Unforgettable Charm

I was nervous, but who wouldn’t be? I was sitting on a plane on my way to Los Angeles, California with my agent sitting next to me, and assistant on the other side going through my schedule for once we land. Small town nineteen year old girl, and I already had an assistant, Jennifer. Then again, I knew I would be needing one. I had no idea what to expect, let alone what I was doing. She was a talkative woman, in her early thirties, with black hair and thick rimmed glasses and a thin build, and was very serious about her job and always knew what I was supposed to do; so I was glad to have her by my side, even though it was her job to be.

I was still in amazement about how quickly my life was changing. Just a few months ago I was going to a state university majoring in sociology, and now I’m going to star in a movie. Everything had happened so quickly. I’ll never understand how I got the part of the film in the first place. I’d only went because it was an open audition.

A few friends of mine told me about how their were open auditions for a movie that was supposedly going to be a “hit”. I had no acting experience, unless you count being a part of stage crew in the tenth grade. My friends said they were going to go, some of them being theater majors, thought having small part would be unbelievably great for them, so I tagged along. All I wanted to be was an extra, and I thought that request in itself was too much to ask for. I ended up getting more than I bargained for.

“Katie Jansen?”

The woman from the open doorway called out. I stood up from my seat in the waiting room, and walked past twenty other girls waiting for their turn. I wasn’t nervous, after all, I was only auditioning to be an extra. I walked into the room and stood in front of who I believed to be, the casting agent, a few producers, the screen writer, and the director.

“Hi.” I greeted them with a warm smile.

“Hello Mrs. Jansen,” Mark Evans, the man I believed to be the producer smiled at me. “How are you today?”

“Fantastic, and you?”

“I’m doing great. Now here is how the audition will proceed, in the excerpt of the script we gave you, you’re having a conversation with Tyler. He wants to be with you, but you’re too afraid to try, and are trying to convince him you two don’t belong. I’m playing Tyler, so just speak to me when you do your lines.”

“Okay, that’s perfect.” I set the script that they gave me down, already having memorized my lines.

“Are you ready?”

“I sure am”

He then pressed a button on the camera that was on a stand before me, and I saw the red light go up, and I knew I was being recorded.

Mark pointed at me, motioning for me to go, so I started speaking my lines.

“You don’t get it Tyler, “I pointed towards Mark.” You and I don’t work. And we never could.” I said, using my face and voice to express the hurt.

“Damn it, Charlotte! Yes, we do. I know we do, why are you so afraid to try?”

“I’m not afraid to try,” I said, touching my heart, letting my voice rise, because I knew I had to start getting angry to mask the feeling of sadness my character was feeling. “I just know how this will end, one of us will have a broken heart, and believe it or not I’m trying to save both of us the hurt.” I ran my hands through my hair. “You don’t understand, Tyler. I’m not the girl for you.” I turned my body to the side, and wrapped my arms around myself and looked into the distance. “Do you know who you are? You’re Tyler Richardson, the guy every girl wants, the guy every man wants to be. You could have any girl you want, and you want me.”

And now I looked back at the producer, and I noticed they were al leaning forward in their seats, staring at me intently. “I can’t offer you anything, Tyler. We live in separate worlds, once the summer is over you’ll forget about me, and you’ll move on.” I turned my body back to them, and let the tears that I had produced fall freely down my cheeks. “But I, I will always have this summer. The summer that I fell in love, and lost that love. And I’ll remember you fondly, and you’ll always be a part of me.” I let my voice break. “But I know, that all good things come to an end, even the most perfect of loves fall apart. So please, “I stepped forward. “Let me go, and leave me with the memories I have of you now, before it’s too late and it all goes wrong. Please Tyler.”

And that was the end of my lines. I wiped my eyes of the tears. “Thank you for the opportunity.” I said smiling. I picked up my script and left, hoping I did well.

And I in fact did do well, so well that I got a callback. I had to recite more lines from the film with the producer, and after that I thought that would be the end of it. I thought it was incredible that I got a callback, but I didn’t expect much more, but I ended up getting another call from the casting agent, asking me to come back for yet, another callback. While I was their, I saw their were five other girls waiting to get into the room with the men and women that controlled their careers.

I thought it was odd, that most of them had the same look to them. Tall, blonde, tan and had the All-American-Girl look to them. Whereas I wasn’t very tall, standing at 5’5, had brown hair, and looked nothing like the typical American girl, having olive colored skin that came naturally from my Spanish decent from my mother’s side and big, light brown eyes.

Each girl had gone in and come out of that room within a span of ten minutes, and I was the last to go in.

“Welcome back, Miss Jansen.” Said Greg Moore, the director.

“Hello, how are you all today?” I asked them.

“We’re doing great, and you?”

“Peachy.” I said smiling. They all chuckled.

“Katie, do you know why you’re here today?” He asked me.

“No, I was hoping you would tell me.”

“Katie, do you know anything about this movie that we’re going to be filming?” He asked me, while crossing his arms.

“No, I’m sorry, but I don’t. A few friends told me that it has a fantastic storyline though.” I said, hoping that small detail could show I had some type of interest.

“Well, that doesn’t matter much, you’ll find out more about it soon enough. We called you back, because we like you Katie, you’ve got this certain, innocence, that we’re looking for. You have no experience, but the fact that you did so well with your auditions, showed us how much of a natural talent you have.”

“Okay.” I said with a questioning tone, not knowing where they were going with this.

“You’re very green, and we actually happen to like that about you. It’s a freshness, something different that were used to, and that is exactly what the character Charlotte has. And we want to give you that part.”

“Oh, wow, that’s great.” I said grinning. “How small of a part is it?” I asked.

“It’s not exactly a small part.” They all started smiling, grinning actually at me. “Charlotte, is the lead actress of the film, and we want you to bring her to life. You are who we chose, to co-star in this movie, Katie.”

I stood in front of all of them with my jaw hung low. I didn’t know how to react, or how I should react. I auditioned for this part, thinking I wouldn’t even have a part big enough that got played in the credits. And now they’re telling me that wanted to give me the lead. This was an opportunity of a lifetime, and even though acting wasn’t something I’d ever been into, I knew I couldn’t pass this up.

“Will you be our Charlotte?” The director asked.

I grinned. “Yes, yes I will be.”

From that point on, my life had changed. Instead of actually going to college, I started doing online classes, in between my acting lessons, learning my lines, photo shoots and going through all of the legal formalities of being a in a movie. For the next few months I concentrated on everything that I had to do, and acquired an agent and assistant.

Now, I’m on my way to Los Angeles, having to do more photo shoots and some interviews, and get ready to film. I was nervous, it was such a big change, and I was still debating whether or not I was actually ready for this. My friends wished me the best of luck along with my family, and they all stayed behind. I missed them already, and I had only been gone a day.

“Ladies are gentlemen, please buckle up, we are just about to land.” The pilot announced over the loud speaker.

My agent, Alex, looked over at me and gave me a reassuring smile. Alex was also in his thirties, but he had a young face, making him look like he was in his mid-twenties. He was a nice man, with laugh lines, short brown hair and blue eyes, and was extremely tall. He kept me calm, and always reassured me everything would be fine. I was comforted knowing that he would be around.

I could feel the plane start to land, and after a few minutes we were allowed out of our seats and were exciting the plane. I stepped off of the plane, and walked down the steps, and saw a car with a man standing in front of it with a sign with my name on it.

“Okay so from here we will go straight to our hotel, you’ll get settled, rest for the evening, then in the morning, work is to be done!” Jennifer exclaimed excitedly. She walked ahead of Alex and I.

Alex chuckled. “She’s a nut.”

“Yeah she is, but she’s great at what she does.” I said in her defense.

“ Yeah, she is. So are you ready, kid?”

“I think so.” I said tentatively.

“You are, don’t worry. Just, take a minute to take it all in.” I closed my eyes, and took in a deep breath. I had to be ready, by tomorrow I would officially be starting my new life as an actress. And I knew that I had overcome my fears and do the best I could. I opened my eyes once again and smiled. “ I can do this.”

Alex put a comforting arm around my shoulders.

“Welcome to Los Angeles, Katie.”