Page 16 of The Actor: Harrison

“They just told him he has to show up to defend himself on trial, how can’t he be angry?” I start to lose my calm and it shows in my rising voice.

“Exactly! The scene should be soft. He is defeated, desperate, hopeless. He shouldn’t be angry, he should want to kill himself!” he shouts and I lose my shit.

“Really? We all agree that your character should be angry, but you stubbornly keep doing this halfway whining thing that sounds like a kid throwing a tantrum. Get your shit together and get fucking angry!” I shout back.

“Everyone? Everyone thinks I should be angry oryouthink? Because it’s clear as day, after seventeen takes, thateveryoneis fucking wrong!”

I turn around and march away. That’s it. I can’t stand him accusing me of being wrong in front of everyone.

“Where are you going?”

“To cool off a few minutes before I rip your head off with my bare hands!” I shout back without turning around.

I walk off the set and go straight into my trailer. The place is crammed with papers that the production requires and I have to move around a few folders stuffed to the brim to find a small spot on the green couch to sit down. I plop on the soft cushion and rub the heel of my hands over my eyes before slipping my fingers into my hair and tightening them into a fist. I will end up bald by the end of this movie if Harrison keeps challenging me like this all the time.

A soft knock and the sound of the door opening draws my attention. Ellen’s black curly hair pops up from behind the mini fridge next to the entrance.

“Are you okay?” she asks stepping in and closing the door behind her.

“By the end of this filming one of us will end up murdered and the other in jail,” I say, defeated.

She smiles, softening those big dark brown eyes that make her look even sweeter than before.

“He’s famous for voicing his concerns on set and pushing to change things to the way he wants them,” she states.

I never paid attention to those rumors because they tend to be spun from only one side of the story, without painting the reason for the other side. But this is way too close to what I’m experiencing with him to ignore them completely.

“And what do the other directors do?”

She shrugs. “They usually give him a lot of freedom to do whatever he wants.”

I scoff. “Of course, they do.”

She smiles again and leans against the counter in front of me.

“What do they say about him, besides his artistic stances?” At this point, it’s better to be prepared, knowing all of the gossip surrounding him, considering we have to live on set for the next few months.

“That he’s picky and makes unreasonable requests like a vegan menu, but then he eats chicken. Something fancy that costs quite a bit more, but that it’s irrelevant on the big scale of those projects. When you have a multi-million budget, you don’t worry about a few hundred thousand dollars on top of the catering.”

“Are the chickens on his shit list too? Or maybe he just thinks they’re vegetables,” I joke, but it doesn’t feel funny. His diva attitude pisses me off.

She laughs and shakes her head. “I don’t know, but I know that he eats a lot of salads when on set.”

“He’s probably on a diet to keep his perfect body free of fat.” Like he needs to be fit to film this movie.

“I don’t know what is it, but you need to find a way to work with him if you don’t want to end up even more behind on the schedule,” she points out.

I rub a hand over my face and sigh. “Is it crazy that I want to recast the role? I’m tempted to call Kevin and say we tried but we couldn’t work it out.”

She thinks about it for a long moment. “It’s the beginning. It’s easier to do it now than wait longer and have to reshoot more scenes, but you have to talk to Kevin about it. He’s the one with a handle on the budget.”

I nod and think about it. “I’ll come back as soon as I hear from Kevin,” I tell her and wait for her to leave before grabbing my phone and calling the number that’s flashed way too many times on my screen these last ten days.

“What?” he answers abruptly on the third ring.

I don’t beat around the bush, it’s useless with him. “What happens if I recast Harrison right now?” I sound way more confident than I feel. Years in this industry have taught me to never look weak.

There is a moment of silence on the other end and I almost think he hung up. I have to look at the screen to see that he’s still there. Not a good sign for me. When he pauses like this it means two things: he didn’t hear me or he’s preparing to shout at me. No in-between. In either case, it’s bad for me because I don’t know if I’m brave enough to repeat my request without stumbling on my words, or if I have the strength today to deal with his fury.

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