Chapter 93: Becoming an Actor?

Chapter 93: Chapter 93: Becoming an Actor?

[Edward POV]

The black SUV with dark tinted windows entered the studio district in Hollywood. I could see the Paramo*nt Pictures set, and a few other studios around.

The buildings were beige in color and seemed lifeless from the outside. But inside them? It was filled with various sets ranging from an Old West Town to the New York city streets.

It was my first time entering the sets, but, interestingly enough, not my first opportunity to do so. Apparently in our school, the teacher could bring the students here for a field trip. However, I had never gone before, nor was I in the drama club.

"Damn. Marvel got a huge ass studio. They have upgraded!" I muttered as I stood in front of the set for Iron Man 2. Starting from facing bankruptcy and a low movie budget, the studio managed to revive their company with the production of the Iron Man movie.

"We have arrived." The Singh (Punjabi) driver said with a thick accent. I nodded and asked, "Renaldo?"

"He's coming." The driver said. I nodded and got out of the car before waiting for Renaldo at the entrance of the studio.

A skinny Guatemalan man walked hurriedly towards where I was standing and said with a thick accent, "Mr. Newgate. I'm Renaldo."

"I know. Can we get in?" I asked after reaching my hand out for a handshake with him. He was mildly startled before he grabbed my hand and shook it. He flashed a sincere smile and said, "Yes. Unfortunately, the interview is already over."

"Wait. Are you serious?" I asked exasperatingly as the only reason I went there was to provide some moral support for the girls. "What about-"

"They made it. And now they are fitting for the Ironette bikinis." Renaldo said, accurately guessing what I wanted to ask.

I nodded and opened my mouth to ask, but he interrupted me again.

"They want to meet you. They gave you a pass you can use to get to their dressing room. However, I don't recommend you to go there." He said with concern while fiddling with a white card shape key in his hand.

"Why not?" I asked in confusion.

His eyes shook as he thought whether to tell me the truth or not. Finally, he decided to put his trust in me. "Well...All 20 girls are basically naked inside the dressing room as they are fitted for the outfit."

"Ah. I understand." I said.

Renaldo breathed in relief as he saw me being respectful to the girls. I saw his expression and shrugged, "Well, if the room is only for the 2 of them, I will go in. But if there are other dancers, I won't invade their privacy."

Renaldo heard my words, but he was confused regardless. "Then why are your hands slowly trying to reach the keycard?"

I was startled and retracted my hand hurriedly. "Damn. You notice that huh?" I said jokingly, causing Renaldo to laugh for the first time in front of me. He usually tried to keep a professional manner, but today I managed to close the distance between us.

Just like Pepper, Renaldo shared the same loyal trait which made me want to befriend him sooner than usual. Of course, if he fell in love with Pepper earlier– just like in the original timeline, then I wouldn't have any objections to it.

"By the way, is Dwayne...single?" Renaldo asked me bashfully while leading me to the film set.

"..."

Right after I walked into the studio, I met with the set executive and she gave me a couple of rules to follow when I was inside the studio. First, I should not interfere with their work. Not that I needed to have it said after all it was common sense that shouldn't even be included in the guideline anyway, but you would be shocked to know how many dumb rich people there are.

While she was explaining the rules, suddenly a pompous, and a bit condescending voice sounded from behind us, making me turn my head to the source of the voice.

"What's a teen artist doing here? Kid, if you want to audition for the Ironette role, it's too late."

I saw RDJ walking towards me with a smile on his face. Just to be clear, he was in his Tony Stark persona as they were currently shooting, therefore he was playing around with a kid who he assumed was a lucky fan.

"But Mr RDJ, I'm sure if I put on a wig and dance, I will be better than anyone you casted. So give me a chance?" I said with a pitiful voice as I persuaded him.

RDJ's face froze while Renaldo looked at me– mouth agape in shock.

"HAHAHA!" RDJ laughed hard enough for most people in the set could hear and he couldn't help but break his character. He returned to the still pompous but kindhearted RDJ and patted my shoulder as he laughed.

"Kid, no matter what color wig you wear, there's no way you're dancing on that stage."

"Ah, that's fine though cause I only come here to support my friends who're auditioning."

RDJ nodded and said, "You're the singer right? The one who sang "Shivers" when you did that interview?"

"Yes. I'm surprised you know me." I said with slightly widened eyes as he guessed my identity.

"Well. I didn't at first. But I was stuck at my friend's child's birthday party, and you were all the kids were talking about." RDJ said before he waved the exec away. After Iron Man 1, he completely changed people's impression of him from a druggie to a highly capable and respected actor.

I thought that I would geek out when I met with him today, but surprisingly, Bruce Wayne's identity management skill helped me to maintain my usual character. It was a surprise, and a good one. This way, I wouldn't simp out on a short few people that I knew in my previous life if I accidentally meet them in the future.

"Friend? Is it Don Cheadle?" I blurted out without thinking much. RDJ was shocked for real this time and replied with a stammer, "Y-Yeah...How do you know?"

I shrugged and said, "Just gossips."

He sighed and said, "So. It got out huh."

"Kid, you sang at a concert before right?" RDJ asked as we walked to the stage set. It was the set of the Stark Expo exhibition stage. The one where Iron Man performed together with the Ironettes to announce the beginning of the Stark Expo.

We walked to the stage where almost a hundred people were waiting and stood at the center of the stage. "Yeah. I have." I said with a melancholic tone.

"Wait. Don't you miss performing at concerts right now?" RDJ said in disbelief. "You know you're an artist right?" He asked sarcastically.

I shook my head and said, "It's not that. I'm just too busy right now."

He asked me about a few things. About the experience of facing thousands of people, how I handle my crowd control, and a few others in which I replied to all of his questions honestly.

He was gathering data for his performance, and I didn't want to snub his enthusiasm. Not to mention he brought me to many places around the set and even introduced me to a few other people. I was looking around to see ScarJo in a leather suit, but too bad she wasn't in the studio today.

RDJ seemed to understand something and started to pry, "I know that your age is a secret. But can you tell me? You're at least 16 right?"

I shook my head.

"Then, 17?"

I shook my head again.

"15?" He asked while gulping his saliva.

I shrugged and said, "Around that. Yeah." He breathed sharply and looked at me up and down with disbelief in his eyes.

I smiled wryly and RDJ felt weak on his knees.

"I really thought you were a junior." He said, feeling a bit intimidated as my height had already surpassed his in such a young age.

"I haven't even finished middle school yet." I said casually, adding to RDJ's disbelief.

"Mike check. Sound check." The sound system staff suddenly tapped the microphone in at the stage to check the speaker quality.

"Should we move?" I asked.

"Kid...I mean, Ed. Can I call you that?" RDJ said carefully with a smile on his face. He was leading me around as a senior, but I guess he felt a bit awkward to strike a friendship with a teenage boy. After all, he didn't share the same interest as the individuals who had visited a certain island.

I was weirded out and said, "Sure. if you really want to."

"Do you want to test for the Spiderman role? I think it'll suit you." He said.

"Nah. I don't want to date Zendaya."

"Huh? What?" RDJ was confused, but I wasn't elaborating anything.

"Also, doesn't Sony still hold the rights for the movie?"

He smirked and said ambiguously, "Yeah. I'm not talking about now...Wait, but it'll be hard in the future too. After all..." He looked at me up and down again and said, "You're still growing."

I opened my mouth to retort, but then I understood what he was talking about. I nodded in acceptance and asked, "Not that...I do admit to having some interest in becoming Spidey...Why did you ask me about that anyway?"

"You don't know, do you? I guess you never checked the articles about you." RDJ said in contemplation. I was confused and said, "What articles?"

I was clear about most of the articles written about me in the music industry, so I was confused as to what he was talking about.

RDJ suddenly shook his head and said, "Wait. Not an article. More like a fan cast. Your fans said you can be Spiderman as you have the intelligence. But seeing your reaction, I guess that's exaggerated. You're not THAT smart."

"Hey Mike. Let the kid do the soundcheck!" RDJ suddenly said and dragged me to the microphone before I could react. I was startled but I let myself be dragged so as to not accidentally injure the man. They couldn't film without the main character after all.

"My voice is expensive though." I said cheekily as I made the money gesture with my finger. RDJ rolled his eyes and said, "The payment is not kicking you out of the set."

"I actually don't care much if I get kicked out. I only came here to meet Anna and Kaya, who I recommended for the interview. I'd rather be home now and continue working."

RDJ was stunned and he asked with a tiny voice, "Really? I thought you came here to visit the set."

"Yeah." I replied casually, making him stunned again. He then shook his head and grinned evilly. He said, "1000...no, that's too hard. I will GIVE you...a signed Iron Man helmet instead."

"Deal!" I said and we shook hands.

[3rd Person POV]

Renaldo had returned after calling Kaya and Anna out of the choreography practice as they were on a break.

As the scene was short, there wasn't a lot of choreography for them to handle, and being professionals, they had already trained the choreography to perfection, even surprising the head choreographer.

The trio passed the buffet table to get to the stage where Ed was waiting, however the other dancers were gathering around the buffet table instead as they had just finished practicing as was famished. Of course, for dancers who took care of their body, they avoided sweets and high carbohydrate food and instead settled on the...chicken salad.