My Hollywood System

Chapter 92:

The second round of auditions and interviews for DTA was already over. 47 out of the 2000 people were selected from the interviews to proceed to the third round of auditions. It was rumoured that Will Evans himself would be present for the third round, and he would directly pick the ones that did well for the next movies that he would be producing.

It was a very good opportunity, especially after considering Will’s current popularity. Anyone who worked in his movies would directly have a big leap in their career. Hence, everyone was quite nervous and some were even continuously wiping sweat from their forehead.

***

As the day progressed, the amount of work Will had to put in increased dramatically. He wanted two of his movies to go into the pre-production stage as soon as possible. He would focus on them for now and would think about the system’s quest later on.

Today was the first day of the third round of auditions. The location for the audition was at the DTA office itself in one of the big empty rooms which was specially designed with auditions and green screen scenes in mind.

On one side of the room, a rectangular table was placed behind which, three chairs aligned. Will was seated on the middle chair with Jeffrey and Jennifer seated on his left and right side respectively.

“Are there any interesting prospects?”

Will asked in a low voice, to which Jennifer replied.

“There are quite a few. Most of the people that have come this far have something unique to offer. You will see for yourself soon.”

Will just nodded and didn’t say anything.

Soon, Jennifer gave a signal to the audition staff, and the first person came in.

The guy who entered had a pale face and blonde hair, which was quite a weird combination.

His name was Marshal Chambers, 24 years old, and he was one of those that Jennifer held quite high.

His skin was as pale as a vampire’s and he had light blue eyes which gave him an overall handsome look. In Hollywood’s language, his looks were ‘something that would sell well.’

“He’s pretty good.”

Jennifer whispered inside Will’s ears. Will raised an eyebrow for a moment, afterwards, his face went to his usual poker face.

All the actors were required to play out scenes from different scripts that Will had written especially for the auditions. So no one could say that they had prepared for this and not for that scene.

Some of the scenes were even from [1917] and [500 Days of Summer].

‘He is trying hard to not show his nervousness.’

Will thought, his eyes scanning Marshall.

He looked to be quite nervous as Will was personally presiding over the audition.

In the rounds before this one, he didn’t know any of the judges and just performed confidently. But stakes were quite high in this round.

Marshall was someone who would keep an eye on the rumours in Hollywood. As he had been a struggling actor for a while, he knew the value of information.

And the current rumour in the market was that Will was going to produce some movies. If he did well in the audition, maybe he would be able to get a role in his next.

That easily created pressure on Marshall.

He had been given a scene in which he was on a bus and a killer would suddenly sit next to him and take a gun to threaten him. A staff member was going to act as the killer and Marshall had to show a range of emotions going from being surprised to being scared.

As the staff sat next to him and Will signalled it, the audition began and Marshall started his performance.

Maybe it was because of him being too nervous, but Will felt like his performance was quite stiff. It wasn’t bad but he would need a lot of polishing.

After his performance ended, he just told him to go and that the results will be told later.

“What do you think?”

Jeffrey asked after Marshall left.

“He’s handsome but too stiff. His acting will be pretty limited, at least with his current skills.” Will gave out his verdict and Jennifer nodded.

“Yeah, I think we can invest in him and get him to work in romantic comedies and commercial movies. With his face, he’s bound to attract an audience, especially a large female following. He could take the idol path easily and we can send him to talk shows a lot as he’s not a bad speaker. Maybe, after a few years, he would be ready to do more serious movies.”

“You have already stemmed a path for him?”

Will asked, a little surprised. Jennifer’s analysis was clearly not something that she had made in a minute.

“He’s one of those I have an eye on.”

Will didn’t say much after that and just thought that in the future, Marshall could easily play the lead or a supporting role in some high school movies like [High school musical] or [Mean girls].

After that, there were a few more actors and actresses that came through but rarely did anyone impress Will enough to make him think that he could be the lead in [1917].

An actor from Belgium named Tarabi impressed him a little. He was 26 years old but his looks and vibes didn’t suit any lead character in [1917], so Will just put his name in the back of his mind, thinking he will use him later.

On the other hand, quite a few actresses were to his liking. He was also looking for a new actress to play the role of Summer in [500 days of summer].

He wanted someone who could give a guy the vibe of ‘she’s the one’. A fresh, young vibe and at the same time, someone who is also a little complex.

But he hadn’t yet found someone like that. Quite a few actresses he showed were quite pretty and had good acting skills, but they were still lacking one or two things to be summer.

‘I really hope I find the right candidates today.’

Will checked his watch and it was 10 minutes to lunch. One more audition to go.

“You have not got anyone to play Schofield and Blake yet right?”

Jeffrey asked as he saw Will checking his watch.

As the cinematographer of [1917], Jeffery was also quite invested in the movie and was trying to find someone who can play Blake or Schofield.

“Not yet. We have a lot of guys still going. Let’s hope we find someone.”

“Yeah, if we can’t, are you going to go with more established actors?”

“No, I want [1917] to announce the next two big things in Hollywood.”

Jeffrey didn’t say anything after that and on his side, Jennifer saw the name of the person that was going to come next and gestured to Will.

“I think the next person will surely impress you.”

He nodded, checking the name of the next actor. Renly Warren was an English actor who had just come to Hollywood a year ago.

He was young, only 22 and had a few small roles in some movies. According to Jennifer, he was one of the best from the lot that passed the second round.

‘Let’s see how he is.’

As Will thought that, Renly came in, sporting a smile on his face. He looked at the people sitting, his eyes particularly stopping before Will.

Will felt a nice, strong yet elegant aura from Renly. It was something that only directors would feel, a vibe that was telling him that he was not like other actors.

“Hello, my name is Renly Warren and I’m an actor.”

He introduced himself shortly and Jennifer gave him a short scene to do. Every actor was given 2 to 3 scenes to prepare and this was one of those that was given to Renly.

It was a scene that was only written for this audition in which Renly had to act as a retired soldier talking about his sins and the people he had killed to a priest.

“You are going to confess everything you did to a priest while he silently listens. Did you understand?”

Will asked and Renly nodded his head but before Will could signal the start of the scene, he raised his head and asked.

“What type of accent does the retired soldier have?”

“Accent?”

“Yes, where’s he from? His name or birthplace wasn’t written, so I wasn’t able to prepare for it. But I at least want to know.”

This was an interesting question.

Accents were a part of acting and they were as important. For example, if you are acting as a British character, you need to have a British accent. Many actors fail in this aspect and it takes away the belief factor from the character.

If a character who is from Texas can’t speak in a Texas accent, then people would really not believe he belongs from there.

Accents are really subtle and every place has a different one. Renly asking about the accent just meant that he had also taken it into account while preparing for the character.

‘He’s really different.’

Will thought, now looking at Renly seriously.

…

//DreamNote// ??

There was no chapter yesterday because I am currently very sick. Ramadan+job+writing has taken a big toll. Sorry guys, but please don’t forget to vote, today is weekly reset. I am trying my best to recover, please take care of your health too.