The weekend passed, and after Martin rejoined the set for filming, Bruce figured out a way to gather a list of clients from a global travel company.
It included sports stars like Tiger Woods, and in terms of Hollywood A-listers, there were Will Smith, Kim Carrey, Johnny Depp, and Demi Moore, to name a few.
Ivan had heard gossip that Demi Moore had hired an attic girl, requesting her to join in the games she played with her boyfriend Ashton Kutcher.
Martin also found a name in this list that stood out—Charlie Sheen!
"Are you sure it’s the Charlie Sheen from ’Two and a Half Men’?" he asked.
Bruce nodded, "That’s him."
Martin returned the list to Bruce and said flatly, "Then throw away all three business cards." He specifically instructed, "Old Cloth, even though that Mia has a big ass, you better keep your distance."
Without a moment’s hesitation, Bruce pulled out the three business cards, tore them up, and tossed them into the trash can.
Even though Martin couldn’t recall the exact year Charlie Sheen turned into a biochemical maniac, only fools would indulge in pleasures in the same place as him.
Even if those three uniquely styled beauties were quite appealing, it wasn’t worth the risk to Martin.
The crew was about to start filming when Martin entered the set, got familiar with the blocking with Alec Baldwin, and soon began a new round of filming.
As the number of actors increased, the filming was sporadic—the more actors in a scene, the higher the likelihood of problems.
Gradually, David Fincher’s yelling became louder, and after two actors made mistakes one after the other, the usually even-tempered director couldn’t help but lose his temper.
In Martin’s memory, David Fincher rarely lost his cool.
Maybe the last push for the Oscars had him under some pressure.
During the break, Martin approached the director’s monitor and said, "David, I’ve noticed something interesting."
David Fincher asked, "Is it about me?"
Martin nodded, "No matter what kind of temper, or how gentle and delicate one’s voice is, spending too much time in the director’s chair turns everyone into someone with a loud voice and a quick temper."
David Fincher couldn’t help but laugh, "It seems I need to watch my image; I don’t want to be referred to as the tyrant on set by actors or other staff."
Martin said, "I know you’re just a director who likes to wield the butcher knife in films."
David Fincher replied, "If this film wasn’t based on true events, I actually would have liked to have all the protagonists captured by Iran, and then all dragged out for target practice..."
He shrugged his shoulders and said no more.
Martin gave a thumbs up, "With that kind of plot, David, you’d never win Best Director at the Oscars in this lifetime."
In all of Hollywood’s films, Iran is the quintessential villain.
Not only the Iran of modern times, ancient Persia is portrayed the same way.
At lunchtime, Martin ran into Silsa Ronan in the studio cafeteria.
Silsa placed the paper bag she was carrying on the table, "Handmade chocolates from Ireland."
Martin didn’t stand on ceremony and accepted it, "Thank you."
Silsa said, "I made them myself."
Martin frowned, "Why does this feel so familiar?"
"Um... I learned it from you, teacher." Silsa Ronan seemed especially honest in front of Martin, "Once you told me that country music’s little superstar Taylor Swift used this way to please people and make them happy."
Martin asked, "Doesn’t it lose its effect when you say it out loud?"
Silsa replied, "But you’re my teacher, of course, I have to tell you the truth."
Martin couldn’t help but laugh, "You’ve gone one step beyond Taylor Swift’s version."
Silsa said, "You’ve helped me so much and taught me so much, teacher. I don’t have much to repay you with, but I made some chocolate by hand."
Martin thought about the fireworks Silsa had asked Nicholson for last week.
In truth, neither he nor that old bastard were up to any good, just looking to cause trouble and watch the excitement.
Martin asked, "I heard you had another conflict with Emma Watson?"
"It was just last week’s incident, I wanted to scratch her face at the time," Silsa still felt angry recalling it, "She’s a coward, actually calling Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint for help. I couldn’t fight the three of them, so I had to run."
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Martin glanced at the tote bag with the handmade chocolates and, with a rare twinge of conscience, warned, "Those fireworks, try not to use them if you can. You’re not thirteen or fourteen anymore. If someone catches evidence on you, it’ll be a big hassle."
Silsa, heeding Martin’s words, said, "Next time I run into Emma Watson, I’ll deliberately provoke her to hit me, then I’ll scratch her face!"
Martin considered this and said, "That doesn’t fundamentally solve the problem."
Silsa scratched her face, asking, "Teacher, what should I do?"
Who knew what she should do? Martin bluffed with gossip he had read online in a past life, "I seem to have heard someone mention that among the main actors of the Harry Potter crew, there’s a junkie."
Silsa was startled for a moment; although Emma Watson was a standard goody-two-shoes, she hadn’t thought of it from that angle.
Martin said, "I’m not sure who it is, but you might want to pay attention to that."
Regaining her composure, Silsa replied, "Teacher, you know I’m good at taking secret photos."
Martin remembered the first time he met Silsa Ronan, it was in Pine Forest Film Studio where she tried to sneak photos of Christian Bale and Kate Blanchett having an affair.
After getting lunch, Silsa came back eating and talking, purposely mentioning, "Teacher, I signed up for a dance class and a music class to systematically learn singing and dancing."
Martin thought about her filming a new movie, "Can you handle it?"
"I have a foundation," Silsa leaned in closer and said, "I can do the splits and bend backward."
Martin was surprised, what are you saying all this for?
Silsa then said, "Teacher, when you have time one day, I’ll perform for you."
She emphasized, "You’re my teacher, after all, so you should check on my learning progress."
Martin understood, nodded slightly, "I’m about to go on location soon, we’ll talk when I have time." Your next chapter is on freewebnovel
After finishing lunch, the irresponsible jerk of a teacher left, leaving a female student deep in thought about how to create trouble.
Later, Silsa decided to spend a hefty sum and bought the latest miniature camera and DV to come back with.
The grudges between girls are more complex than those of men, with revenge and confrontations even more intense.
Martin returned to the crew’s rest area for a nap, asking Bruce to keep an eye on any unusual behavior from Silsa Ronan and Emma Watson.
He asked, "I feel more and more like that old bastard Jack."
"No, you’ve always been like this," Bruce revealed the harsh truth, "As far as I know, Nicholson used to only prank a bit and wasn’t as wild as now, but ever since he became besties with you and Leonardo, the scale of his fun searching has escalated."
Martin frowned, "Impossible."
Bruce thought for a moment, finding the right adjective, "You raised Nicholson’s expectations of fun."
Martin had a helpless look, "Nothing can be done, only through such tomfoolery can Jack live normally. He always wants to visit Marlon Brando with butter, and I can’t let him because neither heaven nor hell will have him."
He chatted and fooled around with Bruce for a while until the assistant director knocked on the rest room door, notifying Martin to prepare for shooting.
Martin showed up on time in the set’s rest area for a makeup touch-up.
Over the years, Martin Davis’s reputation for professionalism and getting paid for work had spread inside and outside the industry.
The afternoon’s shoot went more smoothly.
The crew’s shooting at Disney Studio came to a temporary halt, with some interior sets still being constructed. According to David Fincher’s plan, once the crew returned from the location shoot, filming would resume seamlessly.
In October, the crew arrived in Langley, Virginia, where the CIA’s headquarters are located.
Louise came early to set things up, establishing good communication with the CIA’s Hollywood office.
To assist in the filming of this atypical CIA promotional film, the CIA gave the crew ample time to shoot in the headquarters’ plaza and entrances.
The crew temporarily modified the entrance of the CIA headquarters and brought in many old cars from the ’70s to be placed in the large parking lot at the entrance.
For the next few days, CIA employees would take other exits and entrances.
In Langley, Martin’s scenes were mainly divided into two parts: one as a CIA member commuting to and from work, and the ending where he is honored with an award yet unable to disclose it publicly.
In addition, part of the movie would be shot in downtown Washington.
As the typical Hollywood protagonist and the lonely American hero, he would inevitably face turmoil and pressure on the family front.
It’s well known that David Fincher didn’t really like such plots; as a butcher among Hollywood directors, he was most skilled at brandishing the cleaver and exposing the most raw aspects of a seemingly perfect family to the audience when dealing with family scenes.
But for the Oscars, these formulaic elements were necessary.
While the crew was shooting, Cortland, the head of the CIA’s Hollywood office, was always nearby, observing.
During a break from filming, he also made a point of taking a photo with Martin and David Fincher.
The three of them chatted for a while.
"This film of yours is one of the rare Hollywood movies that portrays the CIA in a positive light," Cortland said, not that he cared, "In past Hollywood films, we’ve always been the villains."
Martin deliberately asked, "Give us a hint, are Jason Bourne and Treadstone real?"
Cortland laughed, "Of course, we also want to recruit America’s national heroes to join."
Martin said, "Then you’ll have to equip me with Ethan Hunt’s complete set of black-tech gear."
"The gadgets in ’Mission: Impossible’ aren’t really high-tech," Cortland said seriously, "In reality, CIA’s advanced equipment is even more high-tech than what Ethan Hunt uses."
David Fincher asked, "Can we get a glimpse of it?"
Cortland replied, "Many are classified, and I don’t even have access to them."
Martin said, "If they ever get declassified and there are surplus gadgets, make sure to send me one."
Cortland agreed readily, "No problem."
With the CIA’s support, the crew’s shooting in Langley and Washington went very smoothly. The one-week schedule was completed in less than four days, finishing all the location scenes needed there.
The crew then moved to Istanbul for a week of filming.