ON HER FIRST YEAR of college, Pearl's roommate, Charlotte, convinced Pearl to audition for a movie along with her, assuring her that it would be for fun. They each auditioned for a different part; while Charlotte auditioned for the leading role, Pearl went for one of the secondary ones, but she didn't expect to get a callback. It was a small-budget, indie film, and if she's honest to herself, she didn't have many expectations for the movie either. But a week after her audition, she got a callback, and they wanted her to play the protagonist's role. Her thought was to reject it automatically since she knew that's the part Charlotte wanted, and if she took it, it would make her roommate feel bad. To Pearl's surprise, Charlotte was understanding and encouraged her to go to the second audition
