Chapter 90: Chapter 90: Mockery
Upon entering the bar, Michael Fassbender clapped Matthew on the back and pointed towards a blonde woman seated with her back to them. "Is that her?"
The actress had worn makeup during the shoot, and now, in the dim bar lighting, he wasn't certain it was her.
Matthew glanced over, "That's her."
They found a table for four and sat down, with James McAvoy ordering drinks and pouring everyone a glass.
James looked around, "Tom Hardy doesn't seem to be here yet."
"Great opportunity," Matthew said with a smile to Michael, "Aren't you the self-proclaimed expert? Let's see your skills."
Michael glanced at the blonde, "Just watch, give me ten minutes!"
He stood up and approached her table.
"We drink!" James raised his glass to Matthew.
Matthew sipped his drink, occasionally glancing towards the blonde's table. From afar, amid the bar's noise, he couldn't catch their conversation, but he saw Michael sit down across from her after speaking briefly.
"This shark..." Matthew shook his head in amusement, "He really is an expert."
Before he and James could finish their drinks, Michael was already walking back to them with the blonde in tow.
"Liz, let me introduce you," he said, pointing to Matthew and James. "These are my friends and fellow cast members. This is Matthew Horner. And this is James McAvoy."
Michael then introduced the blonde, "This is Elizabeth Custer."
After greetings, Elizabeth joined them at their table at Michael's enthusiastic invitation.
"We met this afternoon," she noted, looking at Matthew, who nodded and raised his glass, "We acted together earlier."
Elizabeth lifted her glass, given to her by James, toasting, "Pleased to meet you all."
As they finished their drinks, the atmosphere warmed up. Michael, a seasoned charmer, kept Elizabeth thoroughly entertained, hinting at a promising evening.
Outside the bar, Tom Hardy had just gotten out of a car with a sullen expression, clearly in a foul mood.
His lateness was due to a call with his agent, who, after speaking with the production team, relayed some dire news: other than the scene already shot, he had only one remaining—his death in a car accident!
That meant all his other scenes were canceled, and his next appearance on set would be as a corpse on a stretcher!
Frustrated yet powerless, Tom hoped to salvage the evening with the beautiful woman he was supposed to meet.
Entering the bar, Tom quickly scanned for his target, then his gaze settled on a table with three men and one woman.
The first person he recognized was Michael Fassbender, his old rival from drama school who had often snatched leading roles right out of his hands.
Tom didn't hide his disdain, then noticed the other two men, especially the one he had filmed with that afternoon, who had mockingly shaken his head at him after their shoot, an apparent scoff that irked him.
Lastly, his eyes fell on Elizabeth, who seemed quite cozy with Michael, his anger flaring up as he strode over.
As the bar entrance was directly in line with their table, Matthew was the first to spot Tom, signaling Michael before standing to greet him, "Hey, Tom, come join us for a drink!"
Elizabeth turned to look and seemingly didn't recognize Tom, continuing to chat and laugh with Michael.
Tom's face grew darker as he approached.
James had already signaled the waiter to add a chair to the table.
Matthew, Michael, and James all wore smiles as they watched Tom approach, and Elizabeth offered a curious smile as well.
But to Tom, these smiles seemed like mockery.
He reached the table but didn't sit, his expression even more grim.
Tom glared at Elizabeth first and burst out, "Don't think I don't know what you all are up to!"
He slammed the table, his voice rising, "You just want to mock me, right? Laughing that most of my scenes got canceled?"
Matthew and James exchanged glances, their plan indeed had been to provoke him, but Tom had preempted them.
"Mocking, huh?" Tom sneered, "Go on then, mock me!"
He pointed aggressively across the table at Michael, Matthew, and James, "Keep laughing!"
Perhaps it was his aggressive demeanor or the suddenness of his outburst, but James and Michael were momentarily stunned.
Tom's loud voice drew the attention of many in the bar, who looked their way, curious about the commotion.
Tom slammed the table again, mouth opening to speak…
But Matthew's sudden laughter interrupted him, "Ha...haha...ha..."
As he laughed, Matthew's face was full of scorn, "Ha...haha..."
"You... you!" Tom pointed at Matthew, accusing, "What are you laughing at? You really…"
Seeing the crowd's attention, Matthew raised his voice, "Hey,
he asked me to mock him, right?" He looked around, asking the onlookers, "Did he not?"
The crowd, always eager for a spectacle, chimed in with various comments.
"Yeah, I heard it!"
"He asked you to laugh, so what's the issue?"
Encouraged by the crowd's reactions, James and Michael started laughing loudly, their faces openly mocking.
The laughter spread, and soon the entire bar seemed to join in.
Tom had never been mocked by so many people at once; his face flushed red with anger, he raised a fist.
Matthew tensed, ready for any move.
Michael and James watched Tom closely, and seeing his clenched fist, Michael raised his voice, "What are you trying to do?"
James subtly gripped a bottle, smirking, "Tom, there are three of us!"
Just then, a familiar voice came from the bar entrance, "What's going on here?"
Big Mike Cullitz looked concernedly towards Matthew's table.
Then, more voices joined, "James, need help?"
"Michael, Matthew, don't worry, we're here!"
Several people entered the bar, all actors who had undergone training together due to Tom Wester's influence, making their camaraderie stronger than typical cast relationships.
Tom glanced around, then instinctively withdrew his pointing hand, casting a final venomous look at Matthew, Michael, and James before turning and storming out of the bar.
"Thought he was tough, turned out to be a scaredy-cat!"
"No balls at all!"
"Looks like a woman, acts even more so."
"Can't even throw a punch but starts a fight, what a joke!"
Disappointed at the lack of further drama, the bar crowd continued their ridicule as Tom halted, then finally exited the bar.
"He's got some sense, at least," James loosened his grip on the bottle, settling back, "I kinda hoped he'd stay and make a move."
Michael raised his glass, finishing his drink, "He's not that stupid."
Matthew, ignoring the departed Tom, thanked the six or seven actors who had shown up, "Thanks, guys. Drinks are on me tonight!"
He was always good at keeping relationships.
As the night wore on and with filming scheduled for the next day, Matthew and the others soon dispersed. Michael successfully took the blonde to another hotel, while the rest went back to rest.
After that night at the bar, Matthew only saw Tom Hardy once more on set, lying on a stretcher playing a corpse, his role as the orderly effectively over.
With no major narrative focus on him, Matthew's parts were also limited. After filming his scenes for Episode 9, he returned to playing background roles—either as an unseen American soldier or as a dead German one.
By March, the set's small town of Vois had been completed, and David Frankel moved to the open set to start filming Episode 7.
In this episode, Matthew's character, Ronald Spears, transitions from Lieutenant of D Company to the new commander of E Company.
Matthew was well-prepared, especially since he had resumed some military training recently. This war scene required him to be actively involved in the shooting.
On a sunny afternoon, with hundreds of actors assembled, Matthew, after getting made up, saw Gary Goetzman and Eric Bork among a few producers near the director's spot, indicating the crew had more than just this scene to handle.
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