The Beautiful Truth

// 133

How anyone in this industry was able to do this all day long, for days at a time was beyond me. Given our meager budget beyond the purchase price of my screenplay, the production team for The End of It All v2.0, as it was so eloquently titled at the moment, was given one full day to conduct a casting call. As in the entire movie was supposed to be cast after considering 18 hours of auditions.

I thought this was going to be fun, but it was more grueling than anything else. And it was a lot harder than I expected. I had specifically asked that the studio put out requests for actors and actresses that weren't well known—I didn't want this to be 'a so-and-so movie,' but rather a film that was a collective effort.

And so far, we hadn't had much luck.

Appropriately for me, since she had always been the character I had found most relatable, casting Ellie was the easiest. Within two minutes, I knew Jordan Hollandsworth was the one. Turns out she would be the most well-known actress we'd see all day—she was in the middle of co-starring in season two of one of the CW Network's most critically acclaimed shows...which should say a lot about her talents, seeing that her critically acclaimed show was part of the CW's bubblegum lineup.

In any case, while Jordan was spot-on, I was really hoping that casting the other major parts—Grant and Madison—would be just as easy: someone shows up, reads for two seconds, and I'd just know in my gut that they were the perfect people...

That didn't happen.

Around 9:00 that night, I knew we were out of guys to read for Grant. Some PA came in to tell us there were still a few people left to read for Madison. I took a break for some fresh air while Julian re-watched some of the earlier read-throughs on his laptop.

"So I'm thinking maybe... this guy?" he cued up some guy I'd watched about six hours ago and had left no greater impression on me to play my father than any of the other dark-haired guys we'd pushed in and out today.

"Yeah, I'll be right back," I waved him off. I was exhausted. Why couldn't we have split this into two days?

I pushed through the back door down a nondescript hallway and leaned against the building. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and tried to just let my mind rest.

Of course someone was smoking a cigarette.

I coughed, unnecessarily of course, but I was annoyed and felt like whomever it was needed to know. This was my fresh air break!

"Oh, I'm sorry," a quiet female voice said from just around the corner of the building. "I'm just a little nervous."

I listened to her stamp her cigarette out underfoot.

"I don't know why I just did that. I hardly ever smoke. It's so bad for me."

I scoffed quietly. Was I supposed to respond?

I didn't, but I guess she was expecting me to, since she came walking around the building to face me. I could feel her presence before I opened my eyes and saw her.

"Oh," I said involuntarily when I realized who it was.

Hadley Catalano smirked and shook her head in apparent disbelief, looking off over her shoulder at the dark studio lot. She scoffed. "Of course."

I wrinkled my forehead, fatigue leaving me unable to completely mask my displeasure. She had to be kidding me.

"Do I know you?" I played dumb, unable to articulate an appropriate response.

Hadley smiled that brilliantly white, perfectly aligned smile that had looked so good on MTV, although her eyes weren't in it. "Right. Sure. I can tell you do. Why don't you go on and say what you're thinking? It's written all over your face."