Chương 28: Casting?

"I don't know if you remember me, we met on the plane back in August?"

"Hey Carmen, of course I remember. How are you?" Jay asked.

"I'm fine thank you. I saw your YouTube video! You were amazing. Why didn't you send me the link to your channel?" she asked.

"I did actually." he provided.

"Really? That's weird, it might've been treated as spam then, sorry. Anyways, you're really good and I've subscribed."

"It's no problem, and thanks for that!"

"Not only did I subscribe, a friend of mine also did." Carmen chuckled.

"A friend of yours?"

"Huh huh, a very special friend. Remember when I asked you about whether you were interested in acting or not?"

"Yeah?..."

"How would you feel about passing an audition? It's one of the main roles too, but doesn't really require that much acting-wise. I personally think you could pull it off."

Jay stayed silent for a moment, mulling on the unexpected information.

"What's... the name of the movie?"

"Crazy, Stupid, Love."

That startled him. "What? Isn't the cast complete? Why would you need to fill a main character's role at this point?"

"You know about it?" she asked in wonder before thinking about it again.

"Ah, right, Wikipedia, huh? Yeah, well, Ryan Gosling had a bad landing on another movie he's filming, and he broke his right leg. That in itself was fine, we could've made do, but he suddenly back out of the movie, citing his need for recovery. So, now they need to reshoot all the scenes he has been in and finish those they were scheduled to do."

Jay felt like he was dreaming, this was nothing short of a pie falling down from the sky… It was also something that had never happened in his past life, and he found himself wondering if this was the infamous butterfly effect at play. He remembered the cast; Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone and Kevin Bacon. Not to mention it was one of the most acclaimed rom-coms of the 2010's. This would be the perfect kickstarter to his acting career.

"What do you think?" Carmen asked again, after not hearing his reply despite waiting a while.

"I'll have to talk to my parents about it first."

"Of course, of course. Do you want me to talk to them too?"

"Would you? Could we Skype or FaceTime? It'd be great honestly."

"No problem. Send me a day and an hour, I'll get my friend to be here with me. It needs to be this week though, any later and she'll have to look for someone else."

"Thank you Carmen, I owe you!" he said and hung up.

How about that, he thought.

***

October 21st 2010.

Jay had let yesterday's news simmer down a little, and decided he'd act on it today.

"A movie? Jay, where is this coming from?" Helen asked, flabbergasted.

He had sat down his parents in the living room. It was the perfect time since Lou hadn't come back from school yet.

His mom's delegated the management of her gallery to her employees most of the time, which bewildered Jay. When he'd asked her, she had simply said that she didn't want to be one of those absentee moms everyone talked about. She would rather be home whenever her kids left school, than have them going back an empty house or a babysitter.

His dad's hours were a complete mess. Sometimes he would be gone for thirty hours straight, and sometimes he would just work from his study at home. This was one of those times.

"On my flight back from Switzerland, I met a woman. Her name is Carmen Cuba and she's a casting director. And before you ask, mom, she's legit. I looked her up on iMDB, she's done The Informant last year." Jay said before adding, "She's also middle-aged and has three kids."

That particular information seemed to alleviate some of the tension. It appeared he had gotten some practical experience at dodging minefields.

Lee attentively listened before he pitched in, "So, she wants to cast you?"

"No, a friend of hers does. She's the casting director of the movie and is a senior in the industry. She's had her hands in more movies than Carmen. She's done Eragon, Wanted, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Juno... While I haven't seen some of them, I've checked their box offices and they were all impressive."

But Helen's next query caught him off-guard, "She's done Alvin and the Chipmunks?"

"... That's what got your attention?"

"Lou loves them." she admitted and Lee nodded as if it was a matter of fact.

"Really? How come I didn't know that?" Jay wondered out loud.

"She used to sleep with her Theodore plush toy, now she uses the Calimero one you brought her back." Helen gently smiled.

In any case, it seemed like she had mellowed out for the time being.

Lee broke the silence, "So, for how long would you be gone?"

And poof, just like that, the mellowness was out of his mom.

Jay mouthed a 'really?' to his dad before facing Helen again.

"Look, no matter what I say it'll never be as convincing as what Carmen and Mrs. Marin can tell you. They're waiting right now, can we FaceTime them?" he asked indicating the laptop in his hands.

Helen looked at her son then at her husband before sighing and nodding, "Alright, I'll at least listen to what they have to say."

Jay smiled and opened his MacBook before settling it on the low table and pressing the call button. He sat in the middle of the couch with his parents on each sides.

The call went through and two women appeared on the screen. He recognized Carmen on the left but it was his first time seeing Mindy Marin since there were no pictures of her on the internet. She was visibly older than Carmen, with blonde hair mixed with some grey strands, and a fringe that fell on her forehead. She was wearing a warm and approachable smile.

Carmen was the first to speak, "Hi Jay, hello Mr. and Mrs. Aslan."

"Hello." Helen mildly answered, apparently still on guard. Against what though, Jay had no idea.

Mindy Marin took over at this point, "It must've come to you as a surprise, that a stranger would reach out to your son in such a way. I apologize if you felt I was overstepping." she softly said and Jay couldn't help but inwardly praise her.

That woman was good. His mother's aggressiveness had deflated like a poked balloon.

"I would rather be there in person but we would waste too much time, I hope you understand. I saw your son's video on YouTube and decided he would be perfect for the role I'm looking for, so when Carmen told me she knew him, I pestered her for a call."

"Our son tells us you would like him to audition? Does he have to go to L.A for that?" Lee asked.

"That's right, I unfortunately can't cast someone just because his looks match the role, I need to assess his acting as well." she paused before adding, "It's not a very hard role to play to be honest, but it does require a certain level of maturity on the actor's part. From what Carmen told me, this shouldn't be a problem with Jay."

Helen listened as the woman finished speaking, and frowned. "A certain level of maturity? What do you mean?"

"She means that it's not a role that would usually be entrusted to a fifteen year old, but more to someone in their early twenties, right?" Jay answered while eying the women on the screen meaningfully.

"That's right." they both nodded.

"What kind of movie is it anyways?"

"... I know what you're thinking mom, it's a PG-13 movie." Jay sighed exasperatedly and glanced at his father. He was inwardly alert.

There was no way his mother would agree if she found out his role was to teach a middle-aged man how to pick girls up.

He would definitely have to take his father to the audition instead.

Lee seemingly sensing his son's predicament, spoke up, "Where does the audition take place?"

"In Burbank, at the Warner Bros. Studios. Although the production won't pay for your plane tickets, I'll make sure Jay gets reimbursed for his travel fees if he passes the audition." Mindy answered.

Helen wanted to say something but Lee grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently before he asked again, "And when would it be?"

"As soon as possible, this week would really be the ideal." Mindy said, not hiding her anxiousness.

"You do know my son is a sophomore, right? How long would the shooting last if he does get in?" Lee continued.

Carmen and Mindy looked at each other, before the latter smiled.

"A month and half tops, for all his scenes. We'll make sure to get his assignments in advance from his teachers and there will be a tutor on the set since there are other children filming as well. I promise you his school work will not suffer. We're on a very tight schedule since the movie is set to come out next July, and his scenes would be the last one to be filmed."

Lee nodded and paused before saying, "Would Saturday be good?"

"Lee-" Helen started but was cut off by Mindy.

"Yes! That would be perfect!"

"Then please send the address to Jay, we'll be there." Lee said before biding the women goodbye and closing the call.

Before his wife could say anything, he took the initiative.

"I'll go with him for the audition."

Helen started, "You will?"

"I'm a lawyer, remember? I think it's best if I go." he clarified.

"Honey, you're a criminal defense attorney, not a corporate lawyer." she rolled her eyes at him.

"I can still read a contract and know if there's something wrong with it." Lee chuckled.

Helen bit her lip at that, it was true. She turned to her son, "You want to act in a movie now? Singing and now acting? Is this what you want to do or is it just on a whim?"

Jay looked at his mom's face that was plagued with worry and uncertainty and he answered softly, "I want to do this, mom. I want to sing and I want to act. I want this as much as you like to draw."

Helen stayed silent for a second as she observed her son's face; he was sincere. And then she remembered how happy he had been, singing on stage during Homecoming. She didn't remember the last time he had been so happy, so genuinely gleeful, that the sky could've collapsed but the smile on his face wouldn't have been wiped. Her heart softened.

"Does it mean... you don't plan on going to college?" she exhaled with a smile, trying not to sound disappointed but failing miserably.

Jay smiled and chuckled, "No I have every intention of going to college. There're celebrities who made it happen. I know for a fact Emma Watson is studying there as we speak, and at Brown University no less."

"Really?" Helen asked in wonder, "How do you know that?"

"The internet, mom." Jay smiled and got up before facing both his parents.

"I didn't mean to hide the fact that I wanted to become an entertainer from you. I'm sorry." he apologized and continued, "There is nothing in the world I'd rather be doing, and I promise I will keep studying and that my grades will not suffer. Please let me do this."

His parents stared at him for a second before looking at each other. Helen slowly nodded her head, and Lee turned to Jay.

"You better pack lightly, it's hotter in L.A."