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“Is everyone okay?”
“He and the guy he hit are in the hospital. They’re both pretty banged up, but they’ll live. Needless to say, this’ll turn into a feeding frenzy when the media finds out, and that’s the last thing either of them need right now. That’s why I had you sign the NDA. Not that I think you’ll go running to any reporters, obviously, but this way I can say I did my part to protect their privacy.”
I asked, “Is Trent going to jail?”
“His legal team will try to work out a deal for rehab instead of jail time. It’s too soon to know what’ll happen there, but one way or another, Trent won’t be showing up to the set on Monday. Even if his lawyers make this go away, and I’m not saying they should, he needs time to heal and get the substance abuse under control.”
“He would have been great as Alex.”
Lang met my gaze. “He wasn’t my first choice. You were.”
“Are you serious?” When he nodded, I couldn’t help but frown a little as I asked, “So, what happened?”
“The studio decided we needed to cast a big name, but your audition was my favorite by far. You really impressed my casting agent, too. She raved about you when she sent me the audition reel.”
“Isn’t the studio going to insist on recasting the part with another A-lister?”
“That’s just not going to happen at this point,” he said. “Everyone they can think of will be booked out months in advance, and we’re set to begin filming in five days.”
“Even so, I can’t imagine them signing off on a total unknown.”
“If they push back, I know I can convince them you’re the right call. I didn’t go to bat for you the first time, and that’s my bad. I was trying to get on the studio executives’ good side by playing nice, but screw that. We have a picture to make, and you’re who I need in this part,” he said, as he leaned back and crossed his ankle over his knee. “Even though he’s the title character, this is actually a supporting role since Alex dies halfway through the movie. The four lead actors are all major box office draws, so there’s no reason for the studio to insist on casting yet another big name.”
“Okay. So, what do I need to do to make this happen?”
“Two things. First, I want you to read for me,” he said. “I’m going to record you with my phone and send it directly to the head of the studio, who’s at a ski lodge in Colorado and waiting to hear from me. I already sent him your first audition, but he wants to see a bit more, so I’m going DIY here. This isn’t how we normally do things, of course, but time is of the essence.”
I scraped up all the confidence I could muster and said, “No problem. What’s the other thing?”
“We start filming in Mendocino on Monday, but you should plan on arriving the day after tomorrow, because the wardrobe and makeup departments will need some time with you. Expect to be on location four weeks. Your part wraps before the rest of the cast, so you’ll have about three weeks off before shooting resumes in San Francisco. That should take an additional three weeks. Is any of that an issue?”
“My schedule’s wide open, so that’s fine.”
“Great, then let’s get going.” Lang got up and retrieved a pair of scripts from his desk, and as he handed me one of them he said, “Take your time and familiarize yourself with the scene that’s marked. I’ll go out and chat with Sylvia while you prepare, so just call me when you’re ready.”
Fortunately, I’d always been good at learning lines quickly, and it was a short scene so I got the dialog down in a matter of minutes. Then I took a deep breath and looked out at the city as a surprising calmness settled over me. As much as I’d absolutely love that part, I’d already been prepared to quit acting, so I had nothing left to lose.
After I asked Lang to come back in, he put on a pair of glasses and read the other character’s lines while filming me with his phone. When we got to the end of the scene, he said, “Let’s do it again. Don’t overthink it.”
We ended up running the lines six times before he was satisfied, and I started to wonder if I’d totally blown it. Then he said, “I know you didn’t have time to prepare anything specific, but do you have a scene you’d feel comfortable performing?”
“I do.” Like most actors, I had several different pieces memorized, because you never knew what a casting agent might ask to see. He began filming again, and I went with Tom’s closing monologue from The Glass Menagerie, using the north Louisiana accent I’d taken years to lose. Sylvia always insisted Tennessee Williams was too over the top for an audition piece, but this just felt right somehow.
