"Step back! Step back..."
On a beautiful, scenic primeval island, Matthew, holding Johnny Depp with one hand and Keira Knightley, who had come to enjoy the scenery today, with the other, quietly retreated into the film crew's crowd.
Right in front of them, dozens of local indigenous temporary actors, holding prop spears, blocked the way, each speaking an incomprehensible local dialect, looking extremely agitated.
The film crew's translator and the middleman hired in Dominica were urgently negotiating with them, and the situation didn't look good.
Matthew ignored the onlookers from the crew, pulled Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp further back, and at the same time looked back to see if there was a way to leave, so they could escape if anything happened.
This wasn't a film shoot, and he wasn't Will Turner. He estimated he could handle two of those strong indigenous men opposite him, but any more and he'd just be ganged up on.
That's right, an unexpected situation arose on set. Just as they were filming the scene where Captain Jack Sparrow was about to be roasted and eaten by cannibals, the indigenous actors hired locally suddenly went on strike and collectively surrounded the film crew's shooting location.
Matthew quickly understood the situation from a local English-speaking guide. The scene they had just filmed was Captain Jack, played by Johnny Depp, accidentally being captured by a cannibal tribe. He was placed by a bonfire, surrounded by vegetables and fruits, and Captain Jack almost became a grand feast for the tribal people.
It was this very shot that angered a tribal leader. They believed the film crew misrepresented their ancestors, mistaking them for cannibals, and so they came to demand an explanation.
When encountering such a situation, of course, the film crew's Person in charge and those in charge would step forward. People like Matthew would never foolishly take the lead. The first thing he thought of was how to safely escape if something went wrong.
Of course, he didn't forget his two friends on set, pulling Keira Knightley and Johnny Depp, who still wanted to watch the commotion, behind the film crew's crowd.
"They won't start a fight, will they?" Johnny Depp said carelessly, looking at the dozens of indigenous people not far away. "It looks like we have more people."
"I hope not," Matthew warned. "Don't forget, this is on indigenous territory. They might have already gone to the tribe to call for more people."
Keira Knightley gripped Matthew's arm tightly with one hand. "What should we do?"
Matthew looked back.
They had already retreated to the edge of the small hill. Behind them was a slope of about forty-five degrees, and through the low vegetation on the slope, they could see the crew's vehicles. With his agility, getting down wouldn't be difficult.
"If the indigenous people start something," Matthew whispered, pointing to the slope, "we'll go down from here."
Keira Knightley also looked back and asked, "Will there be snakes?"
"Ah..." Johnny Depp chimed in, "Generally speaking, places like this definitely have snakes."
Keira Knightley instinctively moved closer to Matthew, seemingly afraid of snakes coming near.
Matthew couldn't be bothered with Johnny Depp's nonsense and reminded him and Keira Knightley, "If the situation goes south, you two must stick close to me!"
He kept observing the situation ahead, and it was clearly not good. The tribal indigenous people seemed to be getting more and more agitated. Director Gore Verbinski and a producer had already had the film crew's security personnel stand in front, but no one had expected such an accident. There were only seven or eight security personnel here, who had arrived earlier to drive away any potential snakes and other animals.
There were quite a few people from the crew here, fifty or sixty, but if something really happened, apart from a few stunt performers from the action choreography team, the others probably wouldn't be able to hold off those strong indigenous men.
"Get out the dollars!" Johnny Depp finally got serious. "Hurry up and pay them off!"
Keira Knightley stood on tiptoes, looking forward through the gaps in the crowd, and asked curiously, "Didn't the crew communicate with these indigenous actors beforehand?"
The situation was clear, Matthew said, "It looks like there was no communication at all."
Johnny Depp, however, suddenly said, "This is just making a movie, we're not actually asking them to be cannibals. Do we need to communicate about such a small issue? The crew paid to film here, and what we film is our freedom."
Hearing such words from the usually eccentric Johnny Depp, Matthew sighed softly.
Keira Knightley nodded, following Depp's words, "They're taking this too seriously, interfering with the crew for no reason."
It was clear that both of them believed the indigenous actors were being unreasonable, even implying that whatever Hollywood chose to film was Hollywood's freedom.
Matthew wasn't surprised. Ninety-nine percent of people in the industry probably had similar thoughts, even an eccentric like Johnny Depp was no exception.
The so-called liberalism in Hollywood couldn't even be described as rampant.
A middle-aged man with glasses and a prominent side part suddenly retreated from the crowd and then noticed Matthew, Depp, and Keira Knightley.
Matthew and the others also saw him; the person who retreated was none other than director Gore Verbinski.
The two sides subtly nodded to each other, both prepared to abandon the crew and run at any moment.
Fortunately, the situation did not escalate to an irreversible and dire state. A local staff member hired by the crew, after nearly half an hour of talking and persuasion, finally managed to calm the emotions of the indigenous people. Then, the local government police also arrived. Although they did not disperse the indigenous actors, they formed a human wall between the indigenous people and the crew members.
"It's over now," Keira Knightley breathed a sigh of relief.
Matthew nodded slightly, "The Dominican government people are here, the situation shouldn't worsen anymore."
The film crew's expenses in Dominica exceeded 100 million US dollars, and they hired over 400 local people to work. For the Dominican government, with an unemployment rate exceeding seventy percent, an investment of this scale was absolutely enormous.
Moreover, once the film was released, it would also serve as promotion and boost for Dominica's tourism industry.
This incident was quickly resolved. The film crew also knew how to be flexible. Under the coordination of that local person, they provided 100 cases of Coca-Cola to each of the local indigenous tribes... Then, the indigenous people happily retreated, making one suspect whether their motive was to extort the film crew.
Of course, the film crew's shooting plan remained unchanged; in the film, the indigenous people would still be depicted as a cannibal tribe.
However, to prevent further unexpected situations, Gore Verbinski temporarily had the crew withdraw to Santo Domingo, and would find other outdoor locations to film the remaining scenes after returning to the United States.
From beginning to end, the film crew never considered whether to change the relevant content of the shooting out of consideration for the feelings of the local people.
On the way back, Matthew also chatted with Depp about this topic. Johnny Depp's meaning was very clear: what Hollywood films is Hollywood's absolute freedom.
Matthew also knew that Hollywood was a hotbed for the "white left," where liberalism was rampant, emphasizing so-called freedom of filming. American heroes saving the world, American heroes saving the galaxy, American soldiers saving the entire universe—these were all Hollywood's freedom of filming.
This kind of liberalism isn't necessarily bad, but the problem is that some people, under the banner of freedom of filming, even go so far as to make things like assassinating leaders of other countries... This kind of problem is not something Matthew can interfere with or solve. A Hollywood star like him can only adapt to this circle, not change it.
Helen Herman, Johnny Depp, and others he had close contact with all believed that freedom was an inherent right, like breathing, requiring no proof whatsoever, and seeing people mention it over and over again wouldn't seem abnormal at all.
"I hope one day the rampant liberalism will cause America to disintegrate..."
Matthew suddenly had this thought because he had always lived in Los Angeles and had heard many voices wanting California to become independent.
Of course, politics is extremely complex; Hollywood, in comparison, is like the difference between middle school and university.
Back at the hotel, Matthew, Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp, and Gore Verbinski had dinner together. From Gore Verbinski's words, one could also discern the crew's handling of the incident.
Since Jerry Bruckheimer hadn't come to Dominica at all, Gore Verbinski, as the nominal producer, was undoubtedly the most powerful person in the current crew. His meaning was clear: they could give small gifts like Coca-Cola to the local tribes, but the script absolutely could not be changed.
This was the so-called admitting fault verbally but refusing to change anything!
Matthew wasn't surprised at all; many people in Hollywood could be particularly stubborn at times.
Anyway, the indigenous people happily took their Coca-Cola and left, the crew wouldn't fire them, and the relevant scenes were changed to be filmed back in North America. This incident was considered over.
"I'm tired."
Johnny Depp stood up and stretched, being the first to say goodbye, "I'm going back to my room to sleep."
He, true to his nature, didn't wait for others to respond after speaking, stood up, and left the restaurant on his own.
Matthew and the others knew Johnny Depp's temperament and didn't take offense. He and Keira Knightley chatted with Gore Verbinski for another half an hour. Seeing someone come to discuss something with Gore Verbinski, they also politely excused themselves and left the restaurant.
Taking the elevator to their floor, Matthew tentatively asked Keira Knightley, "Are you coming to my place tonight?"
For the past few days, the two had been spending almost every night together. Keira Knightley didn't say anything, simply reached out and linked her arm through Matthew's, her meaning already clear.
Matthew led Keira Knightley out of the elevator lobby and had just turned into the corridor when he suddenly saw a figure flash past Johnny Depp's door, seemingly entering Depp's room.
At the same time, they also heard a parrot squawking.