Smile For The Camera ✔️ ~ trixya

A Dose Of Reality

"Katya, what the fuck?" Pete said as soon as he had closed the door to his trailer.

"Look, I didn't know she'd give them to her stylist!" Katya said defensively.

"Hardly the point! Listen, I don't know what you have against Trixie, but you have got to stop terrorizing her. You're putting this entire production at risk, do you even realize that? You might have lost me a lead actress. That's a huge fucking problem, Katya."

"You'll find someone better, it's not like she was hired for her acting anyways." Katya argued, trying her best to still rationalize her actions.

"What?" Pete asked in confusion.

"I know she was hired because she's good for marketing, Kevin told me." She replied.

"So that is what this is about... Okay, let me make this very clear so there are no more misunderstandings about this; Trixie was hired because I liked her audition. I auditioned her myself, I thought she showed that she both understood the film and the character, and I genuinely thought she did better than everyone else we saw." Pete said.

"Really? You really hired her only based off of her audition?" Katya asked, starting to feel her guilt eat her up on the inside.

"Well, only is complicated. I told the producers that she was my pick, and they agreed because they also thought she could help sell the movie. You always draw a huge crowd and you almost always bring in awards, but you've never played a lesbian lead role before. Production felt unsure of how your audience will react to it, and they were also nervous because you very often bring scandals with you which can impact the whole production." Pete said.

Katya hadn't really given that much thought before, hadn't considered that her audience wouldn't necessarily respond well to her taking on the role. She knew Kevin hadn't wanted her to play a lesbian lead, the most he'd ever agreed to before was her playing bisexual characters who would never admit to being bisexual. He had also made it clear that even if the media knew she was sleeping around with women and knew that she had come out as bisexual, her having a relationship with a woman was not something the agency would support. Well, unless it was for PR reasons, Kevin would allow anything if it brought in money.

"Okay, but what does my career have to do with choosing Trixie?" Katya questioned.

"Trixie's main fanbase are female members of the lgbtq+ community, so she's in a completely different position then you are. Her fanbase are very likely to support the film, but no one knows how your audience will react. And Trixie's also very well-liked amongst the general public and has made many people more open towards lgbtq+ media. So yes, having her on this movie brings the film more security, but I would still have wanted to cast her if she was completely unknown. She's the right choice for this role and that's why she was cast." Pete said.

"Okay, so... you really think she can act?"

"Yes! And you might've too if you'd actually let her act in peace without being hazed by you every five seconds. Katya, do you really think I would risk my reputation and this entire production just to hire some singer with a large fanbase?" He asked, clearly upset that Katya could even think he'd allow something like that.

"No... No, you wouldn't have." Katya admitted, feeling stupid for thinking he ever would.

She knew Pete well, having worked with him on five movies before. She should've known he wouldn't have cast someone he didn't believe in. Pete had never been one to listen to producers when it came to casting. He had always picked his actors based off of whether or not he felt they fit the role, no matter how famous or fresh they were.

"Finally realizing that, huh? You can't keep acting like this, Katya. Not just when it comes to Trixie, but in general. Honestly, I don't know when you turned so unsympathetic. I accepted it when you started rebelling, thinking you were simply asserting your independence, but what you've been doing on this production has just been cruel. Honestly, the industry has spoiled you by accepting that you work on your own schedule and we shouldn't have. Do you even realize how often you waste people's time? How your actions affect others?" Pete said sternly.

"I do, I just... I get so upset with Kevin and -"

"But it's not Kevin you're affecting most, Katya, or any higher ups for that matter. You're mostly affecting crew and cast members who are waiting to go home to their families. When we have to add a shoot day because of you that's not only millions of dollars wasted, but it also means certain people have to stay on location longer and therefor wait another day before they can see their kids again. When you have huge scandals in the middle of projects, you put the entire production at risk, you put people's jobs at risk. That's people's livelyhood, Katya. You might have a beautiful penthouse to return to and millions sitting in your bank account, but most people here don't."

"I know... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for wasting people's time and I'm really sorry if Trixie really quits because of what I did." Katya said, feeling small under the director's stern gaze.

"I really hope she doesn't, I hope she'll change her mind and stay onboard. But either way you better prepare yourself for when the producers hear about this, and you better pray that no one outside of this production hears about what happened today."