"Is there a problem?"
In the editing room, Rob Cohen looked at Neil Moritz and Van Diesel. Van Diesel, who knew nothing of modesty, directly said, "I think there's a problem with the action scenes we shot today. It's best to scrap them."
Rob Cohen frowned slightly. Even with a big-budget production hanging in the balance, he felt Van Diesel was overstepping his bounds, demanding both freedom on set and the scrapping of scenes.
This man was proving to be quite troublesome!
He looked towards producer Neil Moritz, the real decision-maker in the crew.
Neil Moritz, just like before, sided with Van Diesel, "If it's not suitable, then scrapping it is fine."
He had just spoken on the phone with a senior executive at Universal Pictures, who made it clear that since Van Diesel brought in significant investment, as long as his demands weren't too excessive, they should comply. As long as the project was completed, even if the box office performance was poor, it wouldn't be Universal's money at stake.
As a distributor, Universal could still make a profit from the distribution fee.
Moreover, Van Diesel's targeting of a minor role and actor wouldn't impact the crew much.
Neil Moritz understood that Universal wasn't very optimistic about the theme. The main reason "Fast and Furious" was green-lit was that Universal hardly spent any of its money on it; the funding came almost entirely from financing.
But Van Diesel wasn't done with his demands.
He moved his shoulder slightly. Several hours later, his shoulder and ribs still hurt, but he couldn't complain since he had demanded the freedom to improvise the action scenes.
This, of course, wasn't going to be the end of it.
"There's more!" Van Diesel said, "I don't want to see Matthew Horn in the crew anymore."
Director Rob Cohen didn't immediately respond. Firing a minor actor wasn't a big deal for the crew, but dealing with a breach of contract could be troublesome.
He thought for a moment, asking, "What about the scenes involving Matthew Horn's character?"
Neil Moritz hadn't immediately agreed to this before, considering the scenes that had already been shot.
"Rob..." he inquired, "How many scenes has Matthew Horn shot? And how many are left?"
"Counting this afternoon's, he's completed two scenes," Rob Cohen recalled the shooting schedule. "There are two more scenes not yet filmed."
Van Diesel looked at Neil Moritz, his eyes pressing.
Neil Moritz, though resentful of Van Diesel's unreasonable attitude, represented Universal and couldn't oppose the significant funding. He quickly decided, "Alright, I'll have someone contact Matthew Horn's agency to negotiate the termination of the contract."
Van Diesel nodded, still with that cold expression, "The sooner, the better."
He left the editing room without another word.
Neil Moritz watched his back, a clear displeasure crossing his face. Van Diesel's behavior in the crew had already reached Universal, stirring internal criticism and reaching a consensus that even if "Fast and Furious" unexpectedly succeeded, it would be best not to use someone like Van Diesel in the future.
Leaving the studio and getting into his car, Van Diesel instructed the driver to head home. Once home, he immediately called his agent.
"Look up a minor actor named Matthew Horn."
Half an hour later, the agent called back.
"This minor actor has some background. He's been linked with Britney Spears, appeared in 'The Soul Switch,' 'Gladiator,' and 'Band of Brothers,' especially praised by producers like Gary Goetzman during 'Band of Brothers.' Two months ago, he landed a new role, the Scorpion King in Stephen Sommers' 'The Mummy Returns.'"
Van Diesel asked, "'The Mummy Returns'? The 'Mummy' series by Universal?"
"Exactly." The agent confirmed, "It's Universal's key project this year."
"Do you know who the producer of 'The Mummy Returns' is?" Van Diesel inquired further.
The agent answered, "Sean Daniel."
Van Diesel, unfamiliar with the name, hung up. He had some connections within Universal; perhaps he could reach out to Sean Daniel?
He knew "Fast and Furious," the project he was involved in, was far less significant to Universal than "The Mummy Returns," evident from the internal hierarchy of the two projects' managers.
Feeling pain again in his shoulder and ribs, Van Diesel's expression turned colder, resolved to try his luck.
As night deepened in the Westwood apartment, Matthew turned off the TV and VCR, rubbing his face which had gone numb from imitation, accidentally touching a bruise about the size of a fingernail, still somewhat painful.
He immediately thought of Van Diesel and shook his head, relieved to be leaving the crew soon.
Matthew had never seen the demeanor of A-List or super A-list stars on set. Even the behavior of Russell Crowe during "Gladiator" was just hearsay, and if Crowe's real actions were twice as exaggerated as the stories, he would still pale in comparison to Van Diesel.
Lacking the fame and talent to confront Van Diesel, and with Paul Walker and others limited for various reasons from speaking out, Matthew felt it was only a matter of time before someone working with Van Diesel openly clashed with him.
After showering and texting Britney, Matthew stored Kevin Spacey's tapes. Recently, he had been studying and imitating Kevin Spacey, focusing on "American Beauty" and Spacey's performances in "The Usual Suspects" and "Se7en."
Kevin Spacey's performances always carried an indescribable malevolence, something Matthew found unique.
After storing the tapes, Matthew lay down and opened the script for the Scorpion King's role, familiar with every line after going through it over a dozen times.
The Scorpion King mainly appears at the beginning and end of the film, with concentrated scenes filmed in a short period.
"The Mummy Returns" had already begun filming, with the crew shooting on location in Morocco. However, the Scorpion King's scenes would be shot against a green screen in Pinewood Studios near London, sparing Matthew a trip to Africa.
He was somewhat concerned about director Stephen Sommers' attitude, which was far from friendly at the signing.
In such an A-List project, a minor actor couldn't contend with the director.
Matthew hadn't planned to confront Sommers, a foolish act. He hoped Sommers would overcome his casting bias.
If not, he could endure temporarily, as long as Sommers wasn't overly unreasonable, until the Scorpion King's scenes were completed.
After returning from London, Matthew researched Stephen Sommers and found, contrary to his expectations, that Sommers had a very good reputation in the industry, known for being family-oriented, professional, and not fond of causing trouble, with a passion for exploring new film technologies.
Overall, Stephen Sommers could be considered an excellent director in terms of personal character.
However, such directors often have a stubborn side, which Matthew guessed might be why Sommers was somewhat against him.
Believing it wasn't personal, Matthew fell asleep, dreaming of Van Diesel speeding in a Dodge that suddenly lost control, crashed into a tree, and burst into flames, turning everything to ashes.
The next morning, after running in the nearby park and having breakfast outside, Matthew returned to find several missed calls from Helen-Herman on his apartment phone.
Under normal circumstances, Helen-Herman wouldn't contact him repeatedly unless there was an urgent work matter.
Matthew quickly called back, and after just two rings, she picked up.
"Where are you?" Helen-Herman asked.
"At home," Matthew truthfully replied, "Just got back from breakfast."
Helen-Herman hurriedly said, "Get to Universal Studios' production lot immediately. I'll wait for you at the entrance."
Matthew was puzzled, "I don't have any scenes today..."
Before he could finish, Helen-Herman interrupted, "This morning, an assistant producer from the 'Fast and Furious' crew called me to meet with you and discuss terminating your contract!"
"Terminate?" Matthew stood up from the sofa, raising his voice, "The 'Fast and Furious' crew wants to terminate my contract?"
"That's the notification I received," Helen-Herman replied calmly, "Matthew, tell me, what did you do in the crew? Why do they want to terminate your contract?"
Matthew immediately thought of Van Diesel, cursing under his breath before telling Helen-Herman, "I had some friction with Van Diesel. During filming yesterday afternoon, he tried to set me up but ended up worse off. I heard Van Diesel brought significant investment to the crew and has a lot of sway on set..."
Helen-Herman didn't rush to speak, allowing Matthew to recount yesterday's events from start to finish without exaggeration, helping her assess the situation.
"Come over as soon as possible," Helen-Herman said on the phone, "We'll talk more when we meet."
___________________
(Support with power stones, comments or reviews)
If you guys enjoy this story, In support me on Patreon and get access to +200 advance Chapters
Read Ahead
Patreon.com/INNIT