Meeting Evan again was like healing a loering wound. I didn’t apologize to him. Nor did he to me. We just went back to how things were before our little fight. That’s the best part of being a child. If we had had this dispute as adults, it would have been almost impossible to get back to the same point where we left off so easily. Evan’s parents, who had apanied him to es, left soon after and we began our trip.

  It was great being away from fame for such a long time. Don’t get me wrong, I love w on a film set aing different people, including fans, it was the reporters and the paparazzi that I detested. Our month ent oe isnds, beaches, historical mos, crowded cities, you and we’ve likely beehis past month alone. Many people reized me in big cities, but we tried to blend in as much as we could and most of our time ent in anonymity. It was a great experience, ohat I never wao end, but deep down I khat was unrealistic. Every good thing es to an end one day or another. So did our trip.

  At the end of the amazing trip, Eva back to his home in LA, and he didn’t have to fly alone. For the step of my career, I had to begin preparations for [AI]. As the shooting for the film was to take pce mostly at Burbank Studios, three of us flew directly to Los Angeles, while Dad went back to London to oversee the pletion of the first [Harry Potter] film and the pre-produ of the sed one, which would begin shooting soon enough.

  The worst part about this film was that I didn’t have Dad with me to help prepare for the role. All of my four films till now have been practiced diligently by me uhe direct supervision of Daddy Dearest. That couldn’t be the case this time around due to our flig schedules. So of course, I had to use other resources avaible to me.

  “Alright, Troy,” Steven Spielberg anded. “Walk up to me in your best robotic expression and say your lines.”

  I bnked my fad meically walked towards Steven, stopped just a foot away from him, and smiled, “Hello!” I chirped out, “I’m David. I’ll be your new son.”

  “You blinked,” Steven pointed out immediately. “Why would a robot blink?”

  I could think of at least ten reasons why a robot would blink. But I didn’t voice them. The most promi one off the top of my head was that the robot pany added that feature so that real humans aren’t weirded out by the non-blinking robots. If Steven Spielberg is saying I shouldn't blink, he must be right. Yet, it would be agonizing if I couldn’t blink even once while shooting this film over four months so I had to firm one important thing.

  “If you shoot every se with me not blinking at all, the number of retakes would go up a lot,” I voiced my hesitantly.

  Steven deliberated on the issue for a moment before saying, “Retakes don’t matter that mu the grand scheme of things. The audience should be able tnize you as a mae from your tells like movements, voice, and ck of blinking. Then there would be other tells like ck of tears or excessive facial expressions.”

  I nodded in uanding. Just because something made sense on paper doesn’t mean it would look equally pelling on s. Steven Spielberg was a master of maniputing humaions as far as ema was ed. He kly what would or wouldn’t look good on s. Over the years, I have practically seen all of Spielberg’s movies, and not even a single film was terrible. There are a few mediocre ones in his long list of filmography story-wise, but teically speaking, even the mediocre ones were stunning pieces of ematic history.

  So if such a person thinks that it is better for my character to not blink, that’s exactly what I’ll do.

  “Okay,” Steven said. “Let’s practice your lines and I’ll guide you through each of them as you requested. Meanwhile, I have homework for you. Try to practice the walk you just did, all day every day for the hree weeks.”

  Given that the film was to begin shooting in three weeks, Steven was essentially askio remain in character until the film began.

  “I do that,” I replied before pig up the script that was given to me to practice my lines from when we’d sighe tract.

  The be of signing another Warner movie was that they khe exact details of my fees for [Harry Potter]. And although it was unreleased at the moment, I did have an additional leverage to ask for a higher sary: my Oscar win. Initially they had offered me the same 2 million as for Harry Potter. Even that amount was eoo much for a child star. Yet, Mum didn't relent on that amount so easily and bargained hard knowing how they will not make the film without me. In the end, they agreed to pay me 5m. Other than Macauy Culkin, I was the highest-paid child in Hollywood. And I’m pretty sure I’ll overtake Culkihis year when I get the box office share of [Harry Potter].

  Warner Bros had offered me a simir revenue-sharing deal for [AI], as was the case with [Harry Potter] if I were to my upfront sary, but I deed them. Reason? Simple. The film wasn’t a hit st time around. It did average business only and upon its initial release, it didn’t break even until years ter. Initially, critics were ly divided into uding it and deriding it. Decades ter, when artificial intelligence became a real thing, people did e back to the film with a positive outlook, but that was too te for me. My appearan the film may ge things and the film’s perception, but I didn’t want to take that risk with my sary. For now, I’d be happy with my 5 million payday.

  “Alright Troy,” Spielberg broke me out of my thoughts and I realized one of Spielberg’s servants was standing behind him. “It’s your time to go home. Your mother is here. Remember that tomorrow we have to work oing that body mold we talked about.”

  “I remember. See you tomorrow,” I waved him food measure before making my way to the front door of his mansion and of course, Mum was there to ese back. Which was strange given that they had hired Roger for me for this very purpose.

  “Where’s Roger?” I asked as soon as we were safely tucked in the car and driving towards our new home. A new car wasn’t the only thing we purchased from our newfound prosperity. While we lived most of the time in London, Dad had decided to buy a Beverly Hills mansion for iment and tax purposes on a loan. It was a logical decision given that we juggle most of our time between LA and London.

  “He had a family emergency,” Mum replied. “He had to go back to London for a few days. I think we should get you a new security guy exclusive to LA.”

  “Probably better,” I grimaced at that thought. LA being LA, everyone expected to meet stars everywhere. If I were to go to, say, Phidelphia where people aren’t expeg me, I’m much less likely to be hounded by everyone 24/7. Here in LA, it’s a different se. I ’t walk outside for more than a few minutes without somenizing me and asking for a photograph/autograph. It’s irritating on some level, but I had gotteo it by now mostly. Still, I won’t go anywhere alone because a lot of people want to take advantage of the fact that I was a kid. They could easily overpower me, if nothing else.

  “So, how are the rehearsals going?” Mum asked versationally.

  “It’s good, I guess.”

  “You guess?”

  I sighed, “Okay, don’t tell this to Dad, I don’t want to infte his ego, but he is a much better person to practice ses with. Spielberg is alright, but Dad is Dad. You know what I mean?”

  “irely,” Mum fessed. “Tell me why you didn’t like Spielberg’s approach. Maybe I help you out there.”

  That was a good question about which I hadn’t thought much, to be ho. Why didn’t I like Spielberg’s dire personally? After some ption, I could e to only one clusion: because he’s Steven Spielberg. All the other directors that I have worked with, be it Dad, Shyaman, Daldry, or even bus, none of them were as accimed or famous as Spielberg. None of the other directors were a brand name in themselves when we began shooting. Shyaman achieved that status after [The Sixth Sense], but while shooting he was just an average guy. Same for Daldry who became a big director in my past life after [Billy Elliot]. Chris bus was the most renowned director I have worked with before Spielberg, thanks to his [Home Alone] films and [Mrs. Doubtfire], but he has also given his share of flop and mediocre films. People won’t just go and waty of these directors’ films for the heck of it, but they will for Spielberg.

  “I’m too afraid to correct what he is saying,” I said slowly. “I think he knows better than me whenever I have a suggestion about the film or my role.”

  “There you go,” Mum beamed. “If you could reach that clusion on your own, I’m sure you must have thought of the solution as well.”

  I hough Mum couldn’t see me as her eyes were fixed on the road so I verbalized it as well, “Yeah. I have to start speaking up. He is also a human after all.”

  “Exactly,” Mum nodded. “What’s the worst that would happeher he would accept ygestions or would tell you why he didn’t want to go in that dire and that’s it. Ohing I tell you for sure is that he would be mad that you didn’t voice your opinion, not that your opinion was wrong. Like any good director would.”

  “Hmm,” I grunted in firmation as I thought about what Mum had said. It made a surprising amount of sense.

  When we reached home, instead of letting me do my thing, Mum sat me down in the living room and said in a serious tone, “Are you sure you want to do the [Billy Elliot] stage musical, Troy?”

  I was fused for a moment before slowly nodding my head, “Yes. Why are you asking like that?”

  Mum went quiet for a few seds before saying, “Because a stage musical is a very big deal. Not only will you have to stay in London or New York for months, if not a full year, but it will have severe repercussions on your schoolwork as well.”

  I sighed out loud. Of course, it had to be about my damning schoolwork. I had succeeded in finishing another year of my schoolwork while filming [Harry Potter]. So now, instead of startih grade, as most 11-year-olds would in the UK, I was meant to start with tenth grade (or freshman year of high school as per Ameri terminology). After the eleventh grade, I was meant to take my GCSE, and my A-levels after the thirteenth grade.

  “What about my schoolwork?” I asked with a raised eyebrow. “I’m already three years ahead.”

  “Oh, I know that,” Mum said. “The problem es with Actors’ Union and child bor ws. They have this rule that a child actor work only so many hours a week on stage. This includes rehearsal hours as well. A successful py have as many as eight and sometimes nine shows per week. No child do that many shows within the hours set by those rules.”

  That roblem I had not thought about. At some level, I knew about this because on stage there were always two or three different actors portraying Billy on different days. I hadn’t given the legal side of that much thought. Now that Mum expi, it made much sense.

  “Is there no exception to this rule?” I asked hopefully.

  Mum looked flicted for a few moments, “There is. But, I don’t want to give that out to you.”

  “Oh, e on Mum!” I begged. “Tell me already or I’ll look it up oer.”

  “That is why I’m not hiding it from you,” Mum grumbled. “Bloody i. The only exception to that rule is if the actor iion has passed out of high school. So if you clear yEDs in the US or A-level in the UK, you work full hours.”

  “That’s it?” I asked happily. “Why didn’t you tell that to me earlier?”

  “Because I didn’t want you to cram four years’ worth of education in one year while shooting big-budget films year-round,” Mum retorted. “You barely have any free time left as it is.”

  “Mum,” I spoke softly. “The py hasn’t even been writte.”

  “That’s where you are wrong,” Mum smiled back at me. “The film’s script is right there. They don’t o write airely ory or deviate too much from the dialogue. It will take less than a month for a petent writer to make the necessary ges to the main plot. A task that Lee Hall has already begun.”

  I sat there silently abs the information. Lee Hall was the writer of [Billy Elliot] who had taken inspiration from his own life and multiple others’ to pen down this beautiful story.

  “Your Dad tacted him ba London with the idea and Lee was very enthusiastic about it,” Mum tinued with the expnation for her worries. “He immediately started w on it after your father secured the stage adaptatihts from the other producers. Lee has begun talks with Stephen Daldry aon John to dired score the film respectively.”

  “How much did Dad pay for the adaptatihts?”

  “1 million,” Mum replied.

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