Joseph was truly furious. These petty tricks within a film crew were actually common in Hollywood; they were a form of unspoken rule. This was why second- or third-tier Actors were unwilling to offend any Staff Member, because a Staff Member didn't need to do anything drastic; just the slightest mishap could make an Actor suffer enough.To avoid such situations, one either had to climb into the first tier, find a backer, or rely on one's own strength to win recognition.Hugo had done exactly that; he had been diligent and hardworking on the set, doing his job well, yet now he was met with this treatment from Alej!This was unforgivable.Today, Alej had only changed the shower water, but would he push a collapsing scaffold onto Hugo tomorrow?Hugo might be in a difficult situation right now, but that didn't mean anyone could bully him!Facing Joseph's thunderous fury, Alej felt his whole body trembling. When the pressure reached its peak, he could only raise his fist, attempting to use a direct fight to shake off the oppressive feeling Joseph was creating. But Joseph had long anticipated this; he grabbed Alej's wrist with his right hand, squeezed it hard, and said through gritted teeth, "Apart from these dirty little tricks, do you have any other worthwhile methods?"The word "dirty" in Joseph's words was so jarring. Just a moment ago, Alej was calling Hugo "dirty," but now it seemed that he was the one who was truly making a fool of himself.Alej wanted to say something more, but Joseph threw Alej's hand down hard and then took a step forward, forcing Alej to involuntarily step back, then another. Alej lost his balance and stumbled back several steps, barely avoiding the nightmare of falling.Joseph stared intently at Alej before him and then said aloud, "Rob, I need a result."This was the first time since Joseph had taken over for Hugo that he had stood so seriously and earnestly from the position of an agent to fight for Hugo's interests.Recalling the changes in Hugo over the past three months, the cold stares from the media and the industry, and then Hugo's experiences during the filming of "a few good men," Joseph truly felt indignant for Hugo; he had to give Hugo an explanation for this matter.Rob was startled by Joseph's cold voice. In fact, Joseph and Hugo's attitude had always been neither humble nor pushy, modest and polite. Rob had previously thought this was because Hugo had straightened out his position after experiencing the Golden Raspberry Awards, but now Rob realized it wasn't that Hugo was unwilling to be flamboyant, but rather that he believed strength was far more effective than posturing.Looking at Hugo's performance on set, Rob knew that he indeed owed Hugo an explanation.The rejection and indifference from the Staff Member toward Hugo, while having objective reasons and also being caused by Alej's instigation, were things Rob had allowed to happen even after understanding the situation, not without his own calculations: he had faced tremendous pressure for replacing Tom with Hugo, both from Columbia Pictures and from the potential results after the film's release.But now it seemed that Rob's indulgence had caused the situation to spiral out of control.Perhaps Alej's actions didn't seem like a major offense now, just a water temperature issue that caused Hugo to run a low-grade fever, not a capital crime.But the fault of previous indulgence had to be rectified, and Alej's mentality was already unbalanced, making it inevitable that problems would arise later. So now that Joseph was demanding an explanation, Rob went with the flow and gave his decision."Alej, your work on this set ends at this moment. You can leave."This was Rob's decision: sacrifice one Alej to ensure the harmony of the set; it was the most cost-effective deal possible.Alej had never expected such a result; Joseph's words from just moments ago had actually come true. He had originally thought that even if he were caught, he could muddle through, because this really wasn't a big deal, just making Hugo suffer a little physical discomfort, but now he had lost his job.And even more terrifyingly, Rob was not a novice director in the industry, which meant that while it wasn't impossible for Alej to find work later, the difficulty of finding a job would increase exponentially."No, no, this is not what that person said. He said it would be fine..."Alej looked at Rob in disbelief, "Rob, you can't fire me. I didn't do anything wrong; I just wanted to teach Hugo a lesson."Joseph was originally in a state of extreme anger, and even hearing Rob's decision did not soothe his inner emotions. However, since Rob had already fired Alej, there was no need for him to continue dwelling on it, so he prepared to go back and look after Hugo.But he keenly heard Alej's ramblings from just now: That person? He? What did this mean? Could it be that someone else was directing Alej from behind the scenes?Joseph's eyes sharply turned to Rob, but he quickly dismissed this notion, because Hugo being able to join the set could be said to be entirely Rob's doing. If he didn't like Hugo, he wouldn't have hired Hugo.Then who could it be? Who else didn't want to see Hugo join the set? Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Martin Baum, or perhaps Tracy Jacobs?"You didn't do your job well; you are an unqualified Staff Member, and of course I have the right to fire you!"Rob interrupted Alej's defense. What he said was the truth; even if Alej went to the union, Rob would be in the right, so he didn't need to worry at all. "You have fully stated your thoughts, so I think there's no need for you to stay here anymore. You can leave our set!"Rob was usually smiling and was a kind, amiable old man, but on important matters, he was not indecisive in the slightest, displaying the necessary absolute control of a producer and director.Under Rob's command, two men walked up, prepared to take Alej directly off the set, but Joseph strode forward, closing in on Alej once again, "Speak, who exactly instructed you?"Alej was completely mentally broken by this point. He began to laugh lowly, and then his voice grew louder and louder, just like a madman, "Why should I tell you?"This seemed to confirm Joseph's earlier thought; someone was indeed instructing Alej. But immediately after, Alej raised his voice and said, "No one, no one, I did it all myself. I just can't stand a pretty boy like Hugo who has no talent and isn't willing to work hard. I want to see what this movie looks like after it's released; then I'll laugh wildly as I watch your failure!"The two men didn't give Alej another chance to be crazy; they dragged Alej directly off the set.Joseph stood in place, his brows furrowing involuntarily. Was there really someone behind Alej or not? Joseph discovered that Hugo seemed to have quite a few enemies in the industry right now, and the situation didn't feel very good at all, but they didn't have enough power to fight back right now, so he was at a loss.Accompanied by Rob, Joseph went to visit Hugo again.Hugo only had a slight low-grade fever and didn't have any major problems. After Rob apologized to Joseph again, he temporarily suspended today's filming.Hugo woke up after sleeping groggily for over an hour. After sleeping and breaking into a sweat, he felt much better, and he was much more alert.After seeing Hugo wake up, Joseph simply explained the whole sequence of events, mentioned the handling of Alej, and his suspicion that someone was behind Alej.Hugo listened intently, but he didn't have much emotional fluctuation; instead, he laughed.Back when he was doing bit parts, he had seen some of the industry's unspoken rules, and Hugo had thought that watching from the sidelines was quite interesting. But he hadn't expected these things to descend upon his own head now. This made Hugo realize: he was now a link in this circle, and the so-called unspoken rules would not only not decrease in the future, but would continue to increase; this was merely the tip of the iceberg."What's wrong? Do you have any thoughts?"Joseph thought that Hugo had guessed some clues about the mastermind behind the scenes.But Hugo shook his head, "How would I know that much?"If even Joseph couldn't think of it, he naturally had even less of a clue. "But don't worry, I won't have my confidence crushed by such a small matter. After all, this is just the smallest of 'accidents', isn't it?"Hugo winked slyly as he spoke, leaving Joseph between laughter and tears."Next, we have to film the scenes with Jack; that is the real test."Hugo knew that this was not only the best opportunity to prove himself, but also an excellent opportunity to integrate his latest understanding of acting. So he had been looking forward to this scene; just thinking about being able to act opposite Jack made his blood boil.Joseph was a bit worried, "But your current condition is not good. Should we push this scene back a few days and wait until your fever goes down?"The co-star is Jack Nicholson; even the slightest slip-up could cause the whole scene to fall apart.This time, the scenes between Hugo and Jack were much more difficult than in "scent of a woman," because in "scent of a woman," Al's character naturally dominated Hugo in terms of momentum, and the scenes were more about Hugo standing in the position of an oppressed weakling fighting back, so the lack of ability was easily covered up by the script.But this time, Hugo and Jack's characters were at loggerheads, which would expose all of Hugo's weaknesses; it could be considered an ultimate test.Hugo shook his head; although his face was still flushed with a sickly ruddiness, his smile was full of determination and confidence, "Jack won't agree; he's in a rush."Hugo looked at Joseph, his amber eyes radiating a dazzling light, "Don't worry, this is also my moment!"It was also a moment that would make the entire Staff Member team truly sit up and take notice, and be completely stunned.
