Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

After the shooting resumed, Jesse didn't want to waste any time and told the cast and crew to give their everything to finish up the movie on time.

Black Line Cinema was pretty concerned that they would need to push the release date of the movie, and Jesse had given them confidence that he would be able to finish the movie on time.

So, the actors were doing their absolute best not to do a bad take. Even Seth was focusing way more on his acting and was giving good takes now.

In all this, Aiden's scenes were slowly coming to an end.

The movie time length was going to be around 1 hour 20 min, and Aiden had at least 40 minutes of screentime which was pretty good for a supporting character.

As Aiden had talked about his album and other stuff before signing the contract, Jesse and Black Line Cinema had agreed to shoot his scenes first.

That's why a lot of his scenes had already been shot.

Most of these scenes included Seth and Dustin, but there were also solo scenes like the scene in which Andrew would be talking to his girlfriend about the idea of Snapbook, but she won't agree to it, talking about their future and breaking up.

It was a scene to show that Andrew was willing to give up a lot of things for the idea.

Currently, he was in the last shot of that scene.

[DisconnectedFeb 23-2017Act 7Scene 2Take 3]

"I'm sorry, but I don't think you should go for this idea. I know you think it's achievable, but real life doesn't work like that."

"Why can't you believe in me for a change of pace?"

"I believe in you. I just want you to get a college degree and get a good job. You are brilliant. You know it. This idea and company could just end the golden years of your life."

"Or they could become the golden years of my life."

Andrew looked at the girl in front of him and tried hard to convince her. They were high school sweethearts, and if he wanted one person to support him, that was her.

But she didn't believe in the idea.

She wanted Andrew to be more stable in life instead of running towards a million dollars like a fool.

"Andrew, I'm sorry. I don't want you to do this. I know you met some silicon valley millionaire, and he taught you how to dream of a million dollars."

"A billion," Andrew said, but the girl shook her head and stood up. There was an expression of conflict and pain on her face, but she had made up her mind.

"Come see me after getting your billion dollars."

Saying that she left, and Andrew just sat at the table, sighing and wondering if it was actually worth it.

It was then that a voice came out.

"Cut! Good work!"

Finally, the take was a good one, and they could move on to the next scene.

"Aiden, go rest a bit. There are no scenes of yours till after lunch. Try to practise them so we can get over them quickly."

Jesse said, and Aiden nodded, having a small talk with the actress that had played his girlfriend and going to sit down next to Tom.

But as he was moving towards them, he saw Wade standing there.

***

"You finally got the time?"

Aiden said, looking up at Wade, who nodded his head while shrugging his shoulders.

"I told you I'm going to be busy. There are just too many things to look through with the album coming up. The others are also working hard on it. Anyway, Tom was with you."

"Yeah, he was a lot of help."

Tom just smiled shyly hearing that.

There were tons of things to do for a full-fledged album, and getting good songs was just the basics. The planning, marketing, distribution, and promotions were the major parts of a successful album, and Wade was at the helm of it.

There were even talks of a concert going on after the album's release, so Wade was too busy with it.

That's why Tom was handling everything on site with Aiden and reporting back to Wade.

Aiden had finally understood why celebrities have assistants. It just makes the work easier.

"Anyway, I came because I thought there would be problems with Seth, but I guess he's behaving now."

Wade glanced at Seth, who was in discussion with Jesse.

"Yeah, he's solely focusing on work, so his acting is coming through. I don't think there will be any more drama."

"It's good if there isn't."

Both of them talked a bit more about the movie and what Wade had heard about the drama in New York, and how reporters had taken it.

Although SGA had worked hard to label it a fake rumour, those who were smart knew that it was a reality. Most people in Hollywood were already smart enough to realise which one was a fake rumour and which one was not.

"How's everything going for you on the filming side? I didn't hear a lot as SGA is pushing Seth a lot, so it's looking like he's the only guy in the movie."

Wade said, clicking his tongue. They didn't have a big PR team to promote Aiden and only had Sasha and Lia handling it. It completely lacked in comparison to a big agency.

"The filming is pretty nice. I'm getting more and more into the character."

Aiden said, thinking of the 79 percent affinity that he had with Andrew Kingston.

That was more than enough to give a good performance.

"Try to keep it up. You need to give a performance where people talk about themselves. Otherwise, they won't even remember you are in this movie because of the heavy PR."

"I know that," Aiden muttered and suddenly thought of one scene that was coming up. "I do have my worries about one particular scene, though. I don't know if I will be able to do it well."

"Which one?" Wade raised an eyebrow.

"The last scene of Andrew."

***

Movies are filled with scenes that connect various arcs, and many times, a movie may or may not be a hit at the box office, but some scenes are made in such a way that they stick with the audience no matter what.

Aiden could remember a lot of great scenes in the movie that really made him stare at them in awe.

They could be emotional scenes, action scenes, or scenes in which a character has finally conquered his fears and achieved his goals.

He still remembered a movie scene where a man would walk out of a building after finally getting a job. Walking through the crowd, there would be a huge smile on his face as he would have finally achieved the thing he wanted.

Those types of scenes stay stuck in the audience's mind.

The last scene in which Andrew was going to appear was such a scene.

In this scene, Andrew would come storming into the Snapbook office, demanding answers as, after a new deal with another investor that he was unknown of, his shares had been diluted completely while others still maintained theirs.

This was a big betrayal scene.

Andrew's character would still be calm about it and just would ask his answers before leaving after saying that his lawyers would deal with them.

No doubt, this was the most important scene for Aiden.

But there was something he wanted to change in it. That's why, after the day's shooting, he walked up to Jesse, who was talking to one of his assistants.

"Jesse, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Yeah, what's up?" Jesse said, dismissing the assistant director.

"The betrayal scene. I want to change it a bit. More like a lot."

Jesse looked at him like he wasn't sure of what he was saying but let out a sigh, knowing that Aiden always had his own ideas about scenes.

He had already discussed a lot of them with Aiden before.

"How do you want to change it?"

"Let's not continue Andrew's actions being so subtle and timid in this scene. It just seems like a big waste of opportunity."

Aiden said. A lot of characters often don't act like themselves or just go through a planned character development after getting betrayed.

That was just human nature. Trust was a very expensive thing, and not a lot of people could maintain it in their relationships.

"What do you want to do then?"

Jesse asked, walking and Aiden keeping up with him.

"Let him not suppress his emotions. I want to give the audience a shock as this would completely go against his normal behaviour and make it a way more impactful scene."

"The tone of the movie would change then."

"It won't. Just trust me on this."

Aiden said, determined to make Jesse convinced. Since he had gotten the script, Aiden had read it a lot of times. He had gone through the scenes of each character and how they connected.

Thanks to his writing skill, he was able to understand way better and even make some changes in a few scenes.

This was one of those.

When he had first read it, Aiden knew that it could be a scene that could actually make the movie for the audience. Jesse's version wasn't bad, but he thought that Andrew was much more likely to flare up.

After all, he had given up everything for it, and betrayal was something he hadn't expected.

In the end, Jesse just looked at him and said, "I have booked up a seat in a restaurant. Let's go eat dinner together and talk about it there."

...