Actors Age Regression One-Shots

I Don't Think He's Acting - Eric Winter

It had been only a few hours since filming for the day had started on the set of the ABC show 'The Rookie'. In difference of any other episode, this one was going to be filmed mostly on Tim Bradford's house set.

Melissa, Nathan, and Eric were getting ready to film their scenes for the day, while the director Alexi was giving the crews the last few instructions on how they were going to film the next scene.

In the episode, Eric's character Tim is sick. Due to Tim's natural stubbornness and love for his police officer job, he refuses to stay home and rest. That's where Nathan and Melissa's characters come in. As Tim's partner, Lucy receives a message from Tim saying he is going to be a bit late to their shift, for which Lucy is very happy about, but also confused since Tim prides himself for being on time ALWAYS. Lucy cheers softly due to this news, causing curiosity in her fellow rookie officers.

Once she shares the good news, John becomes confused before mentioning that Tim had previously texted him for some advice on flu medication. John had assumed Tim was sick and wasn't going to work that day, but Lucy just rolled her eyes knowing very well what was going on. That's why she decided to call in sick for Tim before asking Commander Grey to release her from her duties for the rest of the day, as she wanted to check on her partner and possibly look after him.

After much begging and the promise of filling out case reports for the rest of the month, Commander Grey agrees to let Lucy go, but instructs John to take her to Tim's house and keep him updated on his condition. John gladly agrees to these terms and drives Lucy to Tim's house.

The next scene was the one they were about to film. Melissa had changed out of her officer uniform while Nathan was still wearing his. Eric had been kept in the makeup trailer to make his sick state look believable, so nobody had really seen him that morning. When he finally arrived on the set, everyone was surprised to see him looking pretty sick. It was too real.

"Wow, I think Carrie should get a raise. You look terrible", Melissa comments in between chuckles as Eric gets help from the wardrobe team to put on a robe and some sleepers before walking to sit down on the couch of the house's living room.

"She really did a good job, but it took forever, and the makeup is starting to itch so, can we start filming, please?", Eric said, sounding genuinely congested.

"Yes, of course. Now that you're here, we can start. Everyone, get into position", Alexi announced as the different crews moved out of the set behind the camera line while the actors got settled in their respective marks. "Scene 86, mark. And...action!", the director yelled and they started filming.

Melissa and Nathan delivered their lines with ease, and the scene was going as smoothly as it can go, up until it was time for Eric to speak. As Tim was 'sick', Eric kept rubbing his nose, sniffling, sneezing and coughing terribly. Everyone knew he had to pretend being sick, and his actions and the makeup on him was helping his performance look extremely realistic.

"And...cut! Amazing performance, guys. We'll just do one more take from other angles before moving on to the next scene", the director announced and the actors cheered thanks to the positive feedback after their scene delivery, except for Eric, who went into an unstoppable coughing fit.

"Woah, buddy. Are you okay there? It seems you took Tim's illness quite personally", Nathan joked as Eric tried to calm down from his coughing fit.

"I'm...I'm okay. I just need...some...water. Pretending...to be...sick...can be...really difficult...sometimes", Eric managed to say in between coughs before he stood up and walked towards the craft service table to grab a water bottle.

From afar, Nathan and Melissa watched as Eric attempted to open the bottle but failed miserably before asking for one of the crew members to help him out. Seeing him coughing and sneezing, and being physically weak, certainly worried his costars, so they decided to ask for some backup.