Adulting in the Spotlight

How to Discuss a Relationship

For someone like Parker, callbacks were not a big concern. He was not J.Law famous or anything like that, but his role on a hit television show had garnered him some fame and fortune. The costume department on that show was good enough at making him look like a completely different person, that Parker's usual style of clothing and hair was unrecognizable to fans of the show. He was hoping for this callback for an unknown show, but he was not too worried about it.

Isaac, on the other hand, was more worried about a callback. He was often cast in James' theater shows, but he had only been cast in a television role once and a movie role twice. The show's pilot died and one of the movies was a tremendous flop due to the director having a scandal. The other movie was a big success, but it wasn't like Choi was the main character or anything. In fact he died about fifteen minutes into the movie. So yeah, he was worried.

Ella had also auditioned after getting lunch with Isaac that day. She was well-known for LA stage plays and smaller indie movies. She was worried, but she expected that the show would be small and her life would remain ultimately the same. She was not that worried. She would decide how worried she was when she read the script if she got it.

Jae had taken Ella's advice and met with James. They were friends, yes, but they did not hang out with each other as much as with the others. Jae was 20 and James was 26. Jae-Eun Baek was quite young considering how popular she had been in Korea. James was also quite young to be a successful stage director. Jae, who was very good at acting her way through life, acting her way into bars, acting her way into auditions. For some reason, however, the acting did not let her get callbacks. Maybe it was her accent.

James was waiting to hear back from Ella about her callback when Jae rolled up to his door. He flung it open wearing a bright robe and drinking instant coffee. She clearly wanted help and although James was wary about giving someone else his trade secrets, he was sure she would not use it to trample on his dreams.

The day then came when callbacks were announced. The three got calls from their managers. They auditioned again. They were called back again. And again. And again. Finally, they were cast. Parker had thought it was strange that they did not want chemistry tests with the other members, but said nothing about it. It had been a little over two months since Parker and Isaac last spoke. Ella could not get any information out of either of them and Isaac had been refused to leave his house. Jae had come over briefly a few times, but Ella could see she too was preoccupied. Then, Ella learned that both Isaac and Parker had been cast. She told neither of them. They had to talk to each other eventually.

The show was called For Heaven's Sake. The log line made it seem like it was a drama about angels, demons, and all sorts of supernatural creatures fighting to save heaven in order to keep people's souls from disappearing forever. Ella was impressed, but assumed the show would disappear. There were already so many shows about things like this. Isaac was extremely excited, however, because the show had already been picked up for a whole season. The director was someone the company respected. He had gotten the show up and running and was pushing for it to move faster and faster.

So the day came for the first table read. Isaac got there first, determined to make a good impression. He was not sure he did, but the director definitely appreciated it and never forgot Isaac's do diligence. He sat down at the table waiting for Ella. She had gotten the call about an hour after Isaac did. Ella walked in about fifteen minutes early with four cups of starbucks. She gave one to Isaac and kept the other two beside her. Another young woman stepped into the room. Isaac immediately recognized her.

"Alice!" Ella shouted. Alice Magnolia was a movie star. She was good friends with Ella because of a show they did while still in high school. It was before Ella had become well-known on the LA stage and far after Alice had become famous. Isaac only knew that Ella was on the show. If he had known Alice was there too, he would have dressed up.