Burbank, a satellite town of Los Angeles, is home to many world‑famous media companies such as Walt Disney, Warner Bros., NBC, Viacom and PBS, earning it the self‑proclaimed title "World Media Capital."
Besides the media firms, Burbank also hosts a series of studios and soundstages tightly linked to them, with Disney Studios being one of the most renowned.
Under the June summer sun, a black mercedes-benz sedan turned onto South Beverly Drive and soon stopped in the parking lot in front of Disney Studios.
With the audition still far off, Matthew and Helen Herman did not get out of the car immediately.
"This production crew is really unusual," Matthew said to Helen Herman again. "They've already locked in a lead actor, and the auditions for the other two leads are in the final round, yet the director hasn't been decided yet."
Helen Herman glanced at Matthew and replied, "It's not that it's undecided; the director will join a month before filming starts."
Matthew couldn't deny that, "You're right, director Gore Verbinski is only handling the filming."
Half a month after Walt Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer's production company announced the project, the already‑built framework of the crew worked at astonishing speed, quickly confirming the remaining key positions.
While Gore Verbinski was still weighing whether to take on the director's role, Jerry Bruckheimer and his casting director held two auditions and chose Hollywood eccentric Johnny Depp to play one of the dual male leads, Captain Jack Sparrow, and conducted initial auditions for the governor's daughter Elizabeth Swann and the young blacksmith Will Turner.
There was no suspense; Matthew passed the initial audition smoothly, otherwise he wouldn't be here for the makeup audition today.
During the past two weeks the crew kept releasing updates; after Johnny Depp signed with the crew, Gore Verbinski also decided to sign a directing agreement with them.
However, Gore Verbinski's new film hasn't started shooting yet, so he can't join the project for now. According to Matthew's information, he will report to the crew after his own film wraps.
In other words, director Gore Verbinski will not be involved in any actor auditions.
Matthew has been following the progress and is accustomed to this situation.
This project didn't start with a script or pre‑made characters; it originated from Jerry Bruckheimer's burst of inspiration as producer. Rumor has it he saw the Caribbean-themed rides at Disneyland and wanted to base a movie on that, so he gathered screenwriters for a themed writing exercise. Under his creative lead, the script was born, first locking in a manic lead‑character vibe and Johnny Depp as the star, then selecting Gore Verbinski as director.
Aside from a few assistant directors, all other positions were hand‑picked by Jerry Bruckheimer, with little involvement from Gore Verbinski. The casting director, who handles the auditions, is a longtime collaborator of Jerry Bruckheimer.
Jerry Bruckheimer is both the initiator and the focal point of the project.
Therefore, even though Matthew and Helen Herman learned early that Gore Verbinski was highly likely to become the director, they didn't do any pre‑emptive work on his side.
Helen Herman's focus remained on Disney Pictures and the crew's casting director.
As for Jerry Bruckheimer, Helen Herman only had a brief encounter; this long‑faced producer stands apart from others, boasting a stellar Hollywood reputation, an absolute gold‑standard producer, and a massive investment from his Jerry Bruckheimer Film Production Company.
If an actor doesn't fit the role, he won't entertain any so‑called personal favors.
To impress Jerry Bruckheimer, the audition is the most critical factor.
A problem with a major character could jeopardize the film; such an investment might not cripple Disney, but it would certainly bankrupt Jerry Bruckheimer Film Production Company.
Within the crew, no one wants to select the right lead actors more than Jerry Bruckheimer.
Thus, outside tactics have far less impact on the audition process.
Matthew still has a bit of confidence in himself; even if he lacks confidence, he must act confident, because a lack of poise can show during the audition.
Moreover, he has already used outside tactics to eliminate his biggest rival, Orlando Bloom, from the crew.
Since Orlando Bloom was cast as the male lead, he never attended the initial audition for the young blacksmith Will Turner.
Of course, this could also benefit other candidates.
Matthew carried his bag and entered Disney Studios with Helen Herman; Studio 2 was not far from the main gate, so they walked straight there. Along the way they could see the huge doors of the main soundstage with people coming and going and lots of materials being brought in, but the audition wasn't in Studio 2—it was in the smaller Studio 3 opposite and diagonal to it.
When they arrived at Studio 3, a crew member immediately led Matthew to the makeup room, as this was an audition for one of the lead actors, with treatment completely different from a regular role audition; the schedule was already set, so there was virtually no waiting.
In front of the men's makeup room, Matthew happened to see a female actress in English‑lady attire emerge from another makeup room, apparently auditioning for the female lead Elizabeth Swann.
He gave her an extra glance and realized she wasn't the flat‑chested English rose he had imagined.
The crew had no strict rules, and Matthew didn't mind, so Helen Herman accompanied him into the makeup area. Noticing his attention on the actress, she whispered, "That's Kristen Bell, one of the actresses selected for the makeup audition. This morning's main focus is you and her."
Matthew nodded lightly and said nothing; he had a general idea of the crew's setup. Compared with Will Turner, more actors were chosen for the Elizabeth Swann makeup audition, making the competition even fiercer, including Keira Knightley.
As for his rivals in the Will Turner makeup audition, there were three main ones: British star Jude Law, Spider-Man's Toby Maguire, and the lesser‑known Christopher Masterson.
Originally the crew had also invited Ewan McGregor to join the makeup audition, but Ewan McGregor declined in order to prepare for other projects.
Sitting in front of the mirror while getting made up, Matthew also considered the other three actors, whose auditions would take place over the next few days.
Helen Herman had carefully studied those three competitors and concluded that, although Jude Law and Toby Maguire were famous, their chances of landing the role were very slim. Rumor had it Jude Law was preparing for a Weinstein Brothers film, so he might, like Ewan McGregor, withdraw voluntarily.
As for Toby Maguire, only Jerry Bruckheimer going crazy would put Spider-Man into a pirate movie.
According to Helen Herman, Jerry Bruckheimer letting Toby Maguire audition with makeup was probably just to save face for some people, but that kind of face‑saving couldn't justify risking his own gold‑medal producer reputation and the studio's future.
So the real threat was the actor who was the same age as him, with almost no fame—Christopher Masterson.
He had no prior fame; the only thing Helen Herman could find was that Christopher Masterson had a tiny supporting role in a film from last year, and he came from a very small talent agency, far weaker than Helen Herman's Angel Talent Agency.
That very fact made her wary: a completely unknown, nameless actor with virtually no network could only get into a second‑round audition if Jerry Bruckheimer thought Christopher Masterson might actually fit the role of Will Turner!
In the end, the final casting for Will Turner still depended on Jerry Bruckheimer's wishes.
The makeup artist finished styling Matthew's hair, pulling his nearly black, deep‑brown long hair back into a tidy 17th‑century English style.
With his head makeup completed, Matthew moved to the changing room, where, with an assistant's help, he slipped into a perfectly fitted costume, strapped on his boots, buttoned his cuffs, and stood before a mirror over a foot tall.
His look differed from the typical blacksmith image he'd imagined; he appeared far more rugged while still retaining a hint of British gentlemanly flair.
"Not bad…," Helen Herman said, leaning in and scrutinizing Matthew from top to bottom through the makeup mirror, then reminded him, "For this makeup audition, the crew wants you to pick a passage from the character's script and improvise—show us your strongest side!"
After the first audition, Matthew received the Will Turner script, studied it many times, and was fully prepared.
"Don't worry," Matthew replied confidently.
Because this audition was free‑form, the crew had already met with him last week to discuss the required costumes and props.
He left the mirror area, walked to the doorway, and Helen Herman opened his long, rectangular backpack, took out the practice rapier he used for fencing, and handed it to him.