It's Hard to be Lee

7. The Natural

Lee and Joe had the best interpretation of Romeo and Juliet. Their teacher Mr. Bennett was truly impressed. Mr. Bennett was a professional actor who traveled the world in many theater productions. He still did some local plays when he could. He never quite made it into movies, but he knew everyone in the business and coached a few well-known actors, including her favorite, Daniel Hartwell from the TV series Growing Up.

"Lee, you're a natural." After class, he asked to meet her in his office after school, so she was doing just that. Getting called into Mr. Bennett's office was a big deal. That meant he noticed her in a midst of several students trying to catch his attention. He was the best of the best after all.

"I am?" Lee asked, not feeling that she was but appreciating the compliment.

"It's like it's your forte." He sat at his desk with the bare minimum on it, his iPhone, a small tablet, laptop, and a notepad and pen. There was a framed picture of his wife and son, who also attended Larkin High. On his walls were several theater awards the school won over the years.

"Forte? What's that?"

"Means something you excel in. Have you given acting some serious consideration? As in professionally?"

She shrugged. That was her main goal for moving out to California, her dream to become a big-time actress. "Oh yeah, sure. But I've been concentrating on my modeling till I learn more on the acting side."

She knew for some acting cam natural, no lessons needed. She never acted much unless she counted the small-time elementary plays she did. She had not acted since fifth grade. Since her seventh-grade year, she focused on modeling. Taking acting classes at a school like Larkin High was a start. Mr. Bennett was one of the best in the business, she had done her research on him.

She was willing to work harder than anyone else to get into the door. She may have the look, but it took much more than that. She knew she had to pay her dues. She was hot right now with modeling and it paid a lot of money. With acting, she would just be another pretty girl going on rounds and rounds of auditions. Modeling was so much easier.

"Modeling is great for now, while you're still young, but how many thirty-five-year-old models do you see?"

She gasped. She could not believe he was being so ageist. In this day and age, many models had nice careers well into their fifties if that was what they wanted. She could rattle off some to him, but why bother. Old people weren't with the times like that.

"Plenty! You're so old-fashioned, Mr. Bennett. Models can even be forty or fifty, it's not all young anymore." She wanted to be the next Tyra Banks, take the modeling world by storm and then create an enterprise.

"Well then acting is a nice fallback for you."

Her teacher, who she respected and looked up to, was talking all the talk, but breaking in was harder than it looked. "Every audition I've been on gets me nowhere."

"Who's managing you?"

"My mom, when she can."

He stood from his desk, grabbed his phone and laptop. They had been in his office for only twenty minutes now and she thought he was going to give her better advice than she was a natural. Maybe swing her in the right directions for some auditions she could land.

"You need a manager that knows the business-"

"Like you? Will you be my manager, Mr. Bennett? I mean, I already have a modeling agent, but will you represent me in acting? Please! You have lots of connections." That would make perfect sense! He knew the business and he had a lot of contacts.