**Chapter 50: Level 2 Client**

It has to be said, being nominated twice and successfully winning the Oscar statuette — even if she relied on some external forces — Nicole Kidman still has genuine acting skills.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to gain so much sympathy from people on news shows and interviews.

Wayne quickly considered the situation.

Though being spotted could lead to some tabloid gossip, he didn't need to worry. After all, being a bit of a playboy has never been considered a bad thing in Hollywood or even America.

Besides, this was Nicole Kidman, and she was still in her prime. Missing such an opportunity would be a real shame.

With her current fame and status, there were only two types of people who could get close to her. One was someone much higher up in the industry who could give her the resources she wanted, like Harvey Weinstein, who could help her win that coveted Oscar.

The other type was someone so attractive that she would want to get close on her own, like Wayne.

If she rejected the former, there could always be another opportunity, but if she turned down the latter, she probably wouldn't get another chance. So Wayne quickly agreed.

"See you tonight!"

After setting the time, Nicole Kidman waved with a smile and turned to join her assistant, who had been waiting nearby. Her charming smile, coupled with her weary expression, gave her a unique "fragile beauty" appeal.

"Haha, Wayne, looks like I need to congratulate you again. Even a top-tier star like Nicole Kidman can't resist your charm."

Just as Wayne was watching Nicole's graceful departure, Mike's voice suddenly rang out beside him.

"Hey, Mike, it's only been a few days, and it seems like you've lost even more hair," Wayne turned, glanced at him, and teased with a laugh.

Mike instinctively touched his bald head — it had gotten so bad he just shaved it all off — and chuckled.

In America, because of diet and genetics, baldness is common among men, so such jokes aren't as uncomfortable as they might be elsewhere.

"I shaved it myself, okay? Doesn't it make me look cooler and more manly?" Mike responded defensively.

Wayne smiled and didn't dwell on the topic. He asked out of curiosity, "You have a client shooting today?"

"Megan, remember? You forgot about Megan?" Mike exaggerated his surprise and explained, "Thanks to you, Tony Gilroy tweaked the script a bit, adding a granddaughter for the old captain who saved you. Remember?"

Wayne finally recalled and shrugged, "Right, I've just been so busy lately that I forgot."

In the original "The Bourne Identity," Bourne was rescued by an old fisherman who helped remove the bullet and retrieve the bank key sewn into his hip.

In that scene, Bourne had to lie face down on a table, exposing his back and part of his buttocks to be 'touched.' 

Even though it was just part of the plot, Wayne found it a bit uncomfortable. So he asked screenwriter Tony Gilroy to add a granddaughter character, reasoning that it would be easier to handle if a girl did it rather than an old man.

For such a minor change that didn't affect the plot, Gilroy had no objections and fixed it in about 10 minutes.

In fact, if Wayne had wanted, Gilroy could've added a romantic subplot between Wayne and the fisherman's granddaughter, where she might have been smitten by his good looks and had a few "deep conversations" with him on the boat.

But Wayne, focused on reclaiming his lost memories, would still have left for Zurich to retrieve the bank's safe deposit contents once they docked.

Honestly, if it had been a few years later when Megan Fox was older, Wayne might've agreed to it. But since she was only 14, he rejected the idea to avoid future backlash when the movie came out.

"You're such a busy man!" Mike half-jokingly, half-enviously remarked. 

Everyone was busy, but Wayne not only made big money, he also had numerous actresses throwing themselves at him. Meanwhile, Mike's hair was thinning, and he hadn't gotten stronger. To be with women, he still had to pay for escorts.

Why was the gap so big?

Fortunately, thanks to Wayne, Mike's income had increased recently, and now he could even afford to hire two escorts at once.

Although he wouldn't see a penny from the movie's revenue, just from Wayne's paycheck, Mike's earnings this year had already tripled compared to last year.

"Oh, by the way, the company upgraded your internal rating to a Level 2 client," Mike suddenly remembered.

"When did that happen? My salary still doesn't meet the Level 2 standard, right?" Wayne asked, surprised.

"A few days ago, when the news broke that you sold *Happy Death Day* for $39.5 million," Mike explained. "While your current acting fee is only about $4 million, which barely qualifies for a Level 3 client, as a producer, you've managed to produce two medium-budget films with more than double the profit margin, and now you're working on a big-budget film with a production cost over $50 million. That qualifies you as a Level 2 client."

Wayne suddenly understood.

In this era, according to the industry's internal evaluation standards, male actors needed to command at least $4 million per film to be rated as Level 3 clients and $8 million to be considered Level 2. To reach Level 1, the top tier, you had to make $12 million or more.

At that level, you were among the top leading men.

By comparison, the thresholds were lower for actresses and directors.

For actresses, Level 3 required a $2 million paycheck, Level 2 was $5 million, and Level 1 was $10 million.

For directors, the standards were $2 million, $4 million, and $8 million, respectively.

These ratings determined the level of support and resources the talent would receive from their agency.

It might seem unfair, but it was all based on market value.

While directors are crucial to a film's success, unless you're on the level of James Cameron or Steven Spielberg, general audiences care more about the stars.

For example, after the success of *The Bourne Identity*, the director was swapped for the sequel, but did the audience care?

Or take the *Mission: Impossible* series — every one of the first five films had a different director, but how many viewers noticed?

In commercial films like these, if the movie does well, the stars get the credit. If it flops, the director takes the blame.

So directors often make less than a supporting actor.

But producers are held to a different standard.

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(End of Chapter)