It was just past eight in the morning when Matthew arrived at Helen Herman's office as agreed. Only Helen Herman was inside.
"Have a seat," Helen Herman said, a laptop in front of her. "He won't be here for another half an hour."
Matthew went to the water dispenser, got a cup of water, and returned to sit on a single sofa. Seeing that Helen Herman was still busy, he waited patiently.
Less than ten minutes later, Helen Herman finished her work, pushed her laptop aside, and said, "I contacted a retired officer from a few years ago. He used to be a recruit training officer for a long time and now frequently trains actors for some war-themed film crews in Hollywood, which perfectly meets our requirements."
"That sounds pretty good," Matthew nodded.
Helen Herman took off her glasses, wiped them, and then added, "He will create a ten-day military training plan for you and guide you through this part of the training."
"What about the fee?" Matthew didn't think this was a voluntary favor. "How much does he charge?"
"Twelve hundred dollars for ten days. That price is already very low." Helen Herman, thinking of Matthew's financial issues, asked, "Not enough money?"
Matthew silently calculated, "It's still enough."
After deducting this twelve hundred dollars, the remaining money would be enough for his basic living expenses for a while. If he could get the role of Ronald Speirs, the film crew would pay a portion of the salary when the actor contract was signed.
"How's your research on the materials coming along?" Helen Herman asked again.
"I've familiarized myself with all the materials and am currently on my third read-through of the novel," Matthew stated frankly. "My reading ability isn't strong, so it might take me a bit longer to understand than others."
If the novel were in Chinese, it would be much easier. He had only learned very simple English back on the other side of the Pacific, and his proficiency was extremely limited. Although the previous Matthew had gone through middle school, he had merely drifted through the chaotic public schools and hadn't learned much at all.
Helen Herman warned, "You need to improve your reading ability, otherwise reading scripts will be very troublesome in the future."
"I know," Matthew explained. "I've been reading books and newspapers every day for the past few months, without interruption."
There was a knock on the office door, and then Amanda pushed it open and walked in. She first glanced at Matthew, then told Helen Herman, "He's here."
Helen Herman closed her laptop. "Let him in."
Not long after, Amanda led in a muscular man in his thirties. He was Caucasian, but his skin was tanned dark.
Helen Herman walked out from behind her desk and directly introduced the two.
"Matthew, this is Hawk Brayton," she introduced the dark-skinned, muscular serviceman first. "A very excellent military instructor."
Then, she introduced Matthew, "Hawk, this is Matthew Horner, an actor, and your employer from now on."
Matthew and Hawk Brayton shook hands, and Matthew felt that the retired officer's hand was as rough as his own.
The two exchanged a few simple words. Helen Herman had already had a professional draft the contract last night, and both parties signed it, signifying a ten-day cooperation agreement.
"When does training start?" Hawk Brayton asked.
Matthew thought for a moment and replied, "Of course, the sooner the better."
Hawk Brayton still seemed to maintain his military demeanor. "Alright, I'll finalize the plan today, and we'll start tomorrow."
Matthew decided to temporarily take leave from acting school and said, "Okay."
Hawk Brayton then asked, "Where will we train?"
"Uh?" Matthew then realized he had overlooked a very important matter.
Helen Herman interjected, saying, "My family has a small farm west of Burbank. I had people clean up the site last night. Hawk, I'll have someone text you the exact address later."
"Alright then," Hawk Brayton was clearly a man of action. "I'll be going now."
He nodded to Matthew and Amanda and left the office.
With Helen Herman having resolved the training location issue, Matthew couldn't help but tentatively ask, "Will your place charge a fee?"
"If you want to pay," Helen Herman said flatly, "I won't refuse."
Matthew immediately mumbled, "Let's talk about that later." He certainly wanted to save that money, then quickly changed the subject. "Any new developments regarding the audition?"
Helen Herman didn't press the issue, replying, "Eric revealed to me yesterday that Tom Hanks himself will personally attend the second audition for the role of Ronald Speirs."
"So that means…" Matthew understood the implication behind the statement, "His opinion will directly determine who gets the role?"
"Exactly," Helen Herman stated a fact. "Tom Hanks is the direct person in charge of this film crew."
She slowly said, "Tom Hanks is an actor who climbed his way up from the bottom, step by step. Compared to those directors and producers, he pays more attention to the acting itself. Your performance during the audition is crucial!"
Matthew still lacked confidence and asked, "If the audition fails, what other roles can I get?"
"There are currently three backup plan targets," Helen Herman didn't hide it this time. "A unlucky fellow who accidentally shot himself with a Luger pistol he confiscated, a background soldier who appears in every episode but has very few lines and scenes, and a sergeant who gets blown in half by a cannon."
Matthew frowned, "None of them sound very good."
"Do you think a character that an ordinary producer can influence would be a major role?" Helen Herman retorted, then softened her tone, "So, we must try our best to secure the primary target."
After discussing the audition for a while, Helen Herman handed Matthew a stack of photocopies. These were copies of the diary memoir of David Kenyon Webster, a soldier from Easy Company, which would be very helpful for Matthew's research into the character of Ronald Speirs.
Holding the copy of the diary memoir, Matthew went downstairs, where Amanda at the front desk was waving to him.
"Matthew!" she called out, "Come here."
Matthew quickly walked over. "You weren't here when I came this morning. I wanted to chat with you for a bit."
Amanda leaned on the front desk, moving a little closer, and said, "I went to the airport to book tickets, so I was a bit late."
"Go to the airport to book tickets?" Matthew asked with concern, "Are you leaving?"
"Mm," Amanda nodded. "I only came here to help out temporarily. I'm going back to New York first, then to London, to continue my studies at Cambridge University."
Matthew sighed, "I'll really miss you. I don't know how long it'll be until we see each other again."
No matter what, Amanda had helped him a lot.
Amanda, with her open personality, smiled and said, "Maybe by the time we meet again, you'll be a big star."
Matthew asked, "What day is your flight? I'll see you off."
"No need," Amanda shook her head. "Now is a crucial preparation period for your audition, don't get distracted. My parents have already arrived, and I'm going with them."
Hearing her say that, Matthew didn't insist and nodded, "My phone number won't change, let's keep in touch."
"I'll be going to England very soon," Amanda said with a smile. "If you pass the audition, you'll also be filming in England. I'll visit you on set then."
"Great!" Matthew also smiled. "Then, see you in England!"
After chatting with Amanda for a while, he left the Angel Talent Agency and first went to the bank. As per their previous agreement, he transferred three hundred dollars to Hawk Brayton's account, with the remaining nine hundred dollars to be paid in full after the training was completed.
This left him with not much money, but fortunately, there were no major expenses planned for the near future. By spending sparingly, he could get by for a while.
The money an ordinary character actor could earn was simply not enough to cover expenses.
If he could get a job on the "Band of Brothers" crew, he would receive a salary, which would alleviate his financial difficulties. If he couldn't get a role, or if the salary was too low, he would have to consider finding another part-time job.
Now, Matthew only hoped the audition would come quickly. Even if he got an unimportant supporting role, he would still have to go to England to film, which would allow him to eat and drink on set, saving a large sum of daily expenses.
Being poor and lacking ambition was quite helpless.
After completing the transfer, Matthew called Helen Herman to inform Hawk Brayton, then returned to his apartment in Westwood to diligently study David Kenyon Webster's diary memoir.
He knew very well that Helen Herman must have put in a lot of effort to get this copy.
The female agent didn't say it, but she had actually been actively paving the way for her client.
Matthew could also feel that he was currently the number one potential client of Angel Talent Agency.
After studying the memoir all afternoon and evening, he arrived at the small farm Helen Herman had mentioned the next morning, promptly starting a rigorous training session to increase his audition chances.