Believe in This

Acting, my one passion, and the one thing I hoped to accomplish in my lifetime since watching Mary Poppins at the tender age of four. In the beginning, my parents blew off my obsession, figuring it to be another dream children had, such as wanting to be an astronaut when they grow up. They just so happened to be completely wrong though. I had thrown myself into every school and community play and musical beginning at the age of six and only ending when I graduated. It was when they saw my drive and passion to be involved in every possible production that they began taking my dream seriously and understood there had been truth in my statement.

I had busted my ass in secondary school, managing to graduate two years ahead of schedule, gaining acceptance to the Royal Academy of Drama and the Arts. The four years I spent at RADA had shown me where I stood in terms of managing to make a name for myself in one of the most competitive industries the world had ever seen, as well as giving me the chance to develop and grow as an actress.

Everyone imagines that after attending such a prestigious academy auditions and scripts would be thrown at one from every possible direction but that my dear readers, is absolutely false. After graduating, I took every possible role, whether it was as a stand-in or as an extra, just in an attempt to pay my bills. I had quite a nice trust-fund left to me by my parents and while I was living off of noodles and take-away I kept myself from dipping into it. That was the one time in my life I seriously began to question my life. I began to wonder if I should just give up on my dream of being an actress, go back to school, and get what some call a “real job” that guaranteed a salary. That’s what a two years of living paycheck to paycheck will do to you.

It was at the end of these two years that I finally saw a light. I managed to land the role of Baby in Dirty Dancing and then I met Maggie. Maggie had been backstage with one of the set directors during rehearsal and had introduced herself to me as an acting agent. By the time I left for home that night, I had fired my old agent, who offered me nothing but small television roles but billed me every chance he got, and had three auditions lined up for the following week.

Nearly two years had passed since Maggie and I began working together and I thanked her every chance I got for jump starting my career. It was because of Maggie I currently found myself standing in front of BBC studios, an opportunity of a lifetime awaiting me inside. Slowly but surely I was breaking into the acting world; a small but frequent roles in EastEnders, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, and Doctor Who had put my name out there but I was still waiting for that breakthrough role.

Having been in Louisiana for the past two months filming my second major film role in Pitch Perfect 2 I had jumped on the first international flight back to London. It had been nearly three months since I had been home: one promoting my first major film Lost River with Ryan Gosling, Cristina Hendricks, and my cuddle buddy for life Matt Smith. The last three months had been some of the best days of my life and I knew that even if I didn’t seen them as frequently as any of us would like the friends I made would be with me for life along with the memories.

When Maggie had called me a week ago letting me know I had secured an audition for the world renowned Sherlock I was convinced April Fools had come late for me. It had taken ten minutes of assuring on her part that Mark Gatiss and Stephen Moffat had personally asked for me to come to the audition for me to actually believe the words coming out of her mouth. From what Maggie had told me it was seeing me in the latest production of Much Ado about Nothing that caused them to consider me for a role I had received only a page of lines for.

The noises and bustle of people became nothing but background noise for me as I made my way into the building. The receptionist let me know that the auditions were being held in the back of the building and instead of taking a seat I paced nervously up and down the hallway wringing my one piece of paper in my hands nervously. So caught up in my internal dialogue was I that I failed to notice Steven Moffat walk into the hallway, only snapping out of my trance when he called my name.

“Charlotte, how great to finally meet you. I regret that we weren’t able to meet on the set of Doctor Who. From all of what Matt’s told me about you I feel as if we already know each other.”

“Oh goodness, I hope you’ve only heard the good things. Matt’s been known to exaggerate things a little.”

“I think he kept the embarrassing bits to himself.”

Steven held open the door to the audition room, it being completely empty save for a small table set up at the front of the room, a table behind which sat Mark Gatiss and, to my surprise, Benedict Cumberbatch.

“It was just going to be Mark and I today but Benedict had a day off and offered to read along with you.”

Clichés aside, Benedict was so much more in person than he was on the screen. His hair was slicked back, a look that did wonders for my lady bits, though I just knew those Sherlock curls were begging to come out and play underneath all of the gel.

“I’m Benedict but please just call me Ben.”

“Charlotte, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Leaning across the table, Benedict placed a kiss to my cheek, a greeting I would have expected from a friend but not one of the biggest names currently floating around in Hollywood. The touch of his lips on my cheek was enough to cause my knees to buckle yet a higher power kept me on my feet.

“Now we know we didn’t give you an awful lot of information in regards to Amelia. That’s partly due to the fact that we’re still in the process of her character development and because we don’t want any details being prematurely exposed to the public. Fortunately for all of us, we have a few more details to give out before we get to the actual reading.”

Following up Mark’s words Steven continued, “Yes, Amelia works as a dancer on the West End and in her free time teaches dance classes at the local studio. Her grandmother suggested she see Mrs. Hudson about a flat which is how she comes to be the tenant of 221C. As you know from the bit of the script, Sherlock immediately sets to deducing Amelia upon meting her, though she proves to be quite undecipherable.”

When Steven finished talking Mark immediately brought up the subject of dance, “Speaking of dance, Margaret told us that you are quite skilled in that area.”

“Well I’d like to consider myself skilled. I’ve been dancing since I was four and minored in it while at RADA. I have dancing to thank for keeping me from starving right after graduation. Whenever I have a bit of free time I make a point to keep up with my classes.”

Mark and Steven asked me a few more questions before we got to the actual reading. I left my script lying on the table and waited for Benedict to make his way to the center of the room where I was standing. Steven read for Mrs. Hudson and I quickly fell straight into my lines. What took place in that room can be described in one word, magic. Ever since I had started acting, I had never connected so instantly with another actor. Benedict and I became lost in our characters and I could only watch as a chemistry flowed between us, the likes of which I had no idea even existed. It was as if the disappointment I felt as our scene ended was reflected off of me and onto Benedict with the slight frown that fell upon his lips and the furrowing of his brow. It was either disappointment or an utter distaste for my acting.

The room fell into silence as the last words fell from our lips and the three unscrupulous stares that were directed at me made me feel like bolting out of the room like a shy three year old.

“Thank you Charlotte, that was absolutely brilliant. We’ll be getting in touch with your agent in a few days to let you know if you’ve received the role.”

“Thank you, it was a pleasure meeting you and being allowed the opportunity. Have a nice day.”

It was hard for me not to just dash out of the room. My nerves always seemed to kick in after any reading, the shaking that started in my hands managing to spread to most of my body within seconds. Traversing my way out of the building and to the nearest tube station, I told myself that if it was meant to be I would be cast as Amelia and if I wasn’t, well there were other roles out there sure to be calling my name. Though I wasn’t in the slightest bit sure of how my audition would be perceived by Steven and Mark, I knew for sure that just the memory of the way Benedict had looked into my eyes made my hair stand on end.