“It looks like a shot of coffee, not a cup,” Paul complained.
I gave it a suspicious smell and then took a tentative sip. It was like they’d compressed twelve coffees into half a cup. If it weren’t for the sweetness of the crema, I don’t know if I would have been able to drink it, being more of a tea drinker.
“It packs a punch,” I opined.
Paul took a sip.
“Wow! That’ll take some getting used to.”
“Can you imagine Cassidy after about three of these? We’d have to tie her up just to settle her down,” I said.
“I might get the caffeine shakes after just one.”
It did wake us up. I could see getting addicted to it, but Paul was right. For now, one was my limit.
◊◊◊
About the best that I could say about my haircut was my head wasn’t shaved. When I put on my bodycam glasses, I looked the part. Next, I stepped over to wardrobe, and they had me try on several different outfits for size. For today, I was dressed in black slacks, a white shirt with a tie, and a sweater.
Anita, the production assistant, came to fetch me and pushed a script into my hand.
“We had some rewrites. Laurent’s in a mood, so we need to hurry,” she warned.
We walked in on a scene with Kimberly in it.
“You move like a fucking cow. I need you to convey grace. If you keep this up, we may have to give you gum so you can chew your cud!” Laurent yelled.
Kimberly ran off the set in tears. He then turned and saw me.
“Oh, great! The studio’s golden boy has finally joined us. Get your ass over here and let’s shoot the scene,” he ordered.
I leaned over to Paul.
“Call Caryn and have her get Saul on speed dial. If I decide to kick his ass, take your time pulling me off, but don’t let me kill him.”
“Please don’t,” I heard behind me.
It was Roger Brooks, the producer. He strode onto the set and got right in Laurent’s face. While that was going on, I stepped onto the set and reread my lines. It was surprising that the part of acting I initially feared the most, learning lines, now came easily.
Caryn came onto the set with Fritz and Cassidy. Caryn walked up to Paul, and he gave her the lowdown. She had the phone to her ear, calling Saul.
What happened next was the worst morning of my life. Laurent dialed it back some, to begin with. I had a short speech. It took 96 takes, and after each one, he had a comment that wasn’t helpful. Finally, I’d had enough.
“Do you even know what you want?” I barked.
“I want someone who can act.”
“Well, I want someone who can direct, so I don’t think either one of us is going to be happy. If you would verbalize what you want, I might be able to deliver it. I’m not a mind-reader. Telling me I couldn’t act my way out of a wet paper bag isn’t helpful,” I shot back.
By now, everyone on the set was unhappy. I looked over at the producer, and he just smiled.
“I thought the third one was fine. Laurent, I suggest you move on and stop wasting everyone’s time,” Roger said and then left.
Laurent threw his clipboard on the floor and stormed off the set. I walked over to Caryn.
“This is fun. I think it went well,” I said, loud enough for everyone to hear.
There were a few chuckles, and you could see everyone relax. Inside, I was seething. Thirty minutes later, an embarrassed Kitty Ellis came on set.
“Break for lunch,” she announced. “Be back by one.”
She pointed at Caryn and me, and we accompanied her to a conference room where Roger Brooks was seated. He was talking to someone on speakerphone.
“Hang on, Gabe. David just walked in with his manager, Caryn Buckley. Let me get them up to speed,” Roger said.
We sat down, and Roger pointed at Kitty to indicate she should sit, too.
“This morning, I came on set when Laurent was talking to Kimberly Fillmore about her acting skills. Miss Fillmore was quite upset, and I’ve asked her to file a complaint about the abuse, but she’s afraid of what Laurent might do to her career.
“Then David arrived, and Laurent abused him too. I’ve talked to Laurent, and he has walked off the set until you remove David from the film,” Roger explained.
“I will kill him!” came from the phone.
“Excuse me, but who’s on the line?” Caryn asked.
“Sorry. This is Gabe Francis.”
Gabe was the head of the studio. I was sure he didn’t want to have to deal with this.
“Laurent claims you were abusive to him,” Gabe said.
“If he considers asking for direction after 96 takes abusive, I guess I was,” I said.
“How many takes?” Gabe asked.
“96,” Roger confirmed. “He spent all morning running David through the wringer. I felt he had the shot after a couple of takes.”
“Was it a ten-minute monologue?” Gabe asked.
“I had two lines,” I said.
Gabe uttered a few words and phrases that put a smile on my face. Several of them I’d wanted to say all morning.
“Do you think Kitty Ellis can handle it for now?” Gabe asked.
“I can get more than two scenes done this afternoon,” she assured him.
“Sorry about that, Gabe. I asked Kitty to sit in. She’s more than capable enough to fill in,” Roger assured us.
“David, Laurent is very good at what he does, but he’s a unique personality. If I can get him to agree to stop the bullshit, are you okay to work with him?” Gabe asked.
“I came here to do a job, and I plan to give you my best effort. If Laurent continues to get in my face without constructive criticism, then I can’t guarantee that I won’t say something back to him,” I said.
“Good man. For now, Kitty or Roger will tell you what they need. If it gets too bad, please call me directly. Roger will give you the number,” Gabe said and then hung up.
◊◊◊
We all went to lunch; Kimberly saw us and invited us to join her mother and her. Everyone was introduced. Kimberly’s mother was Phyllis and could have been a dead ringer for her daughter. Both were blond-haired, blue-eyed beauties. Kimberly had her hair done similar to the legendary movie star Marilyn Monroe. She just didn’t have the same curves.
“I hear it got even worse after I left,” Kimberly said.
“He was nothing. You should hear some of the stuff my coaches yell at me.”
“Is it true that he walked?” Phyllis asked.
“I don’t really know. For now, Kitty will step in and direct us,” I said.
“This afternoon, we have several scenes together.”
Kimberly played Rick’s love interest, Cici. I looked forward to working with her.
“Will you be playing another movie tonight?” Phyllis asked.
“I hadn’t really thought about it, but I have a collection of DVDs with me. I could be tempted to do it again. That is assuming people are interested.”
“I think we need to get a table set up and play poker,” Paul said.
Someone had seen I’d brought cards and chips.
“You’re in charge of that,” I told Paul.
It sounded like if I wasn’t careful, my room would turn into party central while we were here.
◊◊◊
In comparison to the morning, the afternoon session was like a dream. Kitty was easy to work with and gave good direction. Laurent was right about Kimberly in that she moved woodenly. I spent some time with her and gave her some tips on how to hold her body in a more natural pose. Adrienne, my modeling mentor, would have been proud of me.
During the filming, Roger was lurking in the back, taking everything in. He seemed satisfied with what Kitty was getting into the can because he never interfered.
At the same time, Cassidy watched everything like a hawk. She seemed to want to know how everything worked, and more than once, I saw her talking to the crew when they weren’t busy.