Martin and Jessica arrived at the photo studio where the WANTED film crew was shooting.
The WANTED production team had rented a studio from Warner directly—old-fashioned alleyways, aged buildings with a vintage feel, all ready to use without any need for extra set construction.
The film's budget wasn't particularly high—only 70 million—and with many special effects scenes to handle, every cent had to be spent wisely.
Inside the studio, Martin, already in costume, was sparring with the martial arts choreographer Thomas Carter.
Thomas Carter held a machete in his hand, unleashing a flurry of ferocious slashes at Martin. Martin weaved and dodged beneath the blade, occasionally counterattacking.
Though the machete wasn't sharpened, it was still forged from real steel and weighed quite a bit. Each swing cut through the air with a menacing whoosh, causing many of the crew members watching to break into cold sweat.
Morgan Freeman, who was playing a supporting role, couldn't help but ask, "Martin always trains like this? Wait—don't tell me we're going to have to do this too?"
His comment made several other actors with action scenes visibly tense up.
Jessica quickly stepped in to reassure them. "No, no, this is just Martin being Martin. He likes to do real exchanges in action scenes. He prefers relying on improvisation to react in the moment."
Morgan Freeman looked stunned. "Holy hell, so all that stuff I heard wasn't just the media making things up?"
Just then, Martin suddenly kicked Thomas Carter in the wrist, took advantage of the opening to retreat, grabbed another machete from a case behind him, and re-engaged the choreographer in a fresh round of sparring.
The clashing of steel on steel echoed through the studio with a resounding clang-clang-clang—each blow electrifying.
After a few minutes, the two men finally stopped.
Thomas Carter was soaked in sweat from head to toe, while Martin only had a light sheen on his forehead.
Wiping his brow, Thomas Carter looked at Martin with amazement. "Martin, your reflexes seem even faster now—this is insane. I was going all out, and I couldn't land a single blow. And your strength… you weren't even using your full power, were you? Seriously, if you lived in ancient times, you'd be a legendary general."
Martin let out a hearty laugh and was just about to respond when an assistant jogged over and handed him his phone. "Martin, it's a call from Ms. Drew."
"Hello, sweetheart, what's up?" Martin answered.
"Honey, the casting for Jennifer's Body is about to begin. Do you want to come take a look?"
"Jennifer's Body? Didn't we already agree Amanda Seyfried would play one of the female leads? The rest is up to you. I don't need to be there."
"You should still come over. There's a bit of a situation. And it's not far."
"A situation? Even you can't handle it?" Martin raised an eyebrow. With Drew Barrymore current status, there weren't many people who could stir up trouble for her.
"It's Spielberg… Sigh, just come and see for yourself."
"Alright, I'll be there in five minutes."
Martin hung up, bid farewell to producer Jim Lymo and director Timur Bekmambetov of WANTED, and hurried off.
As he made his way to the car, he kept thinking about what Drew had said. Spielberg? Why would this involve Spielberg?
He and Spielberg got along pretty well. There shouldn't be any conflict…
What was really going on?
Martin quickly arrived at the Moonbirds Casting Office and went up to the third floor.
The moment he stepped in, he saw a beautiful green-eyed woman with voluminous curls, clearly agitated, standing behind Drew. Drewherself was in the middle of a heated exchange with a bearded man.
"What's going on here?" Martin asked.
Hearing his voice, Drew face lit up. She turned around and said, "Martin, this guy is out of control. I can't deal with him—you take over."
"Who is he?"
Martin honestly didn't recognize the bearded man.
To his surprise, that one question seemed to piss the man off. The bearded guy snapped, "Don't pretend you don't know who I am, kid. I suggest you stay out of this. I'm just disciplining my girlfriend!"
"Huh?" Martin blinked, baffled.
He frowned and asked Drew again, "So who is he, really?"
"That's Shia LaBeouf, lead actor from Transformers. Spielberg's protégé."
Martin suddenly understood—no wonder Drew mentioned Spielberg on the phone. So that's the connection.
Still, with that beard, the guy looked at least ten years older than he did on screen.
But Martin's frown deepened. "So who's his girlfriend, and what does this have to do with the audition?"
"I'm not his girlfriend!" the curly-haired beauty suddenly snapped, glaring. "He's just delusional."
Drew patted the woman gently on the shoulder and explained to Martin, "It's like this. Megan came to audition for a role in Jennifer's Body. Then this guy showed up and started making a scene, yelling that Megan shouldn't have come without telling him. He claims they're a couple and says she shouldn't audition for a role with exposure."
"Isn't that reasonable?" Shia barked. "What guy wants his woman baring herself on camera?"
"I already said, any nudity would be done with a body double," Drew explained, growing impatient.
(PS: In the actual film, Megan Fox did not appear nude. The forest scene used a double, and the underwater lake shot was done with flesh-colored bodysuits and nipple tape.)
"Bullshit. No one cares about that! The audience will still think it's her. Who the hell knows it's a double?" Shia shouted.
Martin's frown deepened.
At that moment, Megan couldn't hold it in anymore. She snapped at Shia: "Stop using the 'boyfriend' excuse. We've never been in a relationship—not in the past, not now, and not ever in the future!"
Shia's face turned pale with rage. "Bullshit! You damn bitch. Don't tell me you're just trying to seduce Martin! That's why you had to audition for this role—just to get closer to him?!"
"You bastard. What does my audition have to do with you?" Megan shot back. "I don't know where you got the idea that we were ever together, but if I gave you the wrong impression, I apologize. Also, I didn't even know Martin would be here. In fact, he wouldn't be here if you hadn't caused this scene!"
But Shia refused to listen. "You damn slut, flashing your body in front of the camera—Motherfucker, I'm trying to help you! So what if it's just a movie role? I could get you something better!"
"I don't need that. I want to make it on my own!" Megan said firmly.
What made her feel even worse was that now, because of this guy, she might lose the role entirely. This wasn't even the first time Shia had pulled this kind of stunt.
At this point, Megan just felt completely exhausted. She honestly couldn't understand why this man insisted on imagining they were together.