Friday January 16
TRACY HAD ANOTHER BREAKDOWN midweek. Her depression didn’t seem to be getting any better. Tom talked to me and told me that he, Mary, and Doctor Hebert were talking about Tracy dropping out of school for a semester to get some extensive treatment. He never came out and said it, but I suspected they were worried she might do something stupid. I’d gone over to see her Thursday night, but she was asleep. I never got a chance to talk to her.
One unexpected result from last Saturday night was Brit’s new bodyguards, aka her brothers. She was a little put out that they’d become so protective. I, on the other hand, was fine with it. Brit seemed like a nice girl, but there was no way I would date the girl next door—literally!
On the school front, I was amazed at how helpful they were being. Each teacher had taken the time to sit down with me and tutor me on my assignments for when I’d be gone. Kendal told me there would be a tutor on site and time set aside for my studies. This was one of the reasons teenagers weren’t used as much for movies. I was told a typical day could be twelve or more hours. They didn’t want to take breaks so the talent could go study their lessons.
I was let out of school at noon so I could travel to Canada. The production staff had made allowances for me. They’d pulled all the studio scenes that included me from the storyboard and scheduled them for the next two weeks. On this trip, we would shoot on sound stages in Vancouver. There was a part of the movie where we would shoot outdoors. The plan was for this to take place in a few weeks in the Northwest Territories at a place called ‘Yellowknife, the Gateway to the North.’
KENDAL PICKED ME UP from school. We swung by my place to let Duke out and grab my clothes for the next couple of weeks. Mom had originally said she’d go with me, but her real estate business had picked up and she decided to make money while she could. We were quickly on the road to the airport.
“Now that I have you captive, I want to tell you what’s going on in your career,” Kendal teased me.
“I hope this isn’t my career,” I shot back, meaning I wanted to do more than act or model.
“We got our first check for the movie. Let’s just say I get to ride in first class with you now,” she said as an indication of the amount of money involved.
I would quickly find that movie stars could make a lot of money. Even my role as a supporting actor would earn me more than I had to this point in my career. The even better news was the possibility of residuals. I could make money for years to come if this turned out to be a hit. Craig and Lori were reported to be making ridiculous money on this movie.
Bree was in the next tier as she parlayed her vampire TV exposure. She’d made a conscious decision to try her hand at a movie. There had been a big scandal on the set of her TV series. She and one of the leads had a messy breakup in their personal life. Just a week after, he had brought the girl he had cheated on her with onto the set. Bree had told the producers either the new girlfriend was barred from the set or she’d walk. While she never said, I thought her next step would be to move on from the show. The chemistry she’d formerly had with the male lead was now dead.
I was on the next tier, as far as compensation goes. The reason was twofold. The first was my modeling. They realized that having my head shaved could affect my marketability for other projects. The good news was, this wasn’t five years ago. Some guys wore a buzz cut now. I liked that I didn’t have to use all the stupid hair products anymore.
The second reason was I was athletic enough to do a lot of the work that would normally be done by a stunt double. They had a few scenes in the movie where even I wouldn’t want to do it, because it was too dangerous. Jessup had been over-the-top with his praise of Ben and me for our sword work at the studio. He thought he’d need to use CGI (computer generated images) for some of the fight scenes. They might have to do some of that for my fight with the barbarian; I wasn’t really up to trusting him with a giant ax, even if it were fake.
The next tier was Ben and Elizabeth. After them, it was mainly peripheral players that got paid a daily rate. The drop-off in income was dramatic, but it was all relative. The daily rate group could make as much in a day as someone might in a week at a real job, and if you had lines it earned you even more.
“Adrienne called and said she has the Dakora photo shoot confirmed. You’ll be going to New York and staying in their new-talent apartment,” she said with a smirk.
I knew that meant I would stay with Kara. Knowing Adrienne, we would have a good time as we explored New York on our downtime.
“Sandy Range called and confirmed they either want you for spring break or after school in New Orleans. Devin won’t be able to make it. Sandy’s going to take over doing the shoots with you.”
I was relieved. I still had a problem with Devin hitting on Nancy. Nancy had called me when she got back to Kentucky and told me Devin had called her several times. She’d hinted that she might let him come visit her. That had really cemented my feeling that Nancy and I were done as more than just friends. It was for the best. The funny part was, I thought Devin and Nancy would make a great couple. I just didn’t like how they’d gotten together.
“I have one final thing I need to tell you,” Kendal said.
I could tell by her body language that I might not like what she was about to say.
“Eve Holliday has decided to go a different direction with her music videos. She has a new boyfriend and thinks they need to move the focus off you.”
I was happy to hear that. After I’d seen Eve the last time, I really didn’t think we were friends anymore. She had moved on to doing her music. I could understand it. What bothered me was how she had switched from being a friend, and even more, to being cold and distant. It had all started with the bullshit breakup song.
Kendal and I talked about our trip and how everything was going for her. I enjoyed the time we spent to catch up with her on nonbusiness-related topics. She was someone I could count on.
WHEN WE LANDED IN VANCOUVER, it was in the mid-40s. The Pacific Ocean kept the temperature warmer in the winter than you’d expect for a city so far north. When we left Chicago, it was in the 20s. Kendal and I found our bags and a cab in short order. The production company had rented several floors of a hotel across the street from the studio we’d be using. We ended up in adjoining rooms with a door between them. I opened mine so she could come in whenever she needed to.
In my room, I found a schedule for tomorrow and the updated script with diagrams of how the blocking was going to go. I was thankful someone had highlighted my script and marked where changes had been made. It would save me time and allow me to focus on what was changed. I started to learn my new lines and found that Kendal was a tremendous help. She ordered us dinner in my room and then spent several hours working with me on my lines for tomorrow.
“David, don’t get uptight about the script. This isn’t like a play where if you mess up you have to just keep going. They’ll be doing takes like they do in your commercials,” Kendal assured me.
“I know, but I’m the rookie here. I don’t want them to regret hiring me.”
“If they can make former wrestlers look like seasoned actors, I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she said with a chuckle.
I just glared at her and we got back to work.
Saturday January 17
I GOT UP EARLY AND went down to the fitness center. I had peeked outside and it was raining. I had no desire to run in that type of weather. I walked in to find Ben and Kent working out. Ben was supposed to be my biggest nemesis in the movie. Kent was in Craig’s entourage and the only member of that entourage with any common sense.