Chapter 356: People Always Grow Up

A black van drove out from the international airport in downtown Belfast, heading north out of the city center and arriving at a somewhat ancient-looking small town. It stopped near a castle built of piled rocks.

"It feels so strange."

The car door was opened from the inside, and a girl wearing a knit cap jumped out first. She looked up at the somewhat gloomy sky, catching the tiny snowflakes on her face. She quickly rubbed her cold cheeks with her hands. "Seeing snow in December is really special."

Several people came down from the van, many of whom looked at her as if she were naive, but the young girl didn't mind at all. She just enjoyed the December snowflakes, a sight unseen in Australia.

The last person got out of the car, standing right beside her.

Gal Gadot, wearing black high boots and wrapping her deep teal coat closer, pulled down her hat. Coming from warm Los Angeles, she was not quite accustomed to the damp and cold weather of Northern Ireland.

"Look..." The girl pointed towards a clearing on the right side of the castle, where about a hundred people were bustling about. "They're over there."

"I see them." Gal Gadot nodded slightly.

Even from a distance, she spotted Murphy standing on a truck with a megaphone.

"I told you, I'm on your side," the girl beside her muttered discontentedly. "Why the cold attitude still?"

"Thank you." Gal Gadot rubbed her reddened hands and put them in her pockets, walking towards the set. "Margot, you can wait in the car."

"Wait for me." Margot Robbie immediately followed her, saying as they walked, "Call me Maggie."

As they approached the outskirts of the set, someone waved at Gal Gadot with a smile. She immediately stopped, finding a spot where she could see inside the set and patiently waited.

She knew Murphy's work habits well enough not to disturb him during filming.

Margot Robbie, like a little shadow, followed her.

Gal Gadot glanced at her but said nothing.

Although a long time ago, when Murphy was filming "Deadpool," this young girl had stirred trouble between her and Murphy, her attitude had been quite good during the flight over, seemingly past her rebellious and immature phase.

At Gal Gadot's age, she wouldn't take to heart the words of a girl who was twelve or thirteen years old at the time, and even if Margot Robbie had some intentions, she was confident she could handle them easily.

Seeing Margot Robbie's blonde hair peeking out from under her knit hat, Gal Gadot suddenly remembered something Murphy had said about CAA firing Mike—"A tiger doesn't concern itself with the schemes of a fox."

The set was still busy filming. Margot Robbie watched seriously for a while but soon felt bored and turned to Gal Gadot. "Why don't you act? You could be successful easily."

Gal Gadot knew what she meant and shook her head, "I'm not interested in that."

"Not interested in that…" Margot Robbie's blue eyes flickered. "Then why did you join the film club at school?"

On the flight over, their seats were next to each other, and she had learned quite a bit about her.

"Because I thought it would…" Gal Gadot let Margot Robbie know only what she wanted her to know, "help increase the common topics between two people."

"Oh, I see…"

Margot Robbie circled around Gal Gadot and suddenly said, "Don't you think entering Hollywood would give you and Murphy more to talk about and bring you closer?"

Gal Gadot had been watching Murphy on set, but at these words, she looked back at Margot Robbie, noting how this girl resembled her younger self—both precocious and intelligent.

"Break for half an hour…"

A voice faintly carried from the set, and Gal Gadot asked the girl beside her, "Want to go check it out?"

"Of course." Margot Robbie, unabashedly outgoing, pulled Gal Gadot toward the set. "I play a very important role. I came early to get a feel for the crew."

Gal Gadot's look of resignation was fleeting as Margot Robbie pulled her into the set.

"We need a bit more of the plasma effect."

On set, Murphy was still discussing a recent shoot with the props department. "I want the blood to splash out directly, flying towards..."

He turned to the significantly shorter Peter Dinklage, "Tyrion Lannister's face."

"Understood." The prop master nodded hurriedly. "I'll prepare right away."

As the prop master walked away, an assistant director came over and whispered, "Miss Gadot is here."

"Gal?" Murphy waved the others away. "Go ahead with your tasks."

He looked towards where the assistant director indicated, and there was Gal Gadot in black boots and dark jeans, being pulled along by Margot Robbie.

Murphy immediately walked over.

"Hi, Murphy." Margot Robbie waved energetically as she saw him. "We're over here."

Her enthusiasm was palpable, but Murphy had eyes only for Gal Gadot. He walked up to her, first noticing her coat was open and quickly pulled it closed, advising, "This isn't Los Angeles or Israel; you need to keep warm."

"It's okay." Touched by his concern, Gal Gadot smiled sweetly. "I'm not cold."

She reached out to touch Murphy's reddened face. "You're all red here."

"Just the wind," Murphy said casually, playing it down. "It's nothing, just not used to the weather here like in Los Angeles."

Margot Robbie looked between Murphy and Gal Gadot. At that moment, it seemed as if only they existed for each other, with nothing and no one else able to intrude. It felt like they were the only two people in the world.

Suddenly, she felt utterly superfluous.

Watching them, Margot Robbie crossed her arms and stayed quiet, as if watching a drama unfold.

Unfortunately, the show was over before it began. Murphy quickly turned his head, "Maggie, what brings you here?"

Her scenes weren't due to start for a while.

"I came early," Margot Robbie said with a grin, "to get used to the weather and the crew, find my footing faster."

She walked over and linked arms with Gal Gadot. "And I had the company of Gadot on the way."

"Gadot?" Murphy's lips twitched slightly.

Gal Gadot subtly withdrew her arm, unnoticed by Margot Robbie, who continued, "I really hit it off with Gadot. After moving from Australia to Los Angeles to study acting, I haven't found such a good friend as Gadot."

Seeing Murphy's puzzled look, Gal Gadot shrugged, indicating she had nothing to do with this.

"Has she really changed after growing up?" Murphy felt Margot Robbie had changed a lot from the girl he had seen on an Australian farm, at least outwardly.

In his memory, Margot Robbie was the daring cowgirl who raced horses and fed her dogs with bloody rabbits.

But he also knew that people always grow up, and during that process, due to various reasons, some changes happen.

Checking the time, Murphy pointed to a nearby trailer parking area, "I have to continue working. Go over there, find a warm place to wait for a bit. The crew breaks at 6:30 PM, and we'll go have dinner together."

This was meant for Gal Gadot, but Margot Robbie included herself, quickly adding, "Great, we'll have dinner together. I want to see how bad British food really is."

Murphy and Gal Gadot exchanged looks, both somewhat resigned, especially Murphy. Margot Robbie was David Robbie's sister, and during his trip to Australia, he had been hosted by David. Now, with David in Malta with Paul Wilson, it was only right to look after his sister a bit.

"I'll wait for you," Gal Gadot said with a smile, and Murphy kissed her forehead lightly. "Go ahead."

The crew's filming was tight and busy, with Murphy capturing up to 6TB of footage each day. The winter conditions in Northern Ireland were quite harsh, especially with occasional snowfall in recent days—cold being one of the greatest enemies of film. Fortunately, the crew used high-definition digital cameras, which were largely unaffected.

Every film or TV show has its suitable production techniques. For "A Song of Ice and Fire: Game of Thrones," the Sony F35 high-definition digital camera was much more practical than using film. Murphy didn't need to worry about sending film to a studio in another country and waiting several days to see the dailies. This shooting schedule had no delays, and he could watch the footage in his room at any time, significantly reducing the potential for unforeseen issues during production.

No director likes to face unexpected problems during shooting, as they often lead to uncontrollable situations.

Perhaps Gal Gadot brought good luck, as the continuously overcast sky suddenly cleared. The sun shone down, and Murphy immediately instructed Phil Lasher to change the filming approach, increasing the number of hand-held camera shots. However, all hand-held cameras had to be mounted on Steadicam rigs to avoid shaky footage.

Murphy had the crew film towards the sun, capturing as much sunlight as possible. It was the end of December, and the sun stayed low in the sky, its light not overly strong.

When filming the sunlight, the lens captured a star-like twinkling effect, clear and distinct.

The filming continued until 6:30 PM, and only when it had completely darkened did Murphy lead the crew back to the hotel.

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