DOS Ch-77

I felt empty.  

I’m not trying to be deep or emo, but I really felt purposeless at the moment. What else was left for me to gain at this point by continuing to act? I had already achieved all the highest honors in acting that any actor would want in their life. True, I could yearn for a Grammy to finish my EGOT, but at the moment, I couldn’t think beyond the two Tony trophies I had with me—one for acting, and one for Best Musical. While legally my father may have been the producer of the show, he had written a letter to the American Theater Wing telling them about the circumstances, so they had added my name to the producers for the award. So technically, the award was shared between my father and me.  

[Billy Elliot the Musical] had already broken the record of most nominations for a musical ever with 15 in hand; it went on to tie with [The Producers] for most wins by a musical with 12 wins. The awards were for Best Musical, Book of a Musical, Original Score, Leading Actor, Featured Actor, Featured Actress, Direction, Choreography, Orchestrations, Scenic Design, Lighting Design, and Sound Design. Everyone in the theater scene was talking about [Billy Elliot] and how it was the next best thing. Some even speculated that the show may go on to become the longest-running musical ever, beating the record held by shows like [Cats], [The Phantom of the Opera], or [Les Miserables].  

Yet, that didn’t solve the matter at hand. I felt aimless. What else would motivate me to act after [Harry Potter]? When I started acting five years ago, (Gosh! Is it that long already?) one of my biggest goals was to bag all the important acting awards in the world. When the [Harry Potter] films are complete, I may even become the highest-grossing actor of all time. Now I understand why so many A-list actors’ careers fall after their big award wins. They lose the drive to keep on making more and more good movies. Take Leonardo DiCaprio, for example. Before he won the Oscar for [The Revenant], he had become a meme of sorts for not winning. Every year, he would give a phenomenal performance that would leave everyone in awe of his acting prowess. But after his win, he didn’t do a single film for the next four years.  

Strangely, I didn’t feel this fatigue after my Oscar win, but now I am after the Tony.  

“What’re you thinking?” Emma Watson asked curiously as she sat beside me on a chair on the set of [Prisoner of Azkaban].  

“Nothing,” I shook my head off of the useless thoughts. “Stuff. Ignore it. What about you? How are your studies going?”  

“They’re fine,” She harrumphed. “Honestly, Troy, how did you manage to skip so many classes? I’m not even studying for my A-levels yet and I’m already knackered with the workload.”  

“That’s simple,” I smiled. “I’m not trying to score the best marks in the world, because I don’t intend to go to university.”  

“You should,” she said seriously. “I’ve heard university is an entirely different experience. Right now you can go there, but when you grow up, you will regret it for the rest of your life if you don’t.”  

I snorted, “I doubt it.”

Before we could continue the conversation, Alfonso Cuaron walked over with two boys following behind him. Jamie and Evan. Jamie, because he was a little late on set today and had just come out from his trailer, and Evan because he had decided that the best place to learn filmmaking was on the set of [Harry Potter] from a professional filmmaker like Alfonso Cuaron.

“Are you kids ready?” Alfonso asked the three of us actors. Evan was silently standing behind Alfonso, observing everything.

“Do we really have to do this?” I asked dejectedly as Alfonso handed us each a piece of paper.

“You don’t have to do this right this moment,” he clarified. “I want you to think about your character and their motivations. Were we starting with the first film, it would be a different thing, where I would guide you on what your characters feel and think. But currently, you know more about Harry, Ron, and Hermione than probably even Jo Rowling does. That’s all you have to do. Write down all you can think about your character from the first two films and where they stand before we begin the third film. Take your time and give it to me by tomorrow.” Then he turned to Evan and said, “Come on, Evan. We have to set up the scene while they brainstorm their essays.”

“Essay?” I mouthed to Jamie as Alfonso and Evan left the scene. I’m not really a fan of creative writing.

“Let’s just write a page,” Jamie said weakly. Clearly, he didn’t like this homework either.

“Don’t do that,” Emma chided Jamie with a slight smirk. “Aren’t you the older one among us? You should write at least twice as much as I can. And I’m planning to write a big essay. At least five pages.”

“By that logic,” Jamie said, “Troy should write thrice of yours since he is done with his schooling.”

“No,” I shook my head. “I’m writing as Harry. He is not the most bookish kid, so I’ll do only enough to get a passing grade.”

Hearing my argument, Jamie grinned, “Ron wouldn’t even do his homework unless he can copy it off of Hermione.” He then turned to Emma with a grin.

“Absolutely not!” Emma said heatedly. “You will do your homework. I won’t be the only one to finish the work.”

I laughed at their antics before changing the topic, “Let’s leave it be for now. We can do this at home since this is our homework. Let’s practice our scene for the day.”

(Break)

“Let me get this straight. Sirius Black broke out from Azkaban to come after you?” Jamie asked me in character.

“Yeah,” I said somberly.

“But they’ll catch Black, won’t they?” Emma asked hesitantly. “I mean, everyone’s looking for him.”

“Sure,” Jamie said sarcastically. “Except no one’s ever broken out of Azkaban before… and he’s a murderous, raving lunatic.”

“Thanks, Ron,” I said with equal sarcasm. “That reassures me a lot.”

Suddenly, the carriage we were in shook wildly before coming to a halt. Jamie stood up and looked out of the window, which had a green screen outside.

“Why are we stopping?” Emma asked no one in particular. “We can’t be there yet.”

I stood up to get out of the carriage to see what was happening when the carriage shook wildly once more, and I fell back on my seat.

“What’s going on!?” Jamie said in a panicked voice as he looked out of the window again. There was a pause of a few moments before he said, “There’s something moving out there. I think someone’s coming aboard.”

The carriage shook wildly once again as the window fogged up with ice within a matter of seconds. Then the door to our compartment opened as a floating black figure stood in the way. The figure was not the final product of what the audience would see because a lot of CGI would be added to it later on. What I saw was a big black teddy bear sort of figure that was more comical than menacing. I suppressed the urge to laugh and tried to remain in character.

“Cut!” Alfonso’s voice rang inside the set before he walked over to me. “Troy, you need to show more fear of the unknown. You have to act as if you are afraid of this…creature in front of you. You seem as if you are one breath away from laughing.”

I couldn’t suppress my laughter anymore, nor could my fellow actors. After a couple of moments, I turned to our director, “I’m so sorry for laughing, Alfonso. But have you seen this dementor wannabe? This is not scary at all.”

“I know,” Alfonso agreed with me patiently. “But we need to show your fear. Think that you’re working on a horror film. Like that tent scene you did in [The Sixth Sense]. I want the same reaction from you in this scene.”

It felt like such a distant thing. We had shot [The Sixth Sense] more than three years ago.

Meanwhile, David Thewlis, who played Remus Lupin, took off the jacket he had draped over himself and said, “Everything okay, kids?”

“Yeah,” I reassured him before taking a deep breath. I’m a professional actor, and I can do this. Despite how funny that dementor figure was, I can’t half-ass this scene. I remember watching the original film series and thinking that this was the defining scene that turned the series from a happy kids’ film into the serious, dark film series it became.

Time to show everyone that all my awards weren’t just for show.

“Action!”

This time when the figure of the dementor entered the cabin, I forgot that this was a toy figure at all. For me, this was my worst nightmare. The worst creature there could be that was here to snuff the light out of me. I bent forward, just as Alfonso had coached me earlier, as if my soul was being sucked right out of my body. I heaved my chest out and arched my back. I felt good about this scene. I felt this would come out to be one of my best scenes in the series so far, only for Alfonso to shout, “Cut!”

I stopped and came down to my normal posture before looking at Alfonso for guidance, who didn’t look that happy.

“Troy,” he said slowly. “This is not exactly what I had in mind. Can you perhaps tone it down a little?”

“Tone it down?” I asked incredulously. In my opinion, I was doing a great job with this scene.

“Yes,” he said emphatically. “You look like you were being tortured. Like that ‘Crucio’ curse from the fourth book. Keep your face as blank as you can.”

“Okay,” I said reluctantly.

“Cut! Let’s do it one more time.”

“Cut! Troy, let’s calm down a little, yeah?”

“Cut! That’s too little, Troy. I need some real passion from you.”

In the end, I was so frustrated with Alfonso that before he could say “Action” one more time, I got up and walked over to my trailer. The entire crew stood in silence as I ignored them all. I closed the door behind me with a loud bang and plopped down on the sofa in anguish.

Why was this happening to me? Why was I unable to get such a simple shot passed by one of the most acclaimed directors of all time? There must be something wrong with me.

Before I could agonize any further, the door to my trailer opened, and in walked my brother, who looked hesitant.

“Are you okay, Troy?” he asked.

“Can’t you see? Of course, I’m okay!” I snapped at him and then immediately regretted my words. He didn’t deserve this from me. “I’m sorry, Evan. It’s just that… I’m having a bad acting day. Alfonso isn’t making it any easier for me.”

He stepped in front of me and put both his hands on my shoulders before saying, “It’s okay. You are doing fine. Some directors just need more takes than your usual directors. You can’t blame Alfonso for trying to get your best performance out.”

I hated that Evan was being so logical.

“Everyone on the set is relying on you, Troy,” he continued undeterred. “If a makeup person is missing, someone else can take their spot. Similarly, for lights, cameras, heck, even the director can be changed temporarily. But you are absolute. You are the face of the film, and so many people rely on you to make a living. Don’t let them down like this.”

Evan knew just the words to say to make me guilty as hell.

I looked towards the door of my trailer before saying, “How will I go back on set now? Everyone will think I’m a spoiled brat.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Evan smiled. “I made an excuse for you and told Alfonso that you will be out in 10 minutes.”

I smiled back at him in gratitude, “Thanks, Evan. Now I know for sure that one day you will become a great director.”

He waved off my praise before getting up. “Are you coming?”

“Sure,” I got up after him and followed him back to the set.

I saw Alfonso talking to a crew member. I knew I had made a mistake by acting like a child, so I walked up to him and apologized, “I’m so sorry, Alfonso.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he reassured me. “I had a bad case of diarrhea myself just last month, so I know it can be agonizing. It’s good that you came on set despite that. Don’t worry, we’ll take it slow for today.”

I shot a withering glare at my brother for making such a lame excuse, who shrugged helplessly. I turned back to Alfonso with a resigned sigh, “Thank you for understanding. Do we need to redo the dementor scene?”

“No,” Alfonso shook his head. “I rewatched all your takes while you were gone, and I found one which was just perfect. It didn’t seem so when I watched it live, but it looks good on a screen. Let’s do the next scene when you wake up after passing out.”

I wish I could say that everything was smooth sailing from that point on, but it took some time to get to that point. While Alfonso was a visionary director and a genius filmmaker with an astute sense of camera placement, all his movies till now were small to mid-budget, so it was understandable for him to adjust to working on [Harry Potter] gradually.

And adjust he did.

Within a week, everyone had formed a tacit understanding of sorts. From cameramen to the sound team to VFX, everyone got to know how Alfonso worked. His way might be a little different than Chris Columbus’, but he was good. While Chris liked to use traditional camera angles held by cameramen for shooting a scene, Alfonso many times took the camera in his own hands and followed us actors while shooting the scene as if he was making a small indie film, not a big-budget Hollywood film, and that changed the entire outcome of shooting and for the better.

(Bonus Scene)

“This is Troy Armitage’s first Tony nomination and win. At the age of 13, he is the youngest person ever to win a Tony award in a leading category,” a female voice announced in the background as I took the stage and was handed my award by Anne Heche.

“Thank you so much to the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing for this tremendous honor,” I said in the mic while holding on to my latest trophy. “I wish I could say that this was all me, but that would be the biggest lie. First and foremost, I’d like to thank my first vocal teacher Paul Tanner, who inspired me to sing and do musical songs. Toni Collette, thank you for inspiring me to be a ballet dancer. You are responsible for this.” I pointed at the trophy before continuing. “My parents, who stood beside me every step of the way and left behind their life in London just so I could perform here. My brother Evan, Stephen Daldry, Peter Darling, Elton John, Lee Hall, our producers of the original movie, and all the crew behind the scenes who worked on the show to make it the success it has been. Thank you so much. Last but not least, thank you to the audience who came to see our show after the shit year that had been 2001.”

Huge applause erupted from the audience as I was escorted backstage for media interviews.

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AN: Hi! As usual, I would love some suggestions or feedback about the story. Technically, I have it planned out in its entirety till the completion of Harry Potter, but I need some smaller (or larger) conflicts to act as road bumps in Troy’s journey. Any and all suggestions would be welcome.