Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

After the meeting with Ava, Aiden spent all his time trying to find more about <Hex>. He had read the book a long time ago and wasn't sure if he remembered everything well.

Though, he still remembered that the novel was extremely popular in most of Europe and America. It was even translated into 13 languages.

When he read it again, Aiden realised why the novel had been so special.

The first striking thing was how easy it was to read. The words were simple, enough to make it seem like the author has a limited vocabulary.

But when they matched with a butter-like flow, a magical sensation was created. The fact that even those who never read a book could read it helped grow the popularity a lot.

But that was the only simple thing about the book.

The characters and the world were very complex.

It was a world that was flourishing into a scientific age but the influence of gods and magic was still there, creating a weird synergy that formed the core of the novel.

The most complex thing in the book was still the power system. It was simple yet there were complex mechanisms. There was magic and there were cyborgs like humans.

While reading it, Aiden kept imagining it in the form of a movie in his head. And he wondered how a 2 hour movie would go. If it tries to tell the story of the whole novel, then it would be a disaster.

Even if it goes like one volume per movie, a lot of arcs and storylines would be left out. After all, the average length of one volume in the series was 900 pages.

That was a very big novel.

Aiden felt like <Hex> would be way better as a series. It was that he was not able to see it as a good movie due to how complex it was.

An average reader might not understand the hidden symbolism and references but those were the first things that he noticed.

'I don't know if Olio Fermen would be able to do justice to this.'

He thought in his mind and the next thing he did was to go through the entirety of Olio's filmography — A total of 19 movies.

It took him a whole week to go through all of them. Some he had watched before while he had no idea about the others. He even saw short films directed by him.

Even after watching them, he wasn't sure if Olio could do justice. In the first place, the guy had only directed one fantasy movie before and it was very simple — A story about a cultist forming its own religion in the dark ages.

Aiden doubted whether he would be able to truly helm the project.

All this research led him back to the starting point. He had a couple of discussions with Wade about it too.

"So, you won't even go for <Hex>?"

"I would like to see the script for it first but I really doubt whether the movie would be good. I just don't want to be a part of a movie that might be remembered for failing a beloved novel."

"I think you are just too critical. It will start to harm you if you are not careful."

That was Wade's opinion when Aiden talked to him. He kept thinking of his words for a while as it was true that he was thinking much more before selecting a project.

Even when something caught his eye, he wasn't signing it straight away and was instead worrying about too many different things.

It was because he wanted to select a perfect project for his next movie.

A project that would do good at the box office no matter what.

But his luck wasn't really helping him. Or was he really just harming himself like Wade said?

***

"Who is it?"

"Is it a celebrity? Why is everyone clamoring for that car?"

"Can't you see? That's a Porsche."

"It's someone big."

"Hey, it's Aiden Silvereye!"

"What the heck? Why is an A-lister here? I thought it was a pretty small budget movie."

"Maybe he knows the producer or the director."

"Let me take the photo."

People clammered to the car like zombies as Aiden struggled to get inside. Shouts asking him to lower the window echoed out but he didn't do it.

It just wasn't safe with so many people around.

The paparazzi hadn't expected a star like him to be present at the screening of a small budget movie by a second tier studio. It looked like even the security was surprised as they struggled to get the paparazzi off the car.

It was the first time Aiden was driving his new car that was gifted by Granite films CEO to an event and he was without Wade or Tom too.

He got to experience how much a hassle paparazzi could be. Finding a good spot to park his car, he got out and was met with a lot of camera flashes.

"Aiden, the lead actress of the movie once said that she's a big fan of yours. Are you here because of her? Are you two dating?"

"How do you feel about [The Black Saint] becoming the highest grosser of the year?"

"What's your thoughts on your next projects? Give us something."

The paparazzi kept asking him various questions and it was only after the security personnel arrived that he was escorted inside the theatre.

After giving autographs to the security, Aiden walked inside. Suddenly, he saw a group of people walking towards him.

A big man with a dad bod, another guy in a suit with long hair and a woman whose cleavage was half visible for some reason.

"Hello, I didn't know you would be here." The man with the dad bod said.

"I was invited."

"Did the producer invite you? I heard he knew pretty famous people but I thought it was an empty rumour."

The man muttered to himself as he shook Aiden's hand. The guy with long hair also put out his hand to greet him but before he could do it, the woman shifted extremely close to Aiden.

It was to a point where her breasts were sticking to him. No, it looked like she deliberately wanted to do that.

The guy with long hair gritted his teeth seeing that.

"I'm Alica. I'm the lead in this movie. You must have seen the poster."

"Yes, I did."

"Actually, I'm a huge fan of yours. Do you think we could talk for a while after the screening? I wanted to get tips from you about acting."

Although she said that, her eyes seemed to tell a different picture. Aiden took a deep breath and stepped away from her before opening his mouth.

"Actually, the producer didn't call me here. I don't know him."

"Then?"

"I'm here because my friend is in the movie. He invited me here."

As he said that, his eyes looked behind the man with the dad bod. A person was standing there.

"There he is."

All three of them turned around when Aiden said that and a shocked expression appeared on their faces.

'He? How the hell does he know an A-lister?'

They all simultaneously thought and for a second, they even wondered if Aiden had mistaken the person but soon, they saw him hug the guy and walk with him inside.

Seeing that, the lead actress who was trying to seduce Aiden earlier couldn't help but mutter.

"I should have gotten close to Harley."

The person Aiden had come to meet was Harley Martin.

***

"I didn't expect you to really come to the screening."

"I was free."

"Still, thank you. People are now looking at me in a new light thanks to you."

Harley said as he looked around. They were sitting at the back but a lot of people were looking towards him. Eyes of admiration were directed towards Aiden while people were whispering looking at Harley.

All of them were wondering how he knew Aiden and what their relationship was.

"It won't be any trouble right?" Aiden asked. "You are probably going to get bombarded by people wanting to form connections. In better words, they would try to use you."

"I know but the shooting is over. I don't plan to meet the director or any actors after this."

"You didn't make any friends, it seems."

"These people are going to do me more harm than good."

Harley simply said that.

His stature had risen compared to the time he had first Aiden. He was still not a big actor but after the streaming movie with Omar, he had started getting small roles in indie and small budget movies.

A few of them were good while in others, they simply needed an average actor. Good thing was that he was able to live somehow by doing these movies.

Though, people rarely tried to get close to him as he was without any agent and no one thought he had a bright future despite how good he was at acting.

"It's been so long since I have seen you acting. I'm excited to know how much you have improved."

Aiden said as the screening was about to start.