Chapter 266: Casting Trouble.

[Edward POV]

"So we have 4 main characters." Paige said as she touched her glasses, standing by the whiteboard inside the same room we had our discussions in. She continued as she turned towards me and the director who were sitting at the table, "We need to cast them as soon as possible."

 "The main lead, 'Tom Ryder' was the easiest one to get. But we still need to cast the other actors quickly." Director Judd interjected.

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, "Why? The filming starts a week in December. We still have time. Also, I'm only here to meet RG. Please stop pulling me into the room."

"To be fair, you were pushed in instead of pulled." Judd teased. I sighed as I remembered Renaldo and Pepper 'forcing' me into the room while they went to see the documentary interview. Clicking on my pen several times, I circled the supporting actress role, Bryanna– the girl which the younger brother– Colt Seavers, has a crush on.

"Vanessa can do this. And I think she wants to. There's no schedule conflict, so we can cast her and save some money." I said with a chuckle.

Paige just nodded but Judd reacted weirdly, "Hudgens huh…It's a shame what happened to her."

I raised my eyebrow as I let him continue speaking. Judd said, "Since she's going to be in the movie, can we make the character Indian? Then, at the last scene, we can have a misunderstanding trope where the younger brother thought she was going to India, but she's actually going to Indiana."

"She's not Indian though." I shook my head while my face was filled with confusion.

Judd was puzzled, "She's not?"

"She's Filipino-American. Wait, Half Filipino American." I explained. "Ahh!" Judd nodded in understanding before changing the subject, "I don't have any contacts with anyone fitting the character description. So we have to do this the old way, by auditioning."

"That wouldn't be a problem. A lot of artists are lining up for the audition." Renaldo suddenly burst into the room, giddy and giggling as he managed to meet with the actor of his favorite film, 'The Notebook'. 

"Really?" I asked with some interest, "How did they know about the film?" 

Everyone was silent for a while, and Judd scratched his cheek in embarrassment. "That might be my fault. I told my wife about it. I have no idea she's with her friends. And then it spreads."

"That's fine. It made our jobs easier." I said casually. Judd smirked mischievously and said, "You have no idea how these kinds of things usually go, am I right? An Oscar buzz is not a joke. And especially for the role of the leading woman, god the whole afternoon would be… bloody. And oh, Edward. Pepper told you to play the role of the brother."

"Fine." I replied casually. I suddenly stood up from my seat and said, "I think that's my cue to leave. I still have a script to read and a criminal to catch."

Paige scoffed and asked, "I'm not sure which one I should focus on. The script or the criminal."

"Both are intriguing topics." Judd added. "So we'll split one question each." He said as he shared a nod with Paige.

"What script?" Paige asked.

"Who's the criminal?" Judd asked.

I smirked and said, "A superhero movie script. For some reason RDJ sent me the Thor movie script and told me to read about it. The criminal is a pothead brunette who promised to fly over here next week for Thanksgiving, but she's blowing me off, so I'm going to get the police to stop by her house and scare her."

"Fly from where– Pothead? Isn't that Max?" Renaldo guessed it correctly.

"Who's Max?" Both the director and Paige asked in confusion.

Renaldo ignored them and asked me worriedly, "You're going to send a cop to her house? She'll get a life sentence! That's too much of a punishment for blowing you off."

"Well, then she'll learn a lesson in that regard won't she?" I smiled devilishly. Judd interrupted me, "Before you go, I need to confess something."

"What is it?" I asked.

"I kinda told Gosling that the script is ready." He replied sheepishly. Paige's temper flared up, "You DID WHAT?!"

"Calm down Paige. Calm down. Take a deep breath." Renaldo placated her, and she slowly calmed herself down.

"To convince him?" I asked Judd as I glanced warily at the easily angered woman. Judd also glanced at Paige, but his glance was apologetic, "As a lure."

I turned to Paige and said, "I know I have given you a deadline to complete it, and I promise you that I'm standing by my words. So you don't have to worry about it."

After calming herself down, Paige replied, "Honestly…I had already written it until the last act. I'm only stuck at the ending."

Judd was extremely impressed, "After a day?! How is that possible?"

Paige was also confused when she replied, "For some reason, I received an email containing all of the notes about our meeting yesterday from someone named Robin. I used that to rework the entire script, so the work is pretty fast."

"So you haven't slept?" I teased with a smile as I suddenly felt a sense of camaraderie with her for having similar work ethics as me.

With a deep eye bag, she said, "I had some…maybe."

"You can go home and get some rest if you want." Judd said casually. "I'll just narrow down the actresses to 5 people, and you guys can be here for the final screen tests."

"That would work." I nodded my head in agreement. Paige nodded her head too, but she said, "I'll just take a nap someplace, and I'll join the casting call after that."

"You can use Edward's office. There's a bed there, and you can roll down the blinds completely, turning the room completely dark." Renaldo said. "Of course, if Edward's is fine with it." He turned towards me as he asked for my permission.

"Sure. I'm not using it anyway." I replied casually. "Also, as an apology for my action, I think I can manage to get Steve Carell to cameo in this as their father for merely a few bucks…sort of." 

My eyes widened, "That's great!"

He nodded in satisfaction, "I thought you'd like that."

"Wait. Steve…Hmm…The Office…John Krasinski…" My mind raced for a while before I asked, "Is there anyone named Emily Blunt auditioning for the role?" 

Renaldo took out a piece of paper and said, "Let me check…Yes! There is! Why did you ask?"

"Well I just thought she'll be suitable for the role. Tell me how she did in the audition later." I said before I left the room. As I walked to the set, RG was already gone. He and his agent went to Pepper's office to discuss the script and contract together with Harvey. 

Although I wanted to meet him, I focused on reading the script RDJ gave me first. It was printed out by a staff member, and I read it inside an empty room in the building. As I read the script, I noticed that there was no difference in the movie's details compared to my previous life. 

It took me only half an hour to go through the thick script as I was pretty much skimming through all of it. Then, I texted RDJ. He suddenly called me and greeted playfully, "How are you, Mr I-don't-believe-you've-read-all-of-it."

"I'm fine, what about you, Mr I-can't-read-longer-than-one-page-per-hour?"

"Shut it. I can read just fine." He protested before he said, "Why don't you swing by the set. Jon and Feige are here."

"Can I just walk in? You guys are filming right?" I asked carefully. "Not all of the superheroes if that's what you're talking about. This one is just me and Paltrow.. Oh, and Gregg."

"So Pepper, and Agent Coulson. Is it the starting scene?" I asked curiously.

RDJ said curtly, "Yeah. Wait– They are calling me. Come here quickly. I also want to talk to you about your new movie."

"I'll be there in half an hour." I replied as I ended the call.

…

Driving to Marvel studios, I wore a gray jacket and my hair was tied up and styled like Geto from Jujutsu Kaisen anime. The hairstyle was a choice I made after realizing that my hair had gotten quite long, and I'd probably need to have a haircut soon.

The security at the guardhouse brightened up as my car stopped at the gate. I had to get a security check before I could drive my car into the studio's parking lot, which ended the second he saw my face.

"Mr Newgate! Dude, I love League of Legend!" He said as he ran to the room and grabbed his laptop to show the screen. He was playing the game inside the guard house while working, which made me chuckle. 

"What rank are you?" I asked with interest.

He grinned and said, "I just got to Silver!"

That was the second to last rank, barely after the beginner Iron rank. However, I need to remind you that the game was just released. For a casual gamer, getting to Silver was an accomplishment. 

"Here. You can redeem the code." I said as I showed him a code on my phone. Startled, he quickly typed in the code to redeem it and his face gleamed after he saw that he got a new skin for a character.

"THANK YOU!!" He said loudly. "Also, it is presumptuous of me to ask when you already gave me the code…But Can you sign my laptop?"

"Sure." I replied casually and signed his HP laptop with a black marker. He didn't keep me long and let me into the studio directly after that, even getting me the valet service– a golf cart that would drive the actors and actresses around the giant space of Hollywood sets.

RDJ's manager was waiting for me at the door of the Marvel studio's set. I knew the guy, so he let me inside easily. The shoot didn't drag for long. I met with Russo's brother after the scene ended, and RDJ brought me to meet with Kevin Feige after that.

"He read the script." He said as soon as we walked into Kevin's office. Jon Favreau was also there, looking as confused as I am. Feige greeted with a smile, "Hi. What do you think about the movie script?"

"So, no foreplay huh? You just got right into it- O-okay?" RDJ smirked before he shut up after getting a look from Feige. He chuckled as he crossed his arms together and rested his ass on the rack on the side of the office.

 I smiled and sat next to Jon before saying, "Overall, it's a solid script. It gave me some Shakespearean vibes."

Kevin smiled before he sighed disappointedly, "That's all?"

"Well, there are some parts in which I think can be a little better." I added with a shrug.

Kevin's eyes lit up. "Which part?"

"Do you want me to do the work for free?" I teased. "I'll give you executive credit for the movie." Kevin suddenly said.

Jon and RDJ were surprised. I, however, didn't really care about it. "I don't need that. Tell me why you sent the script to me first, then I'll tell you why I think about it."

Kevin said seriously, "Believe me, in this case, it'll be best for the 4 of us, if you told me what you think about the movie first."

All three of us were confused. Then, I shrugged casually and said, "Alright, I have a couple of notes about the movie.

"I'll stick with the big issues first. The trope of using a lover to be an anchor for a god's ties with humanity. Albeit not on purpose, they showed this in the Superman movie. They focused it too much on the hero and the damsel, which made people think that Superman only cares about Lois Lane.

"Thor is not Superman. He has a certain arrogance to him. He is an actual god after all. Which made the issue even worse. The script only shows him like what? Getting a drink with Selvig, and having a short scene with Jane Foster, then he falls in love with her, and then a few days later, he was prepared to sacrifice himself for all of the people in the town?

"It'll make sense if he just wants to save the three of the humans, and maybe his friends."

Kevin finally interjected, "If I may cut in here. He sacrificed himself to stop the conflict, which made him finally grow as a character and become worthy again. He finally views life as sacred–"

I cut him off, "I get that. In fact, I like the character development of both Thor and Loki. I just think that it was quite rushed. He hadn't had anything to show that he had grown into the character he was in the ending, before he sacrificed himself. It just showed him and Jane flirting. He was supposed to be in mourning. He just lost his father and was exiled from everything he knows.

"I'd love to see how he slowly grows into the character, and him realizing that there are more ways to solve a conflict other than using his fist…or a hammer." I said as I turned to Jon, who was nodding as he heard my statement. 

Kevin fell into a deep thought before he asked Jon, "Do you feel the same way?"

"Don't look at me. I just started reading it this morning. I haven't even gotten to 20 pages yet." Jon said dismissively before he added, "But if I were you, I'd believe the kid."

"Anything else Edward? REALLY gave it to him. Make him regret that he ever wants to ask your opinion." RDJ joked.

Kevin leaned in backward and chuckled, "Actually, I have similar thoughts. But like he said, you should continue Mr Newgate."

"Just call me Edward, or simply, Ed. Alright, let's talk about Jane Foster. She's supposed to be this extremely smart astrophysicist, but what's with the sudden IQ drop when she meets Thor?"

After a thorough discussion, which took us about 3 hours to finish, Kevin sighed in exhaustion and said, "Thank you! Now, we can do the Iron Man movie reshoots."

Jon and RDJ were extremely confused, "What?"

I widened my eyes and asked, "Seriously?"

Kevin smiled tiredly and said, "Yeah. I just need to see if you really have a vision. It'll make things easier for me when I tell the Disney executives about it."

"Tell, not convince?" RDJ teased.

"I'm already convinced. I don't care if they will." Kevin said with a flex in his tone. "By the way, the Thor movie isn't starting filming yet, so I'll revise the script. You know, this makes it 2 production credits to your name."

"4." I replied. "I got one in my company's new movie and the TV series Breaking Bad too."

"4 production credits, and you're barely 15…You're a monstrous little dude, you know that?" RDJ said with amazement.

I turned to him weirdly and said, "Little? I'm taller than you."

"Nuh-UH!" RDJ shook his finger at me. "We'll not mention that, ever!"

Kevin left soon after to go and discuss the matter of the reshoot of Iron Man 2, and the reworks of the Thor movie script with the director–Kenneth Branagh. How would he react to a sudden change in the script? I didn't really care about it as it was Feige's troubles, not mine.

RDJ and Jon drank some whiskey in a good mood after the discussion was over. We talked about my company's upcoming movie for a bit, and I told them the plans for the movie. After listening to the entire thing, RDJ was intrigued and asked, "Wait, so…The dad in the first scene, will give birth to Gosling and you?"

"Yeah, Apatow wants to get Steve Carell for it." I replied casually, thinking that it was just a normal question.

"Wait, no! I'll be him." RDJ said with a chuckle. Wasn't sure if he was serious about it, I smirked and said, "I don't think it'll be good for you."

"Why is that?" He asked.

"Believe me, I'm not trying to make fun of you when I say this, but, the dad will be quite drunk, climbed and jumped out the window after he told his son about the curse. The mother doesn't let him meet his son because of his 'bad influence'."

Jon stifled a laugh, "Sorry. Just thought it'll be too on the nose if you did it."

"I don't care. I still want it." RDJ said with a wry smile. "Yeah, I think it'll be great."

"If you're really serious, I can call the director about it now." I replied.

RDJ nodded and said, "I am. You helped us a lot. We should help you once. Even Jon will cameo if you want him in the movie."

…

[General POV]

Max's apartment building in Williamsburg. Detective Rosa Diaz and Detective Jake Peralta stopped their squad car and looked at the building with some confusion.

"That can't be right? We're getting off here?" Jake asked in confusion. Rosa nodded and spoke curtly, "This is not a police affair. I'm just doing someone a favor." Rosa left the car and jogged lightly to cross the street to get into the building.

Jake stuck his head out of the car window and shouted, "Do you want me to come with you?"

Rosa didn't reply, in which it made Jake feel obligated to follow her, "I didn't receive an answer, so I'm going to follow you!"

Rosa knocked on the door of Max's house. Max asked, "Who is it?"

"Detective Rosa Diaz, NYPD– Shit, Um, I'm Diaz. I'm a friend of your friend, Edward Newgate." Rosa shouted hurriedly.

Max, who was trying to escape through the back door, stopped midway and said, "Um, give me a second to clean the place up." She took her baggie of weed, and threw it to the streets before opening up the door.

Max opened the door slowly, and asked carefully, "Don't you need a warrant to enter?"

"This is not official business. I don't care what you have in your apartment." Diaz said. Max studied her face and brightened up, opening the door fully at the same time, "Hey I know you. You're the one who protected Edward."

Diaz smiled and said, "Yeah, that's me."

"Come on in." Max invited her into the house. Jake Peralta yelled from afar, "Hey, wait for me!"

"Jake, why did you follow me?" Rosa asked with irritation. Jake sighed helplessly and said, "Because you never told me to stay in the car. I thought you needed some backup."

Jake and Max's gazes suddenly met, and the air turned awkward. Rosa caught it and asked, "What's with the look? What happened to you guys?"

"Nothing happened. Just an innocent man's heart getting toyed with, and then thrown to the side." Jake sniffled a bit.

Max rolled her eyes and said, "We slept together, one time!"

"But we did it 3 times, and you make me imagine our lives together." Jake said.

Max chuckled and insulted, "Well that's on you. I told you from the beginning we are only going to do this once."

"Stop ignoring me and forcing me to hear this romance crap." Rosa said with a physical repulsion on the topic. Rosa turned to Max and said, "You should answer his messages and calls, otherwise he'll send you to jail."

Suddenly, a skinny blonde woman, Caroline Channing, who was a rich billionaire, but her father was arrested for Ponzi Scheme, walked through the hallways and stopped in front of the door where everyone was talking.

"What– Oh, damn it. I meant to call him." Max muttered with some worries. Rosa said curtly, "Now that I've sent your message, Bye."

As Rosa turned, she bumped into Caroline who smiled at her. "Hi!" Caroline greeted cheerfully. "Are you guys with the NYPD? Are you here to find me about my dad's case?"

"What?" Rosa was confused. Jake widened his eyes, and said to Max in amazement, "You live here…But, Wow, I didn't think that someone who knows Edward Newgate, also knows a Channing–"

Max quickly covered Jake's mouth, surprising him. Caroline's smile turned upside down, and her cheerful face turned into that of contempt. "Newgate? You're talking about Edward Newgate, the one who reported my father, and made him get arrested?"

Caroline turned to Max with a betrayed expression. With a stifled sob, she said, "is that why you lend me some help? Because you feel guilty?" Caroline turned and ran away quickly.

"Wait, Caroline! NO!" Max quickly went after her to explain the whole situation. Rosa turned to Jake in disbelief and anger, "Nice Job Jake."

"How should I know that would happen?!" Jake asked in confusion and panic.

"You should've just stayed in the car!" Rosa scolded.

...

A/N: Just realized that I had posted 499 chapters in WN, combining both my previous Marvel fic and Relife! It's an incredible milestone for me considering that I had written over 500 chapters! (10 More on Patreon). It has been 2 years, 2 and a half year(?) since I started writing full time, man, time passed by really quickly.

I started writing because I had severe social anxiety after covid, and couldn't actually find a job, even dropped out of my college. Writing stories has been really enjoyable for me. And now that I realized my overall chapters had surpassed 500 chapters-- also 1.666 million words, I was really surprised at myself. Finally, I figured out why my hand hurts all the time. 

While I do not often promote my Patreon, I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to those who have supported me on this journey. Even a single month of support can make a world of difference, allowing me to continue dedicating myself to the story. Those who wanted to join in and support me can find my patreon link below;

https://www.patreon.com/relifewithkarmicgacha