The Most Famous Actor in Hollywood

Upon hearing the name Harvey Weinstein, Matthew nodded slightly. He certainly knew who Harvey Weinstein was—the Weinstein brothers were top figures in Hollywood's independent film industry, key members of the Producers Guild, and held significant power throughout Hollywood.

Since the early 1990s, the Weinstein brothers' film company had become a beacon in the Hollywood independent film circle, later becoming heavily involved in the Oscars. From the mid-1990s, Harvey Weinstein completely changed the Oscars' game rules. If Oscars' public relations had influenced award outcomes before, it truly entered an era where PR decided winners starting with "The English Patient" winning Best Picture.

Notable examples included "Shakespeare in Love" defeating "Saving Private Ryan" and "Chicago" besting "The Pianist," along with promoting several of the least deserving Oscar-winning actors and actresses...

Now, when people mention Gwyneth Paltrow winning the Best Actress Oscar for "Shakespeare in Love," it is still considered a joke and a scandal.

Naturally, countless actresses aspire to emulate Gwyneth Paltrow; even the least meritorious Oscar is still a title that can skyrocket one's value.

Consequently, Harvey Weinstein, capable of elevating people to Oscar nominations and wins, became a target for numerous actors and actresses.

As is well-known, the independent film circle is far messier than the mainstream commercial film circle in Hollywood. With the vast power that Harvey Weinstein held, one could only imagine his lifestyle and professional conduct.

While big commercial films involve complex capital structures and clear checks and balances—plus the risk of a multimillion-dollar flop that could ruin a director or producer's career for good—the stakes are generally lower for independent films, which often concentrate power. Weinstein's operations focused primarily on Oscar campaigns, typically organizing three to four films each year specifically designed to target the Oscars. Even if only one succeeds in grabbing a significant award, while the others fail, the Oscars' effect is enough to guarantee profitability.

From the mid-1990s to the present, Weinstein has botched more independent films than he has succeeded at the Oscars. However, the film companies he and Bob Weinstein controlled grew in scale and influence, and the brothers' fortunes grew significantly.

This business model is only suitable for small-budget independent films. In contrast, a big-budget commercial film with a $200 million investment failing could spell disaster.

Without exaggeration, after years of development, Harvey Weinstein had become a gold standard in Hollywood's independent filmmaking circle.

Famous actors like Judi Dench, while working with Weinstein on "Shakespeare in Love," went as far as tattooing Weinstein's name on her buttocks to curry favor and secure the Best Supporting Actress award, even claiming she would show the tattoo on the Oscars red carpet if necessary...

For any actor with ambitions for the Oscars, the name Harvey Weinstein held tremendous allure and magnetism.

However, for stars focused on commercial success, Weinstein was just another figure, as the Weinstein brothers rarely ventured into major commercial productions.

Their deepest involvement in a major commercial production was a minor investment in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Beyond his notorious reputation in the Oscars and independent film circles, the most common gossip about Weinstein involved his penchant for inviting actresses to hotel rooms for auditions, meetings, and discussions—a known implication for anyone familiar with Hollywood for a few months.

There were rumors in the industry that many actresses, including Gwyneth Paltrow, had had affairs with Weinstein.

Reportedly, when Paltrow was dating Brad Pitt, Pitt once confronted Weinstein, nearly assaulting the hefty producer.

Such exchanges—of favors for rewards—are commonplace in Hollywood. However, today's Hollywood isn't like the 50s or 60s; transactions are typically consensual, rarely involving coercion. Nevertheless, rumors persisted that Weinstein often misbehaved, sometimes even forcing himself on lesser-known actresses who, due to his influence or their own ambitions, felt compelled to suffer in silence.

But traveling too far down that road inevitably leads to pitfalls.

In this era of rapid information flow, it's unrealistic for someone to block all news. Hollywood's moguls and top stars, who bring opportunities, tend to prefer being flirtatious over vile. Like Michael Bay, known for his liaisons with female crew members, he maintains a far better reputation than Weinstein.

Frequent abuses inevitably lead to encounters with women unwilling to remain silent. While Weinstein might suppress a story once or twice, repeated offenses would increase media and police scrutiny, and eventually, someone might push from behind...

In an age where information can travel globally in minutes, once entangled in such a scandal, it's nearly impossible to clean up.

Matthew was well aware that Hollywood is a very pragmatic and power-driven circle, himself included.

If someone is embroiled in a major scandal, it's easy to foresee everyone else eagerly kicking them while they're down to distance themselves.

That's just the nature of Hollywood.

When he was still a minor actor, Matthew once heard a temp

 actor claim that Hollywood had no under-the-table rules, no power-for-sex trades, and was as clean as a crystal lake with a system that prevented all underhanded dealings...

Matthew had only one thing to say to the temp actor: Hollywood is damn clean! So clean it doesn't seem part of the human world.

What would that temp actor think upon encountering Harvey Weinstein?

Perhaps Weinstein's relationships with those actresses and female stars were purely romantic, albeit brief.

Matthew considered himself no saint and certainly had his share of romantic entanglements, but he would never stoop to coercion, not just for moral reasons but also to avoid potential repercussions.

He remained true to his original intentions, which were meant for enjoyment, not trouble.

Within just a few minutes, numerous thoughts about Harvey Weinstein flashed through Matthew's mind.

"Did Helen mention any specifics?" he asked.

Bella Anderson shook her head, "No, Helen only mentioned it's about '300 Spartans.' She handed me her phone, "Helen asked you to call her back."

Matthew took the phone and dialed Helen Herman's number, "It's me, Helen."

Helen Herman's voice came through immediately, "Harvey Weinstein just came by the company, concerning '300 Spartans.'"

"What does he want?" Matthew frowned slightly, "We don't have business dealings with him, do we?"

Helen Herman on the phone replied directly, "Harvey Weinstein wants the distribution rights for '300 Spartans.' I'm not familiar with him, and we barely interact; it was Frank Miller who introduced him."

Perhaps guessing that Matthew was not too familiar with these overly complex personal relations, she explained further, "Frank Miller has worked with Harvey Weinstein before. The production company for 'Sin City' was under the Weinstein brothers' Dimension Films, with Miramax handling distribution."

Matthew asked, confused, "Haven't the Weinstein brothers left Miramax?"

"When 'Sin City' was being distributed, Harvey and Bob Weinstein were still with Miramax," Helen Herman explained over the phone. "They only officially left Miramax this year to start Weinstein Films, and now Dimension Films is a subsidiary of Weinstein Films."

She paused, then continued, "After the success of 'Sin City,' Harvey Weinstein recognized the value of Frank Miller's work. If he hadn't been busy splitting from Walt Disney, we probably wouldn't have gotten the film rights to '300 Spartans.' Now that the Weinstein brothers have separated from Miramax and distanced themselves from Disney, they're free to handle film matters. But the rights to '300 Spartans' are already in our hands."

Matthew chuckled, "We're quite lucky."

According to Helen Herman, if not for the conflict between the Weinstein brothers and Walt Disney, they would have had difficulty obtaining the film rights to '300 Spartans' from Frank Miller, given his previous collaboration with the Weinsteins.

He shook his head, asking, "Helen, isn't Harvey Weinstein only interested in independent films?"

Helen Herman replied calmly, "Fundamentally, '300 Spartans' is also an independent film."

Matthew thought for a moment; with only Skydance Media, a small film company, as the investor, '300 Spartans' indeed fit the independent film category.

"What do you think about this?" Matthew asked further.

"Harvey Weinstein is very capable, and his Weinstein Films has certain distribution capabilities, there's no doubt about that," Helen Herman's voice remained cool. "But he's no match for Warner Bros., and we're not aiming for awards!"

"That's true," Matthew laughed, "How did you respond to him?"

"Skydance Media has already drafted a distribution agreement with Warner Bros.," Helen Herman said slowly. "We don't need to offend a bigwig like Harvey Weinstein; I pushed everything onto Skydance Media."

Matthew understood, "Letting David Ellison take on Harvey Weinstein? That's a good idea."

Helen Herman ignored Matthew's comment, instead reminding, "You're key to this project, be careful, Harvey Weinstein might approach you."

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