Upon arriving at the restaurant, Matthew leaned over to Michael Fassbender and asked, "How are they doing?"
"Nothing serious," Michael Fassbender, who had spent the longest time in the infirmary, replied. "Just two shots to relax their muscles, and then separate them. That's all."
He couldn't help but laugh again, "They probably won't have the face to stay in the crew, and the production team won't just sit by and do nothing."
Matthew nodded, lowering his voice, and said, "is that why you told James to yell for help?"
Michael Fassbender didn't deny it. "Don't forget, our goal is to get rid of Tom West, and… Kate Jeffrey too." He stretched lazily and added, "Just thinking about not having to go through those perverse devil trainings anymore, I feel comfortable all over."
"It would be best if we could go back to the hotel."
Everyone likes a comfortable life, and Matthew was no exception. "This cold and damp old barracks is too uncomfortable to live in."
Michael Fassbender ignored Matthew's words and instead asked, "How do you feel? Are you in a good mood? I know you've always been annoyed by Kate Jeffrey, but couldn't do anything about her."
"Let's just say…" Matthew didn't hide his feelings. "Since joining the crew, today has been my best day!"
The two looked at each other and burst into laughter simultaneously.
With the military instructor in trouble, Matthew and the other actors' training was temporarily suspended. When it would resume depended on the crew's notice. The production team didn't want the situation to escalate and imposed a gag order on everyone. No one really suspected anything, as various problems arising from affairs were too common in Hollywood.
According to information provided by James McAvoy, Gary Goetzman, who was in charge of affairs at Hatfield Aerodrome, also went to check later. However, after listening to the report from the assistant producer who led Matthew and Michael Fassbender's group of actors to the warehouse, he didn't even enter the infirmary. He just instructed them to handle it discreetly and then left.
According to that assistant producer, it was one thing for two people to have an affair, but to make such a scandalous mess, even Gary Goetzman didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
After noon, calculating that the garbage truck would soon arrive, Matthew quietly went to the locker room and disposed of all the remaining materials in his locker and Tom West's box of condoms.
He took away the tampered items and placed another box he had prepared in advance, with the exact same production date and remaining quantity, into Tom West's locker, to prevent the other party from finding any clues through the condoms.
On the second day after the incident, James McAvoy, who was somewhat of a local insider, received more news: Tom West and Kate Jeffrey had successively resigned and left the crew. The crew promoted that assistant producer to replace Kate Jeffrey, and also planned to have the deputy of the military instructor who trained Damian Lewis and other main actors serve as their instructor.
That instructor's training methods were completely different from Tom West's.
No one cared about Tom West and Kate Jeffrey, who had left the crew; everyone was looking forward to the remaining half month of training.
Sure enough, in the afternoon, Gary Goetzman gathered all the actors on the training ground for a meeting and announced that a man named David Harts would be the new military instructor.
He was not only responsible for training these two dozen character actors but would also serve as the military advisor during filming.
After he took office, just as Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy had expected, he almost completely rejected Tom West's military-style training plan. All weighted cross-country runs were canceled, replaced by a single three-mile run daily. As for the hellish plans of rolling in mud pits and sleeping on hard ground, they were all rejected outright.
In David Harts' words, they were just actors; they only needed to act like soldiers, not actually become soldiers.
David Harts had several years of professional experience in Hollywood,
and his philosophy on actor training was completely different from Tom West, who had just come out of the military.
Of course, David Harts was undoubtedly more popular.
To put it bluntly, this was Hollywood after all, not the Royal Marines.
Matthew and the others also successfully moved out of the old, damp barracks at Hatfield Aerodrome and returned to the hotel they were staying in.
After this incident, Matthew's relationship with Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy grew closer. The three of them were similar in age, only a few years apart, came from different countries, and had no direct competition. When training was over and they had nothing to do, they often went to a bar for a drink together.
"I've always found it strange," Michael Fassbender said, picking up his glass and taking a sip of beer, to Matthew and James McAvoy. "Why did something happen when we planned to deal with Tom West? This incident not only got Tom West out of the crew, but that annoying woman Kate Jeffrey also left."
James McAvoy burped, "Isn't that good?"
"It's good, it's good," Michael Fassbender said, looking puzzled, "but it's too much of a coincidence."
Matthew raised his beer glass, "Why think about these things? They're gone, what we need to do is celebrate."
He gestured with his glass, and Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy also raised their glasses. After clinking glasses, the three of them drained the remaining beer in their cups.
"I think…" Michael Fassbender still hadn't given up, "Maybe Kate Jeffrey offended too many people, and someone specifically targeted her. Tom West was just dragged down by her."
James McAvoy nodded, "That's possible."
Matthew, however, was calling the bartender to bring them three more beers.
Michael Fassbender suddenly turned to Matthew and said, "You also had a conflict with Kate Jeffrey, didn't you?"
"You suspect I did it?" Matthew wasn't foolish enough to admit it. He shrugged and said, "While I'm happy that Kate Jeffrey is out of luck, her sudden…"
He couldn't find the right adjective for a moment, and brazenly said, "…inexplicable transformation like that, if someone deliberately set her up, it's not something an ordinary person could do."
James McAvoy glanced at Matthew, "It definitely wasn't Matthew. If we hadn't pushed him, this guy would have continued to endure."
Michael Fassbender patted Matthew's arm, no longer pressing the issue, and changed the subject directly, "After training, we'll have a vacation. Interested in going out for a few days together?"
"Sounds great!" James McAvoy was very interested, "Where to?"
Matthew, however, shook his head, "I can't go. I need to return to North America; my agent has a lot of business to handle."
"Are you going to see your girlfriend?" Michael Fassbender said deliberately, "I see you make several calls every day."
"Yes," Matthew didn't deny it. "She's too busy with work, and we haven't seen each other in a long time."
Although he called Britney every day, due to time differences and work, they rarely spoke for more than a few minutes each time.
Britney was preparing for a concert tour that would kick off early next year, so she couldn't come to see him in the UK. Matthew had no choice but to use his vacation to go back and see her.
The three of them each finished another beer and then left the bar, as they still had training the next day.
The training for this filming was already in its final stages. Ever since Tom West left the crew, Matthew and the others' training intensity instantly decreased. Apart from some basic tactical training, the new instructor, David Harts, focused on weapon usage and tactical coordination.
During the last ten days of training, Matthew and the others not only used their characters' names in training but also in daily life. They learned a large amount of basic military knowledge every day, mastering how to use weapons, close combat skills, individual tactics, and the code words and hand signals used by armies in World War II.
Actors like Matthew not only became proficient in these combat skills and gradually got into character, mastering how to skillfully use weapons; he could even skillfully disassemble and assemble the M-1 Garand rifle and the Thompson submachine gun.
Unlike Tom West's physically grueling training, David Harts focused more on instilling a philosophy in the actors during training, helping Matthew and the others understand as much as possible what it means to be a qualified soldier.
He made the actors think like soldiers, but truly becoming such a person was indeed difficult. In military life, it's absolutely impossible to complete any mission relying solely on individual strength; teamwork is the fundamental guarantee of victory. If a teammate is in trouble, then everyone else must stop and help him.
People who haven't experienced a battlefield find it hard to understand this kind of camaraderie, but the unexecuted plan concocted by Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy brought the actors emotionally closer. So, by the end of the training, the two dozen character actors, including Matthew, truly looked like a very cohesive unit.
By mid-December, training finally concluded. The crew gave everyone who participated in the training a vacation, which was longer than Matthew and Michael Fassbender had expected, lasting until the end of the Christmas holiday. After the holiday, the television series would officially move into production.
Matthew, like most American actors, chose to return to North America. This trip back was not only to see Britney; Helen Herman had also called him previously, as there were some acting-related matters that needed to be handled.
Taking the flight booked by the crew, as soon as he exited Los Angeles International Airport, he first called Helen Herman, agreeing to meet at Angel Agency tomorrow morning. Then he dialed Britney's number, but it seemed she was in rehearsal and temporarily unavailable. He had to send her a text message, informing her that he had landed.
Calling a taxi, Matthew returned to his rented apartment in Westwood. On the way, he received a reply from Britney, agreeing to meet in the evening.