Leaving Great Britain for barely a month, Matthew returned to London to audition for "The Mummy Returns."
Helen Herman accompanied him this time, and from the first day they checked into the hotel, she constantly went in and out of Pinewood Studios, where the crew was located, to inquire about the latest developments regarding "The Mummy Returns" and the auditions.
From the information Helen Herman gathered, the audition situation was not optimistic.
"The Mummy Returns" is a sequel, continuing the main cast of the previous film "The Mummy."
Among the newly added characters, there were only a few important roles, and the Scorpion King was one of them.
"The Mummy" grossed over $400 million worldwide, so the sequel was bound to attract significant attention, and naturally, there was no shortage of competitors for its main roles.
According to Helen Herman, the "The Mummy Returns" crew sent out nearly twenty audition invitations for the role of the Scorpion King.
Looking solely at the number of auditionees, it seemed less competitive than when he auditioned for Ronald Spiers, but the reality was quite the opposite.
Because director Stephen Sommers had his own candidate, if it weren't for his limited authority and the producers and Universal Pictures insisting on auditions for the role, the actor for the Scorpion King would probably have already been decided.
Although the previous film was a massive success, like most Hollywood directors, Stephen Sommers did not have absolute power within the crew; his name wasn't even on the list of producers.
In Helen Herman's words, much like the first film, Stephen Sommers, as both director and screenwriter, was more like a general director of filming.
Let alone final cut rights, even in the selection of important roles, his opinion, while important, was not decisive.
Matthew had been in Hollywood for a year now and understood these basic realities.
Unless a director reached the level of a Spielberg or James Cameron, they didn't really have much say in front of the major studios.
After all, Hollywood operates on a producer-centric system.
"Nearly twenty actors participated in the audition, and each one is highly competitive."
Inside a beverage shop at Pinewood Studios, Helen Herman updated Matthew on the latest situation.
"But for now, Stephen Sommers' proposed candidate still has the highest chance of winning."
Matthew twirled the coffee cup in his hand and asked, "Who is Stephen Sommers' proposed person?"
"A professional wrestler," Helen Herman said, revealing a name, "Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson."
Hearing that name, Matthew gradually remembered—wasn't that the bald man whose name he couldn't recall?
Helen Herman continued, "Stephen Sommers strongly recommended Dwayne Johnson to producer Sean Daniel and Universal Pictures for the role of the Scorpion King."
Matthew frowned, "Even if the decision rests with the producer, wouldn't Sean Daniel prioritize the director's opinion?"
"He'll definitely consider the director's opinion," Helen Herman said, glancing at her wristwatch.
"But the information I received is that Sean Daniel isn't too keen on Stephen Sommers' recommendation, otherwise there wouldn't be this audition."
Having spent a long time with Helen Herman, Matthew gradually got used to her way of speaking and could understand the subtext: if a better candidate than Dwayne Johnson couldn't be found, Sean Daniel would certainly adopt Stephen Sommers' suggestion.
"Dwayne Johnson is quite famous, isn't he?" Matthew asked tentatively.
"More famous than you," Helen Herman thought for a moment, then added, "Jack used to be Sean Daniel's personal assistant, and I heard him talk about Sean Daniel.
Apparently, Sean Daniel is a very old-fashioned Southern white man."
Matthew knew that Jack, whom Helen Herman referred to, was the bearded man from the "Gladiator" crew.
"You don't need to worry about these things," Helen Herman instructed.
"What you need to do today is pass the initial audition!"
"Oh, and the skin color..." Matthew thought of another thing prompted by Helen Herman's words, "Does the crew have any requirements for skin color?"
Helen Herman shook her head, "No need to worry about that.
What the ancient Egyptians' skin color actually was, not to mention Hollywood, even academia has no definitive conclusion.
Arnold Vosloo, who plays Imhotep, was born in South Africa but is white.
In Hollywood, if a Black person plays a role, it's Black; if a white person plays a role, it's white; if an Asian person plays a role, it's yellow."
She rarely smiled, "This isn't a historical biopic; it's just a commercial entertainment film."
Matthew nodded, no longer speaking, and looked out of the beverage shop through the large glass curtain wall, contemplating the afternoon audition.
He had been in London for three days already; if he didn't pass the audition, he would have to return home.
The beverage shop was located at a very good spot at a crossroads in Pinewood Studios.
Due to a series of tax incentives for film crews by the London authorities, not only British TV and films but also many Hollywood crews chose to film in the UK.
Pinewood Studios is the oldest and best-equipped studio in the London area, and it's also the preferred venue for many crews filming in London.
People came and went within the studio; it was common for five, six, or even more crews to be working simultaneously at Pinewood Studios.
As it approached noon, the pedestrian traffic near the crossroads surged.
It was the beginning of the hot season, and many people came to the beverage shop for cold drinks.
Three children walked from a distance, gradually approaching the beverage shop.
Matthew looked over curiously; children were quite rare in the studio.
Behind the three children followed a young man, whose attire suggested he might be an assistant from some crew.
Soon, one girl and two boys entered the beverage shop, each ordered a cold drink, and walked towards their direction.
Matthew also saw clearly that the girl had the common brown hair of British people, with freckles on her face.
Of the two boys, one had black hair, and the other had the rarer red hair, both around ten years old.
As the girl walked past, she glanced at Helen Herman, who had her back to the door, and suddenly stopped.
"Hello, Helen," she greeted Helen Herman proactively.
Helen Herman also saw her, immediately stood up, and said with a smile, "Hello, Emma."
Then, she waved to the two boys, "Hello, Daniel.
Hello, Rupert."
The two children didn't seem familiar with Helen Herman; they just smiled and pointed to an empty table, saying, "Emma, we'll wait for you there."
Girls are generally more precocious, and Emma nodded, then said to Helen Herman, "Does Mom know you're here?"
Helen Herman smiled and said, "I didn't tell her.
I might go back after a few days."
Matthew had already recognized who the girl was and interjected, "Aren't you going to introduce us, Helen?"
"Are you Helen's boyfriend?"
To his surprise, the girl spoke first, "Hello, I'm Emma Watson."
"I'm Matthew Horner," Matthew explained, "Helen's client."
"Oh..." Emma Watson showed an embarrassed smile, "Sorry, I misunderstood."
Matthew smiled and shook his head, "It's okay."
Emma Watson seemed quite familiar with Helen Herman and chatted with her for a while longer before rejoining her companions.
"is she an actress?" Matthew deliberately asked.
"The leading actress of a Warner Bros. crew," Helen Herman said directly.
"The last time I came to London, it was for this crew."
Matthew immediately understood, "You want to poach her."
Helen Herman didn't answer, but she didn't deny it either.
The two sat for a while longer, then Helen Herman made a phone call, asked Matthew to come along, and they went to the soundstage rented by "The Mummy Returns" crew.
After waiting for about forty minutes, someone came to lead Matthew to the costume room.
No makeup artist came to do his makeup; a female costume designer provided him with a pair of custom-fitted boxer briefs.
After Matthew changed into them in the dressing room, she gave him a black robe similar to what boxers wear when entering the ring.
Matthew put on the black robe, concealing his muscular body, and followed an assistant out the door towards the audition room.
He didn't have any negative associations with the clothing; this was a very formal audition.
Not only would the casting director and producers of the crew participate, but a representative from the Screen Actors Guild would also, as customary, supervise the entire audition.
This wasn't Hollywood in the fifties or sixties; even if someone wanted to do something, they wouldn't be foolish enough to choose the crew's audition room.
Entering the audition room, Matthew stood as requested directly in front of the camera.
His eyes quickly scanned the opposite side, having seen the photos Helen Herman collected earlier, and he immediately recognized Stephen Sommers and Sean Daniel sitting next to the monitor.
These two men directly determined the fate of the auditioning actors, especially the latter.
Hollywood is a very standardized place, and even crew auditions are no exception.
Since it wasn't a makeup audition, Matthew quickly completed his self-introduction as per the casting director's request.
"His resume is decent," Stephen Sommers said in a low voice to Sean Daniel behind the monitor, looking at Matthew's actor profile.
"It's just that his body is a bit slender."
Sean Daniel ignored him and said to Matthew, "Take off your robe."
Matthew took off the black robe, handed it to the nearby staff, and was left wearing only a pair of boxer briefs.
He was tall and majestic, with flowing muscle lines, like Michelangelo's David.
Then, under the direction of the casting director, Matthew displayed his strong body and well-defined muscles from different angles.
Stephen Sommers didn't speak again; anyone could see that this actor was quite strong.
Sean Daniel nodded.
Although this actor didn't have a physique as almost abnormal as Dwayne Johnson's, his build and muscles perfectly met the crew's requirements.
More importantly, this person had far more experience than Dwayne Johnson, and he wasn't a... He shook his head, not wanting to think further, and without consulting Stephen Sommers, he picked up a pen and directly wrote a line on the document in front of him.
"Makeup audition!"
After writing, he nodded to the casting director.
The casting director said a few formulaic words, and the actor left the audition room.
Sean Daniel glanced at Stephen Sommers and then said to the casting director, "Send in the next one!"
Matthew and Helen Herman left Pinewood Studios and had just returned to their hotel when they received a notification from the crew.
"Congratulations, Matthew," Helen Herman said, hanging up the phone.
"You passed."
Matthew breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Shall we have a drink tonight to celebrate?"
Helen Herman shook her head, "It's not time yet."
She waited for Matthew to leave, picked up her phone, and dialed a number, "Jack, can you help me arrange a meeting with Sean Daniel?"