"I'm rumored to be with you?" Matthew shook his head. "Those guys really have nothing to write about."
Then, he thought that this might be the handiwork of The Scorpion King crew. As long as it can attract attention, Hollywood crews' publicity will not care whether the means are low-level or high-level.
As long as the profit is rich enough, it doesn't matter if Universal Pictures CEO Ron Meyer personally takes the lead.
Elena Boyar wasn't too worried. She had a thick skin, and she knew that Matthew's skin was even thicker than hers. This kind of so-called revelation was nothing to a shameless person like him.
Matthew took out his phone, edited a text message, and routinely notified Helen Herman.
Soon, the phone vibrated. He looked down and saw Helen Herman's reply.
"I know."
The reply was only a short line of text, and Helen Herman obviously didn't take it seriously either.
"Let's start," Elena Boyar reminded.
Matthew put away his phone and said, "Okay."
Although it was an online exclusive interview, the interview was still conducted in the form of a dialogue, but with a dedicated person to record it.
Before Elena Boyar asked a question, the person responsible for taking photos specially took a picture of her and Matthew sitting opposite each other, and then uploaded it to the chat room.
The online exclusive interview then began.
"Two trailers for The Scorpion King have been released, and there are a lot of action scenes in them." Elena Boyar didn't relax just because the interviewee was Matthew, and asked seriously, "We can all see that the action scenes have risen to a higher level than The Mummy Returns. How challenging was this shoot? Are you surprised by your performance?"
Matthew also answered seriously, "If the challenge wasn't great, I wouldn't be interested in it at all, let alone put so much time and energy into it. Most of the challenges in it are physical, and I'm fascinated by this type of script. I've seen many great Hong Kong filmmakers use fight scenes to tell stories, rather than purely fighting for the sake of fighting. Such a script really attracts me, and I want to try it."
The questions were agreed upon by Elena Boyar and the crew, and the answers were basically finalized by the crew. Matthew just rephrased the answers in his own way according to the crew's publicity needs.
"The crew has great ideas, but good ideas require a lot of effort to realize. You have to go on a correct path, and you have to be different from others."
Then, Matthew started talking nonsense again. This kind of nonsense was meant to resonate with potential audiences, telling them, 'Look, how much effort I put into this film.' "Many, many times, when I arrived on set in the morning, I couldn't even get out of the car, and then the valet would patiently wait beside me, waiting for me to slowly move my body out of the car bit by bit, because my limbs were really hurting too much."
These answers were to highlight him as the male lead. "But after I got through that period, I found that my body really changed a lot. I could feel myself getting stronger and more flexible. When I realized this, I instantly gained the confidence to increase the intensity, so that the movie could become more exciting."
Elena Boyar and Matthew asked and answered, cooperating very seriously and honestly in lying together. Many people in the chat room were affected by their exclusive interview.
A netizen named "Mummy Lover" left a message, "This actor is really dedicated. He was like this in The Mummy Returns crew, but unfortunately, that movie only had two short action scenes, which was not enough. This time it's great, I can watch it to my heart's content!"
Another netizen named "Lily Loves Strong Men" said: "Have you seen Matthew Horner's stills and fitness photos? This is a true male god! I like him!"
Elena Boyar asked again, "It is well known that you specially practiced free combat when filming this movie, is that true?"
"To be precise, I had been practicing free combat for a long time before filming began."
This time Matthew didn't lie again, and said truthfully, "I started practicing a long time ago, probably after filming The Mummy Returns. I started practicing boxing before auditioning for The Mummy Returns, and found that I had some talent in this area, and I was very interested in these sports myself."
"No wonder you were so skilled in the trailer." Elena Boyar praised Matthew at the right time, and then asked, "You trained with a group of fighters, right?"
Matthew nodded, "Yes, they are all well-trained people and my very, very good teachers. They all have their own specialized skills, and then they wholeheartedly taught them to me."
In the chat room, more people squeezed in. Matthew looked at the number of online users, which had already exceeded 50,000.
Elena Boyar continued to ask, "During the filming of The Scorpion King, was there any moment that particularly impressed you?"
"The long-take fight scene designed by the crew was simply incredible!" Matthew pointed to his mouth at the camera lens, and after the cameraman took the photo just right, he said again, "In that action scene, I got a little hurt, I hurt my teeth."
He shrugged slightly and continued to talk nonsense, "Actually, when rehearsing the action scenes for this movie, my teeth were broken once, but fortunately the injury was not very serious."
Of course, he couldn't just talk about injuries. Matthew continued, "The entire crew has great ambitions, designing several long-take action scenes that last several minutes, which many people have never even heard of. Usually, fight scenes are shot in two or three-second shots, and then pieced together by post-editing. But the scenes designed by the crew do not rely on post-editing, nor do they speed up slow motion, but rely on the actors' almost real combat competition and performance. The reason why the crew did this is precisely out of trust in my training results."
"is it difficult to shoot such a scene?" Elena Boyar asked at the right time.
"Very difficult!" Matthew said somewhat exaggeratedly, "For a long fight scene to have a good effect, the actor must keep moving and make sure not to turn their back to the camera. So this process almost entirely had to be completed by myself, without a stunt double. I was very uninhibited in my movements because the crew would ensure my safety."
The two sides talked about some more things about the crew and the film, and then it was time for netizens to ask questions.
The first netizen selected asked, "Your physique looks great, was it modified with special effects?"
Matthew saw the question and said to the transcriber, "No modification, my physique in the camera is the same as in reality."
The second netizen asked about Matthew's acting experience, "I just checked and found that you have been working with stars and famous directors since your first role. Do you have a special family background?"
"I'm just an ordinary actor." Matthew was particularly humble when facing fans, "I'm from the countryside of Texas. I've always been very honored to work with so many people. If I had to say why, it's probably because I'm lucky."
A later person asked a rather sharp question, "I heard that there are practices in Hollywood such as the casting couch or providing special services to directors in exchange for roles. is this true? Have you encountered it?"
"This is indeed true."
Similar situations are actually widely circulated in North America and are not some kind of secret. Matthew did not deny it, and of course he would not be so stupid as to mention specific people and things. "I once encountered a director who invited me to his hotel room to discuss a role, and then showed some bad intentions. After I found out, I immediately left."
Since this kind of thing is relatively sensitive, the technical staff then selected an insider from Yahoo Entertainment to ask questions as a netizen. The questions asked were basically related to The Scorpion King. This exclusive interview was originally for the promotion and marketing of the film.
The exclusive interview ended relatively smoothly. With the cooperation of Yahoo Entertainment and Elena Boyar, Matthew did not encounter too many difficult questions.
The content of the exclusive interview was not only published on Yahoo Entertainment, but was also pushed by Universal Pictures to some print media. As The Scorpion King approached its release, Universal Pictures' publicity offensive continued to strengthen.
Both Universal Pictures and the crew were actually very clear that box office almost meant everything for The Scorpion King. Although Hollywood films have many revenue channels, for such a brainless action film, if even the basic box office cannot be guaranteed, how can it be expected to have high revenues in TV rights, DVD, and video tape markets?
That is simply impossible.
The crew also held a special screening for the media and film critics. Matthew did not attend, but the subsequent feedback was basically all praise. Almost all media reporters and professional film critics who participated in the screening praised the film... However, Matthew was not as optimistic as the screening results, because Helen Herman clearly told him that most such screenings in Hollywood were all about business.
Since it's business, money can naturally play a key role in it.
He himself did not get involved in such matters. Firstly, as an actor, there was no need, and secondly, his status was far from enough.
It is no exaggeration to say that in the entire pre-release publicity plan for The Scorpion King, he was a puppet in the hands of the crew and Universal Pictures. Considering his current status and the film's investment and producers, it is not difficult to understand this relationship.
Matthew and Helen Herman had no complaints about this. At this stage, nothing was more important than The Scorpion King being a box office hit.
The Scorpion King crew's publicity methods were not limited to this. About ten days before the film's premiere, after reaching an agreement with Matthew and Helen Herman, a professional publicist accepted the crew's commission and specially rushed to New York to prepare to persuade a key figure in the upcoming publicity.