America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 116 King of War

Spurred on by Wes Craven's one-on-one challenge against Jason and Freddy at over sixty years old, Martin went to the gym less than an hour after returning home.

Decades from now is still a long way off, and he wants to further sculpt his physique and improve his endurance.

If Kate loses her mind and accepts Louise's invitation, it won't be one against two, but one against three.

Three women around 30 years old, just thinking about it makes their backs creak and groan.

"Shoulders and elbows perpendicular to the ground, torso straight!"

Female coach Susie squatted on the ground, moving her hand from Martin's head to the back of his head, instructing him on the key points of the plank exercise: "Keep your torso straight, head, shoulders, hips and ankles in the same plane, tighten your abdominal muscles, pelvic floor muscles, glutes and your genitals, and keep your breathing even."

Martin stood motionless on the ground, as if a beautiful woman lay beneath him who would crumble at the slightest pressure.

Susie glanced at the stopwatch: "Good, hang in there." She encouraged her in her own unique way: "If you can last five more minutes with your girlfriend, keep it up! OK, time's up, stop and relax."

Martin stood up and did some light exercise, then took the towel Susie handed him to wipe his sweat.

Susie then had a chance to ask, "Where's Bruce? I haven't seen him."

Martin said, "I'll be there in a bit."

Just then, Bruce came in from outside. Susie immediately dropped Martin and went over to greet Bruce: "You're late today."

Bruce said, "Something came up, I was held up."

He winked at Martin, who said, "Let's go rest for a while, Susie. I'll call you if I need anything."

As Susie watched the two leave, she turned to look at her unusually well-developed glutes. Was her sexy buttocks no longer alluring?

Two good men, with unwavering wills and disdain for beauty, arrived at the rest area of ​​the gym and found a secluded spot to sit down.

Bruce opened the bag and handed everything to Martin: "The receipts are all in here, including the San Gabriel Valley, the rented villa, and the props and costumes. All the expenses added up, you threw in over $6 for this party."

Martin glanced through it and said, "Money doesn't really count as money when it's spent."

Bruce said, "Hopefully it will pay off." He added simply, "I've finished the cleanup."

After resting for a while, the two resumed their fitness activities.

Martin wasn't the only one provoked by Wes Craven last night; Bruce did too.

It's truly enviable that someone in their sixties can have such fighting power and output frequency.

What men fear most is that their hearts haven't aged, but their bodies have, leaving them powerless to even look at the girls they're attracted to.

That could easily lead to perversion.

On Monday morning, Martin was still fast asleep when he suddenly heard a knock on the door. He thought it was someone from across the hall looking for Jessica, but when he went out of his bedroom, he heard the landlord Antonio's voice.

He opened the door and saw Antonio standing in front of Bruce's door with a gun on his shoulder. He quickly said, "It's me, Martin, we're on the same side, don't shoot!"

Antonio patted his old shotgun and said, "Don't worry, this is a gun of friendship; I won't shoot my own people."

Bruce opened the door, and there was a pistol in his hand.

Antonio quickly said, "Don't shoot, we're on the same side! My gun is malfunctioning, you said you'd fix it last time."

Bruce shook his head: "Come in."

Martin followed Bruce into his apartment.

Bruce carefully examined the shotgun and went to find the toolbox.

Martin told the landlord, "You're running around with a gun; be careful not to accidentally hurt anyone."

"The gun of friendship won't hurt anyone." Antonio was too fat to stand, so he plopped down on the sofa. The sofa springs creaked and groaned, making one wonder if they would never bounce back up.

Antonio famously gestured, saying, "Anyone struck by the gun of friendship is no good man."

Martin gave a thumbs up: "Truly a gun of friendship."

Bruce found some tools; a part of the gun was broken, and he needed to go out to buy some.

Martin had work to do today, so he went to Warner Bros. Studios alone to do voice-over work for a scene in "House of Wax". At noon, his agent Thomas called to say that there was an urgent matter.

He rushed to the agency immediately.

Thomas was incredibly excited when he saw Martin: "This morning, a friend from the Academy of Science Fiction and Horror Films called me and said that Wes Craven had spoken to the judging committee to confirm that you would be nominated for Best Young Actor. The nominations will be officially announced at the end of April."

Martin asked, "What about the awards ceremony?"

Thomas said, "By mid-May, our chances of winning are virtually limitless!" He pulled a fax from his drawer: "It's from the Academy of Science Fiction and Horror Films, inviting you to be a guest performer. I got this for you thanks to Craven's connections."

Martin reacted quickly, deliberately extending his fist: "Thomas Lane, wouldn't you say we're a golden duo!"

Thomas downed the bowl of chicken soup in one gulp, bumped fists with Martin, and said in a low voice, "We're a golden duo, we're on a winning streak, and we have a bright future ahead of us!"

"The awards ceremony is broadcast live on TV?" Martin asked when Thomas nodded. "What am I supposed to do?"

Thomas said, "Of course, this is your specialty. It's a great opportunity to increase exposure and raise brand awareness. We need to plan it carefully to attract the most attention."

Martin made his decision: "Then let's perform the zombie machine gun dance."

Thomas thought of the video that made men feel inferior and said, "I think it's okay."

Martin knew very well that apart from the machine gun dance, his other dance moves were amateurish. He said, "I need a teacher who is good at zombie dance and can fully combine machine gun dance with zombie dance. If you can't find a suitable person, I'll call someone from Atlanta."

Thomas suggests: "Find the original choreographer and dance teacher."

"You should confirm things with the Saturn Awards first." Martin had the phone number of Anne, the choreographer at Wild Beasts House: "I can call her over anytime."

At this point, he came up with a new idea: "In 'Zombie Dancer,' I have a troupe of zombie vampire dancers. When you communicate with them, ask if you can bring your own troupe of dancers."

"That's a very reasonable request," Thomas said. "I will communicate with them."

Martin asked, "Any progress on the new job?"

Thomas pulled up the computer data and printed it out directly: "The company just informed me this morning that a multi-party film project about arms dealers has been confirmed, with Nicolas Cage as the male lead and Andrew Nicole of WMA as the director."

Cage didn't need to say much. Martin asked, "The director's name sounds familiar."

Thomas said, "The screenwriter of The Truman Show was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay."

Martin said, "No wonder it sounded familiar."

Thomas finished organizing the printed materials and said, "This film is said to have a budget of $5000 million. You'll be auditioning for a supporting role, the male lead's brother."

Martin picked up the document and looked at it carefully. It wasn't hard to tell that this was "Lord of War," a very famous film.

He asked, "Is the audition competition fierce?"

Thomas nodded: "I'm not sure about other companies. This morning, the company just recommended your, Mike Vogel's, and Joe Anderson's profiles to the production team and director. Andrew Nickell is the director, screenwriter, and executive producer; he has the final say on the auditions."

Martin asked directly, "Do you have information about the director? His hobbies or style, etc."

"He likes blonde or brown-haired actresses with good physiques, and his girlfriend is Canadian model and actress Rachel Roberts," Thomas said of his background. "He has unique insights, a strong sense of direction, and likes to try new and daring things."

Martin interpreted it from another angle: "In other words, he likes to work with sexy blonde or brown-haired actresses, likes to have absolute power on set, and likes to pull off a lot of fancy tricks."

Thomas thought for a moment and found himself unable to refute it. He said, "One of the reasons I called you over is that after Andrew received the company's recommendation, he wants to meet with the three of you candidates separately before the audition. This is actually an audition as well, and it's even more crucial than the audition two weeks later."

Martin looked in Thomas's mirror and asked, "How am I now?"

"Very good," Thomas said honestly. "She's good-looking and has a great figure."

He glanced at the time: "Be patient, Andrew won't be here until after four o'clock."

Martin waited until 4:15 when his assistant called to tell Thomas to bring the actors to the small conference room upstairs to meet Andrew Nickell.

Upon arriving outside the small meeting room, Martin found that Mike Vogel and his agent Pinto were already there.

Half a minute later, Joe Anderson, who had long hair, walked over alone.

Then, Eric Lively, whom I had met before, arrived, accompanied by his sister Blake Lively and his agent.

Four distinct groups formed in the corridor; the atmosphere wasn't tense, but there was no communication between them.

Martin suddenly realized he had forgotten something, but couldn't recall it for a moment.

The conference room door opened, and Andrew's assistant came out to call for people. Eric was the first to go in, and he came out less than half a minute after the door closed.

As soon as they stepped outside, Eric started complaining, "What's going on? He asked if your dad was Ernie, and then said I wasn't suitable. Does he have a grudge against my dad?"

Although young, Blake was quite savvy and quickly pulled Eric back, saying, "Don't talk nonsense."

"Where did I lie? It was clearly this director..." Before Eric could finish speaking, Blake pinched his arm hard and dragged him away.

The agent quickly followed up to comfort him.

Mike Vogel went in second and came out two minutes later, shaking his head at his agent.

Pinto lowered his voice: "Why?"

Mike Vogel said, "I can't accept it, it's that simple."

Just then, the assistant called Martin's name at the door. Martin was passing by Mike Vogel when he heard him and turned to look.

Mike Vogel looked at him, their eyes met in the air, and Mike Vogel suddenly laughed and said, "Man, I failed. Good luck."

Martin was bewildered by his competitor's sudden comment, and he certainly didn't believe Vogel was genuinely offering his blessings.

Given the situation at the door, if murder weren't illegal, aside from Eric, the three of them would definitely pull out knives and stab each other.

(End of this chapter)