Actually, Sean Daniel had few objections to Stephen Sommers' recommendation this time—after all, the actress wasn't Black and had no family ties to the Black community, which suited his preferences quite well. Fast updates, no ads.
But as the producer overseeing the entire project, he had to think further ahead.
"Stephen, have you considered this?" Sean Daniel said earnestly. "The lead actor, Matthew Horner, was born in 1980. The actress you're recommending was born in 1968. Won't the age gap make them look mismatched?"
Generally, American women tend to show their age soon after thirty.
"Absolutely not," Stephen Sommers assured him. "I've met her in person—she looks barely in her twenties, sexy and beautiful, exactly what we need for the female lead."
Sean Daniel knew Stephen Sommers wasn't a director who made careless choices; last time he'd only rejected Stephen's pick because the actor had real issues. He gave it serious thought now.
Stephen Sommers added, "This actress, Kelly Hu, was once Miss Teen USA and holds a black belt in karate—perfect for the action scenes."
The plan called for plenty of action from the heroine as well.
Sean Daniel finally nodded. "All right, have her come in for an audition."
Stephen Sommers understood that Sean Daniel had no further objections; he had returned a favor.
As for director Chuck Russell, neither of them bothered asking his opinion. They'd hired him as the on-set commander-in-chief; he had virtually no power outside of filming.
A knock sounded, and the Publicist in charge of media and publicity for the Crew walked in.
"Good morning, gentlemen," the Publicist greeted them familiarly.
Stephen Sommers stood to leave, but Sean Daniel asked, "Any good news?"
"Twelve national outlets are still following us this week," the Publicist replied, clearly prepared. "Online, plenty of portals are covering us too."
After that last blockbuster, Hollywood had begun valuing Internet promotion; though the campaign had cost tens of millions, the final profits were enormous.
"What about our own site?" Sean Daniel asked.
The Publicist pulled up a chair. "The official site's still under construction, but it'll be live by month's end. We've opened a blog, hosted on Yahoo Entertainment…"
He suddenly remembered something, smacked his forehead, and said, "Right—when I logged into Yahoo Entertainment, I saw an interesting item."
"Hmm?"
Sean Daniel had a computer right in front of him and immediately opened Yahoo Entertainment; Stephen Sommers also sat back down and pulled up the page.
In a fairly prominent spot on Yahoo Entertainment, both men spotted the headline:
"the scorpion king, Matthew Horner, trains hard to get in shape for filming!"
They clicked the link. The page loaded, showing several photos: first of Matthew entering and leaving a fitness club, then training inside.
Action drills, coordination work, footwork, targeted conditioning, mitt and bag work, situational sparring… the pictures showed a ripped, sweating man clearly pushing himself to the limit.
"Matthew's always been a dedicated actor," Stephen Sommers said, all previous bias gone; he'd grown genuinely fond of the man.
Sean Daniel agreed. "True. Not just hardworking—he's smart too."
The Publicist chuckled. "Very smart.
The actor's fame had come almost entirely from the scorpion king; now that the character had his own spin-off, it was the perfect moment to ride the wave of self-promotion.
Sean Daniel skimmed the page and told the Publicist, "Contact Helen Herman. Have Matthew Horner fully involved in early-stage publicity. We'll work out the specifics."
The Publicist nodded. "Certainly. With the right packaging, Matthew Horner has real selling power. We can spin his résumé into a model of the driven, upbeat young actor who made it."
"Draft a plan…" Sean Daniel said, also seeing the actor's potential. "Study some successful cases."
While the two talked, Stephen Sommers clicked a link on the page and landed on a personal blog. The avatar was a familiar face; he glanced and knew at once it was Matthew Horner's blog.
"Started training in kickboxing recently…"
Below the post were photos—clearly of Matthew in training.
Stephen Sommers kept scrolling. Matthew didn't post often—only every few days—and most entries were about practicing acting, reading, or working out. When Stephen skipped ahead, he saw many had been written before filming began.
What did that tell him? Stephen Sommers knew clearly: Matthew Horner was a genuinely good actor.
He also spotted comments from movie fans on the blog.
"You're an actor, right? Never heard of you."
That was the earliest.
"After seeing your scene I looked you up online and found your blog. You're great—keep at it! I'm rooting for you!"
Dated the day the episode aired.
Most comments, though, were from the past two days.
"No wonder you're so ripped in the movie—you trained this hard! Go for it! When it opens I'll buy a ticket!"
"Actors have it tough. Matthew Horner, I'll remember you!"
"Even drenched in sweat you've got a killer smile."
"Huge props to the scorpion king!"
Quite a few people following Matthew Horner's blog, it seemed. Stephen didn't read further; instead he told Sean Daniel, "Sean, Yahoo Entertainment's piece links to Matthew Horner's blog—go look. I smell a story."
Sean Daniel found the link at once and clicked. The Publicist, curious, stepped behind Sean to read along.
Unlike Stephen Sommers, Sean Daniel was a hands-on producer. After scrolling through, he immediately told the Publicist, "Tell the web team to put Matthew Horner's personal blog right on the film's homepage."
"Got it." The Publicist was still staring at the screen. "This'll make great promo material."
Matthew had kept updating the blog even when Elena Boyar was his only follower. Even on busy weeks he posted at least twice. Once Elena's planted story hit Yahoo's front page, traffic exploded; within a single day his follower count hit four figures.
There were already over a hundred comments.
Nearly all were positive—even readers who hadn't seen the film, who didn't know the scorpion king, cheered when they saw his workout photos.
A guy from his background might get nothing for trying, but he'd get nothing at all if he didn't.
Soon the Crew's Publicist approached him and Helen Herman about launching an early publicity push built around him. Matthew had no reason to refuse—more visibility was exactly what he wanted.
First the unit hired a photographer for Scorpion King stills, then shot slick footage of him training. Newspapers and websites ran stories praising how hard the lead actor worked for the role.
All good for his reputation, so Matthew cooperated fully.
Thanks to the campaign he noticed changes: more people recognized him out and about; at the fitness club young fans occasionally asked for photos or autographs; and once paparazzi latched on, they tailed him all the way home.
After Elena Boyar paid another visit, he even spotted paps staking the place out—nearby trash cans had clearly been rifled through.
His once-private life was shrinking fast.
But Matthew didn't mind—wasn't this the Hollywood Star life he'd dreamed of?
In fact he was in high spirits, especially after the first two-hundred-thousand-dollar paycheck landed at Angel Talent Agency. The sky looked bluer, the grass greener, the air fresher; even the July sun felt milder. Whenever he saw himself in print—even in notorious tabloids—he happily clipped the pages and stored them in a box at home. Inside his own four walls he didn't have to play cool; if enjoying seeing his name and face in the press was wrong, he didn't want to be right.
He only needed to stay sharp once he stepped outside or reported to set.
In late July Sean Daniel phoned personally: Matthew was to report for twenty days of intensive training. The production had locked the female lead and several other key cast members; a professional Action Director team would drill them in on-screen weapon work and rehearse action beats together to minimize problems once shooting began.
Matthew officially joined the Crew—and immediately ran into someone he knew from England.