DOS Ch-351

“Ryan! What the hell are you doing there!? Your job is to hold that equipment over there! Don’t you dare ruin the shot now!”

Ryan felt all the blood leave his face as soon as he heard the reprimand from the first AD. It was just his first month working at Phoenix Studios, and he had already messed up a few times. He was sure that with one more fuck-up on his hands, he’d be out on the streets.

“Calm down, Terry,” the director of the film, Evan Spader, who was even younger than Ryan, said in a calm, cool tone. “We still have some time. No need to pressure our interns unnecessarily.”

Terry seemed like he had a few choice words to say, but thankfully, he didn’t. He just gave Ryan a look, and Ryan got the hint, immediately rushing to his assigned spot with the equipment.

As everyone waited for the cast to get ready for the scene, Ryan couldn’t help but think about how things had gone wrong for him. He had been over the moon when he received an offer for an internship from Phoenix, arguably the biggest film studio in the world right now. His classmates at USC had gone to work with different studios like Disney, Universal, and CBS, and all of them had been jealous of him.

If only they knew that the job mostly involved hauling things from point A to point B. It felt stupid and pointless for a graduate in film studies from one of the best film schools in the world. Not even the chance to see Troy Armitage up close was enough to make this job worthwhile, especially when Terry had warned him not to approach or start a conversation with any actors, least of all Troy, unless it was strictly related to work.

Sure, he had learned a lot from observing the set of [Hacksaw Ridge] these last two weeks, but nothing beat the opportunity to grab a camera.

“I can’t wait for this stupid internship to end,” he muttered to himself. “I’m already tired of this whole fucking thing.”

“I hope I’m not the reason you’re tired of this ‘whole fucking thing’?” a man with a thick southern accent asked.

Ryan almost jumped out of his skin. He turned around immediately, only to receive the biggest shock of his life. Standing in front of him was none other than Troy Armitage, the biggest superstar in the world, and the owner of Phoenix Inc.

“Fuck,” he cursed automatically before realising his mistake. “Shit! I’m sorry for cursing, Mr. Armitage. I just didn’t expect you to notice me, let alone talk to me.”

“It’s Troy,” he said in a no-nonsense tone. “And I don’t mind the cursing. I’m not an 80-year-old grandma. And why wouldn’t I notice you? Are you invisible? Because I can see you just fine.”

Ryan opened his mouth to say something, but he couldn’t find the words. Millions of people across the globe would give anything to meet Troy just once, but he couldn’t find a single word to say.

“Are they ready to shoot, or will it take some time?” Troy asked after a few seconds.

“I think they’ll take some time,” Ryan finally found his voice. “Everyone’s getting ready for the training scene, which I’m told will be intense.”

“Of course it’ll be intense,” Troy insisted. “This scene is one of the reasons I’ve been training my ass off for` months now.”

Ryan found the whole conversation weird in more ways than he had imagined from a multi-billionaire superstar.

“So,” Troy continued after a moment, “you have me at a disadvantage because you know me, but I don’t know you.”

“Ryan Coogler,” he replied, offering a handshake. “An intern and a recent graduate from USC film school.”

Troy shook his hand before taking in his appearance more closely. Ryan felt self-conscious about his attire, which mostly consisted of cheap Target clothes, but he didn’t flinch under the scrutinizing gaze.

“I’m curious about something,” Troy met his gaze again. “Don’t take it the wrong way, but why the fuck are you here, Ryan? Shouldn’t a budding filmmaker like you be out there making experimental films on your own until you prove yourself to the world?”

Ryan laughed bitterly. Of course, someone like Troy wouldn’t understand something that basic.

“I have a huge debt to pay off, thanks to the loan I took to complete film school,” he replied honestly. “And Phoenix is paying me good money to haul stuff, so of course I agreed to do this job. It helps that I get to see how things are really done behind the scenes. When I’m not drowning in debt, I’ll direct some experimental films. I have a lot of ideas that I want to turn into movies.”

Troy hummed noncommittally before saying, “Tell me about one such idea.”

Ryan thought about which one to share, then decided to go with one that was public knowledge, so Troy couldn’t steal one of his original ideas. “I had this idea to make a movie about the life of Oscar Grant, who was killed in Oakland last year by the police, just for being black.”

Troy stared at him in silence for a few seconds before turning around and waving at someone. Within a minute, another man came toward them, someone Ryan had seen around Troy a lot but didn’t know.

“Benji,” Troy called out, “I need you to give Ryan your contact info.” Then he turned to Ryan and said, “Let’s see if you’re all bark or if you’ve got some bite as well. When you have a fully fleshed-out project plan, complete with a script, call Benji. If I like your plan, I’ll finance your first feature film.”

“But we just met,” Ryan said, dumbfounded.

“And I’m not offering to make your film right now. This is an offer to see if you’re as capable a storyteller as you’re claiming to be. If I don’t like your script, I won’t invest in you. Is that fair?”

Ryan could only nod dumbly. Getting such an offer from Troy Armitage was huge. He took back all his griping about his job, because this was an opportunity he couldn’t have received anywhere else. Even if he had been working within Phoenix on another movie or even in corporate, he wouldn’t have gotten this chance.

“Alright,” Troy nodded back. “Now let’s focus on the actual work for the film.”

With that, Troy moved toward the other actors for the scene. Only then did it hit Ryan that Troy hadn’t dropped his southern accent yet, the one his character used in the film. As an aspiring filmmaker, he had always thought Troy was a little overhyped, but seeing the dedication with which he embodied the character, he now knew that wasn’t the case.

(Break)

I jumped in place a few times to loosen my body from the stiffness. I was aware that almost the entire crew was looking at me, but I didn’t care much. I had long gotten used to the stares and whispers that followed my presence. Was it normal? Heck no. But what could I even do? Ask my employees not to look me in the eye? That was asshole behavior that many actors and celebrities like Ellen followed, but not me.

“You ready for this scene, Troy?” asked the man in the strange situation standing beside me, who was my brother-in-law in all but name.

What was strange about his situation was his attire, or lack thereof, except for a modesty pouch covering his junk.

“Are you sure you and Evan aren’t having some kind of fight?” I asked Jonathan seriously. “Because there’s no way in hell I would cast Scarlett in the only role in the movie that requires her to get naked.”

Jonathan laughed freely, uncaring of his lack of clothing, and said, “Nah, he offered me a bunch of roles, actually. I wanted the role that went to Henry, but apparently, I’m not very good at looking mean enough for that role. Other than that, I could take any role I wanted. I chose this one because it’s the most memorable one.”

I had to give credit to Evan where it was due. He could have easily given Jonathan the much bigger role of Smitty, who was essentially my rival in the movie, but instead, he gave it to Henry Cavill simply because it suited him better. That alone showed me that Evan wouldn’t compromise on his vision for the movie, even when his boyfriend was competing for the role.

The reason Jonathan was naked right now was because his character, Hollywood, had a very memorable scene in the movie where he was forced to drill like that, since he was in his birthday suit when the drill sergeant, Howell, played by Tom Hardy, came in for a surprise inspection.

“I just don’t get nudity and sex on screen,” Henry Cavill joined the conversation casually. “I did some scenes like that for [Tudor], and that was the single most uncomfortable thing I’ve ever done on film.”

I shook hands with him in greeting. Before we started this movie, I hadn’t seen him for a while, except briefly when we called the entire cast and crew of all HP films for a reunion party. But back on this set, we had gone back to being the buddies we were while filming [Goblet of Fire].

“I think it depends on how comfortable you are with it,” I added conversationally. “For me, as an actor, if the story requires my character to do those scenes, then I have to do them. If I can’t, for some reason, I won’t take the role. I know I speak from a place of privilege, and I can choose the type of roles I wanna do, but many times, I see prominent actors taking up such roles when they can easily do something else.”

Henry quietly thought about it for a while before saying, “I hadn’t thought of it that way, but now that I have, it does make sense.”

“I don’t mind either way,” Jonathan piped in. “I’ve done [Spring Awakening] on Broadway, and in that show, I’m having sex butt naked on stage in front of hundreds of people daily. This is pretty tame in comparison.”

Henry then turned to me and said in a serious voice, “I wanted a bit of your advice, Troy.”

Sensing Henry’s need to speak to me alone, Jonathan gave me a quick nod and walked away.

“What’s up, man?” I asked when it was just the two of us.

He paused for a bit, thinking it through, before saying, “I’ve been offered a role that I can’t tell you about without breaking confidentiality.”

“Okay,” I nodded. “And?”

“It’s the lead role in a very big IP, and they’ve been delaying the project for some reason. It was meant to begin shooting by May, but it was delayed to December. Now it has been delayed again until next year’s summer. The reason I joined the cast so late was that I didn’t know myself that I’d be free right now.”

Ah. So Warner had already offered him [Man of Steel]. The DCEU was another shitshow that I would’ve avoided as an actor at all costs, even if I were desperate for a role and had nothing going for me.

“What do you want my advice on?” I asked.

“Should I continue waiting for them to get the film on the floor, or should I take up some other role? I’ve been offered a few good ones, but nothing as big as that one.”

Now that was a tricky question. If I had to decide for myself, it was a no-brainer, but I was in a position of privilege. In the original timeline, had Henry not done [Man of Steel], no one would’ve known him. Even in this timeline, it was more or less the same. Sure, he played Cedric Diggory, but other than Potterheads, no one else knew him.

“It depends on what you want from your career,” I said after a moment. “If you want a little anonymity and want to be able to go anywhere or do whatever you want, then don’t take the role. If you want to be the actor who leads films for the rest of your life and gets paid big bucks, take this role without even thinking, even if they make you wait a year for it. [The Sixth Sense] gave me a lot of exposure, but if it weren’t for [Harry Potter], no one would know me the way they do today. At the end of the day, the decision is yours alone. No one can tell you what to do and what not to do.”

Henry nodded slowly, taking everything in like a sponge.

“Thanks, Troy,” he said after a moment. “You’ve given me a lot to think about.”

“Glad to be of help,” I smiled at him.

Before our conversation could continue, our director joined us.

“You guys seem ready for the scene.”

“I am,” I agreed. “Don’t know about Henry here.”

“I’m all ready to whoop your ass in this scene.”

I laughed and playfully shoved him back. “If I remember correctly, it’ll be me whooping your ass in the drills.”

“Boys,” Evan interrupted. “Let’s focus on the scene here.”

He then pointed at the boot camp set built for the film. “Troy, you’ll be running slightly behind Henry, and Henry, you have to constantly push him back bit by bit so you can stay in the front. That is, until the very last stretch, when Troy will overtake you, but only marginally. Sounds good?”

This was a drill I could do in my sleep, mostly because we had been practicing similar runs for nearly a month now. The reason was that Evan had decided to take a leaf out of Alfonso Cuaron’s handbook and make this scene a one-take, which meant no cuts from beginning to end. To some extent, I think oners are a gimmick, but it’s a gimmick that works. Be it critics, the audience, or even people from the industry, everyone loves a well-executed oner. It also shows a director’s ability to handle a long scene without making it boring.

“Ready to begin?” Evan asked as we all took our positions at the starting line. All of us were in similar training garb, with the exception of Jonathan.

“Action!”

And just like that, I was Private Desmond Doss again. I began running as if my life depended on it, with a steadicam operator following closely behind me.

“Cut!” It had barely been five seconds, and the voice made me stop in my tracks. “Troy, you overtook Henry. Match his pace. The scene has just begun, so I can stop it now. Later, it’ll be difficult to redo because you’ll all be rolling in the mud. So try to make everything as efficient as possible in this next take.”

“Sorry!” I yelled back before returning to the starting line.

“Action!”

This time, I kept Evan’s instructions in mind. I ran alongside Henry, just a step behind him. In character, he kept glancing at me every few seconds. I crossed a ladder, then ran across the field, and just as I was about to dive into the mud, I heard it again.

“Cut!”

I stopped myself just in time before I could dive face-first into the mud. It was only then that I realized why the cut had been called. Henry Cavill was lying about ten feet behind me. He must have lost his footing or tripped on something, which made the take unusable.

sigh

I fucking hated oners.