“Wusses,” Saul mumbled as he got out of the car.
Dad and I chuckled at my movie agent. When I stepped out of the car, the focus changed from Aden to me.
“Are you here to audition for the young Han Solo role?”
“They won’t let me say,” I said.
“So that means you’re here to audition?”
“I can’t say,” I said.
“Why are you here?”
“I cannot say,” I said with a big grin.
“So you won’t tell us why you’re here?”
“I think we’re getting there. Anyone else want to try?” I asked.
“Would it be safe to say you’re not here just to tour the studio?”
“You’re good,” I said, pointing to the one who asked. “I can’t say.”
“What can you tell us?”
“My new movie, The Secret Circle, will be out this summer. I start filming a thriller called The Royal Palm, set in Cuba, this summer. I’ve signed to do two more Star Academy movies.”
“If you were to get a role in a Star Wars movie, how would you feel?”
“Wow, just wow. I’ve grown up watching the films.”
“So, you would be excited when you win the role of Han Solo?”
I just laughed and entered the studio. Everyone knew why I was there. The studio had leaked my name as one of the people in the running. I didn’t want to violate the NDA and get into trouble before I even did a screen test.
◊◊◊
Aden was taken to do his screen test first, while I was escorted another direction to talk to the key people doing the casting. Mark Philpott introduced me to about ten people. Joyce Heart was watching from the back. She just winked at me to let me know to ignore her.
Mark kicked things off.
“This meeting is to get to know you better as a person. Why don’t you tell us about yourself?”
“In many ways, I’ve been blessed. Not everyone gets to do the things I do, including acting. But I don’t want you to think it hasn’t come from hard work. I’m lucky to have my family support me, and with their guidance, I’ve gotten the right people in place to help me.
“Currently, I’m a junior in high school. I’m in the top five of my class academically and play sports. When I’m not in school or playing football or baseball, I model, with contracts to be the face of Range Sports, Jade, and Dakora. I recently did a shoot with Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch,” I said.
“Isn’t it true that you’re one of the best American football players in the States?”
“Through hard work, coaching, and the help of my teammates and town, I’ve become very good,” I said.
Dad couldn’t stop himself at this point.
“David’s being modest. Last summer he was involved in a competition put on by Nike to determine who was the best quarterback in the nation. They had regional camps and only invited the best-of-the-best to their headquarters in Oregon. David was the first junior to ever make it, and he was declared the Co-MVP.
“He’s also a top-level baseball player. He’s been invited to try out for Team USA’s Under-18 team. I can attest to his work ethic and leadership. If you pick David for this role, no one will outwork him,” Dad assured them.
“I pay my dad to say nice things about me,” I said, a little embarrassed by his praise.
“No, that confirms what we heard. I also understand that you do some extreme-sports-like activities. Tell us about that.”
“It would be easier to show you. Is there some way I can pull up some video and everyone see?” I asked.
Stupid question. Of course a movie studio would be wired to show video. I logged into my Dropbox account. Frank had stitched together a video of me in my different avocations. I brought it up and played it.
“This starts out with my spectacular fails,” I said.
It showed me smack into the water when the jet water board broke. That was followed by the barbarian who tried to take my head off while we were filming Star Academy. Then there was a series of football plays where I got creamed. The final one was of me on the wingboard as it corkscrewed and I was finally thrown off. I looked around and could see people were worried as I plummeted towards Earth. Frank had somehow gotten the audio as the Range Sports jump specialist talked me through it, and there was a sigh of relief when my chute opened.
“Now you’ll see the good stuff,” I said.
The next part started with the YouTube Superman video and several of my football plays. It then showed me with the Four Stooges. They were the young wolves that spooked the horses at a photo shoot for Range Sports. I’d been able to chase them off. Next, it showed me doing motocross, skydiving, surfing, and martial arts. Finally, there was the fight scene with Ben Doman from Star Academy.
“Quite impressive,” Mark said.
“Let’s talk about you being charged with rape.”
I gave the girl who asked me the question a sad smile.
“Let me send you a copy of the agreement that was reached between all parties involved. You’ll see that I was never charged with rape, nor did I rape anyone. The father of the girl who’s having my baby orchestrated a smear campaign against me. If you read the agreement, I believe it’ll clear everything up. I also have a copy of an interview done by ESPN with the girl in question, whose name is Pam, that made it clear she was never forced.”
I pulled it up and played it. The girl who had asked the question got red in the face and wouldn’t look at me. That didn’t look good.
“We hear you’re involved in politics.”
“That’s part of my family legacy, service to the community. My grandfather held a political office of some sort for as long as I can remember until he passed. My family name still holds meaning in my state, and my grandmother has asked that I get involved. Most recently I lent my voice to help establish a homeless shelter in our town and took part in a voter registration drive on several college campuses,” I said.
“Was that where the girl was killed?”
“That was sad. At one of the campaign stops, a group of students dressed up as characters in my most recent movie, Star Academy. She had her picture taken with me and posted it on social media. She was Muslim, and her father and brother held some radical views. They felt she had disgraced her family and were honor-bound to kill her. I don’t claim to understand how a mere picture would rise to the level where you want to strangle your sister. It bothers me that something like that happens in our world.”
“We understand that you might be involved in the next James Bond movie.”
“I guess the bigger question is will it get made? I’ve been tabbed to play the role of James Bond’s son.”
“Do you see that conflicting with the Han Solo role?”
“No more than Harrison Ford had when he did Indiana Jones. I look at both roles as great opportunities. Personally, I think that when Mr. Ford did Indiana Jones, it enhanced his marketability in his most recent role in Star Wars.”
Joyce got up, and before she left, gave me a thumbs-up. I answered questions for another forty-five minutes. I did find out something that made me worry: if I got the role, I would lose my last semester of senior year. Filming started in January and would end in July. Dad didn’t look happy about that.
◊◊◊
We were given a tour, and then we went to lunch. As soon as we sat down, Dad started in.
“Your mother would kill you if you didn’t finish high school.”
“They would allow him to take classes on set, so he wouldn’t have to sacrifice his education,” Saul said.
“What about baseball?” Dad asked.
“We’ve always known that at some point I will have to make a choice. If I get this role, it might make that choice for me,” I admitted.