America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 664 The Most Difficult Actor in Hollywood

Inside the soundstage of "The Martian" at Disney Studios.

Martin, dressed in a gray uniform, arrived at the planting warehouse where soil was piled up, ready to become a Martian farmer.

Ridley Scott came over and reminded him, "You need to use traditional farming methods."

Martin nodded: "Don't worry, I'm ready."

He was quite skilled at growing vegetables, having come from a rural background in his previous life. Back then, his hometown was a nationally renowned vegetable-producing province.

On this planet, there are very few people who are better at growing vegetables than those from his hometown.

A prop master came over carrying a bag, which was full of sealed bags.

Martin took a bag and even squeezed it.

Ridley told him, "For the sake of filming effects, it's all filled with real human feces."

Martin put the bag back and clapped his hands: "No problem."

With all departments of the crew in place, Ridley returned behind the director's monitor, and as the script supervisor clapped the clapperboard, filming began.

Martin transformed into a farmer, leveling the soil and digging ridges with simple tools. During this time, he took a selfie while spouting witty lines.

To make a solo performance engaging, self-deprecation is unavoidable.

Filming had just begun and wasn't going very smoothly. Martin was trying to get into character, and Ridley was trying to get into character as well.

After the disastrous failure of "Exodus," Ridley Scott, a veteran director, knew very well that if he messed up another top-tier production with an investment of over $100 million, his future situation would be dire.

Therefore, from the very beginning of filming "The Martian," he strictly required all personnel, including himself and Martin, to set high standards for the filming.

In nearly two hours, the crew only shot four takes.

During the shoot, Ridley left the director's chair several times to coordinate filming arrangements.

Compared to the film crew, he didn't have many demands on Martin, because Martin could always make timely adjustments to achieve the effect he wanted.

The last scene before noon has started filming.

Martin plugged his nose, opened a bag of feces, and put it into the soil.

This thing has probably been wrapped up for a while, and with the weather in California being a bit hot at the end of May, the smell of fermentation still managed to get into my head even though I had my nose stuffed up.

In recent years, Martin has lived a life of luxury, and although the taste was strong and nauseating, he could still tolerate it.

In his past life, when he helped with farm work, he personally processed fermented chicken manure, and the smell was beyond description.

Martin worked quickly and efficiently, processing bag after bag of manure as Ridley Scott requested, in preparation for planting potatoes.

Based on his experience, farmyard manure should not be used in this way, especially farmyard manure buried at the base of the plant.

Back then, the collected cow and sheep manure and other things were piled up together to ferment and compost naturally, and were not used directly.

He still remembered what the old man had taught him: fresh manure is easy to burn the roots.

But Martin didn't say much; what the movie presents is different from real life.

Ridley Scott filmed the scene where the five male leads used manure to grow potatoes for nearly an hour before declaring it acceptable.

As a result, Martin couldn't eat anything at lunchtime, and every dish smelled like feces.

In the afternoon, Martin finally got rid of the feces and moved to another studio with the exact same layout, where he showed off his potato field to the camera for a selfie.

To prepare for this scene, Ridley had potatoes planted in the studio long ago, and they've now mostly grown.

Although the crew initially filmed mostly one-man shows that were quite challenging, Ridley and Martin quickly got into work mode after a short break.

The former are experienced directors who can resolve unexpected situations on set in the shortest possible time.

Martin's professionalism and competence are beyond question; not a single director who has worked with him has a bad word to say about him.

Hollywood has proven over the years that as long as the investors don't mess things up and the big-name actors don't cause trouble, filming usually goes relatively smoothly.

More than 80 percent of the filming takes place in Disney studios.

The crew of "The Martian" came and went every day, but everything was done in an orderly manner.

Across the main road from the studio, in the opposite soundstage, the crew of "The Lone Ranger" was stationed.

After several months of preparation, filming officially began in June.

In the morning, an electric scooter drove up and stopped in front of the studio. Megan Ellison jumped off, but instead of going into the studio for "The Lone Ranger," she stood on the side of the road and looked across the street.

She had a really good time teasing Martin last time, and after the first time, she naturally wanted to do it again.

She's been quite busy lately and hasn't run into Martin yet. She came today not only to check out the filming crew but also to see if she could bump into Martin again and have another chance to enjoy the ride.

Megan watched for a while. The door to the photo studio diagonally opposite was tightly closed, and several security personnel were guarding the entrance. It was clear that they were filming inside and no one was allowed to enter or leave.

After waiting for a while, the studio door still didn't open, and Megan lost patience and walked towards the studio where her own crew was located.

When she arrived at the studio entrance, the door was open as usual. After she went inside, she found that the studio was brightly lit, and the crew members were idly chatting and talking, either sitting or standing, just like employees slacking off at work.

Megan's popularity skyrocketed, and as a responsible investor, I absolutely cannot tolerate this waste of money!

But she didn't act rashly, after all, the production team had promised Jerry Bruckheimer that the project would be entirely handled by Jerry's team.

Megan walked inside and saw Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski, who was exchanging ideas with the director of photography while Megan kept making phone calls.

The two men wore expressions of anger and helplessness.

Looking at the actors, they were all sitting in the rest area.

Megan frowned slightly because she didn't see the male lead, Johnny Depp.

Yesterday, she had her assistant confirm with the production team that Johnny Depp, the male lead, had scenes to film this morning before she came to visit the set.

Megan waited a while longer, until producer Jerry finished his call, but still couldn't find Depp.

Moreover, after such a long time, the crew still shows no sign of starting filming and remains in a relaxed state.

Every single second that's wasted is Megan Ellison's investment!

Jerry saw Megan Ellison and quickly came over to greet her. On the surface, he was quite respectful to this wealthy female investor.

Megan asked directly, "Jerry, why haven't we started filming yet? Even a film crew doesn't need this much rest, right?"

Jerry looked down on this outsider deep down and replied casually, "We'll start filming in a moment."

Megan wasn't easily fooled and asked, "Where's Johnny Depp? I checked the filming schedule for today; there are several scenes featuring the male lead this morning. Why haven't I seen him?"

Upon hearing Depp's name, Jerry experienced wave after wave of headaches, with veins bulging on his forehead and his brain blood vessels seeming ready to burst at any moment.

Megan knew something must have happened with Depp, and asked again, "Where's Johnny Depp? Where's my leading man?"

There was Annapurna Pictures' CFO on the set, so if you asked around carefully, the truth would be impossible to hide. Jerry forced himself to say, "Depp is late and hasn't arrived on set yet. The crew is all set to film and waiting for him."

"Late?" Megan was surprised at first, then glanced at her watch. It was almost 11 a.m. She laughed in exasperation, pointing to the watch face, and said, "Do you consider this late?"

Jerry was equally frustrated, but this was his film crew, and he didn't want the investors to interfere too much with the production, saying, "I'll discuss these minor issues with Depp..."

As he was speaking, seven or eight people rushed into the studio, two of whom were walking dogs.

Johnny Depp, walking in the middle, had sunken eyes and dark circles that made him look like Captain Sparrow had come to life. He even seemed to be swaying as he walked.

Before Megan Ellison could say anything, director Gore Verbinski exploded: "I told you, no dogs on set! Take the dogs away right now! Immediately!"

A hungover Depp let out a burp: "My baby, if you leave, I'll leave!"

After saying that, he waved his hand and told his followers to prepare to leave.

Verbinski was so angry that his face turned pale.

Jerry quickly came out and said, "John, have someone take the dogs to the break room in the office area. There are a lot of people and equipment here; it wouldn't be good if they got hurt."

Depp listened to this and said a few words to his henchmen, who then led the dogs to a lounge on the side.

When Gore Verbinski worked with Johnny Depp on the first "Pirates of the Caribbean" film, although Depp had an eccentric temper, it was still within his tolerance range.

By their second collaboration, Verbinski had a lot of complaints about Depp. This eccentric guy, now with money, quickly transformed into one of Hollywood's most difficult and unprofessional actors.

But Captain Sparrow was so popular that Disney reluctantly partnered with Depp, and the same was true for Verbinski.

Nobody wants to turn down huge profits.

Verbinski glanced at Depp and said, "We can't shoot this morning; there's not even enough time for styling."

The male lead's makeup process was quite complicated.

Jerry frowned and said, "I'll talk to him and have him get his hair and makeup done first, and also sober up a bit."

Verbinski couldn't hold back any longer and warned, "This can't go on. He'll drive the crew to the brink of collapse all by himself."

Johnny Depp is now a top star in the industry, with the Caribbean series under his belt and unparalleled popularity. Even a top producer like Jerry Smith has to think twice before working with him.

Jerry found Depp and started communicating with him.

From Jerry's expression, Verbinski could easily guess that the communication wasn't going smoothly; the drunken Depp seemed unable to understand what others were saying.

Since filming began, the project has faced numerous difficulties. Despite Megan Ellison's ample budget, almost all the challenges have been related to Depp.

Verbinski vowed that this would be the last time he worked with Depp, unless someone offered him a $3000 million director's fee next time.

Megan held back and said nothing, simply observing coldly.

(End of this chapter)