Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

After Asano was satisfied with Aiden and began to see him as Ray Stark, things moved pretty quickly. No, it seemed like most of the things were already decided and the director was just looking for the main character. 

In the next week, a lot of auditions for other roles happened with mostly teenage actors getting the part. A few of them were even new and just making their debut. 

It was like the director hadn’t bothered to cast any known faces. 

Only two other actors aside from Aiden were well known among the public. One of them was Melissa Grace who was playing Ray’s love interest. Being a known figure on TV shows, she was touted to be a future top actress.

The other was an old actor who has prominently played middle aged characters in his career, Ned Dweller. He was even nominated for Oscars once in the supporting category. 

According to what Omar told him, Asano didn’t care about star power for this project and was just going with what he felt suited the character. 

Him working with Omar was also one of the reasons behind it as Omar didn’t mind giving Asano complete freedom over casting. 

Other than that, Aiden also officially signed the contract. 

The film’s budget was decided to only be 9 million dollars which wasn’t a lot but it was a safe bet, considering the project was a very different type of teen action movie that people won’t see often in Hollywood. 

Aiden signed the movie for only 300k which wasn’t much by his standards but he didn’t want the movie to increase in budget due to him. 

One of the first pieces of advice he had gotten from Uncle Sam was that some movies are flops just because the budget goes to the actor’s pocket instead of the things that are more important. 

As Omar was his friend and he didn’t want his fees to be a reason for the film to increase in budget, he didn’t even negotiate much. 

Omar obviously appreciated it a lot. 

They also decided on the official title for the movie. The draft title was ‘Ballad of Fights’ which wasn’t really something that would make people attracted to the movie. 

So, after brainstorming for a while, Asano came up with the title [Action Hero]. It looked like an odd title that one would usually see in a B grade movie but according to Asano, it perfectly fit the soul of the movie. 

Ray Stark was just an action hero, going from one fight to another. 

The title perfectly summarised him. 

Aiden also liked it and felt like it was something unique. Pre-production started like that and the shooting was going to start in the first week of March and end by April. 

Before that, Aiden had another audition which was for the role of Agnas in his biopic. 

As the biopic was only going to start shooting in May, Aiden was pretty safe in terms of date if he indeed got the role. 

***

“I heard that a lot of musical actors are auditioning for the main role.”

“Yeah, I think even Chris Payne was interested in it. He had a big musical hit just last year and he’s a regular in Broadway shows.”

“Wasn’t he already 40? I don’t think he will fit the role.”

“Yeah, he was rejected without even getting a chance to audition. It’s a role that everyone craves.”

Aiden stopped for a second to listen to the conversation between two employees that seemed like assistant directors. 

He was currently standing in a theatre that was booked by Zero International for the auditions for the biopic. It seemed like the auditions were going to run for over two weeks for different roles. 

Aiden was already able to see a lot of prominent actors from various TV and movies he had watched in the past, sitting around with their agents and waiting for the chance to audition. It was a very weird scene as most of the time, these actors are just given private auditions. 

‘I guess Agnas biopic is so big that every actor wants to be in it. A role that’s bound to get awards and a movie that is destined to mint hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office.’

He thought in his mind and made his way towards Wade who pointed at one of the empty seats. 

“Let’s sit there until our turn comes.”

“When would that be?”

“I don’t know. An assistant director told me that we would be informed when that happens. I guess we are here for the whole day until we are lucky.”

Wade muttered with a sigh. He gave Aiden more information about what was going on. 

It seemed like they were taking auditions for several roles and even a few executives from Zero International and other important people were here. 

By every second, Aiden felt the gravitas of the movie increasing in his mind. 

“You look a bit odd. Are you not interested in the project?”

Wade asked, noticing his strange reactions to every word he was saying. Compared to actors who were willing to do anything for this role, his attitude looked a bit lackluster. 

He was much more excited for [Action Hero]. 

“It’s not that.” Aiden shook his head. “I just didn’t think the role would have so much importance. I wasn’t born hearing Agnas’s music like most of the people here. It was only when I was a teenager that I heard of him. Maybe because of that, this role looked like just another role to me. Moreover…”

“Moreover?” Wade raised an eyebrow and Aiden composed words in his mouth before continuing. 

“I feel like even if the movie is a hit, it won’t be a hit because of me but because of Agnas.”

Wade smiled hearing that. Aiden had slowly started to feel like it was his responsibility to make sure his movies do well, especially in the ones he’s playing a lead role in. 

It was a good attitude as it meant that he was very serious about whatever project he was getting into. 

“I guess you are right. People don’t care who’s playing Agnas as if presented well, the movie is bound to do great business. That’s why, you could get your mind off the box office and just focus on the acting.” Wade shrugged his shoulders and added. “After all, with the box office out of the way, people are going to examine your acting way more.”

“I guess you are right.”

Aiden said and leaned against his seat. 

Maybe his attitude was really wrong about it and he needed to focus more on playing Agnas as realistically as possible. 

After all, him being a musician was certainly going to help out in understanding Agnas’s character. 

Thinking of that, Aiden lowered his head to look at the scene that was told to him to perform but at the moment, a voice interrupted him. 

“Aiden, I thought you would be here.”

Looking up, both Wade and Aiden saw Cameron walking towards them. He stood up from the seat and was a bit surprised to see him after so many months. 

“Cameron, I thought you would be on some tour after your album was released.”

“I was on one but I came back due to the production of Agnas.”

“What do you mean?”

Wade asked, tilted his head. What does Cameron have in common with Agnas? Was he working on the production?

“My grandfather used to work with Agnas back in the day. They made a lot of songs together. He helped out with the script and he’s also inside as the director wanted him at the auditions.”

“So, you are here because of that?” 

Aiden asked. In his mind, he was going through what he knew about Joseph Bryce — A famous composer and someone who was regarded as a pioneer of music back in the day. He has been retired for decades now. 

“No.” Cameron shook his head. “I’m here to do an audition.” 

“For?”

“Agnas.”

Both Aiden and Wade were a bit surprised hearing that as both of them hadn’t taken Cameron to be the type to lean towards acting. There was no hint of it in any of their interactions. 

“Don’t get me wrong. I like singing, not acting. Just I always wanted to be in the shoes of Agnas. I felt like starring in his biopic was the best chance I would get.”

Cameron explained before Aiden could ask anything. He shut his mouth, noticing strange emotions on Cameron’s face. It was probably some sort of backstory as his grandfather was really close to Agnas. 

As they talked, the door to the room opened again and one more familiar face walked in. Aiden’s gaze moved towards the man who had just entered. 

Actually, everyone in the room was looking at the man. It wasn’t because he was famous. It was because he was the most infamous person currently. 

“Liam Wilde.”

“He’s finally here.”

Aiden muttered. Wade had already gotten the news that Liam was going to be taking part in the audition and had informed Aiden. 

“Why’s he here?”

“I thought he was hiding underground or was vacationing in some small European country.”

“Man, I won’t even be able to show my face to people if everyone saw me naked in an orgy.”

Aiden heard people whispering among each other and felt a bit bad about Liam. But he didn’t seem to be affected by the whispers. 

Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks and his eyes turned towards Aiden. They became sharp for a second before he moved to take his seat. 

‘What’s his problem?’

Aiden thought in his mind. 

…

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