America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz-Chapter 833 - 826 The Only Hope of the Family

The film crew caravan departed the Atlanta metropolitan area, heading south. It wasn't long before they spotted vast cornfields.

In one of the farms, the corn was noticeably taller than the rest, already at the tasseling and pollination stage.

The cars stopped in the clearing next to the barn, and people from the various departments immediately got busy.

Martin stepped off the makeup trailer, rolled up his sleeves on his ragged plaid shirt, and made his way to the middle of the set.

Standing on the steps of the old wooden house, he glanced over the cornfield and remarked, "This place looks familiar, haven't we been here before?"

Bruce remembered, "You shot 'City Folk' here, with Ma Zhen. The horse stable and the grazing land are gone, all turned into a cornfield."

Martin peered carefully, pointing towards a slope by a wooded area, "I remember now, over there, the Grand Priest of the Cola Cult, Robert, first made his move, using olive-oil-coated bottled Coke to help me crush my competitor."

He laughed, "This time, it's a nostalgic return to where the dream began."

Nolan, passing by, heard Martin's words and couldn't help but stop, thinking back to what Martin had mentioned before. He turned back, beckoning to assistant director Anderson.

While filming "The Dark Knight," Anderson was a ghostwriter specifically recording genuine behind-the-scenes stories.

Because he was observant and perfectly grasped the essence of Nolan's genuine behind-the-scenes content, by the time of filming "Inception," Anderson was promoted to assistant director by Nolan.

Anderson, fully aware of his abilities, wasn't someone adept at planning shoots. He was Director Nolan's paper and pen.

Thus, as soon as Director Nolan gestured, Anderson immediately came running over with paper and pen.

Without any unnecessary talk, Nolan started to write genuine behind-the-scenes stories for promotional marketing again.

"The place where the crew is shooting the farm scenes is also where the lead actor Martin filmed his first ever movie... I can't remember the name of that late-night movie, check it out later and include it. During shooting, Martin said he's returned to where his dreams began."

Anderson noted it all down swiftly.

Meanwhile, Martin was getting ready for shooting, when a blonde actress entered the set.

He turned his head to look, noticing her fair skin, beautiful face, and long legs, yet she was a new face he had not seen during rehearsals.

The actress approached to greet him, "Hello, Martin, I'm Charlotte Kirk, playing your deceased wife in the movie."

Martin shook her hand, "Nice to meet you."

He understood why he didn't recognize her; they had no scenes together, a character that existed only in the lead protagonist's memories.

Nolan returned and called Martin and another two minor actors over to discuss the scene beside the cornfield.

Charlotte Kirk watched curiously from a distance, remembering how the CEO of Warner Bros., Kevin Tsujihara, had told her more than once to closely observe Martin Davis's every move after entering the crew.

Filming was about to begin, with the assistant director calling for a clear set.

Charlotte, having no scenes at the moment, went to the rest area, but her gaze kept tightly on Martin, looking for something special in his actions.

Martin boarded the Dodge pickup truck with young actors Mackenzie Foy and Timothee Chalamet.

Shooting commenced, with the truck starting to move but quickly stopping again.

Director Nolan left the monitor area, walking over to the side of the truck as if discussing the scene.

Charlotte couldn't make out what was being said specifically.

She thought for a while, took out a notebook and pen, and wrote down the time at the top of the first page, then took a few notes.

"Martin Davis has an excellent relationship with Director Nolan, who respects his opinions a lot while filming."

Mainly because, aside from this, there wasn't much to write about.

In truth, Charlotte had some complaints about Kevin Tsujihara. After sleeping with him for so long, he had promised her an important role, which he did deliver - a top production by Nolan - but the significance of the role was best left unmentioned.

The role of the lead actor's wife sounded quite impressive, and yet, it only appeared in flashbacks.

That high-ranking man of Japanese descent gave her the impression of stinginess.

Charlotte, daring to take this path, was certainly not one to be stubborn or to fall into tunnel vision.

Her gaze switched back and forth between Martin and Nolan, her mind still pondering continuing to help Kevin Tsujihara.

The pickup truck moved and stopped intermittently on the farm's dirt road, unable to travel 300 meters in two hours due to filming.

Nolan called for a halt to the shooting again, saying, "Let's take a twenty-minute break."

Martin was the first to jump down from the truck, looking back to Mackenzie Foy, who played his daughter. The young girl's pallor showed she clearly wasn't feeling well.

"You okay?" asked Martin.

Mackenzie shook her head, "Feeling a bit carsick."

Martin offered his hand, and she stepped down with his assistance.

As the two turned to walk back, on the other side of the truck, Timothee Chalamet's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

Since joining the cast, any somewhat attractive female actors like Jessica Chastain, Anne-Hathaway, and Mackenzie Foy, seemed to gravitate around Martin whenever there was a chance.

Timothee Chalamet, who was in the rebellious phase, couldn't help feeling somewhat resentful inside.

But he remembered the agent's admonition: the one person in the crew you couldn't mess with was Martin Davis.

Even angering Nolan wasn't a big deal, but provoking Martin Davis would have serious consequences.

The crew brought over some chairs and set up a few temporary rest areas by the road.

Mackenzie had some water and felt better. She turned her head and looked at Martin a few seats away.

Her mother, Mrs. Foy, encouraged her softly, "What do you want to ask him? Be bold and go ask him directly."

Mackenzie put down her water glass and looked at her mother.

The Foy family was very ordinary, unlike many child stars from performing families; Mackenzie's father was just a regular truck driver, and her mother didn't have a formal job, working as a cleaning lady before, and now she was the full-time companion of a young star.

Mackenzie was the family's only hope.

"Go on, I've been watching for a few days, Martin is a nice guy," Mrs. Foy encouraged. "Get along with him, and you might have a shot at your next role."

Mackenzie got up and came over to Martin, asking softly, "Martin, can I bother you for a moment?"

Martin, who was resting with his eyes closed, turned around upon hearing the voice, and said, "I happen to have some time."

Mackenzie said, "During the performance just now, I felt like something wasn't quite right, but I can't find what the issue is..."

Martin thought for a moment and said, "You performed very well, for your age group, you're a very expressive actress. If there's a problem, you're a bit tense; you need to relax during performances, don't put too much pressure on yourself."

Mackenzie's features were especially delicate, and she was like a porcelain doll, "How could I not feel pressured working with you and Director Nolan."

Martin laughed, "I'm just a regular guy, not a demon or monster, right?"

"Yeah," Mackenzie smiled with squinted eyes. "If I hadn't seen it myself, I would never believe anyone saying Martin Davis doesn't have the air of a star."

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Martin pointed towards the temporary set, "Chris is a very refined director, he never loses his temper on set; just do your job, and that's enough."

Mackenzie nodded, "I understand."

After chatting for a while, Mackenzie took the initiative to leave and went back to her own seat.

Mrs. Foy asked, "What did you talk about?"

Mackenzie said, "Martin is really easy to get along with; he actively helped me reduce my work pressure."

Mrs. Foy looked at her daughter's delicate little face and thought to herself that being good-looking did have its advantages.

When the break was over, Martin and the other three actors returned to the rundown Dodge pickup.

Timothee Chalamet had his own views about Martin, which came through unnaturally during shooting, but this turned out to be suitable for the interplay between their characters.

Father-son relationships were always a bit sensitive.

Today's scene kept going until the Dodge pickup had a blown tire.

After wrapping up, Nolan specifically kept Martin and Mackenzie back to talk about the play.

In this film, the father-daughter relationship was one of the key core aspects; Nolan wanted effects that Martin and Mackenzie, as actors, needed to convey.

Timothee Chalamet looked over from a distance, his gaze falling on Mackenzie; he couldn't hide the envy and jealousy in his eyes.

Suddenly, Charlotte Kirk appeared, casually saying, "We're just side characters; they're the core of it."

Timothee Chalamet said nothing and turned to leave the area.

On the way back to the hotel, Martin rode in the same car as Nolan.

Nolan asked, "That girl's quite something, isn't she? She seems to work well with you."

"It's mainly because I'm versatile," Martin boasted for himself and then asked, "Where did you find her? She's very expressive."

Nolan simply said, "She played Bella's daughter in the Twilight series and seems to have an important supporting role in an upcoming horror movie by James Wan."

Martin commented, "A very expressive young actress, reminds me of Dakota Fanning."

Nolan agreed with Martin's statement, "She's outstanding for her age, I have high hopes for her."

Martin, however, thought about all those expressive child actors from Hollywood in the past twenty years. Of the top-tier ones from their childhood and teen years, not many had become A-listers.

Take Leonardo, for example; his child star days were only average.

Contemporaries like River Phoenix and Edward Furlong, who were much more famous in their youth—one overdosed and died, and the other almost ruined his life with drugs.

Drew Barrymore lost her way for a while and didn't reach the heights the industry expected.

Macaulay Culkin, even less said the better, was practically the epitome of a child star failure.

Others who followed, like Haley Joel Osment and Dakota Fanning, also had difficulties after growing up.

Kristen Stuart, who was less lauded than Dakota Fanning in her child star days, became more successful as she grew older; the former even ended up supporting the latter.

In this regard, Natalie Portman was among the exceptional ones.

Back at the hotel. Bruce found Martin and said, "Thomas just called. Your son posted another video related to father and son. After Thomas got nowhere with the conversation, he had the lawyer send a legal letter."

Having made two private attempts to communicate, Martin had his limits, "If it's ineffective, proceed with the lawsuit."