With his career just starting, Matthew's dedication was beyond doubt. On the day of filming, he arrived early at Universal Studios, queued up for styling. Since "The Fast and the Furious" is a contemporary drama, this aspect didn't take too long. By a little past 7:30, he left the makeup room and headed to the set.
On the set, the director was instructing people to set up the shooting location. Today's filming was officially scheduled to start at 8:30. Matthew waited for a while, sitting in the lounge. Around 8:00, several main actors, including Paul Walker, successively entered the set.
Paul Walker and the other actors also came to the lounge. Being quite familiar with Matthew, he introduced the two actresses, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez, to him.
Matthew didn't see Vin Diesel. The bald actor gave him a mysterious feeling, as if he disdained associating with other actors.
However, Vin Diesel would definitely appear today. The scene Matthew was about to participate in was one of the few in the film where all four main characters appeared together.
After chatting with Paul Walker for a few sentences, he also learned that today's scene was Vin Diesel's first scene filmed for "The Fast and the Furious" crew.
"Time is almost up," Paul Walker was very time-conscious. After chatting for a while, he reminded Matthew, "We should go get ready."
Compared to Paul Walker, Matthew's preparation was very simple: just standing in the middle of the set as a background for the four main characters.
This role was small. The reason he participated in the audition was, on one hand, to gain filming and practical experience—learning acting solely through theory and self-practice was far from enough—and on the other hand, to earn a decent amount of remuneration.
Speaking of which, if it weren't for this income, let alone the professional fitness and boxing training for the Scorpion King, even the money for trysts with Britney would be an issue.
Besides Matthew, there were several other actors playing background roles. Under the direction of an assistant director, they quickly stood in their respective positions.
Director Rob Cohen also entered the set, seemingly to instruct the main actors on some matters.
"Hmm... why is one person missing?" Rob Cohen noticed that only three of the four main actors had arrived. He asked loudly, "Where's Vin Diesel?"
No one answered him.
Matthew looked around; Vin Diesel was nowhere to be seen in the visible areas of the set.
It was already 8:30, and a lead actor was still missing. Rob Cohen was quite annoyed. "Who knows where Vin Diesel is?"
Still, no one answered him.
Rob Cohen said to the assistant next to him, "Call Vin Diesel!"
The assistant, however, weakly said, "He doesn't have a phone."
"Then call his agent!" Rob Cohen shouted again.
Since the director hadn't spoken, Matthew and the others had no choice but to continue waiting there. The assistant who made the call returned to Rob Cohen and whispered a few words, making Rob Cohen's face flush with anger.
They waited from 8:30 until 8:45, when the assistant director came to inform the actors to return to the lounge and wait.
It wasn't until 9:00 that Vin Diesel still hadn't appeared. Dozens of people, both in front of and behind the camera, were all waiting idly for him alone.
"What the hell!" Jordana Brewster was clearly impatient. "Are we just going to keep waiting like this?"
"F@#K!" Michelle Rodriguez directly cursed. "Did that jerk get hit by a car?"
Let alone these two women, even the good-tempered Paul Walker was getting annoyed. "Does he understand basic respect?"
Matthew just listened, not saying a word. He was very aware of his place and knew it was best to keep such complaints to a minimum.
Time passed minute by minute. The crew kept trying to contact Vin Diesel but couldn't get through. It wasn't until 9:30 that the burly bald man finally walked into the studio.
"That jerk Vin Diesel is here."
Hearing Michelle Rodriguez's voice, Matthew turned to look. It was indeed the bald man he remembered, just much younger.
Rob Cohen went up to him and questioned, "Why are you just arriving? You're late!"
"Oh..." Vin Diesel casually responded, showing no awareness of being late. He answered indifferently, "I slept in the car for a while."
He didn't even apologize, let alone offer any extra explanation. "Where's the makeup artist? I need to get my makeup done."
With that, he left the set and went to the makeup room.
Director Rob Cohen was furious but said nothing more, simply telling the crew to start preparing again.
Clearly, Vin Diesel didn't care much for Director Rob Cohen.
It was Matthew's first time seeing such a situation. He couldn't help but scratch his head and ask Paul Walker, "What's going on?"
Paul Walker shrugged, "It's just what I said."
Jordana Brewster, on his other side, also heard Matthew's words and whispered, "Vin Diesel has investors behind him, and he was recommended to the crew by a heavyweight."
Matthew nodded. Michelle Rodriguez interjected, "I've heard people talk about him. This guy has a bad reputation; he's a notorious troublemaker on set."
She asked Jordana Brewster, "is your information accurate?"
"Absolutely accurate!" Jordana Brewster spoke frankly. "I also came to the crew because of my father's investment, but my father's investment was very small."
Including Matthew, these actors discussed for a while. Vin Diesel returned to the set after getting his styling done, and filming finally began.
Subsequently, Director Rob Cohen arranged the specific blocking, and another problem arose.
"I think this parallel standing position is too mediocre." Vin Diesel wasn't yet a big star, but his demeanor was very much like an A-list or even super A-list celebrity. He directly expressed his dissatisfaction with Rob Cohen's designed blocking, saying in a muffled voice, "Four actors walking in parallel simply cannot highlight the focus!"
Just as Rob Cohen was about to say something, Vin Diesel suddenly lowered his voice and, in a tone only the two of them could hear, reminded him, "Do you remember what I told you last week?"
The unspoken words were immediately swallowed back. Rob Cohen's suppressed anger instantly dissipated as he recalled what producer Neal H. Moritz had reminded him, and even more so, the conversation Vin Diesel had with him.
Vin Diesel was planning a new project, a new type of spy film, and had already reached a preliminary consensus with Sony Columbia Pictures. They were interested in inviting him to participate in this project as the film's director.
That project, unlike this niche, non-mainstream racing film, was a mainstream spy film, with an investment of up to seventy million dollars!
Rob Cohen naturally wanted to direct such a big production. After thinking for a while, he decided to adjust the shooting blocking according to Vin Diesel's demands.
Originally, the four main actors would appear in the shot in parallel, with the two male characters in the middle. However, Vin Diesel wanted to lead the other three actors by a step, emphasizing his protagonist status!
This demand naturally drew objections from the three actors, including Paul Walker. The set immediately descended into an argument, and filming was delayed.
Matthew always stood in the back observing; after all, his role was just to be a background.
Soon, Vin Diesel had someone call producer Neal H. Moritz, and Neal H. Moritz suppressed the objections of the others.
Filming finally began, but the crew split on the third day of shooting.
After a day of filming, Matthew finally understood: Vin Diesel had money and connections behind him, and he was not someone others could contend with.
The next day, filming continued.
Originally, the crew's morning shooting plan was to first film the scenes between Paul Walker and Vin Diesel, and then, under the same set conditions, film an action scene between Matthew's character and Vin Diesel.
But after everyone else arrived, Vin Diesel still didn't show up.
This time was even worse than before; he still hadn't appeared by ten in the morning.
Let alone the others, even Matthew, who considered himself someone who didn't need to compete in the crew, was fuming with anger from waiting.
Seeing that filming wouldn't start anytime soon, Matthew and Paul Walker and others simply had their assistants bring them their phones, turned them on to silent mode, and played games to pass the time.
Although they could only play Tetris, it was better than sitting idly. Matthew had been playing for less than five minutes when his phone suddenly rang. It was Britney.
This was a studio, so taking calls was very inconvenient. He first hung up the call, then told his assistant, "I'm going to make a call. If anything comes up, call me outside the studio."
"Go ahead!" Paul Walker waved his hand at Matthew. "My scene hasn't been shot yet, and I doubt your scene will be shot this morning."
Matthew smiled, left the studio, and dialed Britney's number.
The sun at ten in the morning was quite scorching. The studio exit was on the south side, with full sun exposure in front, making it very hot. Matthew looked around and saw a black minivan parked under a palm tree about fifty meters to his right. The minivan provided some shade, so he quickly walked over.
"is something wrong, dear?" Matthew stood in the shade on the passenger side of the minivan. There was no one here, so he didn't need to lower his voice. "Why are you calling me at this time?"
"I'm leaving Los Angeles this afternoon."
Hearing this, Matthew involuntarily raised his voice, "What? Aren't you leaving next week?"
"The schedule changed suddenly. The company arranged an exclusive interview with a TV station, and there's nothing I can do..." Britney's voice was low. "Let's not talk about it now, I need to hurry and pack."
Matthew had no choice but to hang up the phone. After a month with Britney, they were separating again. It would certainly be a lie to say he wasn't depressed. He couldn't help but lightly punch the minivan behind him!
Bang--
The minivan made a soft sound.
"Who?" The passenger door of the minivan was suddenly pulled open from the inside, revealing a bald head. "Which jerk hit my car!"
Vin Diesel got out of the car, his face extremely displeased.