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"Lee, this is Matthew. ”

In the reception room of Angel Agency, Helen Herman introduces a middle-aged man with black hair to Matthew, "Matthew, this is Ann Lee, an Oscar winner." ”

"Hello, Director Li. Matthew stepped forward and took the initiative to shake hands with Ang Lee, who shook hands with Matthew and said, "Hello." ”

The two sides exchanged a few words, and Matthew was quietly observing Ang Lee, who had heard of Ang Lee's name and watched "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" because of curiosity, and many media praised Ang Lee as the best Chinese director at that time.

From the perspective of the Oscars alone, Ang Lee really deserves such praise.

After chatting for a few words, Matthew soon discovered that Ang Lee was different from what he imagined, although he still had a bit of oriental elegance, but he was basically Westernized, and the difference between doing things and speaking was not much different from ordinary Westerners.

Ang Lee said directly to Helen Herman, "Miss Herman, can I talk to Matthew alone?"

Helen Herman knows Ang Lee's purpose for coming here, and she is not at all worried that he will convince Matthew that with her understanding of Matthew, unless Ang Lee can offer a salary of more than $20 million, Matthew will definitely not risk his future and money.

But can Ang Lee offer a $20 million salary?

"Yes. Helen Herman answered, turned and left the reception room.

Matthew looked at Ang Lee curiously, this person's appearance gave him a natural sense of intimacy, and it was rare for a Chinese director to be so successful in Hollywood.

Of course, now Ang Lee is at the lowest point of his career, and the box office fiasco of "The Incredible Hulk" can be said to be very fatal.

"Mr. Lee. Matthew took the initiative to ask, "You came to me for the last invitation?"

"Yes. Ang Lee spoke as directly as a Westerner, "I'm currently working on a film adaptation with Focus Pictures, and I'd like to invite you to play the lead role." ”

As he spoke, he opened his briefcase, took out a script and a book of books from it, handed it to Matthew, and said, "I hope you can take a look at it before you think about it." ”

Matthew took it, put the episode on the coffee table, opened the script, and read it.

Ang Lee didn't speak, just waited quietly.

After flipping through less than thirty pages, even if Matthew's reading ability is average, he can see that what is described in it is the love between men and men, and he immediately closed the script.

"I'm sorry, Director Lee. He refused without hesitation, "This doesn't match my acting path." ”

Hearing Matthew's refusal, Ang Lee was not surprised at all and said, "Matthew, can you listen to me a few words?"

"No need. Matthew really doesn't want to appear in this kind of movie, "Director Lee, it's my honor that you can invite me, really." I really don't fit into a movie like this. ”

Regardless of whether Ang Lee's thinking is completely Westernized or not, the identity of the Chinese will not change, and Matthew respects him very much.

Respect, but it doesn't mean to star in his movies.

Matthew deliberately changed to Chinese that he hadn't spoken for a long time, "Director Ang Lee, I have seen your "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", a very good film. ”

Li Ang looked at Matthew with some surprise, saying that he didn't expect that this young star, who was rapidly becoming popular, could speak fluent Chinese.

"I love Chinese culture. Matthew showed a kind of oriental humility, "I especially like it! If you're going to shoot a martial arts movie like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," I'm always available. ”

He politely returned the script and episode to Ang Lee, "This kind of literary and artistic film really doesn't match my acting path." ”

Ang Lee's surprise quickly disappeared, after all, there are many oriental culture lovers in North America, and there are not a few people who can speak Chinese fluently.

"Okay. He took the script and the episode, and could see that Matthew's attitude was very firm, and he didn't persuade again, but said, "It's a pity." ”

Because of the desire to rub off on "Pirates of the Caribbean", Matthew Horner is his first choice, but not the only option.

As for the martial arts films that the other party said, it is not possible at all, he will not shoot this genre again in the near future, even if he does, can he find a white man as the protagonist? How many of these indigenous actors in Hollywood understand the spirit and meaning of martial arts?

Ang Lee is not the kind of stubborn person who doesn't know how to be flexible, seeing that he can't do anything, he immediately stood up and said goodbye, and Matthew sent him out of the reception room and sent him outside the angel agency before returning.

Although he recently failed in the audition for "National Treasure", his career is still developing smoothly, and there is no need to go another way, and that path is likely to be a dead end for him.

This will not change just because Ang Lee personally invited him to the door.

Inside the antechamber, Helen Herman watched Matthew come back and asked, "Refused?"

"Hmm. Matthew paused, stood near her front desk, and said, "He's a very good director, but he doesn't fit my style at all. ”

"Excellent? It's just trying to rub off on you and the popularity of Pirates of the Caribbean. Helen Herman clearly disagrees with this, "Just messed up 'The Incredible Hulk', and if this new film can't be turned over, he won't be able to stay in Hollywood." ”

Matthew knows that what Helen Herman said is true, Hollywood always puts interests first, whether it is an actor or a director, as long as you can bring benefits, you are the uncle, if you can't bring benefits, you will be doomed.

In this regard, as on the other side of the Pacific, there are also regional differences, with local American directors and actors being treated more or less, and outsiders having fewer opportunities, especially those outside the United Kingdom and the United States.

The general environment of the whole circle is like this, it is not something that can be changed by one person, and the reason why there is such a general environment is because of the acceptance of the North American market.

In this industry, it is obvious that the market determines the output, and it is tantamount to a dream for a person or even a company to want to reverse the aesthetics and needs of the entire North American market.

Matthew didn't continue the conversation with Helen Herman, the reality is that it makes no sense to go on.

Instead, he asked, "How's the negotiations going?"

"It's almost agreed. Helen Herman said calmly, "Don't worry, this project only started in early November, and don't think about starting shooting until February." ”

Seeing Helen Herman say this, Matthew didn't ask again, now it's different from the past, with specific news, Helen Herman will definitely take the initiative to tell him.

Helen Herman stepped closer, stood next to him, and said, "There is also good news, I just received a financial notification that your last payment for the crew of "Dawn of the Living Dead" has arrived. ”

Matthew nodded, "That's really good news. ”

With the money in his account, his $5 million base salary for the "Dawn of the Dead" crew is all in place, leaving a lot of money in addition to Helen Herman's commission and the Screen Actors Guild's fees.

As for tax issues, there are professionals to deal with them, and consumption and investment are tax deductible, and he is ready to invest most of the money in it.

At the end of November and the beginning of December, Matthew talked to Amanda on the phone about this, and Amanda recommended him a reliable stockbroker who was also represented by the other party for some of her personal investments, and he went to meet with the stockbroker and decided to buy some shares.

Limited to his previous knowledge, he doesn't know anything about stocks, and he doesn't know much about which companies' stocks will go crazy, only knowing one thing, there were once some crazy people who did not hesitate to sell their kidneys in order to buy a smartphone, so that Apple got the title of kidney machine.

At the beginning, the kidney machine was synonymous with high-end atmosphere, but then it became more and more popular, not to mention the workers working on the construction site, some of them gradually used the kidney machine, according to some workers with special habits, even the street is generally equipped with a kidney machine.

Even the unheard of people know the famous name of the kidney machine, and Matthew certainly knows it.

He didn't know anything else, but Apple's kidney machine used to be so bad, and the stock must be very valuable, so there was only one requirement for the stockbroker, to buy all the millions of dollars he put into it.

Matthew didn't think about other stocks that he didn't know about, like those recommended by the stockbroker.

Of course, this kind of purchase refers to an acquisition on the stock market, not the kind of so-called investment in Apple, Matthew is not so idiotic, would Apple accept an investment from a Hollywood star? Steve Jobs should have nothing wrong with his head.

After coming here, he once read a news that Steve Jobs returned to Apple with the great success of Pixar Studios to retake the helm of Apple, and needed to raise funds, and countless investors came, but Steve Jobs would rather choose the harsh investment of his rival Bill Gates than the much more lenient investment of other investors.

The reason is simple, what Bill Gates can bring to Apple is not what ordinary people can provide at all.

Even if Matthew doesn't know it anymore, after spending a few years in Hollywood, he can see that investing in a company is never as simple as throwing money into it.

So, his stockbroker bought all the retail shares of Apple that were circulating in the market.

Besides, with Matthew's money, in addition to buying some Apple bulk shares, can you expect to do more?

In fact, Matthew didn't think too much, plus he has a limited understanding of other industries other than Hollywood, and he is very cautious about investing in something, such as the supervision of the stockbroker, there should definitely be no relaxation just because it is Amanda's introduction, and his purpose of buying some Apple stocks is also very simple, the dollar has depreciated too quickly in the past two years, even if Apple stocks do not rise, with the kind of madness of the kidney machine in the future, it should be no problem to maintain value.

While Matthew was talking to Helen Herman, the company's glass door was pushed open from the outside and Alexandra D'Addario walked in.