The dishes they ordered were served one after another. The improved Chinese cuisine was served in the Western style, with individual portions. Yelena Boyar tasted it and found it quite good, chatting with Matthew as they ate.
"My paparazzi have taken many photos of you and Charlize Theron," Elena Boyar said, swallowing a piece of diced chicken. "I'm holding onto the photos for now."
Matthew didn't even look up. "That's not your style."
Elena Boyar looked up at him and said, "Because I know your style." She suddenly laughed. "Those photos are too ordinary and lack sufficient appeal to be released. I'm waiting for the day you get Charlize Theron."
"You're thinking too much," Matthew said, still focused on his Kung Pao Chicken.
As if she hadn't heard him, elena Boyar continued, "It shouldn't be too long, right?" She let her imagination run wild. "The story of a popular Hollywood actor and an Oscar-winning actress—wow, just thinking about it is exciting."
Matthew reminded elena Boyar, "Charlize Theron has a boyfriend."
"is that a problem?" Yelena Boyar deliberately said, "Don't you even know how to cheat? Look around your circle—how many Hollywood celebrity couples don't secretly cheat?"
She picked up a napkin and wiped her mouth. "Cheating must be done carefully; it doesn't look good if you get caught."
"I'm not as boring as you think," Matthew said while eating. "Even if I wanted to do something, I would kick the other person out first."
He treated it as a casual chat between friends. "Cheating carries too much risk."
"The risk is indeed high for ordinary people," Elena Boyar said, suddenly pointing to herself. "But you forgot, you're sitting with an expert at catching cheaters and similar gossip."
Matthew glanced at Elena Boyar, somewhat curious. After all, in an era of highly developed information, it's difficult for celebrities to keep their whereabouts secret. When he lived on the other side of the Pacific, he had seen too many "Monday Sightings," where even careful individuals couldn't stop the pervasive paparazzi and the money-hungry informants behind them.
He could now imagine that among the waiters and hotel staff at restaurants and hotels frequented by celebrities, some were definitely informants for paparazzi and entertainment reporters. As long as the paparazzi paid enough, they could not only reveal celebrity whereabouts but even help paparazzi sneak into filming locations for candid shots.
"Tell me about it," Matthew said.
elena Boyar thought for a moment and said, "Consider it a heads-up from me, so you don't get caught by paparazzi later."
Matthew nodded. "It seems I should thank you."
"You're welcome, we're friends," elena Boyar waved her hand generously and said directly, "Matthew, you must choose a suitable dating spot..."
Matthew resisted the urge to flip her off and reminded her, "This has nothing to do with me."
elena Boyar smiled. "I got carried away." She cleared her throat softly and continued, "A correct dating spot can allow you to..."
She quickly corrected herself, saying, "It can allow them to easily protect their secrets. Although surrounded by the sprawling concrete jungle of Los Angeles, there aren't many truly secluded restaurants and hotels for Hollywood. And in such places, the chances of accidentally running into someone who happens to know someone else who knows something about someone else are too high."
Matthew nodded slightly. Many industry rumors start this way.
elena Boyar didn't seem to be joking. "Unless you don't mind meeting in a dive bar in Koreatown or a dirty hourly drug den. The secluded parks in the Santa Monica Mountains are no longer secluded, and places like bars on the Westside or eateries in Echo Park are frequented by even new Hollywood salespeople."
"By the way, elena," Matthew asked curiously, "have you given similar training to your paparazzi?"
"More or less," Elena Boyar didn't deny it. "While we're bribing hotel and restaurant staff to be informants, celebrities have also gotten smarter. Those celebrity couples who aren't in a mutual open relationship, or the ones cheating on their partners, are basically clever liars."
She emphasized, "If you want to expose a clever liar's scandal, you need to understand their latest methods."
Matthew put down his knife and fork, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and said, "It seems I'm far behind in this area."
elena Boyar said with disdain, "You're way behind. It's only because you're currently popular that the public likes to read gossip about popular stars like you, not has-beens."
"Anything else?" Matthew was also curious and made a gesture for her to continue. "Go on."
elena Boyar nodded slightly and continued, "Hollywood is no longer in the habit of cheating in high-end hotels like the Peninsula, Four Seasons, or Beverly Hilton, because the risk of exposure there is too high. Nowadays, private apartments, friends' homes, short-term rentals, or places you can only fly to—like film festivals—are the hotspots. But the best place to cheat is still on film sets."
Matthew nodded slightly. From his understanding of the industry, elena Boyar's words made a lot of sense.
"You know what I do," elena Boyar said, speaking from practical experience. "Since the beginning of this year, my paparazzi team hasn't captured any valuable photos in high-end hotels, unless it's a large event like when you hooked up with Scarlett Johansson."
"Because with many people coming and going, it wouldn't seem too suspicious?" Matthew asked.
Yelena Boyar agreed, "Yes. Because in hotels, there will always be waiters and front desk staff who will spill secrets for a fee." She suddenly lowered her voice. "I have several reliable sources that indicate the steady high housing prices on Wilshire Boulevard make it a favorite spot for cheaters. A famous producer even has a property on Boulder Avenue, where he and his male friends often bring other women for pleasure."
"Who is it?" Matthew asked curiously.
"That's a secret," Yelena Boyar said seriously. "This is information TZ paid a hefty price for. If I reveal the name to you, it would violate our confidentiality agreement."
Hearing her say that, Matthew didn't press further.
Afterward, elena Boyar talked about more related matters.
Matthew himself had learned some of this and felt that the film set was still the place where Hollywood celebrities cheated most frequently.
Filming on location is often like summer camp, with everyone living together and away from their usual lives and responsibilities, and everyone is very eager. At such times, what else is there to do besides some indescribable things?
Film festivals are another place full of eager industry insiders. In their daily lives, they might avoid affairs, but it's completely different at places like Sundance, Cannes, or Toronto film festivals, where they can live as they please.
Matthew forgot when, but he once heard a veteran actor say, "It's not surprising to wake up next to anyone after a drunken night. The alibis that film festivals can provide are simply endless, such as 'I was at a continuous screening,' 'I was dragged into an eight-hour negotiation,' 'my phone had no signal,' 'I was having dinner with someone and couldn't answer the phone,' and so on."
In Elena Boyar's words, in Hollywood, both male and female stars always feel they have a license that says 'do as you please,' and they all think they can't be caught... No matter what elena Boyar said, Matthew would not act as she suggested and mess around with Charlize Theron while she had a boyfriend.
If male and female stars without partners mess around, it's just a rumor; getting involved in a love triangle is a scandal.
Helen Herman had once reminded him about this: if he wanted to have higher commercial value after becoming an A-lister, especially for commercial brands, gossip was fine, but scandals still had a certain negative impact.
After the dinner, Matthew had elena Boyar get into his car, and they talked in private for over ten minutes before she left.
The day after they had dinner together, the film crew moved into a construction site near a commercial center in the small town of Valencia to shoot outdoor scenes, and elena Boyar's paparazzi began trailing Matthew.
As the filming of this movie entered its later stages, media attention was declining, and the number of reporters following them had significantly decreased.
The crew didn't have many scenes to shoot here, with only two days allocated for filming. The first day of filming went smoothly, with Matthew mostly working around the unfinished commercial center, while Charlize Theron's scenes were set in a business car with the commercial center building as a backdrop.
On the second day of filming in Valencia, Matthew saw a familiar figure: Stuart Townsend had come to visit Charlize Theron again.
Before entering his makeup trailer, Matthew made a point of greeting Charlize Theron, and Stuart Townsend's expression was not very pleasant.
Soon, he entered the set and continued filming the remaining scenes with Charlize Theron.
Stuart Townsend went out to buy some things and, upon returning, stood alone on the outskirts of the set, watching. Because he wasn't very famous, the few reporters following the crew nearby seemed to have no interest in him, until two reporters with TZ badges appeared.
These two reporters, a man and a woman, looked nothing like paparazzi. The woman held a microphone, and the man carried a small camcorder, appearing very much like legitimate journalists.
"is that him?" the woman asked the cameraman behind her. The cameraman glanced over and confirmed, "That's him, absolutely no doubt."