We returned to the waiting room just as Caleb Middleton came out of the interview room. He’d been in Kicker and most recently Vindicators: Age of Reason.
Aw, shit!
Logan entered the room and came out quickly. He didn’t look happy as he exited. Dalton was up next. Unlike Logan, his audition lasted the full 30 minutes. He was all smiles as he left. We were up.
There were three other people in the room with Chubby. One was a cameraman, and another seemed to be an assistant. The third man was older; he smiled when he saw me.
“Saul, sit in the corner and shut the hell up,” the older man said.
“Yes, sir,” Saul said.
I liked this guy already.
“David, I want to introduce Mark Harm, the producer,” Chubby said.
“Hi, I see you’ve met Saul. This is my manager, Caryn Buckley,” I said.
“David, let me get you up to speed. We originally created the concept of introducing a teenage child with the idea that Stephanie Garza would play it. She’s since decided that she has other things to do and doesn’t want to play a supporting role. Of course, who can blame her?” Chubby said.
“So, what made you decide to make it a boy’s role?” I asked.
“The key for this to work is it needs someone to have certain physical abilities. For some of the things we want to do, it was decided it would be more believable if a boy did it. What cinched it in my mind was a discussion I had with Jessup Fields. He told me how you’d handled some of your own stunts on Star Academy. That was why we wanted to get you in and talk to you,” Chubby said.
“I had a chance to see some of your videos. It seems you’ve done everything from skydiving to motocross. I understand you’re also a top athlete. Would you strip down to your underwear so we can videotape your body?” Mark asked.
I just stood up and took my clothes off. I did a slow turn for the camera with my arms straight out.
“Thank you. As you can imagine, we need to be sure you have the physique for the role,” Mark explained.
“Was that why Logan left looking unhappy?” Caryn asked.
“Yes, unfortunately, he didn’t have the body type we want. Frankly, I’m a little concerned that David may be too tall, but he brings other things to the table that we can’t ignore,” Mark said.
“We’ve been given a working title for the movie, Devil May Care. I was offered to direct this one based on an idea I have that I need a special person to help me pull off. Mark has labeled it the ‘Million Dollar Shot.’ You know that the opening sequence of each James Bond movie seems to be something more outlandish than the previous one. In the last film, Spectre, they plopped you right in the middle of a wild scene of a carnival-like atmosphere as the Bond character pursued the bad guy. Then they dropped a building on him, and eventually, he ended up in a fight in a helicopter. That shot alone took six months of planning. Sam Mendes, the director, set the bar pretty high.
“I want to do something that will outdo him. My idea would have it start in an airplane, and the son would be involved in a fight. Of course, you’d be tossed out of a plane without a chute and have to catch one of the bad guys and steal his.” Chubby said.
“That doesn’t sound safe,” Saul said from his corner.
“Shut up, Saul,” Mark warned.
“You would land and chase the bad guy. You’d end up snowboarding down the side of a mountain and have to jump a ravine. There would be a switch to snowmobiles, and then finally four-wheelers. I want to do it in one continuous shot with a camera on you. We’d have cameras set up all the way down the mountain to take establishment shots and different angles. We’d want you to do the stunts,” Chubby said.
The room was suddenly silent, and Caryn and Saul looked sick. This was the sort of thing that might end my life. My experience on Star Academy underlined that there was a reason they had stuntmen. I’d seen most of the James Bond movies and those chase scenes and knew that jumping out of an airplane could be dangerous. I’d seen some films where the hero jumps out without a chute. Hell, I’d almost died doing an ad for Range Sports!
I was willing to bet that Chubby had glossed over some details. When he said I would jump over a ravine, I could only imagine what that meant. I looked Chubby and Mark both in the eyes, and could tell they were worried I would turn them down.
“Okay, but you have to tell my mom,” I said.
Chubby looked at Mark and smiled.
“We can’t officially offer you the role until we finish our other auditions, but I think we’d like you to play the part,” Mark said. “I’ll be in touch with Saul when I can make an offer. I appreciate you coming in, and I look forward to working with you.”
Saul waited until we were in the parking lot before he did a victory fist-pump.
“Yes!”
“Do you have any idea what David will make on this?” Caryn asked.
“I would guess somewhere in the ten million range. That shot alone is worth a fortune,” Saul said. “It would also be perfect timing. They want to start filming not this summer but next. You should have three movies released by then. Combine that with your two Star Academy movies, and you should be able to choose what you do from there on out,” Saul said.
“Don’t forget the young Han Solo project,” I said.
“My grandmother used to have a saying: ‘To Wish Impossible Things.’ It meant that if you dreamed big, good things could happen. Without wishing for the impossible, it would never happen,” Caryn said.
“You just keep wishing for the impossible, and we’re going to be very rich,” Saul said with a big smile.
Yep, it was all about Saul.
◊◊◊
When we returned to the studio, it was time for our first scene with Hannah. We had an establishment scene that introduced her to the audience. She was teaching us history. The baseball-player character I’d initially been selected for made an ass out of himself hitting on her. He’d also been aggressive with Cassie and Faye. In the film, he would be found hanged in the boiler room by the end of the day. I was glad not to be in that role, now that I saw how he came off in the film.
The one downside to having Hannah Minacci and Adrienne on the set was that the studio execs found an excuse to drop in. When I returned to my trailer after a scene, I found Hannah and Adrienne there, hiding.
“I thought you had a trailer,” I said.
“I couldn’t seem to get a free minute to think in mine,” Hannah said.
“We knew you wouldn’t mind,” Adrienne said.
“You do know that it’s time for naked yoga in my trailer,” I tried.
“Don’t even challenge him. He’ll be naked in an instant if we so much as pretend like we’re interested,” Adrienne warned.
“Guess who’s going to play James Bond’s son in the next movie,” I said to try another angle.
I received a group hug from both Hannah and Adrienne as my reward. If Chubby had known, I might have worked for free.
I was disappointed when the studio pervs figured out Hannah was in my trailer. She and Adrienne left to hide in Halle’s.
◊◊◊
I was done for the day, so I twisted Fritz’s arm to take me surfing. Caryn would get a ride home with either Rita or Halle. She had ‘things to do.’
A storm had come up in the Pacific, and we were the beneficiaries of some terrific waves. It looked like several people had skipped school to come out this afternoon. Al was in the group and made it a point to ignore me. I was okay with that.
When it was my turn, I began to paddle. I’d just gotten up when I saw that Al had jumped my wave. The little jerk didn’t peel off, as was proper etiquette. I was tempted to run him over, but that was also bad form. What sucked was I had to go to the back of the queue and wait my turn for a wave. When Al did it for the third straight time, I’d had it. I decided to just go in before I had to drown his butt. He wasn’t worth it.