Page 55 of #Moonstruck

“Is Caryl here yet? Her call time was over an hour ago.” A man walked past me yelling in a British accent, followed by multiple underlings, and I realized he must be Bay Michaelsen. Lauren confirmed it a second later.

“Why is he yelling?” I was afraid to ask it too loudly, not wanting to draw any attention to myself.

“They hired Caryl Clausen to be Ryan’s love interest.” At my blank expression, she went on, “You know, the fashion model? Best friend of Skyler Smith? Anyway, she’s not here yet, and nobody can get her, her manager, or her agent on the phone.”

“We’ll do some of Ryan’s solo scenes first. I need him down by the water and in the boat!” Bay directed, and everyone scrambled to do as he commanded. They loaded Ryan into this rinky-dink rowboat and took him out into the Pacific Ocean. The low-hanging clouds swallowed him up. Bay called “Action,” and Ryan rowed the boat toward the beach, breaking through the fog and mist to land on the rocky shore. He jumped out looking determined and mysterious and began walking up the coastline. I could see that the camera angles would catch the snowcapped mountains off in the distance.

I realized I’d been holding my breath when the director yelled “Cut.” They made Ryan do the same thing five more times until the rising sun began to burn off the fog.

“Moving on to the next location!” Bay called out.

“The vans are this way,” Lauren said, pointing me toward the road.

I loaded up with a bunch of crew members, and the hot topic was the missing model. There was no time to delay production because of Ryan’s touring schedule and the song’s release date.

We pulled into what Lauren called a “temperate rain forest.” The trees were massive and covered in moss, with vines hanging down everywhere. Ferns grew among the trees along with wild grasses. I could see why they’d chosen this spot to stand in for a fairy kingdom. When we parked and got out of the van, I saw a camera already set up and covered in plastic because of how wet everything was. A bright-blue river ran just past the grove of trees, gently rushing over small rocks.

“I have Caryl’s agent on the phone!” A woman with a headset rushed over to the director. “She’ll be here in half an hour. Apparently there was some kind of mix-up on their end about the correct call time.”

“Tell wardrobe and makeup to get ready for her so we can hit the ground running,” Bay said. And his expression clearly indicated that he didn’t believe there’d been any kind of mix-up.

I again took a seat and watched as the director had Ryan walk through the trees, searching for his lost love. He had Ryan cut through some vines, hack down some ferns, and I realized they’d given him a real sword.

Then Ryan stood in front of a fallen cedar tree, and they blasted the music through a sound system so he could sing through it three times. The director asked him to try some different things while singing, playing different emotions on some of the lines. The music was so loud I couldn’t tell if he was actually singing or just lip-synching. Lauren explained that it didn’t matter. They would overlay the track while editing. Some stars preferred mouthing the words, and others sang for real so they would match the song’s intensity. I knew what she was talking about. There was nothing more distracting than watching a music video and seeing the singer’s mouth barely open even though they were supposed to be hitting a high note that I knew took physical effort.

About two hours later, Caryl arrived on set in her costume. They had her in a gauzy pink-and-purple dress with sparkles all over the bodice. She had bright-silver makeup around her eyes. She was blonde, tall, ethereal-looking. I could see why they’d picked her.

“What took you so long to get here?” the director asked.

“Things happen. So sorry,” Caryl said with a smile that looked totally fake.

One of the makeup artists stood next to Lauren. “She spent the last hour fighting with me over every product I used and the final outcome. I showed her the concept art, but she didn’t care. It’s not like she has to worry if I get fired.”

“Where are your wings?” Bay barked at Caryl, and she looked supremely bored.

She named a famous lingerie company and said, “Contractually, I’m allowed to wear wings only for them.”

This led to more yelling, with Bay demanding that someone get Caryl’s agent on the phone. She sat in a chair texting while all this was going on.

“Maybe we could add them in digitally later,” the assistant director said to Bay, and he agreed to start shooting. They had created a throne made out of twigs and flowers, and Bay told Caryl to sit in it. With a loud sigh, she went over and sat down.

Bay explained the shot, how Ryan would walk in slowly and then kneel in front of her throne. “Try to look like you adore her.”

“That’ll be difficult,” somebody murmured nearby, and I had to agree. Caryl kind of seemed like a brat.

“Wait, are you filming from this side?” Caryl indicated her right side.

“Yes, because that’s where the cameras are,” Bay growled, obviously getting more irritated by the minute.

“You can film me only from my left side. That’s in my contract. Also, I don’t do natural lighting.”

Was Caryl saying she didn’t do the sun? The light source surrounding us everywhere right now?

“We’re already set up,” he said through clenched teeth.

“That doesn’t really sound like my problem.”

Bay’s face turned bright red, but he gave in and had the crew carry the camera to the opposite side of the throne. Light panels were brought out for Caryl.

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