Acting In Love

Chapter 2 - Adrien's Vow

          Adrian was used to a lot of things. He was used to people never understanding him, constantly telling him he was a genius, even though he always felt mediocre. He was used to money and lots of it. He was used to fame, to people treating him like some kind of God. Thousands of screaming young girls – and middle-aged women, for some reason –  yelling his name, asking them to sign their posters of him or even their breasts. Them getting tattoos of him. Of director after director either treating him badly, disrespecting his art or never offering, well, direction. That’s what bothered him the most about Hollywood. The double standards, the politics. The unspoken rules. He knew he had faults. He had been a problem himself. He had walked out of auditions, out of projects he had committed too, partied hard, turned up late – a huge no-no – and worst of all...he had disrespected the press. That was the one-way ticket to having fans turn on you. And fans were your currency. As long as they loved you, you were current, fresh, marketable. You were an actor with a future. 

It had been hard, being young in the industry. It had consequences he was only now starting to see, and might never fully understand, as it was all he knew. He knew he had a tendency to be arrogant, but he also felt everything deeply. He was easy bait. He had made his fair share of mistakes. 

         For instance, leaving behind a chance to work in a movie franchise that might shape his entire future and solidify him as a legend, in exchange for a dusty next – big – thing theatre and an ancient play. Adrian liked plays, but he was a movie actor. This was an entirely different animal. He had been worried about the stage, about how he doesn’t have enough takes to get each scene right, about how he would be in front of a live audience. He had never worked in front of an audience, not even a live studio audience. Of course, a camera crew was screening the play for a festival, but that wouldn’t help him when the lights dimmed and the curtains opened.

         Throwing the glass of water had been the last straw. The director had been both a giant name and hot-tempered and took to social media immediately to talk about the “disgusting behaviour” and many other choice phrases. The media pressure got so bad, that he had only one choice – to dial it back and apologize, then take a break from the movie business. After all the pain he had felt, he decided to not apologize, but to head for the stage. Theatre will be good for you, his agents had insisted, you can take a break and do something different, then when you come back, you’ll have them waiting for you. 

Deep down, he had been relieved. He could establish himself as a serious actor. A character actor. Distance himself from the romantic lead, or the dramatic lead. He knew he was always typecast into those kinds of roles, this was a golden opportunity to do something different. He was weary from pretending to be the same person every time he got behind a camera. The dark – angsty lead definitely felt like something he could channel now. 

         Of course, he hadn’t expected his time in purgatory to be eased by such a pretty face. Helen maybe oddly dressed and give off a superior air, but she was beautiful. He had dated supermodels and actresses before, but Helen was beautiful in a way that was deeply intelligent. And damn, was she pretty. He liked her openness in correcting him; it meant that she cared about theatre and drama, and wasn’t looking to impress him or score a point with him. She was a bit of know – it – all, but she might be interesting to talk to. His old lifestyle, his old girls – supermodels, Hollywood bred, screen fed, acting legacies had left him jaded and weary, and it showed, though he would never say it out loud. 

Either way, it didn’t hurt anyone that she was attractive. Something about her hinted at layers. She probably was going to school somewhere, but he hoped she could stay on for a while. She was all black curls and cheekbones, and when she handed him his coffee, he felt an immediate instinct to flirt with her. Stupid, he told himself now, you shouldn’t have done that. That was one of the rules. No relationships, nothing that could draw in the press’s attention. He was supposed to be the good boy now, not get involved in any drama, and have them all bear witness to it with their cameras. That was the whole point of this exercise. Without it, he might no longer be in the media’s good books, lose the viewers, and with that, his entire career.

He felt guilty, watching her work on stage behind him, getting it ready for the first rehearsal. He pushed it away, to speak to the owner of Eros Productions. Laura Carmichael. He had heard a lot about her. if you were acting in New York and you had her backing, her name attached to the project, well, let’s just say it doesn’t hurt. 

“How are you?” 

‘Fine”, he said. Deep down, he wanted to step outside and take a quick smoke, but he couldn’t. He felt a pang; he had vowed to quit, but he could feel the stress rising. One quick drag could fix all that. No, he told himself, you need to behave yourself. Follow the rules. there’ll be other huge roles when you get back from this awful stint in this place. He turned on the charm. 

“Well, do you want to do some warm-up exercises?” she asked. 

He grinned at her, “I’m in your hands.” 

She nodded, “Do you know the Meisner technique?” 

He nodded. Of course, he goddamned did. 

“I know it.” 

She nodded, ‘Pull up a chair. We can have all the actors sitting around in a circle.” 

The scraping of chairs ensued and the other actors who had entered a while ago put down their bags, took off their jackets and sat around her in a circle. 

“I am Laura Carmichael, and this is my stage”, she said. Helen stepped forward, leaning to hear her speak. Laura was clearly saying things that she liked. 

”Drama is about trust. When the audience buys their ticket, they are buying our trust, to lead their imagination to places they didn’t know existed until that point. They’ll give you a space in their mind, the most powerful tool, but you, the actors, have to use it wisely. Lose that, and you’ve lost everything.” 

Helen smiled from next to the speakers. Everything about her was out of place, like a soft snowfall in a bare desert. He tore his eyes away from her crooked smile back to what Laura was saying. 

“I want us all to go around the circle, and we’ll have everyone say their names and what they hope to get out of this experience.”

Adrian felt anger rise inside him, a pain. He didn’t want anything from this experience, except to return to his normal life. In his mansion, with his dogs, swimming pool, private chef and maybe a girl, along with a handy pile of high – profile roles that he could take on at his leisure. That’s what he really wanted, unlike them. They needed this. So did he, in his way, though. 

He listened.

An older actor with grey hair said, “My name is Felix, and I want to do roles that are not retired hitmen at a bus stop.” 

Everyone laughed. 

A twenty-something girl blonde, glanced at him, before saying, “I want to switch from directing to acting. Oh, Ashbury. But you can call me Ash.” 

A late-twenties Bit man with glasses said, “Will. I guess I just want to learn the craft. Also, I’ve been working as a prison warden, so I guess I want a new job.” 

A large man, strong and capable, said, “My name is Sean, and I also want to stop being a retired hitman.” Everyone laughed then he said, “I’ve been a comedy artist, and this is my first foray into serious theatre acting.” 

Then, last, a young woman, said, “I just gave birth to a young girl, and I decided to go back and study drama, so I’m doing this instead.”

Then their eyes fixed on Adrien. He took a breath.