Hollywood Zenith

" What are you saying? You should have seen their faces after Samuel\'s performance. The crowd gave him a standing ovation! " Amelia told from the side. She was experienced in this sort of thing and was sure they liked Samuel.

On the other hand, Laura was jealous; she wanted to see it with her own eyes. Her son becoming a movie star; how could any mother didn\'t want to see that!

" I too will be coming tomorrow! I am missing out on too much here." Laura declared.

" No! that would be a disaster. I am sure the whole family will barge in if you came. We want to keep his identity hidden not expose him broad daylight." Amelia said.

" That\'s right, that is why I will be going in instead! I am sure no one would notice a old women like me." Eleanor popped out of nowhere.

" Definitely not! You are even more famous. Your face is plastered up on every women\'s magazine in the west."

" But it\'s my grandchild\'s debut, How can I not witness it? I didn\'t know you were such a mean lady. I want to change his agent! "

" Mother! I should have the first say by that logic! I am his mother." Laura objected.

Hearing their conversation, Samuel hesitated. It will definitely expose his identity, but he didn\'t want to deny them too. Suddenly, a good idea popped into his head.

" What if they do some basic disguise? I am sure they could hide their identity with it. I am a living proof of it."

" But-"

" Fine! We will do it. No taking back your words right?"

" I will ask someone to call the crew over!" Laura quickly vanished from her spot, along with her mother.

" How can they act so childish? Weren\'t they fighting all the time? Look at them now." Amelia said while shaking her head.

" I like it when they get along. I am sure everything will be fine." Samuel thought with his naive mind.

The next day, Samuel, Laura, Eleanor and Amelia entered the studio at the appointed time. It was a different location, a proper filming set, which housed the necessary equipment.

Samuel and his family met the crew and greeted them at the entrance. They were respectful because they had seen Samuel\'s performance yesterday. He introduced others, and they had a small conversation.

The executive producer, David and The casting director, Ella, soon came to invite them in. They noticed the strange appearance of Laura and Eleanor, who wore their disguise.

​ Laura dyed her hair temporarily and wore big glasses to hide the top half of her face. Meanwhile, Eleanor wore a strange hat with inconspicuous clothes, which was not a great look for her.

David and Ella greeted them cordially, but as they had worked in the industry for so long, they could stop the fake. David was genuinely intrigued.

" I think I have seen you somewhere." He asked Elanor directly.

" Me? No, I am just an old woman trying to see my grandchild perform." She dodged the question, which made her more suspicious.

David wanted to continue, but looking at the time constraints, he decided to drop it. Ella led the group toward the waiting room, where other actors and actresses were waiting.

" There is a viewing room. I think it will be good if you watch it from there." Ella asked Samuel\'s family. They complied with her request as they encouraged Samuel before leaving.

" Come, I will introduce you." Ella took Samuel toward a couple of kids sitting and looking at him from a distance. He could notice the curiosity in their eyes, probably wondering about his identity.

" This is Sam who is auditioning for a role. This is Rupert and this little girl is Emma. They are your co-stars if everything went smoothly." Ella introduced them.

" I hope we get along." Rupert said.

" Yes." Emma gave a short response. She definitely had something on her mind.

" Me too."

" Get to each other. We will do some quick scenes to see how it goes." Ella said and left the group alone to prepare the scripts needed.

Samuel sat down with them. They were looking at one another in silence without speaking. Samuel decided to open the conversation; he had to establish some connections to better their chemistry in the long run.

" So, How did you get into acting?" He asked Rupert.

Hearing his question, Rupert gave an awkward laugh as it was an embarrassing story for him.

" It is really not a interesting story. I am a fan of the book and did some acting class when I found out about the new movie that they are making. My drama teacher told me about the role but when she mentioned that it was for a harry potter movie, I decided to do it no matter what."

" I can see that. So, you were in the industry before this?"

" No, you misunderstand. I am still learning and this will be my biggest role if I get a chance. I can\'t believe they decided to go with me after what I did for my casting tape."

" Casting tape?" Emma asked. She was a little interested in it.

" The one people send to apply for a role. You can\'t possibly do a live audition for every project right?"

" That makes sense." She replied meekly.

"I decided to do my own audition video, pretending to be one of my drama teachers," Rupert explained.

"I dressed up like my teacher, who\'s a girl, so it was kind of scary. Then I made up this rap song about how much I wanted to be in the film. I guess it worked, because I had a bunch of auditions after that. I\'d just been doing school plays and stuff. One time, I was a fish in Noah\'s Ark, and then here I am for my next big step."

Samuel and Emma giggled at his weird story. He was a funny kid, and his way of telling the story was intriguing. When both boys looked at the chuckling Emma, she suddenly got flustered being stared at.

" Why? You looked like a cute little girl when laughing. Does something bothering you?" Samuel asked.

" Kid? I don\'t think there is much difference between us." She involuntarily retorted but noticed that she had said it out loud.

" That\'s what I was talking about. It\'s like you are trying to hide badly."

She stared at both individuals before sighing out loud. She decided to tell her side of the story.

" I think I will not get the part."

" Why? You are here right?" Rupert asked.

" You don\'t get it. I won\'t say the name, but there is this girl who had already done a film before," Emma shared the arduous audition process.

"I can remember just crumbling at the sight of her, thinking, \'She\'s been in a film before, and she knows how to do this. I have no chance.\'

Even worse, yesterday, when I came to the studios, she played cards with one of the boys auditioning for Harry. And I was like, \'Oh, my god, they\'re making friends already! I\'m definitely not going to get it.\' I am so, so upset."

Rupert became quiet upon hearing her story. It made sense.

" But you are here, and we have been selecting for main roles. I think if we do well, you will be fine." Samuel said. He knew she would get the part, but saying it outright would make him weird.

" But I am not like you and Rupert. I have been hearing many people praising both of you meanwhile they are not sure about me." She paused before continuing her story.

"They came to my school in Oxfordshire and asked if they could put forward a group of 20 children between the ages of 9 and 12. They took my photograph in the school gym in Oxfordshire and said, \'Do you have anyone who would like to audition?\' So I had an audition at my school," Emma said and stared toward the viewing stand. She looked at her father, who had a worried face.

"I think I have already done over five auditions. My dad also told me, \'You do realize there are going to be, like, a thousand girls auditioning, right?\' And I was kind of like, \'Oh, okay… I\'ll, um, keep that in mind.\' I tried to enjoy it instead of desperately trying for it. But deep down I really want this part."

" You don\'t to worry so much. You might think I am good but I only learned for a few months before auditioning for the part. Beside, if you make a mistake, someone will be there to correct and teach you." Samuel said while Rupert nodded his head.

Emma looked like she was on edge about it. It was hard to believe that the casting director and executive producers would give so much respect to a new artist. She had seen how they treated Samuel and his family.

" Wow, you already made friends? We are ready for the scene. Here is the script, you can talk with me or your parents to get familiar with it. We will give you few minutes so take it slow. No pressure. Ok?"

Three of them nodded their head before diving into the script.