Matthew had made ample preparations for his role over the past few months. Ronald Speirs was also a character carefully chosen by Helen Herman, combining his own strengths and weaknesses. This tough, iron-blooded soldier mostly wore a resolute expression, requiring minimal adjustment from the actor.
This could appropriately mask Matthew's shortcomings in acting.
Matthew stood beside the two main actors, Damian Lewis and Neal McDonough, quietly waiting for filming to begin.
He had prepared for so long and was full of anticipation for the shoot.
"Band of Brothers, Episode 2, Scene 11, Act 5, Action!"
The moment the clapperboard sounded, Matthew immediately got into character. He had rehearsed this scene in front of a mirror no less than twenty times, and it was deeply ingrained in his memory.
Unlike his self-rehearsals, there were now actors and cameras around him, but he was not a novice and would no longer make elementary mistakes like looking at the camera lens.
"Lieutenant Speirs!" Damian Lewis looked at Matthew and asked, "How are things on your end?"
Matthew shook his head slightly, "Not so good."
Damian Lewis then asked, "How many men has D Company assembled?"
A look of helplessness appeared on Matthew's face, "Not many, about twenty…"
"Cut!" Director Richard Loncraine called a halt to the filming. "No, that's not right!"
Hearing this, Matthew immediately broke character and quickly replayed his performance, trying to find where he had made a mistake.
After all, the director had called cut while he was delivering his lines.
Director Richard Loncraine stood up and waved to the three actors in front of the camera, "It has nothing to do with you; there's a problem with the set design."
He walked between Matthew and Damian Lewis, first looking at Matthew, then at Damian Lewis, frowning in thought.
Matthew instinctively reached to touch his face, then suddenly realized he still had camouflage paint on, so he just touched his helmet instead.
"Redesign the set!" Richard Loncraine walked out from between Matthew and Damian Lewis. "I need to make adjustments to the scene."
Originally, the scene involved Matthew, playing Ronald Speirs, standing there, exchanging a few words with Damian Lewis, then leaving to go to the German POWs, which served to introduce his character.
Richard Loncraine clearly had his own ideas, and after a brief discussion with Tom Hanks, he received Tom Hanks' support.
As for the actors' opinions, including Damian Lewis, none of the three were well-known, so their input was largely negligible.
In most cases, actors couldn't interject anyway.
Soon, Richard Loncraine finished his adjustments and returned to the three actors.
He first looked at Matthew and said, "Don't stand here when we start shooting."
Matthew thought he was going to cut Ronald Speirs' part in this scene and felt a bit resistant, but he still nodded and said, "Okay."
Richard Loncraine turned to Damian Lewis and Neal McDonough and said, "You two continue the conversation from the previous scene regarding Lieutenant Meehan and the highest commanding officer of Easy Company."
Damian Lewis and Neal McDonough had no objections.
"Matthew!" Richard Loncraine turned back and pointed at Damian Lewis and Neal McDonough, saying, "You come from the direction of the battalion headquarters. When their discussion is nearing its end, you walk over. Your lines remain unchanged."
He personally demonstrated the blocking, then told Matthew, "When you leave, remember to ask them for cigarettes. You'll be giving cigarettes to the Germans in the next scene."
"I understand," Matthew said.
His part wasn't cut; in fact, it was slightly expanded from the script.
"Good!" Richard Loncraine returned to the director's chair and shouted, "You all rehearse it once!"
Matthew, Damian Lewis, and Neal McDonough quickly familiarized themselves with the new design, and then filming resumed.
This time, Matthew stood out of frame, near the battalion headquarters, carefully listening to Damian Lewis and Neal McDonough's conversation.
"...If he's missing, Dick," Neal McDonough said to Damian Lewis, "then aren't you the commanding officer of Easy Company?"
Hearing this, Matthew immediately walked over. As he approached the two men, Damian Lewis turned at just the right moment, looked over, and greeted him, "Hey, Lieutenant Speirs."
Matthew came up to him and shook hands with Damian Lewis, "Hey, Dick."
Damian Lewis asked, "How many men has D Company assembled?"
"Not many," Matthew said with almost no expression on his face, "About twenty."
"You're the only officer?" Damian Lewis asked again.
Matthew nodded gently, "For now, yes." He paused intentionally, then added, "Still waiting for orders."
From the very beginning until now, he hadn't made any superfluous movements or expressions, as stern as a rock.
In the films and related materials Matthew had studied, iron-blooded soldiers were generally like this.
He took the initiative to ask, "Do you have any cigarettes?"
Damian Lewis shook his head. Neal McDonough took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it over. Matthew took it without a word, turned, and walked away directly.
Director Richard Loncraine's voice then came through, "Good! That's a take!" Then, he shouted loudly, "Moving on to the next scene!"
The crew prepared to move to an adjacent set to film the German POW scene. Matthew went to the actors' lounge and sat down. Immediately, someone brought him a thick blanket and a cup of hot coffee. Although he most wanted a cup of hot tea, even the lowest grade of floral tea would do, as a character actor, he couldn't be too particular about such things.
Matthew draped the blanket over himself and took a sip of hot coffee, feeling a bit warmer.
The year had already crossed into 2000. Late January, though not as cold as December, still brought biting winds.
These actors were playing soldiers who landed in France in June, so they naturally couldn't wear too many layers. During filming, they were mostly in single-layer uniforms.
Half a cup of coffee later, Matthew had just put down his cup when the makeup artist came over to touch up his makeup. Fortunately, his face, covered in camouflage paint, didn't require much adjustment, and the cold weather meant sweat wouldn't smudge it, so it was quickly done.
"It's so cold!" Michael Fassbender walked into the lounge, rubbing his hands, pulled up a chair, and sat beside Matthew. "This wretched British weather is killing me."
Matthew looked at him and asked, "Are you done with your scene?"
"Not yet, but they don't need me for now," Michael Fassbender went to get a cup of hot coffee. "I came in to warm up."
He took a sip of coffee and gave Matthew a thumbs-up, "You were great just now! You don't seem like a newcomer at all."
"Really?" Matthew asked.
Michael Fassbender nodded very seriously, "Of course it's true!" He put on a haughty expression, "Do I need to flatter you?"
Matthew immediately shook his head, "No."
"I wanted to ask you…" Michael Fassbender's face was full of curiosity. "How long did you prepare for this role?"
"Let me think…" Matthew calculated, "Four or five months, I guess."
Michael Fassbender was a bit surprised, "Preparing for several months for such a small role?" He gradually understood, "No wonder you performed the best during training, and you weren't bad during the filming just now."
It's common for actors to prepare for several months for a lead role, but preparing four or five months for a minor role is less common.
"Matthew!"
An assistant director walked in at this moment, "It's your turn soon, go to the set to get ready."
"I'm on my way."
Matthew greeted him and left the actors' lounge, walking down a muddy path. On both sides of the path were artificial trees set up by the crew, looking just like real ones, and there were also fake bushes under the trees.
For Hollywood films today, achieving this is just the most basic of things.
Not to mention others, Matthew, after seeing it so many times, was no longer surprised.
After the crew finished adjusting, filming began again. Matthew put on his helmet and entered the filming area.
He had done enough research on the character to know that he didn't need to overact during filming; simply maintaining the state from the previous shot was sufficient.
Hearing Director Richard Loncraine call "Action!", Matthew, with a cigarette in his mouth and a Chicago typewriter in his right hand, walked down the muddy path towards the German prisoners.
Scott Grimes, who had trained with him, passed by, but Matthew seemed not to notice, walking forward with a determined gaze.
He looked at the German prisoners, pulled out the pack of cigarettes he had gotten from his pocket, and said, "Cigarettes?"
A temporary actor playing a German soldier walked over. Matthew handed him the entire pack of cigarettes, "Here you go."
The temporary actor distributed cigarettes to all the German soldiers. Matthew scanned the faces of each German soldier, blowing out a smoke ring… "Good!"
This take was done in one go. Director Richard Loncraine seemed very satisfied, "Matthew Horner, well done!"
Hearing the director's words, Matthew took off his steel helmet and flashed a brilliant smile.
After a brief adjustment, filming continued. This time, they shot only close-ups of Matthew firing his gun. After five takes, the director announced they were done.
Matthew took off his helmet, jumped off the dirt mound, and prepared to remove his makeup.
All his scenes for the day were finished.
The crew did not give a clear answer regarding this scene of Ronald Speirs shooting German POWs, instead using an ambiguous narrative, much like the rumors among the veterans.
In the filming of the second episode, Ronald Speirs's role wasn't extensive. Matthew then filmed one more scene, leading troops to support Easy Company, thus completing all his scenes for this episode.
The crew filmed continuously at Hatfield Aerodrome for a month, and even Matthew was physically and mentally exhausted. The crew then gave the actors who had no further scenes two days off.
Matthew had originally planned to use these two days to visit Britney, but after a phone call, he had to change his plans. Britney's global tour had already begun, and she had no time to see him.
However, he wasn't alone in England; he had acquaintances from the crew to hang out with.