America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 239 Damon Arrives

In the dark alley, Martin pulled his Patriots hat down low, as if sensing someone following him, and quickly slipped behind a wall as he walked.

The camera mounted on the slide rail turned around.

Martin pulled a dagger from his pocket, leaned against the wall, his chest heaving rapidly, his emotions taut as a string.

The footsteps drew closer.

He moved incredibly fast, flashing out and slashing at the newcomer with his knife.

He drew his knife, turned and ran, rushing to a busy intersection and disappearing into the crowd.

Next, Leonardo DiCaprio, as the pursuer, also plays a nearly identical role.

The two scenes will definitely be cross-cut into countless short shots in post-production.

In the past few days, Scorsese keenly noticed that a subtle chemistry had developed between Martin, Leonardo, and Nicholson, and they often whispered among themselves when they weren't filming.

He immediately adjusted the shooting schedule, moving the scenes where the three characters interacted to an earlier time.

The effect was very obvious; the three main actors were in exceptionally good condition.

That day, the crew took a long break in the late afternoon. Menez, who had just arrived from Los Angeles, found Martin and whispered, "Matt Damon is here with the crew and might come over later."

Martin nodded. "I understand."

Menez moved to the chair next to him and sat down: "Boss, I'll keep an eye on him."

"It's not that serious." Martin calculated the time, got up, found Nicholson, and asked, "Where's Leo?"

Nicholson pointed to a spot not far away: "On the phone." That bastard's mind was full of evil thoughts: "It seems someone from Victoria's Secret leaked information about the last party to Gisele Bündchen. When he gets back, we'll give him a boost and encourage him to break up with his girlfriend."

Martin didn't want to get involved in this mess: "There's no benefit to it."

Nicholson said, "Didn't you notice when we were chatting lately? That jerk Leo mentioned a few times that every time he and Gisele Bündchen have a conflict, they end up having a huge fight. I'm guessing that Gisele Bündchen broke up with Leo because of that party, and she'll definitely come to the set to cause trouble. It's rare to see such a scene."

He asked Martin, "Don't you want to witness the biggest gossip about Hollywood's biggest stars firsthand?"

Compared to Nicholson, Martin is a much better guy: "Then you can make a call and invite all the other Victoria's Secret Angels over; that would be truly spectacular!"

Nicholson scoffed, "Even I, a piece of trash, think you're trash!"

Martin is innocent. No matter how you look at it, you old bastard are the one who's being polite.

Leonardo is back, and he looks furious. The first thing he says is, "I'm going to dump her! I absolutely have to dump her! She's 25, and she's still arguing with me!"

Nicholson added fuel to the fire: "25 years old, already wrinkled! Why don't you dump her and keep her as your grandmother?"

Martin simply muttered, "No woman in this world can stay young forever."

Nicholson glared at Martin, as if to say, "You've betrayed us at the last minute!"

Martin, a principled and honest man with a bottom line, would never encourage someone to dump their girlfriend. He simply said, "This world is never short of young women."

Leonard grabbed Martin's shoulder: "Dude, I've dated over twenty girlfriends, and I still don't see things as clearly as you do."

Nicholson asked, "She got angry at you?"

Leonardo nodded slightly: "He scolded me, so he might come to New York."

"Based on my decades of experience, she will definitely come. Leo, you and Martin are my brothers, and I can't watch you follow in my miserable footsteps." Nicholson looked like he was thinking of the young man. "Some women don't know their place. If you love her a little more, she will take it for granted that she is a princess or a queen. She will only take endlessly and never know how to give back."

All his kind words were just a prelude to the nasty remarks that followed: "I suggest you call all those Victoria's Secret Angels over here, and let the women see that Leonardo DiCaprio is never short of women's love!"

Leonardo was tempted, but quickly realized his mistake, pointing at Martin and Nicholson and saying, "You two bastards, you're just waiting to see me make a fool of myself, aren't you!"

Martin chimed in, "When I break up with my girlfriend, I can invite you to come see me." He nudged Nicholson with his elbow, "You old bastard, you can too."

Nicholson replied earnestly, "Of course!"

Leonardo pulled out a chair, sat down opposite them, and said disdainfully, "Two single dogs!"

Martin and Nicholson were speechless.

The two bastards have claimed to be single more than once.

Meanwhile, Matt Damon emerged from his makeup trailer and, accompanied by assistant producer Taylor, arrived on set.

The crew was taking a break, with most of them chatting and relaxing in small groups.

Matt Damon immediately spotted the three actors with the most significant roles.

Martin, Nicholson, and Leonardo were gathered together, chatting about something, occasionally putting their arms around each other's shoulders, creating an unusually harmonious atmosphere.

Damon gestured with his eyes: "Have they always had a good relationship?"

Taylor said softly, "They got along very well. Even Director Scorsese found it strange. But there are rumors that they seemed to have had some kind of party together."

Damon wanted to understand the situation as quickly as possible to decide on a course of action: "How is Martin performing?"

"Very good, second only to Nicholson. Scorsese believes he has more control over his performance than Leonardo DiCaprio." Taylor, who works at Dyson Studios, the same firm that backs Matt Damon, wouldn't mislead him: "Director Scorsese has said more than once that Martin Davis was a very good choice."

Damon nodded slightly.

Taylor suggested, "The crew is now well-coordinated and filming is going very smoothly. The three main actors are willing to cooperate with each other, and Scorsese is quite satisfied. If you have any ideas, it's best to put them aside for now and focus on your work."

Damon glanced at the three joking men again: "Don't worry, I won't do anything reckless." He then reminded Taylor: "Keep an eye on Martin Davis and Jack Nicholson for me. I've got concrete information that they want to get me."

Taylor looked slightly surprised: "Is that so?"

Damon felt a headache coming on when he thought about the conversation between Martin and Nicholson that he had overheard at the script meeting. What kind of mess would those two scoundrels get up to?

On the other side, Nicholson said, "Damn it, Damon looks like he's watching you."

With Old Brooks standing guard behind him, Martin didn't even turn his head and said, "He's looking at you. You let someone fart in public, of course he'd want to mess with your ass!"

Nicholson grinned maliciously, "Nobody in this world can mess with my ass."

"That's not right. I remember Naomi using a wearable one on the yacht." With an opportunity for revenge, Leonardo wasn't about to let it slip by, directly exposing the old bastard's secret: "She used it when she was with you."

Martin moved his chair aside, away from Nicholson: "I misjudged you. You actually have this kind of hobby."

Nicholson scoffed: "When you get as old as me, you'll have done all the fun things, and you'll be actively seeking thrills too."

The three chatted for a while, then the makeup artist came over to touch up their makeup, and the filming resumed.

In the studio, Bruce, who worked part-time as a prop master, walked across the set, inspected all the props, and nodded to Martin when he returned.

With Damon about to join the filming, Bruce was still very cautious, even though a Hollywood star of his caliber wouldn't risk his future.

Once on set, Martin was about to film a scene between Colin Firth and Damon's character, Dingan.

The two familiarized themselves with their positions and went over their lines.

The film crew's camera slide is having some problems and isn't ready yet.

Martin said, "Actually, I've always liked your movies."

Damon didn't understand his meaning, and followed up by asking, "Which one?"

Martin said, "Jason Bourne is really cool." He added, "We actors aren't like the CIA, where it's a life-or-death struggle."

Damon paused for a moment: "It was exaggerated in the movie."

Martin nodded: "That's true. It's just work. There are always many suitable ways to resolve frictions at work."

Damon stared at Martin: "You're right, it's just a job, and we may never cross paths again after it's over."

Martin extended his hand: "You see, we can find common ground too."

Damon gently squeezed his hand: "But I still have to say it, I don't like you."

Martin said, "I am not Franklin."

That was enough. He didn't want to get into a pointless argument with Matt Damon; no matter what, it wouldn't change the cast's lineup.

Damon remained expressionless, with an inherently kind demeanor.

Filming began quickly, with Martin and Damon's scenes together.

Colin questions Ding Genan, wanting the list of undercover agents he has. Ding Genan, of course, refuses to give it to him, and the two have a verbal conflict.

Perhaps wanting to prove something, Damon put in a lot of effort in his performance after the script supervisor slammed the clapperboard, seemingly trying to outshine Martin in their scenes together.

Martin had been filming on set for over a week and was in top form, delivering a performance that was both natural and controlled.

Scorsese called a stop only after this take was finished filming.

He stepped down from the director's chair, entered the set, and said to Damon, "Take it easy, you're going overboard."

Matt Damon nodded, spun around in place, and muttered to himself, as if it were his own unique way of adjusting.

With all departments of the crew back in place, filming resumed.

But less than five seconds into filming, Scorsese called for a stop again, this time yelling, "Damon, tone it down! Don't you understand? Tone it down!"

The filming of Damon's scenes was intermittent and went very poorly.

Scorsese didn't get angry, after all, Matt Damon was a new addition to the cast.

During a break in filming, Leonardo DiCaprio said, "I don't know what that bastard Martin said to Damon, but he was determined to outshine Martin in their scenes together."

Nicholson said, "He was mentally unbalanced, and his performance was overdone, even more so than yours."

Leonardo might object to others saying this, but when Nicholson said it, he didn't refute it, but simply continued the conversation about Damon: "He's too eager to prove himself to Scorsese."

Nicholson couldn't help but laugh: "Even when he's wrong, Scorsese never admits it."

How could a great director be wrong? The actors or screenwriters are always at fault.

(End of this chapter)