𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 | letitia wright

prologue

"Listen nana, I know you are excited and you are living your dream but if anything bothers you, just call. We are always available for you." My mom started.

"And don't let the Hollywood life get to you. I don't want to see before and after pictures of you in the gossip magazines." Adam, my stepdad said.

He took out his wallet and placed a card on the small coffee table i had. "Use it for anything you need concerning the trip and accommodation while you are there."

I looked at him in disbelief before sliding the card back to him. He slid it back to me with a stern expression and I knew that he wouldn't budge. "Also go treat yourself with this; we thought it would go towards your university but since you got the scholarship, use it for this." My mom, Thandi, said.

I got up from the couch to hug them and I took the card with Adam telling me about the banking app and checking the balance before I go to America.

Seeing the time and it's almost midnight, I decided to leave to go back to my apartment. I said my goodbyes and used one of my mom's cars to get home since I didn't have my own yet. Before driving, I checked my emails and saw that my flight was in 4 days so I had to get all the visa stuff sorted before I could go. I also saw that Marvel had a hotel room booked for me.

I just hope I don't get nervous during the screen test.

——

LOS ANGELES, CA

I lied. I'm super nervous about the test and wondering whether I'm gonna fail or not.

I was currently in a waiting room with 5 other girls, revising my lines over and over whilst trying to calm down. One girl was practically screaming her lines as if she was the only one in the room. I flipped my braids to the side and thought about my outfit choice. I was the only one dressed in a sweater leggings and sneakers combo while the girls were dressed like movie stars.

Should I have tried harder-

"Madeline! Madeline Zwide, you're up." An crew member, I'm assuming, came into the room and surprisingly pronounced my last name correctly. I grabbed my things and walked towards her, ignoring the stares i got from the 5 girls.

The waiting room was on the side of a large studio but i could tell that it wasn't a filming studio, more so a photography studio.
As I walked outside, I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. On the email, it had said that there's only going to be 4 people at the screen test but I was still shaking.

"So uh just to check.  your name is Madeline Zwide, from Johannesburg, 25, and currently living in Johannesburg." The crew member said, and I nodded which made her continue.

"Fully South African, has Honours in Psychology, can speak 5 languages and worked on Lucifer for an episode until you worked on Jumanji although it was a small role?" I nodded again.

"Alright then. When you get inside, they're going to ask you more questions about yourself and what you think of Black Panther but don't be nervous. Make us South Africans proud." The crew member, who's name tag says 'Bronwyn', said with a smile.

"Well, that definitely lifted the weight off my shoulders." I joked. "Thank you, Bronwyn."

"No problem, just get in there and do your best. I hope you get the role." She smiled then walked away to a tent that I hadn't noticed yet.