Hearing the question, Matthew turned to look beside him. The first thing that met his eyes was a face like a bitter gourd. This face was not only old but also very ordinary. If he hadn't seen it in many blockbuster movies, he would never have believed that a Hollywood superstar could look like that.
"You are…" Matthew moved back a step, appropriately creating some distance to see more clearly, "You are Matt Damon."
"You are Matthew Horner?" The bitter-gourd face didn't answer, but tacitly acknowledged Matthew's words.
Matthew nodded, "I am." He was surprised that Matt Damon was looking for him. "Are you looking for me for something?"
In the memories left by the previous person, Matt Damon was an Oscar winner. His status seemed even higher than Angelina Jolie's.
"Yesterday, Winona might have had a small misunderstanding with you." Matt Damon's words seemed very polite. "She's been angry ever since she got back, and she wouldn't tell me when I asked her."
A hint of wariness immediately appeared in Matthew's eyes.
Matt Damon continued, "I just wanted to ask what happened that made her so angry."
"You and Miss Winona Ryder…" Matthew looked at Matt Damon.
"Winona is my girlfriend," Matt Damon said. He also looked at Matthew, "You and Miss Jolie?"
Last night, Winona Ryder had cursed the two of them as a pair of scoundrels.
Matthew shook his head, "Miss Jolie and I have no relationship whatsoever."
"Sorry." Matt Damon gave a simple, honest smile. "It seems I misunderstood."
Matthew, however, read something else behind that seemingly honest smile. "Just say what you want to say."
Matt Damon was still smiling honestly, "I want to know if there was some misunderstanding between you and Winona?"
"Nothing…" Matthew wanted to explain, after all, this was Matt Damon, "It was just a small matter, I…"
At this point, he closed his mouth again. Why he had a conflict with Winona Ryder was something he absolutely couldn't say! If he said it, he would be in big trouble! He had signed a non-disclosure agreement!
"Hmm? What?" Matt Damon looked expectant, his sincere, ordinary face making it hard to refuse.
Matthew quickly changed the subject, "It was just a trivial little misunderstanding."
Matt Damon and Winona Ryder were boyfriend and girlfriend, they were in it together. Although in the information he had seen, this person was one of the celebrities with a very good reputation in Hollywood, who could say what he was like in private? What if he was planning to trick him? Once he revealed those things, he would violate the non-disclosure agreement, and the huge penalty would be more than he could pay even if he sold himself a hundred times over.
After only two days in the crew, Matthew had already seen the cutthroat competition in Hollywood and knew that he absolutely could not be careless in his actions.
"A trivial little misunderstanding, huh?" Matt Damon still had a smiling face, without any celebrity airs. "Since it's a small misunderstanding, Mr. Horner, as a gentleman, could you take a step back and apologize to Winona? That way, the misunderstanding will be resolved."
Matthew also laughed happily, "I'm just a small fry, an extra, not a gentleman." He deliberately mocked himself, "Many people say I'm a country bumpkin from Texas."
The smile on Matt Damon's face gradually faded, and his bitter-gourd face slowly turned into a truly bitter one.
"It's not that I don't want to reconcile." Matthew didn't want to conflict with Matt Damon. "For some things, you'd best ask Miss Winona Ryder yourself."
He vaguely remembered that Matt Damon and his good friend had seemingly fought their way up from the very bottom, so they shouldn't be the arrogant type.
Matt Damon's bitter-gourd face grew even more bitter. He really couldn't understand how a star of Winona Ryder's caliber, and a very powerful producer on the set, could have a conflict with a small extra, end up losing out, and be so angry she couldn't sleep all night.
Thinking of this, he glanced at Matthew again. This person, aside from being a little handsome, wasn't particularly special.
"I will ask Winona," Matt Damon thought for a moment, then added, "She's my girlfriend, if…"
He suddenly changed his tone, "I remember you, Matthew Horner."
Matthew could only smile. Fortunately, Matt Damon wasn't the kind of brainless and overbearing big star, otherwise it would be real trouble.
However, on second thought, Hollywood's competition was so fierce, and it wasn't possible to make a living just by having a pretty boy's face and using green screen editing. Except for a few people with deep backgrounds, those who could climb up probably weren't fools.
The two exchanged a few more indifferent words, and Matt Damon voluntarily excused himself. Once he left, few people on the set paid attention to Matthew anymore, as he was just a small extra.
Matthew watched one scene finish filming and felt uncomfortable on his face, so he quickly left the soundstage to go to the makeup trailer to remove his makeup. The time he spent lingering in the soundstage drew complaints from the effeminate makeup artist. Matthew knew that extras had a status similar to that of general laborers on set, so he didn't say anything. After removing his makeup and changing into his own clothes, he left the Universal Studios filming area directly.
After leaving Universal Studios, he called Dennis . The fat man was still networking in the crew's office area and said that his salary would be credited to his account soon, and he would notify him when it arrived.
Two hundred dollars wasn't a lot, but it wasn't a small sum for Matthew either.
His daily pay at Red Penguin Company was only fifty dollars, just a little higher than Los Angeles' minimum wage standard. Even with night shift subsidies, he couldn't earn eighteen hundred dollars a month.
This job might be lost at any time. If Angelina Jolie's divorce from Jonny Lee Miller blew up, Jonny Lee Miller's side would definitely investigate the source of that video, and it wouldn't be hard to guess that it would be related to him. At that time, if Jonny Lee Miller made a casual complaint call, he would have to pack up and leave Red Penguin Company in disgrace.
However, Matthew didn't regret doing that. After all, it not only opened the door to Hollywood for him but also landed him a role with two lines of dialogue!
According to Dennis, most extras who came to Hollywood to chase their dreams wouldn't get such an opportunity even after several years of struggle, only serving as background props.
If given the choice between wasting a few years and taking a risk, most people would choose the latter.
Taking the bus to Hollywood Boulevard, it was still early before work, so Matthew grabbed some lunch and strolled along Hollywood Boulevard, starting to consider his next steps.
Currently, he could be considered an experienced extra. In Dennis words, finding work would be relatively easier, and he could even try to compete for small roles with lines.
But the morning's filming also made Matthew realize that his professional skills were not just bad, but very, very bad.
Next, professional training and learning were essential.
Fortunately, Angelina Jolie had already promised to help with this. This woman's brain might sometimes be a bit screwy, but from his observations, she was a relatively trustworthy person.
Another thing was that he needed a new agent.
Although snobbery in the entertainment industry was normal, and he himself was somewhat snobbish, that fat man, Dennis , was simply too snobbish!
Matthew believed that as long as there was profit to be made, even if the profit wasn't large, that fat man would sell him out without hesitation. And from yesterday's situation, Dennis couldn't be relied on when he needed him.
What was the point of having such an agent? He was simply a ticking time bomb.
If conditions hadn't prevented it, Matthew wouldn't have wanted to cooperate with him at all.
Although he didn't have the qualifications to choose right now, in the memories left by the previous person, there were many such extra service companies in Los Angeles, and he could totally find another one.
And there was no need to worry about breach of contract. Extras, especially non-union actors, signed temporary contracts with these companies. When there was no work, they were just on file with them and wouldn't involve breach of contract issues.
For example, with this job on the set of 'Girl, Interrupted', it would be more troublesome for Matthew to change agents if he was still working, but once the job was over, there would be no problem.
After wandering around Hollywood Boulevard for half the afternoon, Matthew got a feel for the environment. When he arrived near the company, he bought a few newspapers, greeted the front desk, went into the driver's lounge, and picked out the recruitment section to read.
This was also a way of planning ahead, partly to maintain daily reading, and partly to see which industries were hiring more people and were suitable for someone like him; and partly to look for film crews or extra service companies like Starlight Company that were recruiting actors.
The previous Matthew had found Starlight Company through a job advertisement in the newspaper, but unfortunately, he ran into an extreme character like Dennis .
He flipped through several newspapers but didn't see any advertisements for crew recruitment. However, Matthew found three small agencies recruiting extras, noted down their phone numbers, and called them one by one. The replies from these companies were basically the same: they asked Matthew to come in, provide personal information, photos, and a resume, and file them with their company. If there was suitable work, they would contact him proactively.
Matthew planned to visit these three companies one by one after work tomorrow.
Putting away the newspapers, he realized that not having a car was very inconvenient. Public transportation in Los Angeles was not developed, far inferior to the country he once lived in. Not to mention that buses took a long time to wait for, it was also difficult to find taxis on the road unless you called one yourself, otherwise it would be very difficult to get a ride.
Matthew wanted to buy a used car, but after considering his current situation, he gave up.
Not to mention the lawyer from that Tarot Card crew who had already called him, Angelina Jolie had already agreed to help him find a suitable acting training school, which would definitely be a large expense, and the remaining money might not even be enough.
He would call that fat man Dennis tomorrow to ask when he could get the two hundred dollars. Before he got that money, he shouldn't show his cards yet.