Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

"Yo Aiden, my brother."

When Aiden saw Dustin in the audition, he was confused by him calling him brother out of nowhere. They have only met once before and it wasn't really a special meeting in the first place.

Unlike what Aiden thought, Dustin looked very happy to see him here.

"Hi Dustin, it's been a while." Aiden said as Dustin walked close to him.

"Yeah, come to think of it, we weren't able to exchange numbers the last time we met. I was in a hurry that day due to the audition." He said then added with a smile. "I didn't get the chance to say this before but congratulations on playing that role so well. I have my doubts about you but you did well in that character."

"Thanks. I'm sure you would have played it well too."

Aiden randomly said but Dustin's expression wasn't too good.

"Ah, yeah… I would have. It's just that the writers said… They want to cast someone younger. Yeah that happened.

Even though he said that, a frown was visible on his face as he tried hard to not think about the actual reason why he was rejected for the role.

It had already given him quite a bit of emotional damage and made him work out more to look better.

"Anyway, I didn't expect to see you here. You're here to audition too, right?"

Dustin asked, sitting down next to Aiden and Wade.

A few actors who had come to audition were also listening to their conversations.

"Yeah, what role are you auditioning for?"

Wade asked, being on guard against Dustin. Black Line Cinema had called several actors to audition for different roles, mainly the three main roles that would take most of the screen time in the movie.

Dustin was a quirky individual but his acting skills were pretty good and because of them, he keeps getting work. At this point, he was just waiting for that one good lead role to break out.

That's why Wade was hoping that he and Aiden would be auditioning for different roles.

"I'm auditioning for Sebastian Walker. What about you, Aiden?"

Wade took a sigh of relief hearing that.

"I'm auditioning for Mark Knight."

"Oh, going for the main lead straightaway. It's really like you." Dustin said, then shook his head. "I wanted to go for his role too but my agent said that Sebastian is better suited for me and the chances of getting the role is higher like that."

Although [Disconnected] had three main roles, the most important is undoubtedly the one of Mark Knight. He was the character who would get the idea of the social media site and would go on to become the CEO of the company and with that, his personality would also change slowly.

Compared to that, Sebastian Walker was one of the founders who is extremely loyal to Mark and would be the one to actually get him to the big leagues, by showing him the way to get his website to become a billion dollar thing.

Both characters were very different.

"By the way, did you see Seth Douglas here?"

Dustin suddenly asked, making Aiden shake his head with a confused expression.

"Why will Seth Douglas be here?"

"My agent told me that Seth was seen around Black Line Cinema. A photo of his car was also captured by the paparazzi and it's almost confirmed that he's interested in [Disconnected]."

Seth Douglas was a pretty famous actor who starred in a very famous series called [Dark Blood]. He was pretty young when that series took off and it instantly made him a big name among the public.

He decided to focus more on the big screen after that and starred in a lot of other movies which gave him a lot of credibility as an actor.

If he's interested in [Disconnected], then he was the biggest competition for all the other actors.

But in the industry, he was known because of another reason.

"Ah, that bastard Franco is at it again. He probably went through a lot of scripts and decided on [Disconnected] for Seth's next project. If he's involved, then the role is as good as Seth."

Wade muttered with a displeased expression, like he was reminiscing about a bad past.

"You talking about Franco Li, that SGA star agent?" Aiden looked at Wade.

"Who else? He's Seth's agent and it's well known that he is one of the most well connected people in Hollywood. There's a reason why he's the agent of most top stars. I'm not too sure about this movie now."

A sigh leaked out of Wade's lips.

'It's really going to be a hassle if all this is true.'

Aiden also displayed the same expressions. He knew who Franco Li was. Anyone who knew a bit about agencies in Hollywood would have heard of Franco.

He was a top agent. A bonafide star maker who has four A listers working with him. Seth was someone who was not an A-lister but everyone in the industry believed that he would be thanks to Franco.

That's why, people won't dare to go against him. No one in their right mind would try to get on the bad side of a potential A list actor.

"I don't really understand what you two are talking about. I'm not really well versed in agency's and things related to them but this Frano person seemed very popular." Dustin said, putting a hand on his chin. "I wonder how Seth got him to be his agent."

Wade just smirked at those words.

"He probably sucked him nicely."

"Wait, does that mean—"

"I won't clarify anything. Just know that it's Hollywood."

Saying that, Wade shrugged his shoulders.

***

'I don't have time to worry about other actors. The only thing I could do here is to focus on my acting and leave an impactful performance in front of the director.'

That was the only thought in Aiden's mind when he stepped into the audition room. A lot of people were already gathered in it and he could even see a cameraman and some staff members.

Out of all of them, the Director Jesse Ross was the person that he knew the best.

He was a director with over 10 years of experience. He started off with thriller indie movies like [Ghost in the Water] and [Bastards of the past]. Then, he moved to work with more mainstream studios on lighter themed movies.

Just three years ago, his movie [Waking up] was a box office hit. It was a pretty great coming of age story about a person suffering with insomnia. Aside from that, he was also an author and was the writer of [Disconnected] too.

Possibly the most influential person in the room. If he managed to impress him, the role was his.

"Aiden Silvereye, I have heard of you." Jesse opened his mouth, his eyes scanning through Aiden's profile.

"I hope you heard good things." Aiden replied.

"Most of them are but I don't know if they hold weight. I have only seen glimpses of your acting till now. What do you think of the character of Mark?"

Jesse asked, looking at Aiden. His causaician looks and blue eyes were clearly standing out. He looked more like an actor than a director in some day and he had pressure emanating from him.

But Aiden dealt with it calmly.

"He's a genius who never actually gets his due. At least at the start of the story. His girlfriend dumps him, he drops out of college and doesn't even know what to do with his life. He's confused at the start but he's still a genius and when an opportunity arrives, he grabs it tightly and hits a jackpot. In a way, I would even say he's an accidental billionaire and somehow, money and power becomes his core personality as the story moves and to increase it, he doesn't mind making an enemy out of people who supported him when he was no one but to be honest, he's a scared individual who don't know how to face people. He's not a leader so even if he's a CEO, he won't be able to lead."

Aiden summarised the entire character arc of Mark and Jesses nodded, writing something down in a notebook.

After that, he whispered something to other people sitting besides him and gestured to Aiden.

"You can start your audition. You were given the scene right?"

He nodded. Ten minutes before entering the audition room, one of the assistant directors had told him the scene he needed to perform.

It was the scene in which Mark's character would actually change from positive to negative for the viewers. In it, Mark would accept a deal from another company that would mean getting his website to another level but while doing so, his friends will lose all of his shares.

He would know it. There would be hesitation and conflict in his eyes, knowing full well this decision would change everything.

But he would still do it.

Aiden needed to show the conflict properly, the nervous eyes and the lure of the money and power he would get if he accepted the offer. All of it needed to be conveyed very precisely.

If Aiden isn't unable to do it, he would lose the role for sure.

"I'm ready."

He looked towards the staff member who would be playing another character in this scene. As Jesse ordered the scene to show, Aiden closed his eyes.

'Immersion.'

He thought as he got changed.

...