Barry took another copy of the page, “I’ll read it with you.”

  “Yes, Cole?” He asked me, indig that he had begun the audition.

  “They used to hang people here.” I kept my voice low as if a little hesitant to ahe question.

  “That’s not correct. Where’d you hear that?”

  "They'd pull the people in g and kissing their families bye... People watg would spit at them." I answered in a somber tone.

  "Cole, this was a legal courthouse. Laws were passed here. Some of the first ws of this try. This building was full of wyers. Lawmakers."

  "They were the ones who hanged everybody." I tinued in the same tone.

  "I don't know whie of these guys told you that, but they were just trying to scare you, I think." Barry chuckled a little here.

  Alright, this is my transition part. All the training I have doh Dad, enag different ses from different films shall e to fruition today. Just like he had taught me, try to think from the character’s perspective. Put yourself in their shoes. I think of all the times people treat me like a kid, ign my opinion or simply thinking of me as lesser thahe times when teachers would look down upon me only because of my age. I el it all into oence.

  "I don't like people looking at me like that," I told off to Barry who looked genuinely baffled for a moment.

  "Like what?" He asked heless.

  "Stop it!" I shouted, gaining undivided attention from all four of my interviewers.

  "I don't know how else to look–"

  "You're a stuttering Stanley!" I lowered my voice slightly, so it was no longer a shout but still loud enough.

  "Excuse me?"

  "You talked funny when you went to school here. You talked funny all the way to high school!" I behaved like the mea bully that I have observed in my ret school years.

  "What–"

  "You shouldn't ugh at people. It makes them feel bad." My rebuking voice was full e and sadness.

  "How did you--?"

  "Stop looking at me." I covered my eyes with my hands as if he would disappear from that simple act.

  "Who have you been speaking to?"

  "Stuttering Stanley! Stuttering Stanley!" I started shoutiedly.

  "Who!"

  "Stuttering Stanley!"

  "Stop that!"

  "Stuttering Stanley! Stuttering Stanley!"

  When no one said anything for a few moments I removed my hands from my eyes and looked down at the script, "Did I miss something?"

  I didn't. The page e that point so obviously I couldn't go on any further. I turowards the four filmmakers and looked at them expetly.

  “That was brilliant!” Barry was the first to break the silence."What do you think, Night?"

  The director looked a little unfortable answering the question, "It was good."

  That was eborate.

  “ you do something else for me?” Shyaman asked suddenly. “Anything else you might have prepared?”

  I thought long and hard. This was just like my first day of ag when Dad had asked me to do an improv. For obvious reasons, I 't use the same material. I need something to wow them. I so wao do a Sam Ja from Pulp Fi but this one is not a edy film so that would just leave a ive impression if anything.

  When put on the spot like that, I couldn’t think of anything. It didn’t even occur to me at that moment that I could do a se from [Sex-ed] whose lines I've memorized forwards and backward. Seeing the four empty chairs in front of me I got a wild idea. I cleared my throat once before beginning the performance. A song that I had been preparing with my tutor Paul Tanner for quite some time now.

  ~: “There’s a grief that ’t be spoken,”

  I ighe surprised expressions from all the people in front of me, especially the director and one of the dies whhe song.

  ~:“There’s a pain goes on and on

  Empty chairs at empty tables

  Now my friends are dead and gone~”

  I tinued singing the entire song, immersing myself in the emotion, thinking of the pain of losing a loved one and living through survivuilt. I shed a tear or two at one point, but I didn’t care as I tihe song and no oerrupted me.

  “Oh my friends, my friends

  Don't ask me what your sacrifice was for

  Empty chairs at empty tables

  Where my friends will sing no more.”

  When I fihe song, I wiped the tears from my fad only then I realized the se around me. One of the dies who had reized the song, probably the producer, was also wiping away her tears while Barry was grinning like a loon. But my attention was on the director in front of me who had this subtle look of satisfa in his eyes.

  Retrospectively, it was at that moment that I realized that I had succeeded in my audition. Whether I got selected for the role or not, it didn't matter. I gave my best performance, and I couldn't have topped this.

  The filmmakers were in a trand no one spoke anything for a few moments, making the se a little awkward. Seeing that, my amazing mother took it into her own hands to prevent the situation from worsening. She cleared her throat audibly, "Does he o do anything else?"

  "No, that will be all." The fourth dy who had hardly spoken anything by now said, "We will tact you with the result of the audition by the ing Monday, that's the 23rd."

  "Alright, e along Troy," Kathy called out as she indicated the door behind me.

  Before following her, I o the four filmmakers, "Thank you for letting me audition today. Have a good day."

  With that said, I followed my Mum back outside before they could reply.

  As soon as I was ba the waiting room, I saw every kid and their guardian looking at me all weirdly. Kids I uand, they must be curious to know about my audition, but adults too? That was a little creepy. Among those staring at me was a boy that I reized. It was Haley Joel Osment who pyed the role of Cole in the inal timeline. Funnily enough, he was also wearing a suit. He must have e here during my audition.

  My mother didn't let me dwell on it too much as she grabbed my shoulder aly led me outside.

  “What was that?” I asked, still bewildered even when we were away from the prying eyes.

  “Your audition took twice as much time as others. Usually, it means you have a higher ce of getting the part. Naturally, they were curious.” Kathy replied with a smile.

  (Break)

  “What do you think of him?” Barry asked his co-producer Kathleen Kennedy when Troy and his mother had go.

  “He is very good. Everyone see that, but you shouldn’t have shown such btant favoritism,” Kathleen chided.

  Barry rolled his eyes, “Look Kat, I don’t want to do this needlessly. You know we need a kid who carry the ag part, Bruce hardly . We have already auditioned more than 200 kids and a good one is finally here. Why the hell won’t I rush? If only [Sex Education] had been released a week ago, we wouldn't even have to audition anyone else.”

  Kathleen didn’t ent on his frustrated rant and turo the other two in the room, “What are your thoughts? Night? Lana?”

  The director looked nervously betweewo producers before announg his decision with finality, “I want him. He grasped the character well, exactly like I had envisioned. In fact, I was looking for a kid like that. But that song at the end, that was too good. That just gave me an idea for the film, I add a song to the film. We ge the drama se with a song. Yes…”

  He didn’t even realize that he was talking about his pns for the movie with the kid, ign the other three people in the room.

  Lana, the casting director, was even more unfortable. Usually, it was her job to reend a shortlisted group of actors who would then be auditioned by the director and the producers to make the final decision. But the director insisted on auditioning everyohen in an unusual occurrewo of the producers also came out for the auditions.

  Now she uood why. Kathleen had reended a kid named Michael Cera who was too sweet of a kid for such a role and Lana would have rejected him right away because of his ck of practical experiend skill to carry such a rge role on his shoulders.

  Barry, oher hand, had reehe topic of their current discussion, Troy Armitage. The kid was good, but Lana would’ve rejected him as well. The reason was his at. While the kid did have a passable at and she wouldn’t mind reending an adult with the same, the kid still faltered in many pces a back to using a British dialect.

  “His at may cause a problem," Lana pointed out to stop the versatioing any further. "I haven't seen [Sex Education], so I don’t know about his real at, but I could sehe pces he was struggling. It may cause you some problems while shooting.”

  “We get him a dialect coach till shooting begins,” Barry waved it off casually, “he is almost there, it won’t be much of an issue.”

  Night nodded, “I don’t have a problem with his at. I work with it. Just a few more retakes for a better actor is hardly a problem.”

  Kathleen, the st one, who was still hopeful about Michael Cera was flicted. She wanted her friend’s kid to py the role, but she could see that ag in a serious movie was not his forte. Not at the moment at least. If the movie was a edy, he would be a good choice. And at the end of the day, Kathleen was nothing if not practical.

  She sighed internally, “Voice coach it is. We evehe voice coach story during the promotion period to show how much effort the boy has put into the role. People love a hard-w kid.”

  Barry’s smile widened marginally, “So we all agree?” He looked around and got nods from Shyaman and Kennedy. Lana also nodded relutly because at this point her opinion was vetoed, so it’s better to just go along with the majority.

  “Lana,” Kathleen said, “Why don’t you finish up the rest for today? Make sure to plete the sele for all the other speaking kid roles. Make note if a kid stands out for the role of Cole as well. As a backup.” She crified.

  Lana nodded relutly while the director and the producers retreated from the back door oher side of the room. Now she had to tinue auditioning for the role of Cole even if they had selected the kid because there were a dozen or so expet kids out there.

  She set up the camera behind her and called in the kid.

  She hated her job sometimes.

  (Break)

  We didn’t have to wait much longer. Within a few hours, I received a call from Dad who had safely reached Pittsburgh.

  “I just got a call from Barry. They loved your audition.” Dad said directly without exging any pleasantries.

  “Have they made a decisio?” I asked excitedly.

  “You got the part!” Dad answered back with equal enthusiasm.

  “Yes! Mum! I got the part!” I shouted in the receiver, not g about the de anymore.

  “Ouch! A little lower Troy. My ears are getting old but not old enough to not hear you over the phone,” Dad pined from the other side of the receiver. Mum wasn’t standing much behind me so I didn’t have to shout, but apparently, Dad’s enthusiasm was tagious.

  “That’s great love.” Mum hugged me tightly from behind.

  “While it’s good to celebrate,” Dad tinued in the receiver, “Barry has specifically told me not to spread the news until we have sighe tract for you and it has been officiated by a judge.”

  There was this little thing that producers did while w with minor actors in big-budget films. HBO hadn’t done so because my parents were so heavily involved in the film that my abandoning the project was highly unlikely. In the current case, were I to leave the Sixth Sense mid-shoot, it would cause a lot of damage to the produ panies as minors ’t sign a tract.

  In such cases, the panies would get the tract signed by the guardian of the child actor, officiated by a judge in a courthouse which is as good as any binding tract. I would have to be physically present in the courthouse, of course.

  But there were limits to that as well. Like I ot be forced to do a se or an act that I am unfortable with. I ot be forced to do any activity other than ag itself, like movie promotions. I do it if I feel like it, but it’s not binding. Most kids do promote their movies, though.

  “Yeah, I won’t tell anyone,” I promised.

  “There’s one more thing,” Dad tinued, “They think that your at needs work. While you’re almost there, they want to provide you with a dialect coach before the shooting begins. Your csses would begin after signing the tract, which will most likely be week.”

  “Huh,” I muttered. “I thought I had gotten it down. I don’t have any problem with that. Anything else about this film?”

  “Yes,” Dad hesitated, “Look son, I know you are talented and have got the role on your ow, but in this industry, nothing is set in stone. So unless we sign the tract, don’t believe that the role is firmed. Anything happen at the st moment. Sometimes, even after the tract is signed.”

  I nodded into Mum’s shoulder who was listening to all our versation along with, “I uand, Dad. We won’t say no to either of the other two projects until this one is signed.”

  “Good.”

  We talked about a few unimportant things after which I hahe phone over to Mum a bay room to let them do the talking.

  Finally, my first role in a big-budget movie with a top-of-the-liar with a good story and potentially one of the highest-earning movies of the year. The only problem was that I had this fear that I wouldn’t be able to py to the level that Haley Joel Osment did in another life.

  The dude got tons of awards and got nominated for a fug Oscar of all things! I won’t lie by saying that I don’t want an Oscar. Who doesn’t? But if the movie does as good as it did in my st life that would be enough for me. That would catapult me into the greater limelight. Fame is never bad for actors, as far as I know. Just hoping I don’t get roasted by critid the like.

  Not that they’d be too harsh with a child actor.

  Still, as soon as I get the script, I am practig the shit out of it with Dad.

  _____________________

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