"What's going on?"
In the screening room, Rob Cohen looked between Neil Moritz and Vin Diesel.
"The action scenes we shot today aren't working. We need to scrap them," Vin declared.
Rob frowned slightly. Even with a seventy-million-dollar production hanging over his head, he felt that Vin Diesel was overstepping.
He turned to Neil, the producer who was ultimately responsible for the production.
Neil, just as he had before, sided with Diesel. "Rob, just do what he wants."
He had just gotten off the phone with an executive at Universal Pictures, who made it clear that since Diesel had brought in significant investnt, his requests were to be t—as long as they weren't too outrageous—until the project was complete. Even if the film didn't perform well at the box office, Universal Pictures wouldn't lose any money.
As the distributor, Universal Pictures would still collect its distribution fee.
Besides, Diesel was only targeting a minor role, so it wouldn't have a major impact on the production.
In truth, Neil knew perfectly well that Universal itself wasn't particularly invested in the film. The main reason "The Fast and the Furious" was even being made was that the studio had put up almost none of its own money; the shoot was almost entirely funded by outside investors.
But Diesel wasn't finished with his demands.
He lightly touched his ribs, which still ached from the day's events, but he couldn't say anything about it. After all, it was his own idea to shoot the scenes realistically.
However...
"And," Diesel added, "I don't want to see Matthew Horner on this set again."
Director Rob Cohen didn't respond imdiately. Firing a supporting actor wasn't a huge deal on set, but a breach of contract could get complicated.
He thought for a mont and asked, "What about Horner's scenes?"
"Rob," Neil asked, "how many scenes has Matthew shot?"
"Including today, we've shot two," Rob Cohen recalled the shooting schedule. "There are still two more that haven't been fild."
Diesel looked at Neil, his gaze insistent.
Neil himself was annoyed by Diesel's arrogant and unreasonable behavior, but he was representing Universal Pictures and couldn't go against the big money. He quickly made a decision. "Alright, I'll have soone contact Matthew Horner's agency to negotiate a release from his contract."
Diesel nodded, his expression cold. "Better make it fast."
Seeing that he had achieved his goal, he left the screening room without another word.
Neil watched him go, a look of clear displeasure flashing across his face.
Rumors about Diesel's on-set behavior had already reached Universal Pictures. There was talk around the studio, and a quiet consensus had ford that even if "The Fast and the Furious" was a resounding success, it would be better not to use soone like Diesel for any potential sequel.
After leaving the studio, Vin got into his van and drove ho. The mont he walked in, he called his agent.
"Can you get
so information on an actor nad Matthew Horner?"
About half an hour later, the agent called back.
"Rumor has it he has so history with Britney Spears; he was in one of her music videos. He's been in 'Girl, Interrupted,' 'Gladiator,' and the miniseries 'Band of Brothers.' He was highly regarded by producers like Gary Goetzman on 'Band of Brothers,' and just two months ago he landed a new role—the Scorpion King in Stephen Somrs's 'The Mummy Returns.'"
Diesel asked, "'The Mummy Returns?' Is that from the Universal Pictures 'Mummy' franchise?"
"That's right," the agent replied with confidence. "It's a key project for Universal Pictures this year."
"Who's the producer on 'The Mummy Returns?'" Diesel asked again.
"Sean Daniels."
Diesel didn't know the na and hung up the phone. He had so connections at Universal Pictures—maybe he could get in touch with this Sean Daniels?
He knew that his project, "The Fast and the Furious," was nowhere near the sa level as Universal's "The Mummy Returns." That much was clear just from the respective ranks of the two project leads at the studio.
As a twinge of pain shot through his side, Diesel's face grew even colder. It was worth a try.
...
As night fell in his Westwood apartnt, Matthew stepped away from the mirror, turning off the TV and VCR. He rubbed his face, which was slightly numb from the hours of imitation, and his fingers brushed against a small, nail-sized bruise that was still tender to the touch.
The sensation imdiately brought Diesel to mind, and he shook his head in disbelief. Fortunately, he only had to be on that set for a few more days.
Matthew had never worked with an A-list star on set before; he had only heard stories about Russell Crowe's behavior during the filming of "Gladiator."
Matthew wasn't famous enough to go up against Diesel, and Paul Walker and the others were constrained for their own reasons and couldn't speak up. But he had a feeling that if Diesel kept this up, sooner or later, soone he worked with would stand up and tear him down publicly.
After taking a shower and texting with Britney, Matthew put away the Kevin Spacey films. He'd been studying and imitating Kevin Spacey for so ti, working through "Arican Beauty" a while back and more recently delving into his performance in "The Usual Suspects."
Kevin Spacey's performances always had an indescribable sinister quality that Matthew found particularly captivating.
Putting the cassette away, Matthew lay down and opened his script for the role of the Scorpion King. He had gone over it more than a dozen tis already and knew every scene and every line.
The Scorpion King appeared mainly at the beginning and end of the film, so his scenes were relatively concentrated and would be shot over a short period.
In fact, filming for "The Mummy Returns" had already begun. The crew was currently in Morocco, though all of the Scorpion King's scenes would be shot on a green screen in a soundstage at Pinewood Studios near London, so Matthew wouldn't have to travel to Africa.
Truthfully, he was a little worried about the attitude of the director, Stephen Somrs, who had been far from friendly when he first signed the contract.
An actor on a project like this was in no position to oppose the director.
Matthew didn't want to antagonize Stephen Somrs, either. That would be foolish. It would be much better if he could get Stephen Somrs to overco the prejudice he'd ford during casting.
If not, he could put up with it for a while, as long as Somrs didn't take it too far.
After returning from London, Matthew had learned more about Stephen Somrs. Contrary to his own experience, Somrs had a very good reputation in the industry. He was known as a dedicated family man who loved exploring new filming techniques.
Overall, when it ca to his professional relationships, Stephen Somrs could be called an excellent and well-regarded director.
But directors like that often had a stubborn streak, and Matthew suspected that was why Stephen Somrs had targeted him to so extent.
It probably wasn't personal.
With these thoughts, Matthew drifted off to sleep, only to dream of Vin Diesel driving his Dodge down the road, losing control, and crashing head-on into a tree. The car burst into flas, burning everything to ash.
The next morning, Matthew woke up and went for a run in a nearby park. He ate breakfast out and went for another run before returning to his apartnt, where he found several missed calls from Helen on the cell phone he'd left behind.
Helen hadn't called recently, so a string of calls had to an urgent business.
Matthew quickly dialed her number back. It only rang twice before she picked up.
"Where are you now?" Helen asked.
"Ho." When Helen asked what he was doing, he told her the truth: "Just got back from a run."
Helen's speech quickened. "Get over to Universal Studios. I'll et you at the gate."
Matthew was puzzled. "I don't have any sce—"
Before he could finish, Helen cut him off. "Early this morning, one of the assistant producers from 'The Fast and the Furious' called . He asked
to co to the set with you to discuss terminating your contract."
"Terminating?" Matthew shot up from the sofa, his voice rising unconsciously. "The production of 'The Fast and the Furious' wants to terminate my contract?"
"Yes." Helen's tone was as calm as ever. "Matthew, tell
what you did on set. Why do they want to terminate the contract?"
Matthew's mind imdiately jumped to Diesel. He couldn't help but curse under his breath before telling Helen, "I had so friction with Vin Diesel. He tried to rough
up during the shoot yesterday, but he ended up on the losing end. The rumor is that Diesel brought a lot of money into the production."
Helen didn't rush to speak, so Matthew quickly recounted everything that had happened the day before, from start to finish.
He didn't embellish the story, wanting his agent to have a clear picture of the situation.
"In that case, get here as soon as you can," Helen said, breaking the silence. "We'll et and discuss this in more detail."
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