To let the film interact with the theme-park project, the Walt Disney Group purposely held the pirates of the caribbean premiere inside Disneyland, California. The park has a large theatre that screens Disney's quirky children's films and stages Disney song-and-dance shows; it seats more than a thousand people. The Lion King musical once ran there for weeks, so using it for the pirates of the caribbean premiere was no problem at all.
On premiere day, Matthew went to pick up Keira Knightley early; it was part of a boyfriend's duties. Since they'd already played the affectionate-couple act for the media and public, they had to keep the performance going.
After picking up Keira Knightley they headed to the styling studio—then came the long process of getting ready.
Matthew's styling was simple. As a man with naturally good looks, the stylist focused on emphasizing his already sharp masculine lines and rugged aura.
The only headache was the hair he'd kept since finishing pirates of the caribbean: deep-brown, almost black, nearly shoulder-length, slightly wavy—hard to manage.
Matthew simply asked the stylist to cut it short, back to the neat medium-length he used to have.
Compared with him, Keira Knightley's styling could not be called troublesome—it was a massive project. Make-up, outfit, hair, accessories: six hours minimum.
No female star looks radiant on the red carpet by nature; it's all built by stylists minute by minute.
According to stylists, actresses who take less than five hours preparing for a red-carpet appearance are extremely rare—virtually non-existent.
If a male star wants to look handsome and a female star wants to look beautiful, of course they have to pay the price.
Matthew's black tuxedo was tailored skin-tight to show off his excellent physique and muscle definition; Keira Knightley's gown was also figure-hugging to highlight her slender side.
So, on their stylists' advice, the two of them ate little breakfast, only picked at lunch, and stopped drinking water after lunch to avoid any hint of a belly.
Drinking too much water means frequent bathroom trips, and at premieres—or any red-carpet event—restrooms are inconvenient. Once you undo a garment, even a seemingly simple men's tux, restoring the exact look the stylist created is no easy task.
As for actresses, most evening gowns
are either extremely intricate or extremely form-fitting; once you take them off in a restroom, even with help, a non-professional can't get them back the way they were.
Most actresses, whether attending a premiere or an awards ceremony, won't go to the restroom after leaving the styling room unless absolutely necessary.
Perfect lines demand a price.
So when Matthew and Keira Knightley rode to Disneyland they sat upright, backs never touching the seat, to keep their clothes wrinkle-free.
If your star power is big enough you can ask the organizers to provide a dressing room near the venue, sparing you the ride.
Matthew and Keira Knightley's clout hadn't reached that level.
After all that effort, the result was obvious: when Matthew and Keira Knightley walked hand-in-hand onto the red carpet inside Disneyland, the handsome-man-plus-beautiful-woman combo pushed the atmosphere to a peak.
Photographers snapped frantically while fans on the sidelines shouted themselves hoarse.
Countless Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann posters were held aloft.
At that moment Matthew and Keira Knightley were enjoying the treatment reserved for true A-list stars.
"Dad, did you see?" On one side of the carpet Brian Lister, holding a Will Turner poster high, yelled excitedly at Lister beside him. "That's Matthew! That's Matthew!"
Lister felt helpless. "You think I wouldn't recognize Matthew Horner?"
After all, he'd begged Matthew for today's premiere tickets.
"He's so hot!" Brian Lister was in full fan-girl mode. "Not just handsome—Matthew's vibe, Matthew's aura—this is what you call a man!"
A girl nearby overheard and turned her head. "Right! Compared with Matthew, Leonardo and the rest are all sissies!"
Brian Lister felt he'd met a kindred spirit and nodded furiously. "Ten-thousand likes for you!"
He introduced himself. "I'm Brian, a Matthew fan!"
The girl swept her platinum-dyed hair back. "I'm Daenerys, also a Matthew fan!"
"He's coming!" Brian Lister pointed toward the carpet. "Matthew's coming over!"
Together the two let out ecstatic screams.
Matthew was thoroughly enjoying this feeling—the feeling of being the center of attention, as if he had become the focal point of the entire world.
Fans were screaming for him, and reporters were going crazy over him.
Of course, he knew this was partly the glow of the movie itself, and partly the result of the media endlessly hyping up his rumored romance with Keira Knightley.
All of that exploded at the premiere.
Reaching the press area, Matthew and Keira Knightley put on a lovey-dovey display, letting photographers snap away while giving a brief interview to an ABC Television reporter. Then, once Johnny Depp arrived, the three stood shoulder-to-shoulder for another round of photos.
The three of them weren't without conflicts or competing interests, but those stayed at the Agent level; personally they'd always gotten along well.
When asked, whether it was Johnny Depp or Matthew and Keira Knightley, each praised their co-stars to the skies and kept saying they couldn't wait to work together again.
In truth, all three hoped the film would get a sequel—if you want to make real money, sequels are the way to go.
It was a simple reality: Matthew and Keira Knightley had some fame, but among Hollywood Stars they were definitely in the poor bracket; Johnny Depp was a bit better off, though hardly super-rich.
With pirates of the caribbean a smash, if Walt Disney Pictures decided to make a sequel, the leads would be replaced only as a last resort. As the three absolute leads, they could push their salaries as high as possible—even Helen Herman was already thinking of ways to land Matthew a slice of the back-end profits.
After the routine group photo, the cast filtered into the VIP lounge; since the audience had to be seated first, the filmmakers and invited guests who'd walked the red carpet would wait inside for a while.
Matthew greeted a few acquaintances, took Keira Knightley by the hand, and found Helen Herman—who had Amanda, who'd flown in from New York, standing beside her.
"Let me introduce..." Matthew first indicated Amanda and said to Keira Knightley, "This is Amanda, my good friend."
Then he introduced Keira Knightley. "Amanda, this is Keira, my girlfriend."
The two girls exchanged polite hellos.
Amanda still wore her hair short, and—maybe because of her heels—Matthew thought she looked taller.
"School break?" Matthew asked.
"Yeah. Life in Britain was boring, so I came back to New York and managed to catch your premiere." Amanda grumbled, "British weather is awful—I've had enough of it!"
Keira Knightley couldn't help saying, "New York's weather is terrible too—snow disasters every winter, a pain just to step outside."
Amanda glanced at Keira Knightley, remembered there was another Brit present, chose not to retort, and instead said, "Matthew, you're about to be a big star!"
Matthew gave the same casual grin he always had with Amanda and said, "I told you long ago I'd become a Hollywood megastar."
Even though they hadn't seen each other in ages and barely kept in touch, Amanda didn't feel awkward at all. "Don't forget—I helped make this happen!"
"Of course! Of course!" Matthew replied with a laugh. "How could I ever forget your contribution?"
Keira Knightley tugged Matthew's sleeve and whispered, "The lead actor from king arthur is here—want me to introduce you?"
Matthew looked over and said, "Sure."
After excusing himself to Amanda and Helen Herman, he followed Keira Knightley to another circle filled with British actors—the principal cast of king arthur.
But whether it was Clive Owen or Ioan Gruffudd, Matthew found them unfamiliar and couldn't recall their names; probably none had truly cracked Hollywood yet.
That only strengthened his hunch that king arthur was very likely to flop.
Even so, he could hardly say more to Keira Knightley—she had already signed her formal actor's contract.
With the pirates of the caribbean franchise in place, even if king arthur tanked, it wouldn't be a disaster for Keira Knightley.
That's the beauty of a franchise: even if your star power dips, the leads can still live comfortably.
After chatting with the British actors for a while, Matthew could clearly sense they weren't really part of the same crowd—the British and American acting circles sometimes stay quite separate.
Inside the auditorium, the rear sections were already packed with general audiences—standing-room-only would be no exaggeration. In the rows ahead of them sat the journalists and critics invited by Walt Disney Pictures.
Many were already seated, including the famous Roger Ebert and his partner Richard Roeper.