Threads and Strings

9. Castmates - April 2019

With Emi being the least experienced of the cast, her team was the first to be briefed and given the script. The first table read and meeting with the entire case was pushed back a couple of weeks. The rest of the main cast was coming in from different parts of the world, finishing up their prior engagements and filming schedules. 

Lia and Kai were in constant meetings with the production and writing teams for all the logistics and scheduling. From the director’s point of view, Emi needed to rehearse and train earlier than the rest of the cast, since Emi’s role was more active in fighting and technical terminology. 

“Lia, I’ll do the training. It’s just like conditioning for a sport. Let me meet with the fight choreographers and trainers to get a better sense of what the script is asking for,” Emi reassured her as she handed the legal paperwork to Kai. Kai read the contract over five times to ensure that Emi was getting what she was working for, as well as any other extras that came with the success of the show, if it was picked up. 

In that gap between the start of the cast meeting all together for the first time and shooting the first scene, Emi had moved to a temporary home [provided by the filming studio] with Pabu, Lia, and Kai in Vancouver. 

Charles was ecstatic about being close to their filming site as his show Lakeview also filmed in Vancouver. However, with some disappointment, Emi’s schedule focused on her training and acting classes, just to cover her bases. The emphasis on being a new actor did worry the filming studio, but the director and fellow castmate, Daniel Kim, saw the effort she was putting into her training and classes. He reassured them that she would deliver and exceed their doubts.

Charles was impressed whenever Emi called to tell him about her training, or what she could about training. Over six months since moving to Canada, Emi seemed more herself than he could ever recognize. Though most of their conversations were over text, Charles and Emi exchanged some encouraging words as the first day of meeting the cast and table read came closer and closer:

Charles: Em, know that I’m proud of you. I love you, Em. Don’t ever forget that.

Emi: I love you, too, C. Gosh, you are making this more dramatic than it needs to be. I will always remember that, because you have been saying that since we were like 8 years old. Remember the first time you told me that?

Charles: Yes, my dad got stationed in Korea, leaving you and Imo for a couple of years. We would not stop crying. Mimi and Trish were so done with us after our first week apart. 

Emi: And what happened after that? We talked as much as we could; I visited Korea as always;  and then we went to the same high school together. Went through so much shit together and look where we are. So yes, I definitely will not forget that you love me. 

Charles: Okay, that gives me peace of mind. It’s my call time. Talk to you later, Em. 

Emi: See ya, C. 

*

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The first meeting with the cast had finally arrived. Lia and Kai were at Emi’s trailer as the first table read and meeting happened. It felt surreal and nerve wracking as she entered that meeting without Lia and Kai. Holding her script, she entered the room filled with many people. Some were seated against the walls, assumed to be the writers and the filming studio representatives. Some were already seated at the tables behind their name placards. 

Emi smiled at the people she passed by and quickly headed to her spot. She looked at her neighbors, each recognizable from the shows and movies she had watched them on. 

Seated to Emi’s left was Stewart Allen, an on screen werewolf from an international phenomena saga and mutant from one of the most famous comic book universes. His long hair in a well placed bun that had him looking incredibly professional. Emi did blush a bit sitting next to someone she had a crush on in high school.