The Best Movie Actor Chapter 71

"Replacing him isn't an option," Eric explained. "Tom Hardy has an official contract with the production."

As one of the key figures on the show, he had to consider far more than the director's imdiate frustrations. A contract was in place, and there was no sense in the production paying a breach-of-contract penalty for such a minor actor.

Frenkel imdiately understood Eric's implication and, after a mont's thought, said, "He's having trouble in front of the cara, and I have a tight shooting schedule. I'm not going to waste ti pointing out every single mistake he makes."

"If that's how you feel, we can compromise." Even though the actor had been recomnded by London's Central School of Speech and Drama, Eric wasn't bothered. "Just don't fire him. Otherwise, do as you see fit."

"Excellent." Frenkel called over the assistant director and the cinematographer and issued his orders. "Adjust the shooting schedule. All of Tom Hardy's close-ups are canceled."

"What about his close-ups in this scene?" the cinematographer asked.

Frenkel replied matter-of-factly, "Get behind him, shoot over his shoulder, and give the close-up to Matthew Horner's character."

He looked at the cinematographer and the assistant director and asked, "That's not going to be a problem, is it?"

The two of them replied in unison, "No."

Making adjustnts was better than wasting any more ti.

"Get ready," Frenkel said with a wave of his hand before turning to Eric. "Hardy's character dies in a car crash anyway. I don't see the need for him in any other scenes."

Eric considered this for a mont and said, "Alright, I'll let Hanks know the situation as it stands."

Frenkel gave a slight nod. "Call Hanks as soon as you can. One more actor like that, and I'll go insane!"

The two exchanged a few more words and agreed that Tom's discipline was so amateurish that the crew shouldn't waste any more ti on him, especially not for the role of a disposable dic.

As for the London drama school that had recomnded him, neither Eric nor Frenkel cared. In fact, they were slightly annoyed that such a prestigious school would put forward such an unreliable actor.

Shortly thereafter, shooting resud.

Matthew noticed the crew had adjusted the cara's position, and it now seed to be angled more favorably for his shots.

However, he didn't dwell on it. He remained as focused as before, concentrating on doing his job to the best of his ability.

Hardy was a little nervous when they started, but the shoot went smoothly. The director didn't call 'cut' until Matthew's character at the other end of the room had made his exit.

Being only in his early twenties, Hardy didn't notice anything unusual. When he heard the director yell that the scene was a wrap, he imdiately got dressed, approached the actress, and whispered, "Are you free tonight? I'll be at the Cronai Bar near the hotel later."

The blonde actress smiled at him but said nothing.

Taking her silence as encouragent, Hardy gave her the address of the bar and urged her to co. He then finished dressing and was about to head to his trailer to prepare for the next take when he heard the assistant director shout.

"We have a schedule change!" The assistant director's voice was quite loud. "The next scene is canceled. We're moving to the outdoor set for the street scenes instead!"

"My scene is canceled?" Hardy froze. "Why?"

He hurried over to the assistant director and demanded, "When is my scene scheduled to be fild?"

"Never," the assistant director replied, looking at him with sothing like pity. "It's been cut from the series."

"What?" Hardy was bewildered and upset. "Why?"

The assistant director answered impatiently, "It's the director's decision. How should I know why?"

Hardy's good mood from his exchange with the beautiful actress vanished. He started, "But—"

"Sorry," the assistant director said, not bothering to explain further. "I've got work to do."

With that, he walked away.

Hardy stood there, looking around. The actress from the scene was long gone, the annoying actor from across the room was nowhere in sight, and the rest of the crew was busy packing up equipnt to move to the next location. It seed he was the only one on set with nothing to do, and the feeling was anything but pleasant.

...

"I just called Hanks," Eric said to Frenkel as they were leaving the studio. "He said you're the director, so it's your call."

They were shooting more than five tis the amount of footage that would make it into the final cut of each episode, so cutting such a minor role didn't matter in the slightest.

Eric could see clearly that Tom Hardy was overly arrogant, perhaps due to his youth, and that attitude had carried over into his work on set—sothing a minor actor couldn't afford.

He shook his head. The kid was too green to make a na for himself without another seven or eight years of experience under his belt.

Matthew Horner, on the other hand, was also a young actor but was far more mature and intelligent.

...

On the outdoor street set, Matthew was standing on a curb at the side of the road.

The crew was still setting up caras and adjusting the scenery, so shooting wouldn't be starting for a little while.

Michael Fassbender and Jas McAvoy walked over, both dressed in U.S. Army uniforms, apparently to act as background soldiers during the shoot.

"Matthew, that actress who was just in the scene with Hardy," Michael began, seeming starved for female company on the male-dominated set. "What did you think of her?"

Matthew replied, "She's pretty, and has a great body."

Michael slapped Jas hard on the shoulder, grinning. "See, Jas? I told you there's sothing wrong with your taste! Maybe you prefer guys?"

Jas grimaced with disdain.

Matthew clapped Jas on the other shoulder and said pointedly, "In Jas's eyes, Michael is the most handso one here."

"Go to hell!" Jas irritably shook Matthew's hand off his shoulder.

"He's trying to hit on that girl," Jas said, hastily changing the subject and gesturing toward Michael.

Michael didn't bother denying it. "So what? Is there a more beautiful woman in the cast?"

"No," Matthew answered with absolute certainty.

From the actors to the people behind the scenes, there weren't many won on this set at all.

"But Michael," Matthew inford him, "Hardy already asked her out. Said he'd et her tonight at the Cronai."

"Did he?" Michael frowned. "He's trying to get in my way here, too."

Jas, standing off to the side, chid in, "He's been getting in your way ever since he showed up. You did all the training but ended up with very little cara ti. Hardy skipped the training but got several close-ups in a single episode. I'm sure his father pulled so strings."

Michael shrugged. "I can only bla fate. If I had an influential father, I wouldn't be standing here talking to you guys."

Matthew completely agreed with Michael, who was the son of a chef. Tom Hardy, according to Jas, ca from a family of actors. There was an inherent gap between them.

However, while the advantage of a family background objectively existed, it didn't guarantee a smooth takeoff into the industry.

"I have so good news," Matthew told them with a smile. "I heard from the AD that all of Tom's scenes have been canceled, except for the one where he dies in a car crash."

Michael, despite knowing Matthew wouldn't joke about sothing like that, still had to ask, "For real?"

"Of course."

A gloating expression appeared on Jas's face. "Isn't Tom eting that girl at the pub? Why don't we go join the fun?"

"Yeah," Michael agreed without a second thought. "I'm in!"

They both looked at Matthew, who said, "If I don't have any scenes tonight, I'll go."

"Deal!"

The two guys hurried off when they saw the assistant director starting to position the background actors.

Then, director Frenkel ca over, gave Matthew a few pointers, and the caras started rolling.

The timing for this scene had to be perfect: Ronald Speirs, carrying a collection of silverware and other valuable spoils of war to ship ho, steps out into the street and nearly collides with a jeep driven by Captain Lewis Nixon.

According to the script, the scene was sowhat dangerous, but it was fild with minimal risk. The jeep itself would be moving slowly; it was the cara, mounted on a dolly track, that would rush past at high speed, sothing Matthew could easily dodge.

As everyone knows, cinema is the art of deception.

During filming, however, Matthew couldn't quite get the balance right, and he let the silverware on the tray fall to the ground twice in a row. They didn't get a usable take until the third try.

There were no more scenes involving Matthew for the day, and the crew wrapped before evening. Matthew returned to the hotel, removed his makeup, changed into more comfortable clothes, and headed to the Cronai Bar with Jas and Michael.