Alive (Phan)

FIVE

Di looked much more intimidating in her street clothes than she did at the party. Despite her pretty face, she was absolutely terrifying. She wore combat boots and the shoulders of her shirt were covered in spikes and studs. It was hard to believe looking at her that she was the one who had written the script as we read through it that day.

Phil described the plot of the film as 'beautifully raw' and I, for one, totally agree. It was about two American high schoolers named Coleman (Me) and Drew (Phil) who lived basically opposite lives but became friends because they both painted graffiti. It told the story of how the two boys grew together and eventually fell in love, but how Drew's alcoholic mother ultimately tore them apart. It was really sweet and funny and heartbreaking, albeit a little dramatic. In the end, Coleman snapped and murdered Drew's mom in a fit of anger and Drew ended up taking the blame for it and committing suicide.  In the final scene, Phil's character had a beautiful monologue in which he explained how he thought love could fix things, but it really only made them worse. 

"I loved you my entire life," he says, "and it killed me." And then he raises a gun to his head.

And scene.

It's so beautifully tragic, I nearly cried just reading it through. Although that may have had something to do with Phil.

I'm an actor. I like to think of myself as a pretty good one too. But when it comes to reading, I'm not the best. I don't have good inflection or phrasing until the lines are memorized. I'm horrible with context clues, I have trouble finding the motivation behind the lines, especially in a cold read. But Phil, God, Phil could read the back of a cereal box and I would pay to listen. His syllables never run together like mine, they flow seamlessly one after the other, each with the perfect inflection and rhythm. He never misses a pause, every beat is intentional: never an added "er" or "um".

"Perfect!" Di said after he read the last line with a heartbreaking melancholy not at all representative of Phil's normal personality or tone. "You know what Lester, I think I finally found my dynamic duo! This is going to be perfect! Ugh, I hope that critic from the festival last year is there again. Remember him, Lester? He ripped me apart, oh, but this year he's gonna be—"

As Diana droned on about critics and festivals and "unappreciative bastards who wouldn't know great films if they punched them in the face with brass knuckles", I leaned over and whispered to Phil.

"That was amazing, Phil."

"You weren't too bad either," he whispered back. Was he blushing? Was I blushing? For once, I really didn't care.

"Okay, Dan, Dan!" the sound of my name snapped me back to Di's droning.

"Mhm?"

"You keep this copy. It would be awesome if you could have scene 1, 6, and 9 memorized by Friday." She smiled at me before adding, "And by that, I mean you have to have them memorized by then because we're filming."

"Sir, yes, Sir!" I saluted. Phil burst into fits of laughter, and I thought Diana might combust.

"God, please don't pick up on Lester's stupidity," she said, rolling her eyes.

"You look like— a lobster!" Phil managed to get out through fits of laughter. Di had gone a bright shade of red, mostly from being annoyed, and Phil's laughter was not helping.

"Phil, it isn't that funny," I said, trying not to laugh as well as save my own hide from Di's anger.

"Thank you, Dan," Di said, "Phil I don't understand why—"

We never found out what Di didn't understand because at that exact moment the door flew open rather violently and a shout of "BRAVO! BRAVO! BRAVO!" followed by measly applause rang through the room.