "Attack of the Clones." Although America's super-nostalgic IP wasn't quite to his taste, he had watched it seriously. If he were to judge, Hayden Christensen was one of the few actors who fit the image of Anakin Skywalker perfectly. For a film series with a vast expanded universe like "Star Wars," image was far more important than acting skills in casting requirements.
Even if Hayden Christensen's acting was poor, he felt he was much more pleasing to the eye than the incredibly ugly lead actor from the original trilogy... He admitted, these were actually complaints. Thinking about seeing Jedi Knights waving lightsabers in soft, weak fights on the screen gave him, a tough-guy actor, second-hand embarrassment.
Anyway, to this day, he still hadn't figured out how this strange-looking movie became a national cultural phenomenon for Americans.
Matthew specifically went to greet Hayden Christensen. Once the Star Wars prequel trilogy was over, it would be difficult to see him at this kind of event again.
It seemed that Hayden Christensen had once even gone to The other side of the Pacific to collaborate with Uncle Cage on some very bizarre movie about escaping ghosts.
More and more people entered the VIP room. Stars over thirty were definitely rare. Matthew had very little overlap with the teen idol movie circle; he had mostly only heard the names of the people here but didn't know them.
"Hi, Matthew!"
A greeting sounded from the left. Matthew turned to look and found it was Rachel McAdams. He quickly went forward and gave her a light hug. "Hello, Rachel."
As they separated, Matthew took the initiative to say, "I'm very sorry I couldn't attend your premiere last time."
"It's okay." Rachel McAdams smiled, revealing her beautiful dimples. "You had work to do."
While Matthew and Rachel McAdams were talking, another girl walked over. Looking at Matthew, she said to Rachel McAdams, "Aren't you going to introduce us, Rachel?"
This girl was slightly shorter than Rachel McAdams and had shiny blonde hair.
Rachel McAdams immediately introduced them, "Matthew, this is Amanda, Amanda Seyfried, a friend I met on the set of 'mean girls.' Amanda, this is Matthew, Matthew Horner, a good friend of mine."
Matthew immediately reached out and lightly shook Amanda Seyfried's hand. "Hello, Amanda."
Since they were all part of this circle, Amanda Seyfried said gracefully, "Hello, Matthew. I've heard Rachel mention you; you're a big star."
Matthew smiled, "You two are the big stars. Haven't you noticed? Many people are watching you."
Amanda Seyfried chuckled.
The three of them chatted together for a while before Rachel McAdams and Amanda Seyfried left for another circle. After Matthew greeted Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried came back again.
"is something wrong, Amanda?" Matthew asked curiously.
Amanda Seyfried lowered her voice and said mysteriously, "Matthew, I came over specifically to tell you that you are a very charming man."
Matthew laughed, "Amanda, you are also a very beautiful and sexy girl."
It was about time. A staff member came over to call them, and Matthew and Amanda Seyfried walked into the theater together.