Chapter 033. Audition (II) : What Is War?

Lincoln Bradley was a peculiar genius in Hollywood. He had started his career in the early 2000s with a sleeper hit that had allowed him to work with the big stars.

What was surprising about his first movie was that he was only 28, a rather young age for a director, and thus was given the title of a young genius.

This had not helped a relatively young Lincoln in the long run. Nevertheless, he had thought that it was necessary to maintain his title and thus, he made a movie every two years.

They worked too. Lincoln used all his creative juices, derived good storylines, and worked with the best actors and actresses. But in 2010, the most anticipated movie of his career [The Gene War] was released.

It was a sci-fi flick with a budget of around 150 million dollars, and it was very anticipated due to it having stars like Nick Mendes, Blake River and Zedd White - All A-listers.

The producers were even going to make it a big franchise, but the movie flopped hard, only barely reaching 25 million dollars in its lifetime.

The people who had invested in Lincoln lost their trust in him, and he got a reality check. Going back to his movies, he realised that they were just getting worse compared to his first movie because he hadn't taken enough time to flesh them out.

Because of that, he took a five-year break to work on his next movie and finally, [Shadows of War] started. Although it only had a 75 million budget which was half of his last film, Lincon was very confident in this movie.

But after completing 75 percent of the movie, Lincoln had thought that the movie was missing something. Because of that, he had included a supporting character that could make the main character go through a change in character.

It was something missing from the original script, and as he wanted a new face to play it, he held auditions.

"You can go now."

Lincoln said in a slightly irritated voice while scratching his rough beard. He was stating this to the actor who had just finished his audition.

By the tone of his voice, anyone would know that Lincoln wasn't very impressed by the audition.

"Thank you." The actor could only sigh and walk away from the stage, knowing fully well he wouldn't get the part.

After the actor left, a fat man sitting next to Lincoln patted his shoulder.

"Don't worry; you will get your actor today. We called in a lot of people."

"Frank, we have already been through so many auditions. There's not even one good guy. Most of these just have families from South Asia and have never even gone there. So how could they play a guy from there?"

Lincoln said, frowning. Frank was one of the producers from Zero International who was watching over the movie production. But even he was a bit frustrated due to them not getting a single good actor till now.

"You know, we can just get a white actor to play one? It's not hard with makeup, and if you really want authenticity, we can get one from Bollywood. They have good actors, more or less."

Frank suggested, but it was a suggestion that Lincoln had already heard a lot of times.

"No, we won't do a white guy playing an Asian. That's just bad and doesn't make sense, and I want an unknown face so the public doesn't see the actor but the character."

Franklin shook his head hearing that and decided not to speak anything about this until Lincoln made up his mind. It was difficult to give any suggestions to stubborn directors like him.

'Let's hope we get someone to play the part today.'

He thought, praying in his heart.

***

'There's a lot of actors here.'

Aiden thought, sitting in the big room. In front of him and beside him, there were a lot of actors, and he could clearly see that only those from South Asia were called.

It had been an hour since he sat here, and until now, many actors had been called upon to audition.

'It seems like the director is very clear about his vision. The character is South Asian, and it's probably a movie related to war or a battlefield, going by the title.'

Thinking that he looked at the script he had been given. It was pretty thin, with only one scene written on it. And it was hard for him to say whether this scene was from the movie or not.

Often, actors would just get a monologue similar to the actual script to perform.

Aiden felt like it was the same with the script he had received. Thinking that he opened up his system.

___

[Aiden Silvereye] [24 years]

[Singing level: Basic Grade 10]

–Has all the basic qualities of a vocalist.

–A uniquely calm and soothing voice with a talent for composing.

–Has the ability to express emotions like the very best.

[Acting level: Basic Grade 9]

–Has a charm that reflects during acting.

–Prefers method acting.

–Is able to understand the character being played.

[Special skill: Empathy]

–The ability to understand, interpret and experience the emotions and feelings of characters, music, and people.

–Gives a special boost to performances that might entrance people.

–Weaves strong emotions into music and acting.

___

'I hope my level is good enough to pass the audition.'

Basic Grade 9 wasn't a bad level, but due to X-Star, his singing level has increased to Basic Grade 10, which makes his acting level somewhat lacklustre in comparison.

But he was sure that he would be able to improve his acting.

As he looked at his system, a staff member entered the room and called out his name.

"Aiden Silvereye."

"Yes."

"It's your turn."

Standing up from his seat, he followed the staff member inside, who pointed him to the stage. Below the stage, some people were sitting, and he only recognised one of them.

'Lincoln Bradley.'

It was the first time he had seen him, but he remembered most of his movies. There was no doubt in his mind that Lincoln was a good director.

"Introduce yourself." A fat man besides Lincoln called out in a bit of a dull tone. He didn't think Aiden would pass.

"Aiden Silvereye. I'm originally from India and have lived in America for the past two years."

He gave a bit of an introduction, and Lincoln raised an eyebrow.

"Your name doesn't sound Indian? And your accent is a bit New York-like too."

"My father is from the states, and my accent is because I have lived here for a while now. I still can change to my Indian accent if you want to hear it."

"Introduce yourself in an Indian accent."

Aiden nodded, and it took a while for him to try to adjust his accent even though he had expected this. Accents were a necessary part of acting, and many actors have messed up their roles just because of this.

For example, a Texan accent differed from a New York one. Therefore, an actor needs to understand the nuances in a speech to get a handle on their accent.

Because of that, Aiden had practised speaking with a lot of accents.

"Aiden Silvereye. I'm originally from India and have lived in America for the past two years." He repeated the sentence in an Indian accent, and Lincoln smiled a bit like he was impressed.

Thinking, he whispered something to the fat guy beside him, which Aiden couldn't hear and then looked up at him before asking.

"Have you witnessed war?"

That was a weird question, but Aiden answered directly.

"No, I have never experienced it."

"Then you must have at least seen it in movies or books? There is a lot of media about it. Even real footage."

"I have seen those."

"Then, what you saw in those movies or footage. What do you think about it?"

He inquired with a gaze that seemed like he was anticipating Aiden's answer. Finally, after a bit of thinking, he replied.

"I think war is a massacre of people who don't know each other for the profit of people who know each other but don't massacre each other. It is simply a violent conflict in which many people die fighting for their countries but the people who survive suffer far more than them."

Lincoln gauged Aiden's answers before nodding and finding that it was not bad at all. For some reason, compared to the previous actors, he liked Aiden more.

Maybe because of his calm temperament, or perhaps it was just his answer or accent. But he felt like Aiden could be the one he was looking for.

"Okay, begin the scene that was given to you."

Aiden took a deep breath hearing that, as nervousness filled him. It was his first acting audition in a couple of months, and as he had never passed one before, he was bound to be nervous.

But he was also prepared to give his best.

...

//DreamNote//

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