The Ugly Duckling (Excerpt)

Collision Course

The collision between Druscilla and me was inevitable.

Harris must have warned her to stay away from me, but with the producer out for the weekend and Pagliani filming with Dean, the tension had escalated all morning.

Thus far, I was remarkably successful at avoiding the actress, but with us filming together for the first time the next day, she eyed me, talked smack to her little squad, and hijacked all of Sherise's free time.

Dean's little talks with me at the boma in the evening hadn't helped, and somewhere in her head, she still thought Harris was teaching her a lesson and that as soon as she repented and toed the line, he would give the lead back to her.

When Pagliani gave the scenes this morning to learn our lines, it sunk in that she was the villain, not the heroine, and no longer the star of this movie. That the thick little nobody from nowhere would take her place.

"Go home before you humiliate yourself," she hissed, confronting me in the back garden where Jeanette and I were working on my acting skills until a moment ago when my coach left to check on preparations for lunch.

Did Druscilla watch us? Because the second I was alone, she pounced.

"Well, I didn't cast myself in this role."

That calm answer impressed even me.

"Lady, you are a fat loser from nowhere that doesn't have what it takes, and one good scene does not make a movie. Go back to mommy Benoit and work in the restaurant where you belong."

"Maybe, but I'm here playing the role you couldn't."

Who was this person speaking through my mouth when my knees were literally banging together and nausea threatened?

What if she was right, and it was just a fluke?

What if...

"Druscilla, why don't you learn your lines instead of interfering with Mercedes? Your father showed me that scene, and I agree with his assessment.

"You possess neither the emotional depth nor range of acting skills to portray Arielle. Mercedes does, and trying to psyche her out won't alter the fact that she does have the capacity, depth, and undefinable something that draws an audience.

"When characters rely on sheer raw sex appeal, looking pretty, being bitchy, and appealing to a certain type of male audience, you are the right choice. That is why Harris rewrote Anabelle's character to be all of those things.

"Now, I get paid by the hour, and Harris will get a bill for this little interlude."

I almost clapped my hands as Jeanette took Druscilla down like a pro. She'd played a few villains, and they were not Anabelle-type characters. Her portrayal of the dark queen in a recent version of snow white was genuinely chilling. Then again, that Snow White had been a few shades shy of the innocent victim.

The role won her an Oscar for best supporting actress, but Jeanette retired at age thirty-eight and moved back to South Africa to marry Barry.

Druscilla's mouth set in a hard line, her eyes blazing as she turned on her heel and stomped off like a pissed five-year-old.

"Don't give Druscilla that power over you," Jeanette said, watching me and bringing my thoughts back to the present. "She isn't right, and the only way to prove her words true is to allow her a seat at your table. I wish I could make you see yourself the way others do," she said as the coffee arrived.

She waited until we had been served and were alone before leaning forward and catching my eye.

"You have more raw talent, intuition, timing, and grasp of the essence of acting than that woman will ever have, and you are just discovering yourself.