"Shh, Benjamin."
"Please, keep this a secret. It's a surprise visit."
Benjamin looked at Anson, whose eyes were bright with excitent. He instinctively nodded but couldn't help feeling a bit worried. He opened his mouth to speak, but under Anson's gaze, he lowered his voice, "Are you sure about this?"
Anson didn't reply, just smiled confidently, which made Benjamin's heart lift, as if he'd found a lost sense of youthful energy.
Then.
Benjamin watched Anson turn and walk away, not realizing that a smile had already crept up on his face. He quickly turned around and started hurrying to prepare—he needed to coordinate with Anson to pull off this surprise.
Just imagining it made his adrenaline spike, excitent bubbling over, almost making him jump.
anwhile.
Anson walked toward the film set, sensing the low pressure in the air long before he got there. It was as if even the birds flying overhead suddenly felt their wings grow heavy, plumting for a mont before frantically flapping to escape. In a blink, they were gone.
He didn't even need to see their faces to know—just by observing their cautious movents, it was clear. Every person was moving carefully, muscles tense, as if afraid the slightest noise might wake a sleeping dragon.
This scene matched perfectly with what he'd seen just a mont ago on the street.
Without thinking, Anson also lightened his steps.
"… This isn't a difficult scene."
"Relax, relax."
As Anson got closer, the voices on set beca clearer. The one speaking was probably the director, Brian Robins.
This director was known for his work in cody, active in television and low-budget films. His most famous movie ca later in 2005, "Coach Carter." Other than that, he didn't have many notable works.
But the important thing was that, unlike Eric and Mackie, this director had always had projects and had been active in Hollywood for a long ti.
This usually ant he was a skilled networker; his real strengths were his perfect charm and social skills rather than his directing ability.
Right now, Brian wasn't yelling—his voice remained calm. However, the tension beneath his calm exterior was building, slowly but surely.
"All you need to do is walk down the stairs, step by step, and get to the first floor."
"Don't hesitate, don't overthink it, just walk down plainly. That's all. You need to be 100% certain that you want to get to the first floor. This is a determined action. You want to go downstairs. You are going downstairs. You're 100% sure your destination is the first floor."
"See? Not hard, right?"
"Stay calm, let's stay calm. There's no need to get too nervous or anxious."
"For God's sake, you're just extras. This is just a transitional scene. There's no need to make it so complicated."
Then, without warning, the calm broke.
Instantly, Brian's voice escalated, two notches higher, exploding like thunder.
"Damn it."
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"
"What are you doing? You're just supposed to walk down from the top. Can't you even manage the basics of walking?"
"One step. Another step. Then another step."
"Walk!"
"Walk, damn it!"
From calm to stormy in a heartbeat, the sudden change left the entire crew dead silent. Just monts ago, birds were flying by. Now, not even a mosquito dared to enter the space.
Of course, Anson was no exception.
When a director is working on set, even a producer shouldn't challenge his authority—you can discuss issues privately later. On set, the producer should support the director's authority; otherwise, the set could descend into chaos, which is never a good thing.
Besides, Anson didn't even know Brian.
So.
Anson obediently shut his mouth, standing quietly to the side, just like the frozen crew mbers, patiently waiting for his mont.
Maybe today wasn't the best day for a set visit—Benjamin had warned him just monts ago. But Anson was already here, and leaving now to co back another day didn't seem necessary.
Since he was here, he might as well stay.
The only consolation was that it wasn't Chris Evans or Scarlett Johansson getting yelled at, just so random extras.
Otherwise, being scolded in front of friends would be pretty embarrassing.
But.
Where were Chris and Scarlett? They weren't anywhere in sight. Anson had co to visit them, yet the people he was here to see weren't even around.
But Benjamin had just said the entire cast was on set today because they had a special scene to shoot.
Were they all resting in their trailers?
The shouting finally quieted down.
It seed Brian had finished venting his frustration. Anson thought now might be the ti for the assistant director or soone else to step in and ease the tension, giving Brian an out while allowing the extras to catch their breath and get back into the rhythm.
During the filming of The Princess Diaries, Spider-Man, and Catch If You Can, there was always soone to act as a buffer between the director and the crew, ensuring everything ran smoothly.
However—
No one stepped up.
The set remained eerily calm, with no sign of anyone ready to intervene.
Anson felt a pang of unease.
So, what now?
Just then, sothing unexpected happened.
"…An, Anson?"
A voice called out, cutting through the almost suffocating silence. The slight tremor in it, like soone spotting a ghost in a horror movie, only added to the eerie atmosphere on set.
Suddenly.
All eyes turned toward Anson, filled with surprise, shock, joy, or confusion, and their gazes felt like they were burning his skin.
Even Brian looked over.
The opportunity wasn't perfect, but it seed like there was no other choice.
Anson smiled, "Surprise?"
The silence was deafening, as if soone had hit the pause button on the entire set. No one reacted.
But.
Anson didn't mind. He turned to Brian, "Sorry for interrupting your shoot."
They say you shouldn't hit a smiling face. Brian looked at Anson's smile and paused, taken aback. In the next mont, the smooth-talking director snapped back into action, "No wonder everyone seed distracted and out of sorts—now I see why."
"If it's Anson Wood, everything makes sense."
Taking advantage of the situation.
Brian displayed his ability to change face like a Sichuan opera master. It was as if the man who had just exploded in anger wasn't him at all, as his face lit up with a warm smile.
At the sa ti, he spread his arms wide and gave Anson a big hug, "Oh, my God, what a day! We're lucky to have you visit our set!"
"Just passing by. I heard Director Brian Robins was shooting here, so I thought I'd drop by to say hello and bring so good wishes." Anson raised the coffee and donuts in his hand. "Afternoon snack?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, there was a jingling sound from behind—a sound that instantly brought back mories for anyone who grew up in Arica in the '80s—
An ice cream truck!
Just hearing that sound, every kid knew the ice cream truck had arrived.
In an instant, the set ca to life, buzzing with excitent. The oppressive atmosphere that had blanketed the set lifted, and the air beca light and joyful.
Perfect timing.
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