On the last weekend of April, the plaza in front of Century City Shopping Center was packed with people. Summit Entertainment and Universal Pictures, along with the cast and crew of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," were preparing to hold an open-air media conference there. This was also the last major event for "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" in the Los Angeles area before its release.
Large numbers of Matthew's fans and Charlize Theron's supporters gathered in Century City from all over Los Angeles early in the morning.
In a lounge specially rented by the crew at Century City Shopping Center, Matthew sat on a chair, took the jewelry box handed to him by Helen Herman, opened it, glanced inside, and asked, "How much did it cost?"
"The diamonds set in it are fake," Helen Herman said directly. "It's a free ring sponsored by the crew, artificial diamonds, at most a thousand dollars."
Matthew weighed the jewelry box in his hand and said, "Was Charlize informed beforehand?"
Helen Herman nodded slightly. "She's already been notified." She pulled over a nearby chair, sat down, and said, "Charlize Theron has no objections."
With these artificial diamonds, let alone looking from a distance, even if you look closely with the naked eye, you can't tell the difference between real and fake.
The crew was responsible for the publicity and hype costs, and they would certainly consider the budget. They couldn't possibly buy a real diamond ring just for one scene.
Matthew put away the jewelry box, and Helen Herman reminded him, "It's time to show off your acting skills. You're not going to have a problem, are you?"
"It's just a proposal, isn't it?" Matthew said casually. "Although this is my first time, I've seen many before. It's just like that, right?"
Helen Herman nodded. "Don't mess it up." She stood up, preparing to leave. "I'm going to talk to Akiva Goldsman."
"Oh, right, Helen," Matthew suddenly remembered something he had forgotten earlier, and lowered his voice, "Akiva Goldsman mentioned to me before that he has a new project and is interested in collaborating with me."
"Oh?" Helen Herman thought for a moment and said, "I know about this; I'll keep an eye on it."
Hearing her say that, Matthew temporarily put the matter aside.
After all, Akiva Goldsman had just mentioned it casually at the time, and there had been no news since, so it might have just been a polite remark.
The plaza in front of Century City Shopping Center grew more and more crowded. At first, it was mainly fans, but later the crowd swelled, attracting a large number of passersby who were there for shopping and recreation.
"Everyone, remember, when Matthew comes out, make sure to shout loudly!"
Near the stage in the plaza, Brian Lister shouted to the twenty-odd fans who had come with him, "This is Matthew's last event in Los Angeles before the release of 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith.' After this, who knows how long we'll have to wait to see Matthew up close again."
Danylys, Brian's best friend, said, "Stop rambling, Brian." She looked at a few people around her. "We're all Matthew's fans, and none of our voices are softer than yours."
Brian Lister rubbed the back of his head and smiled, "I'm just reminding everyone."
As he spoke, he unslung the large backpack from his back and pulled out a thick stack of posters. "These are the latest 'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' Matthew solo posters I got. Make sure to hold them up when Matthew comes out."
A girl next to Danylys shouted, "Brian, don't worry!"
With Danylys's help, Brian quickly distributed the posters to the twenty-odd fans. Some fans who hadn't come with them, seeing the new Matthew posters, came over to ask for them, and Brian simply gave away the remaining dozen or so.
After distributing the posters, Brian checked his watch. There was still some time before the media conference. He looked around and noticed that other fans also had unified posters, just like his group.
"Brian!" Danylys leaned over and asked, "Where did you get these posters? I don't remember this design."
"My father often deals with people in Hollywood," Brian casually made up an excuse, "and he got these posters."
The actual situation was, of course, not like that. A few days ago, his father brought a young redhead woman who approached him. She claimed to be part of Matthew's service team and wanted him to organize Matthew's fans in Los Angeles to come and cheer him on today.
Under his father's guidance, Brian quickly agreed, but the Matthew fan organization he belonged to in West Hollywood was rather loose. Although he was considered a senior member and one of the initiators, he only managed to contact about twenty people.
Yesterday, he received a package containing these brand new posters.
Cheering for Matthew was only natural, and Brian didn't think much of it, just wanting his favorite star to have more support.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed on the stage. Danylys tugged at Brian, "Look, the reporters are here!"
Brian looked up and saw more than twenty reporters with badges successively getting onto the stage, sitting in the arranged rows of chairs. Some reporters were also setting up cameras, and he wondered if this media conference was being recorded or live-streamed.
"Look! Look!" Danylys pointed to a pretty girl on stage who looked only in her teens and said, "That girl isn't even as old as me!"
Brian followed her gaze and nodded, "She looks like a middle school student."
"Even people like this can be reporters..." Danylys was quite indignant.
On the stage, Lily Collins sat on a chair, flipping through her notebook, repeatedly reviewing the prepared questions. People around her constantly cast curious glances, seemingly wondering why she, an underage person, could be mixed in with the ranks of reporters.
But Lily Collins didn't come from an ordinary family and didn't care about the reporters' strange looks. Besides, she was a reporter now.
Feeling the male reporter to her left still staring at her, Lily Collins closed her notebook and glared directly at him, saying, "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a teenage reporter?"
"Uh..." The male reporter hadn't expected the girl to be so feisty and sheepishly withdrew his gaze.
Lily Collins snorted and turned to look opposite her. There was a row of chairs there, but they were all empty for now.
"Matthew Horner, Charlize Theron..." Lily Collins muttered, "How did they get together? He didn't mention it when I interviewed Matthew last time."
Thinking of Matthew, Lily Collins was a bit displeased. Her request for an exclusive interview had been sent out for so long, and that guy Matthew hadn't given a clear answer, only inviting her to participate in such a joint public media conference. That was too unthoughtful.
How great would it be if she could get a one-on-one exclusive interview... Lily Collins sighed, then suddenly heard two reporters in the front row discussing Matthew and Charlize Theron. She quickly pricked up her ears and listened carefully.
"Since the Oscars, are Matthew Horner and Charlize Theron the most exposed celebrities?" the female reporter in the front left asked.
The male reporter facing her replied, "I can't be sure if their exposure is the highest, but they are definitely the most exposed celebrity couple. I feel like last year's Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie can't even compare to them."
The female reporter said disdainfully, "Don't compare that scummy couple with Matthew Horner and Charlize Theron. These two are true love..."
"True love?" The male reporter sneered and said even more disdainfully, "You've only been in the business for about half a year. When you've been around longer, you'll know, is there true love in Hollywood?"
"Their character is at least better than that scummy couple, right?" The female reporter seemed to have a good impression of Matthew and Charlize Theron and argued.
The male reporter shook his head. "Character is really hard to say. Charlize Theron might be better than that scummy couple, but Matthew Horner, well, that's hard to say."
Hearing this, Lily Collins felt a bit angry and wanted to stand up and explode, but realizing she was alone, she held back and simply gave the person in front of her two eye-rolls.
Looking across Hollywood, was there any star with better character than Matthew? When she was bullied by the principal, Matthew responded to her plea for help and actually came to her school. How many stars could do that for a fan?
And with Charlize Theron, if Matthew hadn't stepped in heroically, that woman Charlize Theron would probably have been beaten to a pulp by that scumbag... is such a star's character not good? Then what kind of star has good character?
These two idiots in front were actually comparing Matthew to that scummy couple, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. is there even a comparison? Forget comparing, putting Matthew with Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie is just a stupid thing to do.
Lily Collins stared at the pair of male and female reporters in front who were still discussing, and softly mumbled, "Idiots! Scummy couple!"
Just then, a commotion suddenly arose from below the stage. Various jumbled sounds erupted, and she could faintly hear shouts of "Matthew" and "Charlize." Lily Collins first glanced below the stage, and near the stage, Matthew's posters were held up in unison, as if the fans had a unified command.
Then, she turned to look opposite, only to see the main cast and crew of "Mr. & Mrs. Smith," led by producer Akiva Goldsman, walking onto the stage. Matthew and Charlize Theron walked hand in hand, occasionally leaning in to whisper a few words to each other, then breaking into happy smiles.
"They're simply a perfect couple!"
Lily Collins heard someone on her right exclaim, "The coolest man and woman in Hollywood should be a couple!"
"Matthew! Matthew! Matthew..."
The jumbled voices below the stage gradually unified, and the shouts of "Matthew" drowned out everything else, as if everyone present was a Matthew fan.
The crew members sat down in the chairs opposite the media section. Lily Collins perked up, the media conference had begun.