"Ayn, fill 'er up!"
Michael Cudlitz's boisterous voice echoed through the bar, "Fill everyone's glasses!"
Ayn Bailey, holding a bottle, poured half a glass of whiskey for Matthew, Michael Cudlitz, James McAvoy, and Michael Fassbender.
"Alright!" James McAvoy shouted, "Let's get started!"
He picked up a spoon, placed it on the table, and spun it. The spoon whirled rapidly, finally pointing its handle at Matthew.
"Me, huh..."
Matthew had no choice but to pick up the card in front of him, without looking at its face. He took the double-sided tape Michael Fassbender handed him and stuck the card, face out, to his forehead.
This was clearly a game.
The crew had two days off, and Matthew had nowhere to go, so he simply spent the day exploring London with these guys and then gathered to play games and drink at night.
It was a guessing game. Everyone wrote a movie protagonist on the front of a card, then shuffled and dealt one card each. The chosen person would stick the card to their forehead so others could see it. The guesser could ask each of the four other people one question. The respondents could only say yes or no. If they couldn't guess after asking all four questions, they had to drink the whiskey in their glass. If they guessed correctly, the other four people would drink according to the number of questions asked.
For example, if Matthew guessed on the first question, they each had to drink four glasses; two questions meant three glasses, and so on.
"Hurry up, Matthew!" Michael Fassbender urged, "Let's begin!"
"Alright then!"
Although all the cards had movie protagonists written on them, the scope was still very wide. Matthew didn't expect to guess on the first question. He first asked Michael Fassbender, "is this an American?"
"Yes!" Michael Fassbender nodded.
Matthew thought for a moment, then asked James McAvoy, "is this a male?"
James McAvoy immediately replied, "Yes!"
"What a coincidence." Matthew thought of the card he had written and then asked Michael Cudlitz, "Does he like to save the world?"
Michael Cudlitz opened his mouth, then admitted, "Yes."
Matthew stopped asking questions, chuckled twice, and reached to touch the card on his forehead, saying, "Superman!"
After he spoke, he took the card off his forehead and then paused. The card didn't say Superman at all; it said Batman!
"Who wrote this?" Matthew demanded of the others. "Who? I wrote Superman, you wrote Batman, I thought..."
Michael Fassbender interrupted him, "Matthew! Enough with the excuses, admit defeat!"
Matthew picked up his glass, drained the whiskey in one gulp, his expression unchanged, and said, "Again!"
"Wait." James McAvoy looked towards the bar entrance and said to Michael Fassbender, "Your arch-nemesis from the Central School of Speech and Drama is here."
Michael Fassbender also looked over there. "How did he end up in this crew too?"
Matthew turned his head and looked towards the bar entrance, where a young man had just walked in. The man wasn't tall but was very sturdy.
"Who is that?" he asked.
"Tom Hardy," Michael Fassbender said directly, "a scoundrel."
The man also saw Michael Fassbender and walked right over. As he approached Matthew's table, he nodded his chin at Michael Fassbender. "What a coincidence, Mike."
Matthew was closest to the bar entrance, so Tom Hardy came up behind him first. "A few days ago during filming, I thought someone looked familiar. I didn't expect it to be you."
"Yeah, what a coincidence." Michael Fassbender flashed a shark-like grin. "Sit down and have a drink with us."
Tom Hardy sneered, stepped forward, and leaned his hand on the back of Matthew's chair.
"With you guys?" He shook his head. "I'm meeting friends."
Matthew could tell that Tom Hardy and Michael Fassbender weren't on good terms, but both were quite restrained. Aside from their barbed remarks and sarcasm, they didn't make any overly outrageous moves.
He wasn't clear on the conflict between the two, so he hadn't spoken. But when Tom Hardy raised his hand to speak, intending to lean on the back of his chair again, Matthew suddenly moved his chair forward, causing Tom Hardy to grab at empty air.
Tom Hardy looked down at Matthew, saw an unfamiliar face, and snorted arrogantly. After exchanging a few more barbs with Michael Fassbender, he left and found an empty table. His appointed guests soon arrived at the bar, and to Matthew and the others' surprise, it was none other than the male lead, Damian Lewis.
"Hi, Damian." Matthew had just worked with him a few days ago, so they were acquainted. "Care to come over for a drink?"
Damian Lewis was very good at networking. He greeted Matthew and the others one by one, then said, "I'll treat you all another day."
Matthew didn't press him, exchanged a few pleasantries, and let him walk towards Tom Hardy's table.
"Do you have a conflict with him?" Michael Cudlitz looked curiously at Tom Hardy.
Michael Fassbender didn't hide it. "Calling him an arch-nemesis is an exaggeration from James. It's just that when we were at drama school, we competed for a few roles in the college theater troupe. Sometimes I won, sometimes he won."
Michael Cudlitz lost interest upon hearing this. "That's it?"
"He's making it sound too simple." James McAvoy took a sip of his drink. "That guy is famously petty. Relying on his father being a somewhat influential screenwriter in London, he often pulls strings behind the scenes. Michael has suffered a few times because of it."
Michael Fassbender seemed not to care much. "It's all minor stuff."
He said it simply, but Matthew could tell that Michael Fassbender wasn't entirely pleased, and judging from the Tom West incident, he wasn't the type to bottle up his grievances either.
"He knows Damian?" Matthew changed the subject.
"What's so strange about that?" James McAvoy interjected. "Both of his parents are involved in the British arts scene."
After the Tom Hardy incident, the atmosphere among the group wasn't as lively as before. After another drink, they left the bar at Matthew's suggestion.
Walking along the chilly, windswept street, Michael Cudlitz asked, "What next? Find a place to party?"
"Let's not." James McAvoy, hit by the wind, felt the full force of the alcohol. "I'm dizzy, I want to go back to sleep."
Michael Fassbender echoed, "I'm also going back to sleep."
Matthew checked the time. "Then let's head back to the hotel. We can sleep in tomorrow!"
During filming, they had to wake up early every day, and makeup took a lot of time. The crew couldn't wait for character actors like them.
Back at the hotel, after a shower, Matthew fell asleep immediately. He slept exceptionally soundly until he was woken up by his phone ringing in the morning.
He fumbled for his phone under the pillow, didn't check the number, and pressed the answer button, grumbling, "Who is it? So early..."
"It's me, Helen." Helen Herman's voice came through the receiver. "I'm in London, on my way to Hatfield Airport. I should be at your hotel in about fifteen minutes."
Matthew sat straight up. "Helen, what are you doing here?"
"I have business to handle here," Helen Herman's voice was flat. "And I'm checking to see if you've caused any trouble."
"Alright, I'm not talking to you anymore." Matthew didn't bother to respond and said directly, "I'm getting up now. I'll wait for you in the hotel's ground floor restaurant in a bit."
He hung up the phone, quickly washed up, changed into more formal clothes, and rushed out of his room. He arrived at the ground floor restaurant. Since it wasn't too late, there was still a buffet breakfast available.
Matthew picked out a few dishes and carried them to a spot near the restaurant entrance. He hadn't even finished a piece of bacon when Helen Herman appeared at the restaurant entrance.
She saw Matthew as soon as she walked in and came directly over.
"Have you had breakfast?" Matthew pointed to the food area. "If not, you can get some. It's on my card."
The crew had provided them with meal cards, which could be used at the hotel they were staying at and the set's restaurant. Just like during the filming of 'Gladiator,' the crew's catering treatment was impeccable.
Helen Herman, dressed in a business suit, adjusted her glasses, pulled out a chair, and sat opposite Matthew, saying, "No, thank you. I ate at the airport."
Matthew didn't stand on ceremony. He forked a piece of bacon, put it between two slices of bread, and took a big bite. Helen Herman glanced at her watch and said, "I have an appointment at ten o'clock, so time is a bit tight..."
Before she could finish, someone came up from behind and loudly greeted Matthew, "Hey, Matthew, so early."
Helen Herman looked up at him, and the man happened to look at her as well.
The person who came over was Michael Cudlitz. Looking at Helen Herman, he asked, "Matthew, is this your girlfriend?"
Before Matthew and Helen Herman could speak, he eagerly extended his hand. "Hello, I'm Michael Cudlitz..."
Helen Herman didn't shake his hand at all and said directly, "I'm Matthew Horner's agent."
"Uh..." Michael Cudlitz paused, then said awkwardly, "Sorry, sorry."
Helen Herman nodded, showing no intention of acknowledging him. Matthew gave Michael Cudlitz a meaningful look.
Michael Cudlitz was quite familiar with Matthew and immediately walked away, muttering as he went, "She's so pretty, isn't it a waste for her to be an agent..."
"He's an actor from the crew," Matthew explained. "A very straightforward person."
"Hmm." Helen Herman lowered her voice slightly. "Time is limited; I'll be leaving soon."
Matthew deliberately put on a disappointed expression. "No way? Are you really just stopping by to see me?"
Helen Herman ignored his remark and said, "For the film you're in, I've secured you the opportunity to walk the premiere red carpet..."