Flipside

I sit awake at night, planning upcoming episodes for my One Piece recap podcast. Honestly, I’ve gotten a bit derailed. The Netflix Live Action One Piece is about to launch in days and I’m down a rabbit hole looking at all the trailers and teasers they have released. My boyfriend snores loudly from the bedroom and I sigh, looking thoughtfully at my iPad. Digging a little deeper, I find an email for Netflix casting. I click on it and think about submitting myself for a role on the Live Action One Piece. I don’t really know who I’d even play. I don’t have any real acting experience, unless you count my podcast and YouTube channel. I sigh and turn the screen off for a moment. My podcast is relatively successful, quite popular among One Piece fans at least. And I’ve got just over 500K followers on my YouTube channel, where I mostly play a few video games - I laugh to myself and think I do actually do a fair bit of acting on my channel. I bite my lip and turn my iPad back on. I throw together a resume of sorts and attach it to an email, including several of my favorite photos, making sure to include a few of me in my favorites One Piece shirts. I type in the body of the email: To whom it may concern: My name is Harmony and I would like to apply for casting in future seasons of the Netflix Live Action One Piece. Please see my attached resume with links to visit my YouTube channel and podcast, as well as my social media. As a devoted fan of the One Piece anime, it would be nothing short of a dream come true to help breathe life into this show. Thank you for your careful consideration. Sincerely, Harmony Morris I read through the email several times, checking for any errors, before I nod my head and hit send. My stomach turns slightly as it sends, a pit of nerves and regret forming. I rub my face and turn off my iPad, thinking to myself, well. What’s the worst that could happen? I never hear from them? I laugh softly and shake my head. “That’s enough internet for tonight, I guess.” I put all of my things away and head to bed for the night. _____________________________________________ Several Weeks Later I walk into my office and set myself up for the day. I make a quick list of the things I need to do: read emails, record a new video for the channel, post the next episode of the podcast, and a few other business items. I tidy up my workspace quickly and begin working. After logging on and recording a video with some of my friends, I save it to a file for editing later. I move on to my email, mostly junk. My heart skips a beat when I see an unread email from “Netflix Casting Department”. I click on it faster than I’ve ever clicked before and read its contents. Dear Ms. Morris: We are quite interested in meeting with you. Please reply to this email and let us know if you would have time to come to Los Angeles for an open audition. As the first season of One Piece Live Action has been reviewed well, it’s been signed for another season. Let us know if there is a particular character you would like to audition for somewhere between the “Loguetown” arc and the “Arabasta” arc. We look forward to meeting you. Sincerely, Netflix’s Casting Department My heart pounds in my chest as I read through the email a second time, and then a third. I hit reply. Good morning, Thank you so much for the reply and for taking me into consideration. I can come to Los Angeles, and my schedule is flexible so I can come whenever is most convenient for your schedules. I would be ecstatic to play any role deemed acceptable for me, but if I must choose a specific character to audition for, my choice would be Nico Robin or “Miss All Sunday”. I look forward to your reply, and again, thank you so much! Sincerely, Harmony Morris I hit send and lean back in my office chair. There’s no way that actually worked. I text my boyfriend, “call me when you can, I have something totally amazing I want to share!” I sit back up and then jump out of my chair, taking a moment to celebrate ecstatically. I understand them wanting to meet with me in no way guarantees a role but it’s much more than I ever expected. A few minutes later, my computer chimes, pulling me out of my dancing and giggling. I walk over and sit down, there’s an unread email for Netflix’s Casting Department. I think to myself, wow, already?! Dear Ms. Morris, Thank you for your prompt reply. Please see the attached PDF document for our address and instructions for parking, etc. Also included in this document is the name and contact information for the individual who will be meeting with you. Please arrive on Monday, June 9th at 9 am. Thank you, we look forward to meeting you. Sincerely, Netflix Casting Department I read the email several times over, and then do the same to the PDF document attached. Once I get over my shock, I reply back. I have received that document successfully. Thank you very much! I will be there at the stated date and time. Have a lovely day! Sincerely, Harmony Morris I hit send and take a deep breath. There’s no freaking way. I open my calendar, June 9th is this Monday! And it’s Friday. I have to get to LA this weekend! I squeak with excitement and run through my house, grabbing a bag and packing things. A million thoughts race through my head. LA is about a 12 hour drive from me, so do I leave tomorrow and then stay in a hotel Sunday so I’m there fully rested or do I leave Sunday morning and then take a night to rest? I shake my thoughts off for a moment as I zip a nice dress into a garment bag. I think, first things first, this isn’t even a guarantee. I need to take care of my current affairs first. I set my things down and return to my computer. Hours go by as I edit my earlier video and set the posting schedule for that video as well as the next several pre-recorded episodes of the podcast. I don’t even realize it’s almost 5 pm by the time my phone rings and my boyfriend calls. “Hey, baby!” “Hey babe.” He says, somewhat quietly, “I’m leaving work. Today sucked, I can’t wait to be home.” “Aww, I’m sorry.” I speak to him quietly, unsure if I should even tell him about the trip right now. “It’s okay. Just work I guess. You texted earlier and said you had something amazing to share?” “Oh! Yeah!” I pause, looking at my computer screen, “you know what, I’ll tell you about it tonight. You wanna go out for sushi?” “Yeah that sounds good. I’ll see you in a bit. Love you.” “I love you too!” He hangs up and I look down at my phone. Why did he have to be in a bad mood today? I shake my head. No, he can’t bring me down right now. I don’t think anything could. My smile returns to my face as I turn off my computer and sit in the living room, looking up hotels near the Netflix address, planning my little trip. A little over an hour later, my boyfriend arrives home. He greets me with a quick kiss and then showers and changes. We head off to our favorite sushi place in town. After our food arrives and we start eating he says “oh! So what was your news? Something about your channel?” “No, actually, crazier!” I take a drink of water and meet his eyes, “okay, so the other night I emailed Netflix on a total whim and basically asked to audition for a role in the live action One Piece. Well, they replied and want me to come to LA on Monday to audition for Robin!” I see a slight hint of some emotion between confused and upset, “wait, are you serious!” Despite the look in his eyes, he grabs my hands and grins at me, “babe, that’s so awesome! Are you gonna go?” I smile and furrow my brows, “uh, of course I am! I’m thinking I’m gonna leave for LA tomorrow so I can spend all Sunday doing research and relaxing so that I’ll be fully prepared for Monday morning.” “So you’ll be gone all weekend?” He squeezes my hand and I can see his disappointment, as encouraging as he’s trying to be. “Yeah, I mean, I thought about leaving Sunday so I’m gone for a shorter amount of time but I think I need the day before to be quiet and relaxing instead of all day driving.” “Yeah, that sounds like a pretty good plan.” He nods and smiles softly, “it’s okay though, I’ll be fine. I know this is an incredible opportunity for you.” “Thanks, baby. It really is. And I love you so much.” “I love you too.” He squeezes my hands again and then lets go. We finish our meal through small talk and then head home. I finish packing and then book my hotel room. I set the reservation through Tuesday night, just in case they need me longer. When I tell my boyfriend he seems a bit unhappy about how long I’ll be gone, but I tell myself that there’s not much he can say to sway me. After he goes to bed, I finish packing. Finally I sit down on the couch to wind down and think to myself, tomorrow I’ll be headed to LA to audition for a role in the Live Action One Piece. This is so surreal. A little less than an hour later, I head to bed to start my next big adventure in the morning.