Hollywood (我就是好莱坞) Part I

CHAPTER 7 - AUDITION

Eric followed James and the others as they came to a small temporary studio. Taking a look at the familiar surroundings, Eric's heart started to thump faster. Silently eyeing the various gears and props, he vowed to himself: "The day will come when I'll become a legendary figure that people will look up to, and when later generations mention Eric Williams, people will think: He is Hollywood."

Since he was the author of the screenplay and had a better understanding of the characters, they just decided to skip the pointers.

In his past life, Eric had acted in diverse small roles in many movies and TV shows as it was the best way to get some recognition. A producer or director might have noticed him, and at that time, a small phone call could have made the difference. You never know when an opportunity will come knocking on your door.

Penny Marshall chose a few scenes for him to perform, the play was very simple to begin with, adding to the fact that Eric had practiced for the past few days and that he had a perfectly clear picture of the original movie in his head, he performed with ease.

James Brooks and Penny Marshall were startled. Eric's performance was nothing like that of an inexperienced novice. With this kind of standard, he wouldn't need any training at all, they could just start filming!

"Next, Eric, try out this scene." Penny smiled and handed the script to Eric. The latter found out that her face wasn't showing disappointment and he breathed a sigh of relief. He was afraid there might have been something wrong with his acting.

The scene depicted in the script took place on the school's bleachers, when Mike comforts his daughter who has just broken up with her boyfriend. This was the scene he liked the most, some of the lines were just classic.

"Miss Penny, I'll need the help of an actress for this one."

"Of course," Penny Marshall said and turned towards the girl next to her: "Teresa, you go help Eric rehearse."

The scene was only two minutes long, so Eric and the girl got it down quickly. Teresa only needed to remember the lines, she was just there to help him get in the mood, while Eric had to seriously feel and experience a variety of emotions; concerned when he saw his daughter crying, mad when hearing she might have slept with Stan, comfort her when she was sad, and helpless when she tried to throw herself at him.

Once they were ready, a staff member shouted "Action!", and their performance started.

Maggie sits on a box of props, pretending to cry.

Mike steps forward, his face full of concern.

"Hey, Maggie ? What's wrong ?"

"Go away." Maggie shrinks her hands back into her sleeves, she ignores Mike as she continues to cry.

"Hey, seriously what happened ?" Mike sits down next to Maggie.

"What do you want, huh ? Knock on my head and say 'I told you so' ?"

"No, no, no, I won't do that." Mike hurriedly replies: "I just want to know what happened."

"Stan dumped me."

"Stan dumped you ?!" Mike's eyebrows jumps as the surprise on his face is replaced by anger and disbelief.

As a father, finding out that his daughter broke up with a scum bag, of course he should be happy. But that reaction doesn't last long as he quickly realizes the problem. That bastard actually dumped her ?! His uncle, she's the one who was supposed to dump trash like him !

Watching Eric's performance, this time James and Penny were both stunned. If his previous performance could be evaluated at 60 points, then this change in facial expression was definitely a 90. The more he watched, the more James became fond of Eric, and so he conveniently decided to forget about his past animosity.

The performance went on.

Hearing his daughter might have slept with Stan, Mike is almost driven mad for a moment before quickly asserting that nothing actually happened. He awkwardly scratches the back of his head as he clumsily tries to find the words to comfort her.

"When you're young everything feels like the end of the world. But it's not; it's just the beginning. Sure, you might have to meet a few more jerks, but one day you're gonna meet a boy who treats you the way you deserve to be treated. Like the sun rises and sets with you."

"Really ?"

"Of course."

"You're so sweet." Maggie throws herself at Mike's who hurriedly backs away once he notices his daughter's reaction. He bounces up, grabs his school bag and invites her at his party while resisting his her attempts to throw herself at him.

Clap - Clap - Clap -

After the two people's had finished, James Brooks and Penny Marshall couldn't help but applaud. From a professional point of view, Eric's performance was simply outstanding.

After the staff noticed the producer and director's actions, they quickly joined in.

Michael Klaus grinned as he clapped his hands. While he had also felt that Eric's performance was very good, he wasn't a professional after all. But he could tell from Penny and James' reaction that Eric had passed the audition. This meant that the 17 Again script would sell well, and he would at least get thousands of dollars in commission. Although his small publishing house was doing well with a capital of four to five millions, most of the assets weren't liquid. To him, a payment worth several thousands of dollars was still a huge amount of money.

After this critical audition, many matters had finally been settled.

Eric respectively received 250,000$ and 500,000$ for the screenplay and actor contract. The additional 50,000$ from the script's price was thanks to Michael's efforts. He had bargained hard since he knew that half of it would be his. Although Eric's performance was very good, he was still a newcomer, so 500,000$ was not an unreasonable price.

In an instant, his net worth was raised to 750,000 US dollars. Well, he would have to wait until the filming was done to get his salary as an actor though.

Eric started having wild thoughts of using his money to direct his own movie. He could still remember how he and his peers had struggled in his past life; those who could truly make it as a director were indeed few.

After signing the contracts, he left the FOX's studios. What was left was only preparatory work for the film, and as much as he would like to help and accumulate some experience, he didn't want to repay the producer and director's goodwill by being meddlesome.

The acting classes were canceled, as Penny Marshall had stated that Eric's performance was perfect. There was no need to waste time on those acting classes that only taught the basics, the minor flaws could just be corrected during the shoot.

Eric left for the bank with Michael Klaus, cashed in the check, and handed 125,000 US dollars over to him. Although he didn't do much, Michael had still recommended his script after all. If he had to rely on himself, as a newbie without any personal connections, who knows how many years it would have taken him to sell a script ? There was no need to even mention his condition to star as the main lead.

Next, just like Jeff expected him to, Eric resigned after a month of work. He invited his colleagues to party at his house while Jeff and several older colleagues who minded their age, tactfully declined.

The night was festive, and Eric and his now ex-coworkers were dead drunk when they fell asleep.