In the darkness of the movie theater.
Colin Sullivan (Martin) sat in his seat, eyes constantly scanning his surroundings with vigilance.
This was an extremely run-down cinema—filthy and tattered, trash strewn everywhere as if casually discarded.
On the big screen, one of those "San~Fernando Valley" films was playing.
Just then, Frank Costello (Nicholson), wearing a trench coat and hunched over, walked in and sat down in the row in front of Colin.
Colin didn't recognize him at first, but soon heard the unmistakable sounds of the guy in front of him jerking off.
Startled, he looked over—only for the man to suddenly leap to his feet and pretend to draw a gun.
Colin was shocked. He sprang up, bent over, and reached for his waistband...
Just then, a mocking voice rang out, "Gotcha, Colin!"
Colin looked up to see the guy had pulled out a fake dildo, waggling it at him.
And that shameless bastard—was exactly the man Colin had been waiting for: Frank Costello.
A string of "fucks" burst from Colin's mouth.
Then came the scene where Colin and Frank exchange intel.Both actors performed brilliantly.
After this, it was Leonardo's turn to enter.
Billy was tailing Colin, trying to uncover the identity of the rotten apple hidden within the police department.
In a dark alley, Colin lowered the brim of his baseball cap and quickened his pace, as if sensing someone behind him.
Billy matched his steps, speeding up.
Suddenly, Billy's phone started ringing in his pocket.
Startled, he darted behind a wall, yanked out his phone, and silenced it.
Colin, too, slipped around a corner and pulled out a knife.
Footsteps echoed again, drawing closer to where Colin was hiding.
Colin's expression visibly tensed. His chest heaved. A glint of menace flashed in his eyes.
Behind the monitor, Scorsese was muttering nonstop: "Just one more beat, one more beat..."
The footsteps got closer.
Colin struck. He burst from hiding like lightning and stabbed the figure in the chest.
Then bolted out of the alley.
Billy almost simultaneously drew his gun and gave chase—only to see the figure vanish into the bustling street crowd.
A trace of frustration and confusion flickered in Billy's eyes.
"Brilliant!"
Scorsese slapped his thigh in excitement.
He'd noticed that since Leonardo's last break, his acting had improved by leaps and bounds. While he still couldn't match the raw, effortless presence of Martin or Nicholson, he was finally starting to hold his own.
Leonardo himself had no idea what had changed.Could... being completely "drained" really have that effect?
...
Leonardo's acting breakthrough accelerated the entire production of The Departed.
Worried that Leo might lose his momentum, Scorsese intentionally moved up the scenes between him and Martin—especially the ones where they faced off.
This way, even if Leo's form waned, he wouldn't be completely overshadowed by the other two.
By mid-April, all the major scenes for The Departed were wrapped.
Martin then rushed straight to the Pirates of the Caribbean set for some reshoots.
In this life, Martin had condensed the five-film Pirates saga into a trilogy, shooting all three back-to-back—saving considerable time.
However, during post-production for films two and three, director Gore Verbinski wasn't satisfied with some of the footage, so Martin, Orlando, and Keira had to come back for reshoots.
When Keira saw Martin, she lit up with joy.
"Hey, Martin! I missed you!"
Keira Knightley leapt into Martin's arms, and he caught her by the butt.
Orlando, also present on set, pretended not to see anything and kept chatting with the director.
Martin bounced Keira a little.
She was light, with barely any meat on her chest. Martin said, "You're too skinny, Keira."
Keira replied, "Hey, are you complaining? I may be flat up front, but I've got a great ass!"
Martin laughed. "That's true."
He set her down and asked about the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants crew.
"Great! Lindsay and I get along really well. Oh, and Amanda's nice too. But Rachel? That bitch—I don't like her!"
"I heard Lindsay calls you 'Daddy Martin'?"
"I want to call you that too."
"Daddy Martin, Daddy Martin, Daddy Martin!"
As she kept repeating it, Keira broke into giggles, clearly amused by the nickname.
But Martin said sternly, "Girl, you just broke one of my taboos."
Keira tilted her head playfully, not the least bit scared. "So what's my punishment, Daddy Martin?"
"You'll find out tonight." Martin smirked coldly.
That evening, Martin brought Keira to the hotel.
The punishment began!
Keira let out a series of "blood-curdling screams"—her earlier smugness completely gone!
...
After wrapping the Pirates reshoots, Martin flew back to New York to visit the set of The Devil Wears Prada.
This was also a project backed by Meyers Pictures.
It starred Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep.
"Ah! Martin, you came to see me!"
Anne Hathaway squealed with delight and threw herself into Martin's arms. Then she dragged him around the set, eagerly introducing him to everyone (with a not-so-subtle air of showing off), grinning from ear to ear.
Martin let her have her fun.
But when they got to Meryl Streep, he noticed she seemed a little off around him.
No wonder.
Ever since she'd accidentally overheard Martin and Drew doing... things behind a wall, Meryl had been secretly fantasizing about Martin during lonely nights—purely to "aid" herself.
She didn't want to, but she couldn't help herself!
That night.
Meryl tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.
She kept thinking about how Anne Hathaway was staying right next door... and couldn't stop imagining what Martin and Anne were doing.
"Are they... fucking?"
Images surfaced in her mind.
Eventually, Meryl couldn't take it anymore. She slipped out of bed, crept to the shared wall, and pressed her ear against it.
Soon, her cheeks flushed red. Though the sounds were muffled, it was clear what was going on next door.
Meryl quietly rushed back to her nightstand, grabbed a glass, and returned to the wall.
She pressed the glass to the wall, then her ear to the glass. The sounds came through much clearer now.
The next day, when she saw Martin on set again, Meryl couldn't help but squeeze her legs together.
Martin noticed something was off. He discreetly sniffed the air and smiled faintly to himself, though he maintained a calm expression.
...
After visiting Anne Hathaway—
Martin went to "grace" Jennifer Aniston.
Then he made stops at the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Happy Death Day sets to see Scarlett, Lindsay, and the rest.
Then he swung by the V for Vendetta crew to check in on Natalie.
And then, he went to the sets of Æon Flux and The Stepford Wives to visit Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman.
After making the rounds and "checking in" on all his collectibles, Martin was finally ready to embark on the first directing journey of his life.