Gamer Superstar

Chapter 160  160 - First shooting

Since my bleached hair was very characteristic of the image I was creating for my career as an artist, Angelina thought that using Jack with hair like mine might confuse the audience into not distinguishing the actor from the character, so she asked me to use a temporary black dye on my hair.

It was a special dye that was washed off with water to bring my hair back to its natural color, which I didn't mind and let the makeup and costume department take care of.

Even though my character wasn't that big and important to the show, since I was a guest artist, the makeup team that took care of me was the same team that took care of the main cast.

So a coincidence happened while they were doing my makeup.

"Looks like you really made the cut, kid!" Phil said excitedly as he walked into the makeup room. When I opened my eyes and saw who was talking to me, I smiled at him and nodded. "Yeah! Ms. Parker was very pleased with my performance and decided that I could play 'Jack', boss."

"Jack..." He thought for a few seconds. "Harley's boyfriend?! Ohhh, it looks like we're going to have some scenes together haha, I'm curious to see how you're going to act. The boy went from being the emotional support behind the scenes to the girl's boyfriend in the show..."

"I will be under your care." I said in a humble way because Phil was not only much more famous than me, but he was also a much better actor than me.

Acting with him was not only a great opportunity for my career, but also a great learning opportunity for me as an actor.

"Don't worry...just tell me one thing, how is your improv?" He asked as he sat down in the chair next to mine, preparing to be made up as well.

"Improvisation? Hm... I'm used to dealing with unforeseen events on stage while I'm singing, but I've never had to deal with anything like that for acting, apart from my teacher's exercises at school," I explained. I explained.

"On stage while singing... you didn't tell me you were a singer!" He asked in surprise. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"That's why I thought his choice of actor to play Jack was a good one, Phil." Angelina entered the room carrying a clipboard. "He is a D Rank singer who helped his friend audition for Harley, after seeing his level of acting and knowing that his career was the same as mine for Jack, I felt there was no better choice than him for Jack."

Hearing this, Phil's eyes lit up.

"What an incredible coincidence!" He said. "I love improvising in scenes, so keep an eye out for our interactions."

Phil seemed like a nice guy, even though he was a B-rank performer, he didn't have even 10% of the arrogance of most of the D-rank performers I've met so far.

Angelina gave us the order in which the episodes would be recorded, which fortunately for me would follow a chronological order.

Since I didn't have much experience with acting, recording the scenes in a messy order was something I was still struggling to get used to.

My drama teacher had given me some exercises in school, but nothing too in-depth.

When my makeup was done, I went to the set and found Laura, alone, staring into space while the other actors in the scene talked to each other.

"Hey." I smiled as I placed my hand on her head.

"Hey!" She replied excitedly when she realized it was me.

I didn't even have to ask her why she didn't want to talk to the other actors, because knowing her and how sensitive she was to certain things, I knew she wouldn't get along with some of the other actors.

"You two seem to know each other already?" An older woman's voice came from behind me.

Looking confused, I saw Julia Ropkins, the Peak C Rank actress who played Martha, Harley's mother and Steve's wife on the show, looking at us with a smile.

"We went to the same school." I explained with a smile as I politely extended my hand to her. "I'm Noah Black, who will be playing 'Jack' on the show."

Julia smiled back at me and shook my hand. "Julia Ropkins, who plays Martha on the show. I think I saw you last week during the taping of the pilot episode..."

"Yes, I came to support Laura, to help her with her nerves." I said, pointing at Laura next to me.

Hearing this, Julia's eyebrows raised. "So that's why your performance fluctuated so much... you could tell me you were nervous Laura, I could try to help you too."

Laura was embarrassed, but nodded in thanks.

After a few minutes, the recording finally began.

The first scenes were of the Duncan family in the daily hustle and bustle of their home, with Steve playing with Lucas, the youngest boy, while Martha argued with Harley about her choice of clothes and Ariel, the youngest sister, just ignored them both and tried to concentrate on studying the book she was holding in her hand.

Initially, Laura had some trouble getting into character, but with Julia's comfort and my occasional intervention, Laura was able to adapt well and in the end played her part masterfully.

During this recording I noticed Sophia, the actress playing Ariel, looking at me several times, but I just ignored it and continued to focus on Laura.

But there was a pair of eyes that noticed and thought they could turn this little behind-the-scenes detail into something fun for the show's script.

After the Duncan family scene, Martha's parents arrived, with Edward playing Eric and showing off his acting chops.

Their interaction was still turning with the dynamic of Eric not approving of Steve as Martha's husband, something that was a little shallow, but which I could see in the script had openings for deeper things that could easily be explored in the future.

Finally, after a few of their scenes, it was my turn to go on stage.

For the first time, I wasn't acting while imagining a set, but actually reaching out to knock on a real door.

Sure, it wasn't the door of a real house, but at least it was a real door.

In front of me, Laura, or rather Harley, opened the door and looked at me excitedly.

"You came Jack!" she said excitedly, showing the true level of performance she had that day, with an act so convincing that it seemed as if she had really become Harley.

"Yeah babe, I said I'd come." I smiled, acting a little more cheeky and confident as I approached her.

Harley got nervous when she saw me approaching her and quickly moved out of the way of the door as she ducked her head in embarrassment. "Ow Jack... don't act like that in here, my mom might show up any minute..."

"Hehe..." I replied as the script said and walked past her, looking at the house curiously.

I had to dose the amount of curiosity I showed Jack to be just right, so that it wasn't unnoticeable, but also so that it wasn't so disguised that the audience wouldn't even notice Jack's traits.

As I walked through the living room, two kids ran past and bumped into me. "Be careful, Lucas! Don't run into the house!" Martha yelled as she came towards us, freezing at the sight of me. "Who are you?" she asked suspiciously.

I was about to answer when Harley stepped in front of me and answered for me. "He's Jack, Mom, my boyfriend, the one I was going to invite to the barbecue today."

Seeing Harley explain who I was and then looking at me even more suspiciously, Martha just nodded slightly and finally said something. "Alright, welcome Jack, but you should know that in my house you always have to be under supervision, don't go into rooms alone and even less behind closed doors, understand?"

"Even in the bathroom?" I asked, feigning shock.

This question was off-script, which surprised Laura and Julia, who were sitting across from me, but Julia's professionalism was high enough that she didn't let it show and answered. "Even in the bathroom." She said as she narrowed her eyes and looked at me even more suspiciously.

I just raised my hands in surrender and nodded as I turned back to the script. "All right Ms. Duncan."

Martha nodded at me and went back to running after the two children who were nearly destroying the house with their play.

I just followed Harley as we chatted about something and the focus of the shot shifted to something else.

"Cut!" Angelina shouted, causing everyone to sigh as they looked at her expectantly. "Well done Noah, good that you weren't nervous about your first scene and even managed to improvise a bit. You should know that improvisation is very welcome on my set, just keep everything in character and it won't be a problem."

Hearing that she approved of the small change I had made to the script, I was happy and excited about the rest of the scenes I was about to shoot.

Even Laura was happy to see this and wanted to continue shooting with me.

The difference in the quality of her acting from the scenes she had previously recorded to the one she had just recorded was stark!

And I wasn't the only one who noticed, the other actors also noticed the difference in Laura's performance and even Angelina was pleased.