America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

In Benjamin Studio, Elizabeth signed the actor's contract and landed her first real movie role in life.

The young Caroline, the daughter of the male and female protagonists, Daisy.

During acting, she would call Martin "Dad".

Thinking of this, Elizabeth scratched her cheek, feeling an indescribable sense of weirdness.

Should she go to Martin for a rehearsal in advance? The eighteen-year-old Elizabeth pondered, "Or should I first call Martin to express my gratitude?"

As she left the office, her agent Martha reminded her, "Liz, Martin was key to you getting this role. Don't forget to call him and thank him personally."

Elizabeth had already taken out her phone, picked it up and shook it, saying, "I'll call him as soon as I step out."

Once outside the studio, she immediately called Martin. When he answered, she said, "Martin, it's me, Elizabeth. Do you have time for lunch? I'd like to buy you lunch."

Martin replied from the other end, "I've got time. Where at?"

"There's a nice restaurant in Sherman Oaks," Elizabeth cheerfully gave the address.

"No problem, let's meet at the restaurant at 11:30."

Hearing Martin's reply, Elizabeth quickened her pace, hopped on her scooter, hung up the phone, and called to her agent, "Martha, hurry up."

Martha waved her hand, "You go ahead, I have other things to handle."

Elizabeth stepped on the throttle, and the scooter zoomed off with a whoosh.

Meanwhile, at the rooftop of Nicholson's mansion, Martin swung his golf club, sending the ball flying tens of meters before it crashed into a metal bin in the yard with a bang.

Leonardo laughed out loud, "Challenge failed, you lost!"

Martin put down his club, pulled out five US Dollars, and stuffed them into Leonardo's hand, "You win."

Nicholson commented, "That's improvement, just need more practice."

Leonardo remembered something, "Jack, didn't we make another bet?"

Nicholson, being older, didn't have as good a memory, "What bet?"

"About Weinstein," Leonardo reminded him, "Georgina Chapman."

Nicholson then remembered and calculated briefly before saying, "It's not time yet."

Martin was packing up, "These rotten matters you talk about, they have nothing to do with me."

"You wanted to bet on it, too," Leonardo said.

Martin faintly heard another sound and looked towards the other side of Nicholson's mansion, quickly changing the subject, "Someone's moving stuff out from Marlon Brando's place, there's even a truck."

Nicholson explained, "That house was sold when Marlon was still alive. Alimony and lawsuits for several children drained all his savings and assets; he even mortgaged his royalty income to borrow a large sum from the bank. Eventually, unable to repay the loan, he lost his union dividends and had to move into a trailer, living off welfare and the basic benefits from the actors' union."

Martin cautioned, "We must never end up like that."

Leo nodded vehemently, pointing at Nicholson's other neighbor, "We should aim to be Warren Beatty."

Martin scoffed, "So, you're betraying the trio, wanting to get married!"

It dawned on Leonardo that Warren Beatty had indeed gotten married, so he quickly corrected himself, "The Warren Beatty before marriage."

He didn't forget to tease Martin, "Don't you consider buying Marlon's residence? Your house on Cody Road is too small to even throw a proper party."

"I'll think about moving houses later," Martin checked his watch, "Enough chit-chat, I have an appointment at noon."

Nicholson chimed in, "Heard your phone call. Won't you consider taking us along? With us as wingmen, you could score by the afternoon."

Leonardo wrapped an arm around Martin's shoulder, "You wouldn't forget your two old buddies and run off to your date with the beauty, would you?"

Nicholson teased, "Martin's definitely not that kind of person." Without reservation, he picked up his jacket and started heading out, "Leo, hurry up, we can't keep a lady waiting."

"Wait!" Martin called out to them, "The beauty said it's a two-person date, no third party allowed."

He definitely didn't want to bring these two along, "This time it's different. I'll scope things out first. If I need your help, I'll call you right away. Compared to you two, I'm less experienced, less skilled, and have fewer assets. I'm still going to need to seek your advice."

Leonardo was just posturing, and Nicholson wasn't worried—he still had to play it cool.

If they really went to cause trouble, Martin, that rascal, would definitely set off a ton of fireworks to help him flirt.

"Fine, good luck," Leonardo said casually with a wave of his hand. Continue reading stories on empire

Martin said to Nicholson, "Don't forget our agreement, it's not appropriate for us to be seen together right now."

Nicholson nodded, "That's right, let's wait until The Dark Knight is released."

Martin hurried off, and while going downstairs, he called Bruce. By the time he reached the villa entrance, Bruce had already driven up.

Getting into the car, Martin gave the address and cautioned, "Take a few extra turns, be careful of those two guys following us."

As the car left the gate, Bruce deliberately took a couple of extra rounds to make sure Nicholson and Leonardo weren't following, before heading to Sherman Oaks.

Martin wasn't reassured, he turned back and kept watch for a while. He didn't notice anyone else, but he did see that a van from Marlon Brando's yard had turned north at a three-way intersection.

This reminded him of the house and party Leonardo had mentioned. He asked, "Should we switch to a bigger house?"

Bruce responded, "Is the current one too small?"

Martin said, "Let's talk about it next year."

Suddenly remembering something, Bruce said, "Pitt reached a settlement with a few victims, paying them a substantial amount of money. I heard he's short on cash and had to sell off several properties on the East Coast."

"Old Cloth, if you grapple with Pitt alone, Pitt will turn bald," Martin said, but he thought it worth keeping an eye on.

He asked, "I remember Pitt has a super mansion in Beverly Hills, doesn't he?"

Since Bruce kept an eye on Pitt from time to time and knew quite a bit, he said, "In 2001, before he married Aniston, he spent nearly 13 million US dollars on a super mansion, which was his pre-marital property and also Pitt's current residence."

Martin pondered whether to be a good Samaritan to the end.

Bruce added, "That mansion, built in 1934, was pretty rundown when Pitt bought it. He had it completely refurbished by a company at a cost that was also in the millions. Although the architectural exterior of the mansion hasn't changed, it's actually only a few years old."

Martin made a decision, "Let Ivan keep an eye on that place. If Pitt intends to sell that mansion, remember to notify me."

Bruce commented, "I think Pitt will thank you. You anticipated his worries in advance."

Martin was ready to do a good deed, "If Pitt is desperate to sell at a low price, we'll lend him a hand. If he's not selling, then we'll talk about it later."

Soon, the car arrived at the commercial district of Sherman Oaks and stopped in front of a French restaurant.

Martin got out and entered the restaurant. Without asking a waiter, he saw Elizabeth Olsen, dressed in a white gown, approaching briskly.

"You're here," Elizabeth greeted with a sweet smile, her figure-hugging white dress highlighting her youthful and compelling curves.

Martin gestured as if making a phone call, "After receiving your call, I immediately rushed here."

Elizabeth walked towards a booth, inviting Martin to sit down, then took a seat opposite him, intentionally lifting her head and pushing her chest out, saying, "During the phone call, I thought I heard Leonardo's voice, him and Jack Nicholson..."

"They didn't come," Martin said with an embarrassed smile. "About last time, I'm very sorry."

Speaking of last time, Elizabeth felt somewhat uncomfortable. She had made preparations for so long, only for them to be disrupted, and afterward, Martin didn't take the initiative to invite her out to explain properly.

Martin, being who he was, could roughly guess Elizabeth's thoughts. He specifically said, "In February, I took on a role and locked myself in a hotel room for over 40 days, cutting off contact with the outside, immersed in studying the character."

Elizabeth remembered, "The Joker? Nicholson even argued with you over it?"

Martin said seriously, "The character is indeed hard to grasp and could easily mess with your mindset. I was completely lost in the role – even my mental state suffered. I scared many people on set, to the point where Maggie JillEnhall and Michael Caine, acting opposite me, forgot their lines due to fright."

He felt helpless, "It's a terrifying character. You'll see once the trailer for The Dark Knight is out. I got too deep into character, forgetting everything else, with only the Joker in my mind. It even led to an incident where Bale, also too deep in character, raised a hand to me when we weren't filming..."

Elizabeth covered her mouth in shock, being part of the industry herself. She had heard of similar cases, which were not uncommon in Hollywood.

"The production team wanted to keep this confidential, I..." Martin paused, "just wanted to clarify things for you."

Elizabeth nodded vigorously, "I absolutely won't tell anyone." She asked with concern, "Are you feeling better now?"

Martin was honest, "I visit a psychological clinic every week, the problems aren't too severe."

Elizabeth, thinking of rumors within the circle about Martin's dedication, said, "Martin, you've worked too hard."

Then she felt a hint of envy, "If I had half your acting talent, that would be wonderful."

Martin encouraged her, "You're also very talented. We've worked together; I'm well aware of how great you are. With the right opportunity, Elizabeth, you could become more famous than your sisters."

She smiled sweetly at his flattering words, "I hope so, thank you for your encouragement. Also, I want to specifically thank you for getting me the role of young Caroline. Thomas said you gave the production team a heads-up for me."

Martin smiled lightly, "It's nothing, don't worry about it; we're friends."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I owe you so many times," Elizabeth said, and waved a waiter over to order.

The two resumed their usual camaraderie, chatting away enthusiastically.

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