"Go find a lawyer," Helen Herman said without hesitation. "Reach an out-of-court settlement with them and try to pay them as little in liquidated damages as possible."
Matthew thought of his meager wallet and asked, "Still have to pay? is there a way not to pay?"
"Yes!" Helen Herman said straightforwardly. "Don't be an actor, don't be in Hollywood. Find a place to hide and don't show your face again."
"I haven't even made any money yet, and I already have to pay a large sum," Matthew shook his head. "I came to Hollywood to be a big star and make a lot of money."
Helen Herman laughed. "You're quite direct."
Matthew spread his hands. "I say what's on my mind! Aren't those who come to Hollywood to struggle all for the sake of becoming stars and making a lot of money?"
Helen Herman really couldn't refute that.
"I don't care about others," Matthew's goal was still as mundane as ever. "I didn't come to Hollywood to dedicate myself to art; my goal is to become a big star and make a lot of money!"
Helen Herman suddenly laughed. "This path is very difficult."
Matthew pointed to himself. "For someone like me, besides this path, is there any other way to get ahead, without breaking the law?"
Helen Herman thought for a moment and couldn't think of anything.
A poor boy with no money, no education, no family background, and no connections wants to climb up in today's society... Hmm... The weather is very nice today... At this point, Matthew turned the conversation back. "Helen, do you know any lawyers? Can you introduce one to me?"
"Hmm... Alright," Helen Herman took out a pen and notepad, wrote down a string of numbers, and said, "Call this number and tell them you're my client."
"Okay!" Matthew put away the note. "I'll call as soon as I get back."
He then asked, "When will the crew pay me? Oh, and how much is my total salary?"
Helen Herman quickly calculated, "Three days of rehearsal, one day of filming, $200 per day. Plus $8,000 for today's role, totaling $8,800."
Matthew asked again, "When will it be paid?"
"It'll take a few days," Helen Herman picked up her coffee cup again, took a sip, and asked, "Are you really short on money?"
"Very short! I wish I could split a penny in half!" Matthew, worried about leaving a bad impression, explained, "I'm enrolled in an acting training class at the Los Angeles School of Performing Arts, and the tuition is very expensive."
Helen Herman was a little surprised. "The Los Angeles School of Performing Arts? I remember there's a certain entry threshold. You..."
Matthew once again brought up the big name. "Angelina Jolie introduced me."
Helen Herman nodded and reminded him, "It's best to enroll in a language class as well to correct your spoken pronunciation."
"is there a problem with my pronunciation?" Matthew asked.
Helen Herman tilted her head and said bluntly, "It has a Texas twang." She thought for a moment and added, "My current positioning for you is a character actor, not an extra! You should have corresponding expectations for yourself."
Matthew knew she was right, nodded in agreement, and then asked, "Character actor? Does that mean my acting is better than an extra's?"
"You're overthinking it," Helen Herman was still very direct. "I differentiate based on your income and the roles you've gotten in a crew."
"It sounds like you have a unique assessment of actors," Matthew said with interest.
Helen Herman admitted this. "I've developed an assessment based on an actor's income, status, and industry standing, with not much relation to acting skills."
Before Matthew could ask further, she continued, "Broadly, from bottom to top, it can be divided into these categories: extras, character actors, regular actors, minor stars, B-list stars, A-list stars, and Super A-list stars."
"So, Super A-list stars are at the very top of the pyramid," Matthew asked curiously. "Who do you classify as Super A-list stars?"
"Very few," Helen Herman gave examples. "Like Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise."
Matthew understood. This was Helen Herman's own classification, quite subjective. Based on the information he had gathered from newspapers these past few days, Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise's acting skills could hardly be considered top-tier in Hollywood, but in terms of income, status, influence, and appeal, they were definitely first-class superstars.
Then, he assessed himself, thinking that calling himself a character actor was an exaggeration; he was still at the very bottom of this pyramid.
The road ahead was still very long.
Helen Herman glanced at her watch, took out a banknote, placed it on the table, and then told Matthew, "The work here will be completely finished this afternoon. Tomorrow, call Amanda and come to the company in Burbank to sign the contract with me."
Matthew didn't respond to her words but instead asked, "Aren't you afraid I'll sign with another company?"
Immediately after asking, he realized how foolish his question was; it felt like his IQ had instantly dropped to that of the idiotic Macon.
"Would you?" Helen Herman stood up. "Would another company sign a long-term contract with you?"
Matthew answered truthfully, "No."
"See you next week."
Helen Herman left with that final remark, directly leaving the cafe.
Afterward, Matthew also walked out. Helen Herman didn't explicitly say it, but he could guess.
Why did Helen Herman choose him to play the barbarian leader? It wasn't because of his excellent acting skills, nor was she impressed by his aura, and certainly not because he had the potential to become a star!
The main reason was that he frequently appeared in front of Helen Herman, making his face familiar. Among all her extras, he was the first one she would think of, plus he had acted alongside Angelina Jolie and Winona Ryder in a role with two lines of dialogue.
He had quite cleverly left some impression on Helen Herman, so she wanted to sign a long-term contract with him. But if it were any other agent, what difference was there between him and a background extra or Michael Sheen? They were all just extras.
Most agents would probably prefer to work with an idiot like Macon, who hadn't experienced setbacks, rather than bother with him.
To put it bluntly, who even knew who Matthew Horner was?
Walking back to the hotel along the straight road, Matthew found that Michael Sheen had also returned and was packing his luggage in the room.
"Hi, Matthew," he greeted Matthew warmly. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you since filming ended."
"I went for coffee with Helen," Matthew replied casually, pulling out his own suitcase. "Are you leaving too?"
Michael Sheen nodded. "Our batch of extras has basically finished filming. This afternoon, the crew will have a bus take us back to Los Angeles."
He asked, "Are you coming along?"
Matthew packed his luggage. "There's a free ride, so of course."
After eating the last meal provided by the crew in the hotel restaurant, Matthew and the other extras boarded the crew's bus, preparing to return to Los Angeles. Just like when they arrived, he sat with Michael Sheen, but the difference was that many extras around them were asking Matthew questions, making him the focus of attention on the bus.
"When director Ridley Scott was giving you instructions," a somewhat familiar bald man asked, "what did he say to you?"
There were also other people asking questions chaotically.
"is the great director very bad-tempered?"
"When the camera gave you a close-up, were you supposed to look at the lens?"
"Were you nervous?"
There were too many questions for Matthew to answer.
Some people also handed him their business cards.
"I'm Brad Faith, let's be friends, Matthew!"
"Next time there's an opportunity like this, can you call me? This is my phone number..."
Whether it was the crew members or the current extras, Matthew's deepest impression was the tendency to fawn over the successful and step on the less fortunate, and he himself was no exception.
After the bus departed, these guys finally dispersed. Michael Sheen whispered, "Don't mind them."
Matthew nodded. He didn't even know where his next role would be, so why would he care about these people?
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh, snobbery is also contagious.
To avoid the disturbances, Matthew simply slept the whole way. By the time the bus arrived in Los Angeles, the sun had already begun to set.
"I'm heading back first," Michael Sheen was still as enthusiastic as before. "If you need any help, just give me a call."
"I will," Matthew also seemed unchanged.
After Michael Sheen left, Matthew didn't plan to go to Red Penguin Services. His leave hadn't ended yet, so he decided to rest for a day and then go to work.
Matthew didn't wait for a bus; he called a taxi. After these few days of rushing around with the crew, he was indeed a bit tired.
While waiting for the taxi, he called the lawyer Helen Herman had given him. When he mentioned Helen Herman's name, the lawyer's tone seemed very polite, and they agreed to meet tomorrow morning.
Taking a taxi back to Westwood, Matthew dragged his luggage upstairs, opened the door to his rented apartment, and found another envelope lying on the floor by the door. He picked it up and saw it was another lawyer's letter demanding payment.
"Fortunately, it's not a court summons."
Matthew sighed, casually put down his suitcase, closed the door, and lay on the sofa. He took out the newspaper he had bought before going upstairs and started reading.
This had become his daily habit.
After reading the newspaper and calling to inquire about the language class at the Los Angeles School of Performing Arts, Matthew found some acting books, lay on the bed, and after reading for a while, fell asleep. He slept until dawn the next day.
He woke up, washed, and according to his plan, went for a run, ate breakfast, and changed into a suit to meet the lawyer. Helen Herman's influence was very effective; the lawyer didn't charge a consultation fee and clearly told Matthew that an out-of-court settlement was the best approach. If it went to court, it would be detrimental to both parties, wasting both time and energy.
Moreover, with an out-of-court settlement, the liquidated damages could be halved or even more, and payment could be made in installments.
Installment payments could solve the biggest problem of his meager wallet, so Matthew decided to entrust the case to this lawyer named Wilson.
However, before that, he first had to go to Burbank to sign his first official actor's agency contract with Helen Herman's Angel Agency.