Matthew Carter drove to the front gate of the manor villa, where six scantily clad girls got into the car one after another. They reeked of alcohol and smoke, along with some other indescribable odors. Each of their faces was filled with exhaustion, as if they hadn’t slept all night.

These female models sat in their seats without saying a word. Even Rachel Adams, who had chatted with him all the way yesterday, was so tired she collapsed onto her seat.

Matthew Carter started the car and shook his head slightly. These girls seemed glamorous, but in reality...

He stopped thinking about it, drove each of the girls home one by one, then returned to the company to hand in the keys as required. Another day’s work was done.

After getting off work, he immediately went to the nearest real estate agency. Now that he had a bit of money, he was ready to rent a suitable place to live.

He’d actually rested pretty well last night, so Matthew Carter was full of energy. He visited three real estate agencies in a row and looked at seven ordinary studio apartments. In the end, he rented a move-in-ready single room in an old apartment building on the outskirts of the Westwood district.

The room was very small, less than twenty square meters, with a tiny private bathroom. Because the old walls were peeling, the monthly rent was only $400. Matthew Carter paid six months’ rent up front, which counted as finally having a foothold in Los Angeles.

At night, he continued to drive for Red Penguin Company. The work was about the same, and it didn’t really affect his rest at night, so he still had the energy to do other things the next day.

When he got off work again in the morning, Matthew Carter had just walked out of Red Penguin Company when his phone rang.

He pressed the answer button, and a professional female voice came through the receiver, “Hello, I’m Julie Smith’s assistant, Vanessa Parker...”

Chapter 7 My Client

After hanging up the phone, standing at the entrance of Red Penguin Company, Matthew Carter pumped his fist hard. This was the first step toward his dream of stardom, the beginning of a bright future—finally about to arrive!

The person who called was Angelina Jolie’s assistant. She informed Matthew Carter that next Monday, together with his agent, he should go to the Universal Studios lot north of Burbank for an audition. She also said it was just for the casting director to take a look, and then he’d sign a temporary actor agreement with the crew.

As for the role, it was just the kind of background passerby who flashes by on screen.

Matthew Carter never expected to become a star overnight—that was impossible anyway. This basically matched his expectations.

He himself wasn’t particularly familiar with Hollywood; most of what he knew was the kind of mainstream gossip that spread like wildfire in that era, like how Angelina Jolie later married Brad Pitt. But the previous occupant of this body, wanting to break into Hollywood, had collected a lot of information, and those memories remained.

So, Matthew Carter was very clear about his current position: just a temporary actor, or as it’s called in another country, an extra.

No matter what kind of actor you are, you need an agent to get a job.

It’s not easy to land a job in Hollywood, but the threshold to become an actor in name isn’t high. Anyone who wants to be an actor, whether professional or temporary, first needs to have a photographer take some headshots and full-body photos, then register their height, weight, eye color, and other details with an agency, sign a representation contract, and be entered into the agency’s database for matching with productions.

The previous occupant had already completed this step. He’d registered with a small agency and still had an agent’s number saved in his phone, but unfortunately, that person had never contacted him.

Matthew Carter took out his phone, scrolling through it as he walked toward the bus stop. There weren’t any better options right now, so he could try reaching out to the agent whose number he had.

If that didn’t work, he’d look for another small agency. After all, Los Angeles is the home of Hollywood.

Actually, he’d thought about finding an agent right after talking with Angelina Jolie, but yesterday he was busy renting a place, then went to work at night, and hadn’t had time yet.

According to the memories left by the previous occupant, an agent is not only essential for actors to get work, but a good agent can also help plan their client’s future career path. Matthew Carter also wanted to attend a specialized acting school for further training, which was necessary too, but he was completely in the dark and needed advice from a professional like an agent.

Hollywood doesn’t just have the five major agencies; there are also many small agencies surviving in the cracks between the big five.

Starlight Company, located on Sunset Boulevard, was one of them.

This company wasn’t big and hadn’t been around long. It only had seven or eight agents who’d recently gotten their licenses and didn’t have many resources. There were only three offices: the boss had one, the accountant used the smallest one, and everyone else squeezed into a super-sized office together.

“Hello, Director Kirk Allen, it’s me, Dennis Cooper. We had dinner together the day before yesterday.”

The caller was a chubby guy with glasses. Even though the other party was just a casting director for a small crew and couldn’t see him, he still put on a fawning expression. “Didn’t you say you needed twenty corpses for your film? I’ve already got the people lined up! Don’t worry, absolutely no problem. All of them have played corpses before—kick them while they’re lying on the ground and they won’t move! When do we sign the contract?”

“Great! Great!”

Apparently, the other side agreed. The chubby guy grinned so hard his eyes disappeared. “I’ll be there first thing tomorrow morning!”