Chapter 257: A Massive Undertaking

"Oh, it's a bit tight."

In the dressing room, Charlize Theron struggled for a bit with her assistant's help before finally squeezing into the glossy black leather suit.

"Good thing it's stretchy. It doesn't feel too bad on," she said.

She twirled in front of the full-length mirror and asked her assistant, "Nia, how does it look?"

The assistant, Nia, joked right on cue: "If I were a man, I'd pounce on you, lock you away where no one could find you, and keep you all to myself."

Even knowing the assistant was just flattering her, Charlize still relished the compliment. She spun before the mirror again, carefully studying her reflection. The tight leather pants clung to her long, straight legs, while the fitted top accentuated her slender waist. Her shoulders were a bit broad, but paired with her tall frame and full hips and bust, her silhouette was nearly flawless.

Combined with the icy elegance she had cultivated over the years, she looked absolutely...

She quickly patted her cheeks, snapping out of her narcissism, and began carefully fixing her long blonde hair.

"It's a pity I got the news a bit late, otherwise I would have dyed it black..." Charlize shook her head.

Nia suddenly chimed in. "Tina Fey is too stingy. You gave her so many gifts, and she only leaked a few minor details."

"This is more than enough!" Charlize said as she fixed her hair. "You don't know Tina Fey. She takes all her cues from Duke. If she didn't have his unspoken permission, she wouldn't have leaked anything to me."

"So that means..." Her assistant's eyes lit up instantly. "You're definitely going to get the role?"

"I definitely have an advantage, but it still depends on how the audition goes."

Checking the final details of her outfit, Charlize added, "If the audition goes poorly, I definitely won't get the female lead!"

She sounded calm, but her voice carried an uncontainable longing. When she first received the audition notice from her agent, she had been too excited to sleep all night. This was the female lead in a Hollywood A-list blockbuster, and a Duke Rosenberg production to boot. As long as she secured the role, she was practically guaranteed a path to stardom.

Despite garnering plenty of praise and attention in Chicago, Charlize knew she was still a long way from being considered a famous movie star.

"Why?" the assistant asked curiously. "Sally, aren't you on great terms with Duke?"

"Darling."

Charlize pinched her assistant's cheek and smiled. "Hollywood isn't a place where you can just strip down, sleep with someone, and get a role. Do you really think Duke Rosenberg and Robin Grande would joke around with an 80-million-dollar investment?"

Seeing the young assistant nod, Charlize couldn't help but recall what Duke had told her. "In Hollywood, opportunity is crucial," she added, "even more important than ability. But if an opportunity comes along and you don't have the ability to match, you still won't be able to grasp it."

Her own situation a few years ago was the perfect example. Although her camera presence was good, her acting had been an absolute mess. She could only serve as eye candy in a few movies—the kind with no lines who just flashed across the screen for a second.

Without these past few years of study and practice, Charlize was absolutely certain that if she wanted to truly make it big, she would have to keep waiting.

About ten minutes later, a staff member knocked on the door to call her to the audition room. Charlize gave Nia a few parting instructions and left the dressing room. Along the way, she ran into a few other actresses. She completely ignored their jealous and disdainful glares, simply striding forward in her high-heeled leather boots. She couldn't care less about the opinions of these losers; to succeed, she had to keep pushing forward.

During this time, Charlize also observed that she had actually been given special treatment. Since there were no major A-list stars auditioning, many of the actresses had to share a dressing room. She, however, had one all to herself, which helped avoid a lot of potential trouble.

When she reached the door of the audition room, a staff member had already pushed it open for her. "Please come in, Miss Theron."

During the previous auditions, Duke had formed a good impression of a few candidates, such as Penelope Cruz from Spain. However, he also had his doubts. She carried a heavy Latin vibe, and if the movie was going to be a massive, explosive blockbuster, a Latin-style female lead was definitely not the right fit.

After all, no matter how loudly this country shouted slogans of freedom and equality, it could not erase the racial discrimination buried deep within the minds of so many people.

But the moment Charlize Theron stepped in front of the camera, Duke instantly threw Penelope Cruz to the back of his mind. This beautiful diamond from South Africa perfectly epitomized the concept of a clothes horse. She pushed the duality of a woman's allure—whether fully dressed or completely naked—to the absolute extreme.

Just think about it: how enticing would it be to see a tall, long-legged, curvaceous, gorgeous, and sexy woman in a leather suit execute a spinning kick? Moreover, paired with her natural aura, she certainly wasn't lacking in edge.

This leather suit, redesigned based on his suggestions, was even tighter, somewhat resembling the look of a certain female vampire from the future. It exceptionally highlighted the advantages of her slender waist and long legs.

If they could properly utilize Charlize's strengths during filming, it would inevitably attract more male viewers. Duke even started entertaining the idea of using her for merchandise. If her character received a good enough response, they could absolutely produce scaled-down action figures. The Black Widow had once created a sales miracle for female action figures, and the underlying reason was...

The acting test had already been completed in the first audition. Just like the male lead's second audition, the female lead's callback mainly focused on look and aura to ensure she fit the film's overall style. Charlize Theron not only earned Duke's approval, but also secured the unanimous agreement of Zack Snyder and Robin Grande. Jamie Jensen, the representative from Warner Brothers, also praised her look endlessly.

When the afternoon auditions completely wrapped up, Duke and the others sat down to discuss for a while, essentially finalizing the candidates for the main roles.

Keanu Reeves playing Neo and Charlize Theron playing Trinity passed without any objections. For the other parts, Duke overruled all dissenting opinions and locked in Hugo Weaving, Laurence Fishburne, and a few other key actors. The casting of the minor roles was delegated to his subordinates.

"Robin, start negotiations with them as soon as possible!"

Walking out of the office, Duke turned to Robin Grande. "There's only one principle: keep their salaries as low as possible!"

"I know what to do." As a longtime partner, Robin Grande gave Duke a reassuring look. "Aside from Keanu Reeves, the other actors' salaries aren't that high to begin with."

"The more we save on actor salaries, the more money we can pump into the special effects." Walking out of the studio together toward the parking lot, Duke continued, "The next few movies will all utilize a massive amount of visual effects."

The reason he set the budget at a staggering 80 million dollars was to bolster the special effects, provide a much clearer depiction of the real world in the film, and ensure the action scenes would be even cooler and more explosive.

And turning the visions in his head into a reality on screen required cold, hard cash.

There were no shortcuts when it came to visual effects. The difference in time and money spent would inevitably lead to vastly different final results.

Duke always ensured that his core team members earned salaries at the highest industry standards, but actors were never considered part of his team.

...

The ocean breeze blew in from Malibu, drifting down over the western side of Burbank. Charlize Theron sat in a brightly lit courtyard. She pulled her gaze away from the starry night sky and dropped it back onto the script in her hands.

It was a script that seemed utterly baffling. Charlize didn't have much formal education, and to be perfectly honest, she couldn't quite understand what the story was actually about. She was even more clueless about the concepts of the Matrix, the programs, and all the other technical jargon inside...

She had already read the script twice, and all she knew was that it was a bizarre, mind-bending story.

The script came from Tina Fey. Since she dared to hand it over, Charlize knew she was very likely going to get the role of Trinity. However, as she closed the script, she was still extremely anxious. After all, Hacker Studio still hadn't sent an official notice. Who knew what kind of changes might happen at the last minute?

It was not at all uncommon for a Hollywood production to suddenly swap out its male or female leads.

Her Mobile Phone suddenly rang. Charlize put down the script, walked back into the room, picked up the phone, and pressed the answer button. After listening for only a few sentences, the icy elegance on her beautiful face was quickly replaced by pure excitement.

"Are you sure?" she practically screamed. "I got the role? I got the female lead in Duke Rosenberg's new movie?"

"I'm sure, but the studio negotiated the price down. Sally, you're only getting a salary of 300,000 dollars!"

"To hell with the price drop! To hell with the salary!"

Ever since dropping out of ballet school, Charlize had waited for this moment for far too long. "None of that matters! What matters is that I'm the female lead in Duke's new movie! I... I finally..."

Her voice suddenly choked up. Tears gradually welled in her eyes, spilling over her lashes and rolling down her smooth, pale cheeks. They dripped to her feet and seeped into the floorboards—just like all her hard work over the years, never to be noticed by anyone again!

Charlize hung up the phone before finally getting her last sentence out. "I finally... I've finally stepped onto the path to success!"

With that, she slowly crouched down, wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her face between her legs. She curled into a tight ball, her back heaving as she sobbed unstoppably...

It took several full minutes before Charlize Theron stood back up, her eyes red. The excitement on her face had vanished, replaced once more by her usual cold and glamorous look.

Hard work, auditions, competition, opportunity, and the appreciation of a Hollywood bigwig had finally given her a true chance to break out.

As she walked back outside, she clenched her fists tightly. "Work hard, Sally! Keep going, Sally! You will succeed! You are going to become the top actress in Hollywood!"