Chapter 10 |
"A filming adjustment?" Jolie's angry voice rang out again.
"Winona Ryder, you're a terrible liar. Remember that, once and for all!"
"Watch your mouth, Jolie." The cold voice also rose in volume.
The two leading ladies of the film were feuding? Matthew pricked up his ears with curiosity.
Angelina Jolie looked furious, glaring fiercely at Winona Ryder. "You think I don't know what you're up to? You asked the director to cut my scene yesterday because I outshone you, the lead actress! I've been better than you since the first day of shooting!"
Her voice grew louder. "You're only doing this because you're afraid I'll steal the spotlight from you as the star!"
"Whatever you say." Unlike the enraged Angelina Jolie, Winona Ryder's voice remained calm. "But know your place. You're just a supporting actress and have no right to interfere with the film's editing."
Matthew recalled Dennis mentioning in passing that Winona Ryder was not only the lead actress in "Girl, Interrupted" but also the executive producer.
Even though he wasn't particularly familiar with Hollywood, he knew the film industry here was producer-driven.
Slam!
Her words were followed by the loud slam of a door as Jolie stormed out.
Matthew watched Angelina Jolie's retreating back, with no intention of approaching her. He'd only be asking for trouble if he did.
Then, two people emerged from the room. Unlike Angelina Jolie, who had stormed off to parts unknown, they were walking toward Matthew.
"Winona," a young woman said, hurrying after the dark-haired woman. "Do you want to—"
She stopped mid-sentence when she saw Matthew sitting on a bench in the hallway, staring directly at Winona Ryder, and immediately fell silent.
The closer the two women came, the more Matthew stared at Winona Ryder with open astonishment. He knew of her existence thanks to Johnny Depp, but he hadn't been able to place her until this very moment.
Winona Ryder was dressed in a white shirt and light-blue jeans, her short black hair cut to her ears. Her features were flawlessly delicate, beautiful from this angle.
Matthew was sure he had seen her before, just the other day in fact, and he wasn't mistaken.
Wasn't this the thief who had stolen a book from the bookstore? What astonished Matthew was that Winona Ryder—Johnny Depp's ex-girlfriend, the producer and star of this film—was a shoplifter.
She couldn't be short on money, right? Why would she steal a book?
As Matthew mulled this over, Winona Ryder and her assistant walked past him. Perhaps because he was staring, or perhaps because he was handsome, Winona Ryder turned her head and gave him a curious glance.
But she quickly turned away and continued on with her assistant.
"That guy," the assistant, who seemed to recognize Matthew, said, "I saw him with Ruby and heard him say that Miss Jolie recommended him."
Hearing her assistant's words, Winona Ryder couldn't help but turn back and cast another, more thoughtful glance at Matthew before walking away in silence.
Matthew remained on the bench, completely bewildered.
He truly couldn't understand why a beautiful woman with wealth and status would steal a few worthless books.
Time flew by. A few more extras arrived with their agents, gathering in a small group and watching Matthew with curiosity, though none of them made any move to say hello.
Matthew waited, and after a long while, Ruby appeared, accompanied by Dennis.
Everyone immediately rushed to greet the casting director. For agents representing extras, a casting director certainly held the power to change their lives, to say nothing of the actors themselves.
Ruby politely greeted everyone before entering his office. Dennis sat down next to Matthew, glanced at the few others, and said, "I did everything I could to get you the role of the male attendant standing behind the lead actress, Winona Ryder. You have no lines, but you'll get a frontal shot."
Although he knew that having his face shown for a bit longer wouldn't make him memorable to the audience, Matthew still said, "Thank you. I'll do my best."
"No, don't!" Dennis quickly warned him.
"You just need to stand there. Don't make faces at the camera, and don't even think about messing anything up."
Matthew nodded dutifully.
After they had been sitting there for nearly half an hour, the casting director, Ruby, came out of his office, called over the young man from before, and had him tell the extras to follow him out of the studio.
To familiarize them with the location, the young man led the group along the outer edge of the set. Matthew looked around curiously. The studio was designed to look like a hospital, with long hallways and separate, clearly visible rooms, each with gaps that seemed to be designated spots for cameras.
He hadn't seen the movie or read the script; he only knew that it was supposedly the story of a mentally ill girl, played by Ryder. He knew nothing more.
The young man took them to a makeup trailer and handed them over to an effeminate-looking male makeup artist.
"Let them go first." Dennis immediately stopped Matthew, who was about to head into the trailer.
Though he didn't quite understand, Matthew stopped and let a few other extras go ahead of him for makeup.
"Hurry up," the young man urged. "Don't waste time."
The makeup trailer was too small to accommodate the crowd, so a middle-aged man went in first while the others stood outside and waited.
Dennis had been in a good mood ever since he'd arrived. Seeing Matthew's confused look, he leaned against the makeup trailer and explained in a low voice, "Non-union extras don't get treated very well. They usually slap low-quality makeup on them, which damages the skin. The longer you leave it on your face, the more harm it does."
Matthew understood immediately. "So the bigger the actor, the later they get their makeup done?"
Dennis Coulter nodded. "Yep."
He then added, "A lot of big, A-list actors will make the entire crew wait for them if they decide the makeup has been on for too long."
"Can I get away with no makeup?" Matthew rubbed his smooth face.
The one thing that made him feel good after his
"rebirth" was his handsome face.
Dennis Coulter shook his head. "Any actor whose face might appear on camera has to wear makeup."
None of the extras were playing important roles; they were all just set dressing, so the makeup artist couldn't waste time on them. After a simple base layer of makeup, everyone, including Matthew, was ready in just twenty minutes.
A layer of foundation was smeared across his face. Matthew felt awkward but didn't dare touch it, knowing that smudging the makeup would be a problem.
Their roles were simple, so simple as to be insignificant, but the preparation was anything but. After makeup and a costume change, Matthew put on a white attendant's coat. The crew had prepared many white coats in various sizes, which, he guessed, was why they hadn't been called in for a fitting beforehand.
Even though it was just a background role, the crew was quite strict. After Matthew and the other extras were ready, an assistant director came over to check that everything was in order before leading them to the studio.
The assistant director led them to the center of the studio, which was set up like a living room with a level floor, a coffee table, a sofa, a single armchair, and a television.
As soon as they arrived, a middle-aged man with a beard, whom Matthew guessed was the director, approached them and said a few words to the assistant director. The AD then began to position the extras one by one.
"You, over here." The assistant director beckoned to Matthew, who hurried over and stood behind the single armchair, facing the camera. The AD glanced at the camera and added, "Move a little to your left. Yes, just like that."
Matthew was like a puppet in the assistant director's hands, moving as he was told and taking another step to the left.
Someone behind the camera made a gesture, and the assistant director said,
"Good! Just stand right there."
Matthew nodded.
The assistant director advised, "Don't smile or make any movements once filming starts, or we'll have to shoot the whole thing again."
Matthew nodded again.
The assistant director went off to attend to other matters, and Matthew began to wait patiently. After a few minutes, the actresses came out one by one and sat in their assigned spots as the director had requested.
Then Matthew saw Angelina Jolie walk onto the set with her assistant, greet the director familiarly, chat with him for a few minutes, and sit down on the most prominent long sofa.
Jolie saw Matthew and turned her head to look at him, but her gaze soon returned to the camera.
After a little more waiting, the short-haired Winona Ryder appeared.
She walked over to the single armchair in front of Matthew, her beautiful eyes naturally falling on him, and she immediately frowned.