June Roberts was an aspiring actress working in the Hollywood industry since she was 14.
She debuted as an extra character in a popular movie. Since then, she has done many such roles but none of them was anything special.
She made some contacts and was getting work regularly, but there weren't big roles. The infamous 'big break' never came to her.
Lately, she has even started being depressed over it.
She yearned to be part of the main cast, always dreaming to make it big someday. Her dream was the same as many other aspiring actresses but she really felt like she would make it big.
Just she needed that one big break.
She was already 22 years old this year, without any major success. As she grew, her desire and desperation to hit it big grew too.
June was confident in her looks. With black hair, fair skin and a sharp face with green eyes, she was called pretty by most people she will meet and she has been honing her acting skills since her teenage years.
All she needed was a chance.
Due to all this, two years ago, one of the agents in MCA even noticed her and offered her a contract.
But it was just her luck that it was then MCA started going downhill.
Usually, it was an actress's agent's job to look after roles and get her the ones which she could do well.
There's a saying in the industry – 'An actor is as good as his agent' and it really applied in her case.
In the last two years, her agent was only able to give her mediocre roles in small movies. There was one moment when she was even asked to act nude but she rejected it and ran away.
Despite her constant bickering with her agent to get her better roles, nothing had come out and she was even thinking about getting out of MCA.
It was then she heard a rumour that one of the senior agents, Benjamin Charles, was planning to cast his actors in a movie with a big studio behind it.
Hearing it, an idea has struck her mind.
What if she was able to impress Benjamin? Maybe she would at least be able to get a supporting role? She didn't know if it was gonna work but at least, she could try.
After all, she would rather step out and seek someone who can potentially change her future rather than relying on her agent who has practically done nothing in two years.
She has been coming in front of Benjamin's office a lot recently in the hopes of getting an appointment with him.
But all her attempts till this day were for nought as his schedule was too packed to consider having a meeting with an uninvited guest.
Today was the same and yet again, his assistant has already rejected her.
As June was talking with Benjamin's assistant, trying to persuade him into fixing a meeting with him, she saw the door of Benjamin's office opening up.
A young man who looked to have just entered his twenties walked out. The first thing that caught her attention was his dark black eyes. He had wavy black hair, a defined cheekbone and a concrete jaw.
He had enough facial features to be called handsome and stand out in a crowd. He was wearing a normal blue shirt and black jeans, which went well with his overall personality.
As she analysed him from head to toe, a habit she had gotten ever since her debut in Hollywood, his eyes fell on her.
He looked into her eyes, and when he noticed their gazes had met, he awkwardly nodded his head. For a moment, he kept looking at her. Maybe trying to see if he can recognise her.
It was common to walk across famous actors and actresses in this office. But she has never seen the guy before.
After realising that she wasn't someone he recognised, he started walking away. June unconsciously followed him and opened her mouth, trying to sound as polite as she could.
"Urm, Hello. I'm June. Do you have a minute?"
She held her hand out for a handshake. She had been looking for a chance to talk to Benjamin while this guy came out of his office as if it wasn't a big deal.
Maybe he was an actor? At least someone who could help her out.
Although she couldn't recall his face, he had a rather peculiar air about him.
She wanted to get acquainted with even slightly increase the chance of talking to Benjamin. And Hollywood was all about contacts, even if she couldn't meet Benjamin, she would at least build another contact that could potentially be fruitful for her future.
As she looked at him, Will thought in his head.
'Who is she?'
He stared at the girl in front of him and felt confused.
He was just happily going out of Benjamin's office when she suddenly stopped him and asked for a minute while offering a handshake.
In a moment, he understood what was happening as he looked at Benjamin's assistant, who was sighing in the back.
'She is an aspiring actress!'
He thought in his mind.
This was pretty common in the industry, from what he knew. She probably was a struggling actress who wanted to talk to Benjamin, probably desperate to land a role.
Honestly, if he didn't have his system and didn't know Benjamin, he would be struggling too.
That's why, feeling a bit sympathetic, he shook her hands.
"Hello, my name is Will, and yeah, I do have a minute."
He said and smiled at her.
Later, while releasing her autobiography, June would describe this meeting like the one which changed her whole life.
If it hadn't happened, she would have always continued to be a small actress.
Getting a positive response from Will, June asked after shaking his hand.
"Are you also an actor?"
Will shook his head, and after a pause, he said.
"Well, you could say that I'm a screenwriter and an aspiring director."
He flashed the script in his hands and June's eyes went wide.
"Oh, is that so?"
June replied, a bit sceptical. It wasn't her fault, in the eyes of actors, screenwriters were the originator of whatever characters that they played.
So the respect and admiration an actor held for a screenwriter were above the general audience, and mostly all screenwriters were well above their 30s.
And that's why June just couldn't take the words of the 21-22-year-old looking man at face value. If he said he was an actor, she'd have believed without such doubts.
Looking at her expression, Will chuckled inwardly.
"Yeah, what about you? I bet someone with your face is a well-known actress."
June smiled at Will's blatant flattery but still remained humble.
"Oh, I'm an actress alright, but I'm not that renowned, yet."
Will, who had already rummaged through his memory and already knew that she wasn't that famous, raised an eyebrow.
It was interesting how she phrased the sentence, as if she was trying to say she's not famous just yet, it won't be the same in future.
"Wanna grab a cup of coffee? I'm kind of thirsty and need something to soak my throat. We can have a small talk too if you want. You sure seem like someone with a story."
"Ah, well."
June hesitated. Although she was the one to call him out, she was here in hopes of having a meeting with Benjamin.
Seeing as to how June was looking towards Benjamin's office, Will inwardly felt sympathetic towards her.
"Oh, it's fine if you're not free. Maybe another time. By the way, if you want to meet Uncle Charles, I could set up a meeting for you."
Will proposed although he was in no way a charitable man, he didn't back out from helping people in similar situations as him.
It would be up to June if she can impress Benjamin or not. Will was simply making another contact, as Hollywood worked with contacts.
It would be great if June can really impress Benjamin and land a role in some movie. She'd at least remain grateful and Will could use this to ask for a favour in future.
June, who saw Benjamin's assistant closing the door to his office, sighed inwardly.
'No meeting today either.'
Then she looked up to the man talking to her. Even though she was sceptical, she couldn't deny the fact that he just walked out of Benjamin's office.
Benjamin wouldn't allow any random youngster in his office, so the man in front of him must have some talent.
Moreover, she was curious about his identity.
As there was no hope of meeting Benjamin today either, she decided to go and have a coffee to freshen up her mood.
"About the coffee, let's go. My treat."
In this industry, connections mattered more than wealth. And to get acquitted with a screenwriter or a director is almost like a once in a lifetime opportunity for most of the actors and actresses.
This was why after some hesitation, June accepted Will's invitation and even agreed to turn it into her treat since Will was a screenwriter, and one day might become a very important connection for her.
Will had somewhat understood her thoughts. There was a special reason why he was inviting her for a coffee break, and since the other party even agreed to pay for it, he already had a better impression of her.
Minutes later, the both of them were seated opposite to each other in the building cafeteria.
Once both had ordered a coffee, Will didn't beat around the bush and asked her.
"So, June, if you don't mind, my guess is you were here to meet Uncle Charles?"
June paused for a moment and then nodded.
"Yes, I wanted to have a meeting with Agent Charles, but unfortunately he's too busy. Ah, by the way, are you his relative?"
Will slightly nodded his head.
"Not a relative, but you can say he's a family friend. My father and he have the same alma mater, so he treats me like a nephew."
"Oh? That's nice,"
June smiled.
"Were you also here for work-related matters?"
Will nodded.
"Yeah, but let's see how much time it takes. Anyway, what about you? Seeing that you're an actress, are you presently working on any movies or shows?"
June's smile faltered a little as she remained silent for a moment and then spoke.
"Well, not currently. You wouldn't know, but I have been acting in movies even before I turned fifteen, and over the years, I have acted in a few, so I do have considerable experience."
"But the thing is, none of the roles was big enough, and in the eyes of the audience, I am still a child actress, even though I am already in my twenties."
Just then, a waiter approached their table and served them two cups of cappuccino.
Once he had left, Will asked.
"That's sad, what do you think could be the reason behind this standstill in your career?"
June had a thoughtful expression on her face as she took a sip of the coffee and after a long moment of silence, she finally spoke.
"I think the fault lies in me. I remember the years when I was working as a child actress, I was quite overconfident in myself, which even made me… um… a bit egoistical. And because of this, I had unknowingly created a lot of difficulties for myself. Mainly by being inconsiderate to the friends I made along the way."
After a moment of silence, June shook her head as she laughed awkwardly.
"What am I even saying, we have just met and I am already blabbering nonsense. Maybe all the stress is getting to my head-"
Will interrupted her and spoke with a smile on his face.
"It's alright, sometimes, you have to let it out. And trust me, I would be lying if I said I wasn't hoping for an answer similar to this. In fact, your words are what I wanted to hear."
"...What do you mean?"
June was confused.
Will adjusted his thoughts and said.
"Well, I will explain everything to you, but first, I have something to offer. Would you be interested in auditioning for one of my future projects?"
"Hn…" June thought for a moment, and then replied, "I would like to know more about it."
Although Will seemed like a nice guy, there were a lot of people in the industry with such a front.
She was already a bit sceptical about him being a screenwriter. She couldn't just agree to act in the movie of an aspiring director.
Most of the time, new directors would try to be a bit extreme and release movies that garnered a lot of attention, as well as criticism.
They'd make the struggling females of the industry act nude or something similar to make the movie trending.
She didn't wish to agree right away, only to find out later that she has to do something unspeakable like a nudity scene.
She had already offended a director by going back on her words, and she was not going to repeat that mistake.
Will explained to her.
"Well, the project I have in mind is of the horror and thriller genre. It will have three main leads, one female and two males. The female lead's role is what I am offering to you."
"But why me?"
"Because your history resonated a lot with this female character,"
Will replied after a moment of thought,
"Over the course of the project, the female lead will have a transformation, and from an initially egotistical and overconfident girl, she will become humble and face despair towards the end of the story."
June asked
"Oh, will it have any explicit scenes?"
Many directors use explicit scenes to spice up horror movies.
Will understood her thoughts and shook his head.
"No, don't worry about that. We don't need anyone to do any explicit scenes"
June replied.
"Then I'll definitely think about it. I'll inform you when I come to a decision."
"Yeah, it's fine by me. Take some time and maybe we can have another coffee and talk about the details."
June laughed lightly at that. If anything, Will was a charming man.
Although new directors or projects failed 8/10 times, June had a feeling that working with Will would change her life, in a good way.
Still, she didn't agree to it straight out. After some talk, June paid the bill.
Will said his farewell and walked away home, inwardly pleased with himself.
If things went as he was predicting, he would not only manage to sell [17 Again] script but also get one of the leads for his first movie.
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