10. Thief

"For the movie?" Angelina Jolie's angry voice came again, "Winona, you really know how to flatter yourself!"

"Jolie!" That cold voice also raised its tone.

The two female leads of the movie are in a conflict. Matthew curiously perked up his ears.

Angelina Jolie seemed very angry, disregarding Winona Ryder's face, "Do you think I don't know what you're thinking? You asked to cancel yesterday's scene because I outshone you as the female lead! You want to cut my scenes because I've been performing better than you since the beginning of shooting!"

Her voice grew louder, "You're doing all this just because you're worried I'll steal the spotlight from you as the female lead!"

"Say what you want."

Unlike the enraged Angelina Jolie, Winona Ryder's voice remained cold, "This is within my producer's scope of power, you... hmph... you're just a supporting actress, you have no right to interfere!"

Matthew recalled that Dennis Kurt had mentioned before that Winona Ryder was not only the female lead of "Soulful Lady," but also credited as a producer.

Even if he wasn't particularly familiar with Hollywood, he knew that the film industry here was producer-centric.

The room suddenly quieted down, apparently, Angelina Jolie was speechless by that statement. After a while, Angelina Jolie's voice sounded again.

However, this time it wasn't as furious, "Don't think just because you brought this project about, you can do whatever you want!"

Suddenly, Angelina Jolie's voice escalated again, "Don't think I can't see through you! Real scoundrels love to play innocent! Act pure! Just like you!"

Bang!

After this statement, a loud slam of the door resounded, and Angelina Jolie stormed out, walking away coldly.

Matthew watched Angelina Jolie's figure, not having the intention to approach her at all. In this crew, whether it was Angelina Jolie or Winona Ryder, they were both godlike figures. A small fry like him approaching would only be asking for trouble.

After that, two more people came out of the room. Unlike Angelina Jolie, they walked towards Matthew.

"Winona..." one of them, a girl with glasses who seemed to be an assistant, asked, "Should we...?"

Midway through her sentence, she saw Matthew sitting on the bench in the corridor, staring intently at Winona Ryder, and immediately stopped talking.

As the two women approached, Matthew noticed a look of obvious surprise in Winona Ryder's eyes as she glanced at him. Due to his acquaintance with Captain Jack Sparrow Depp, he knew of this woman, but couldn't recall what she looked like.

Winona Ryder was wearing a white shirt, and light blue jeans, with shoulder-length black hair. Her features were flawless, and from this angle, she looked delicate, pure, and beautiful...

Matthew was sure he had seen her before, just a few days ago, he was sure he wasn't mistaken!

Wasn't this the female thief who stole books in the bookstore? This was what surprised Matthew. Winona Ryder, the former girlfriend of Johnny Depp, and the producer and female lead of this movie, was actually a thief!

She shouldn't be short of money, right? Why would she steal a few inexpensive books? Was stealing not considered stealing?

As Matthew was thinking this, Winona Ryder and her assistant walked past him. Perhaps because he had been staring at her, or maybe because he wasn't bad-looking, Winona Ryder turned her head curiously and glanced at him.

Winona Ryder didn't see Matthew at that moment. She quickly turned her head back and walked away with her assistant.

"This person..." The assistant seemed to recognize Matthew, "I've seen his information from Rubin's place. Rubin said he was recommended by Vanessa, and he's here because of Angelina Jolie's connection."

Hearing the assistant's words, Winona Ryder couldn't help but turn her head again and glance at Matthew.

Matthew sat on the bench, absentmindedly daydreaming.

He couldn't understand why a woman like Winona Ryder, with money, status, and position, would want to steal a few cheap books?

Time passed quickly, and a few more temporary actors, led by an agent, arrived. They formed a small group and glanced at Matthew, but didn't greet him.

Matthew continued to wait quietly. After quite some time, Dennis Kurt accompanied the casting director, Rubin, into the corridor. Dennis Kurt looked very pleasing, and Rubin seemed pleased, with a bright smile on his face.

For the agents handling temporary actors like Dennis Kurt, the casting director undoubtedly held the power of life and death.

Rubin came out of the office, called the young man from before, and had the temporary actors follow him to the area outside the studio.

To familiarize themselves with the venue, the young man specially led them through the peripheral area of the shooting area. Matthew looked around curiously. The studio was set up like a hospital, with long corridors and individual rooms clearly visible. Each room had a gap, seemingly reserved for camera positions.

Matthew hadn't seen this movie, nor had he read the script, so he wasn't very clear about it. 

The young man led them to a makeup trailer, where they were handed over to a flamboyant male makeup artist.

"Let them go first," Dennis Kurt stopped Matthew, who wanted to rush into the makeup trailer.

Although he didn't understand, Matthew still stopped and gave up the chance to get his makeup done first to the other temporary actors.

"Hurry up!" the young man urged, "Don't waste time!"

The makeup trailer was very small, unable to accommodate several people. A middle-aged man went in first, and the rest waited outside.

Perhaps because they were not important roles in the crew, the makeup artist couldn't pay special attention to them. They just quickly applied foundation. Even though their roles were insignificant, the preparation was not simple. After the makeup was done, they changed into their costumes. Matthew put on a white coat belonging to a caregiver. The crew had prepared many white coats of various sizes. He guessed that was why they weren't asked to come earlier for costume fitting.

Although they were just background actors, the crew's requirements were quite strict. After Matthew and the other temporary actors were styled, an assistant director came over to inspect them one by one.

 After confirming there were no issues, they were led into the studio.

According to Matthew's understanding, this was a movie with an investment of several tens of millions of dollars, and no aspect would be taken lightly.

The assistant director led them to the central area of the studio, which was set up like a living room, with a smooth floor, coffee table, sofa, armchair, and TV facilities. Two cameras were set up on the same side of the living room without walls, and the floodlights flickered on and off, seemingly being adjusted.

As they arrived, a middle-aged man with a beard walked over. Matthew guessed he should be the director. He personally briefed the assistant director, and then the assistant director began to arrange the positions of the people one by one.

"You, come here," the assistant director called Matthew over. Matthew hurried over and stood behind a single sofa, directly facing the camera lens. The assistant director looked at the camera and then said, "Move to the left a bit."

Matthew acted like a puppet in the assistant director's hands, moving as he was told, shifting to the left.

Behind the camera, someone gestured, and the assistant director said, "Good! Just stand here and don't move."

"Okay!" Matthew nodded quickly.

The assistant director cautioned, "Once filming starts, don't laugh or make any strange movements."

"Got it!" Matthew nodded again.

The assistant director went to do other work, and Matthew stood there, patiently waiting. After a few minutes, female actors began to emerge and, as per the director's instructions, sat in their respective positions.

Then, Matthew saw Angelina Jolie accompanied by an assistant enter the set, exchange greetings with the director, and sit on the prominent long sofa.

Angelina Jolie saw Matthew, turned to look at him, and Matthew gave her a slight smile. She seemed to not recognize him and turned her head back.

After waiting for a while longer, Winona Ryder with her short hair appeared.

She walked towards the single sofa in front of Matthew, and her beautiful eyes naturally fell on Matthew, immediately furrowing her brows.

-----------

Visit my Patreon for extra chapters:

patreon.com/TranslationHub