Page 46 of Arranging Ayra
Then why did I feel so... icky. My stomach churned. I pressed an unconvincing smile but had to admit to myself that I was filled with... No. It couldn’t be. I couldn’t let it happen.
And yet there it was; the ugly face of jealousy. And that jealousy was aimed at Lizzy... a character that I loved so dearly.
“Are you okay?” Keely said.
I waved at my throat. “I think a piece of duck went down the wrong way. You know how excited I get when talk of Mr. Darcy comes up, I virtually forget how to function... how to swallow.”
She let out a light laugh that quickly subsided. “Truth is, I need your help with something.”
Looking at her curiously, I cocked my head to the side. “My help? With what? The cast?”
“Not the cast... just one member of the cast.”
“Oh? What sort of issues are you having?”
“You know how I hate to complain about this sort of thing...”
“Spit it out, Keely.” I quickly checked my watch. “Another five minutes and the rest of the crew will be coming in here.”
She nodded. “I’m getting push back from one of the actors. Every direction I give is questioned. In one instance, he even insisted that I change the position of the camera in order to get him from another angle and when I argued that the lighting was set up to shoot from the planned direction, he insisted I change the entire lighting.”
“Did you?”
“Damn it, I had to. He refused to do the scene if I didn’t make the changes. It took over half an hour to get everything set up in the other position only to have him realize that I was right to begin with.”
“I know how hard-headed you can be, Keely. Just hold your own. Don’t let him win or he’ll step all over you. After all, you’re the one with the vision for this movie. He’s only an actor.”
“Yeah... well, he’s a pretty big actor; not big enough to have learned any modicum of humility or kindness, mind you. Just big enough to think that he can get whatever he wants. And who am I? Just a first-time director trying to make a name for herself.”
“No matter how many movies he’s acted in and how many you’ve directed, he still owes you some respect. You shouldn’t have to placate him.”
“Yeah. Well, why don’t you tell him that.” She looked me straight in the eye.
“Do you really mean that?” I said. “Is that what all this is about? You’d like me to talk to this actor?”
She nodded only slightly. “It would be better coming from you. That way he couldn’t take it out on me.”
I bit my bottom lip as I considered her request. Confrontations weren’t my strong suit. In fact, I tended to shy away from them whenever I could.
“Ayra,” Keely went on, “if he continues to argue every scene with me, he’s going to cause endless delays. This guy literally thinks he could direct this movie better than I can. This afternoon he actually gave an actor a direction that was precisely what I had asked that actor not to do.”
“I see.”
“I need you to just step in... gently, politely... just to let him know that I know what I’m doing. If you could just be there as we shoot a scene and point out that I’m a damned good director and I’m doing what’s best for this movie.”
I smiled. “Well, that wouldn’t be too hard, after all, you are the best director for this movie.”
“Does that mean you’ll do it?”
“I don’t think I have much of a choice.”
“And I know how tactful and diplomatic you can be. Not only that, but as a producer on the film, you have a say... a substantial say in how things run around here.”
“Okay. So who is this busybody who’s giving you such a hard time.” But it suddenly struck me. A well-known actor, a big name, head strong and think he knows how it all works. It could only be... “It’s Barnaby, isn’t it?”
“Who else?”
