TOYL

calm and in control. This was unlike anything she had ever done in the past. She remembered the night she’d found out that she’d got the part in Up My Street – she had gone out to a nightclub with friends, and spent much of the night on the dance floor, trying to come to terms with the fantastic news. But this was taking things to a whole new level. The man who was presumably waiting inside to speak to her was a world-renowned casting director who had mixed with some of the world’s biggest movie stars.
    She took a deep breath as the door started to open.
    ‘Emma, it’s so great to see you,’ said Guy Roberts, taking her hand and shaking it vigorously. ‘C’mon in.’
    She followed him down the hallway and into the lounge area. The house was as nice inside as out, decked out like a Hollywood mansion. Framed posters of movies adorned the walls, and a piano stood in one corner of the room.
    ‘Take a seat,’ he said. ‘Can I get you a drink? Tea, coffee, something a little stronger?’
    Emma sat down. ‘Tea would be great.’
    ‘Very wise,’ he said, smiling. ‘I always like to keep a clear head whilst doing business. Unless of course I go out to discuss terms with agents – then the more you drink the better. I’ll just be a second; I’d already boiled the kettle.’ He disappeared around the corner. ‘You can take a look at the papers, if you like,’ he shouted from the next room.
    Emma took a look at the paper that had been lying upside down on the table in front of her.
    It was a cast list for the movie.
    And her name was on it.
    ‘You can close your mouth if you like,’ joked Guy as he came through with two cups of tea. ‘I know it was a little presumptuous of me, but I was working on my laptop last night with the cast list on the screen and that one gap was just so painful. I couldn’t help myself.’
    ‘I don’t know what to say,’ Emma admitted, looking down the list of people.
    ‘I’m pretty pleased with the cast. You like the look of it?’
    ‘Of course.’
    It was an impressive list. Most of those playing the lead characters were already established movie actors, with three or four films under their belts. The leading man, Colin Farley, had been in a couple of Hollywood hits, albeit in supporting rather than leading roles.
    ‘And how does it feel to be up there with them?’
    ‘Good,’ she said. ‘It feels good.’
    ‘Well, that’s good. So let’s get down to business.’
    He reached down behind him and pulled out another piece of paper.
    ‘This,’ he said, sliding the paper across the glass table, ‘is how much we would be offering you.’
    Emma took one look at the details and had to put a hand across her mouth just to stop herself from swearing out loud.
    ‘I said we could offer you money you’d only dreamt of!’ Guy smiled.
    ‘But I don’t deserve this,’ she said.
    He laughed. ‘Oh, Emma, if only all the actors I work with were as honest as you.’
    ‘But this would be my first movie, I don’t have any experience…’
    ‘Why do you think I do this job, Emma?’
    ‘I… I don’t know.’
    ‘Well it’s certainly not for the money anymore. I could easily afford to retire. The reason I do this, what gets me up in the morning, casting for new films, is because I love breaking new talent. It gives me a real buzz to identify someone with untapped potential: someone I think can make it right to the top. Someone like you, Emma.’
    Emma smiled, embarrassed.
    ‘The minute I watched you in that first reading, I knew that I wanted you to be in this film. That’s why I was so disappointed when you called saying that you were pulling out.’
    ‘I don’t know what to say,’ she said, struggling to maintain her excitement.
    ‘Just say yes.’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘That’s terrific,’ he said, clapping his hands together. ‘I can liaise with your agent on the exact terms. You know, Emma, I really believe you have a bright future in the business. You have something. Something all of those other girls don’t have. You’re different, and I don’t mean that in a derogatory way. There’s more to you. I hear that you used to be a karate champion.’
    ‘How did you know that?’ asked Emma, genuinely shocked that he knew so much about her past.
    ‘Ah… we casting directors have our ways and means.’ He tapped his nose, without elaborating further.
    ‘What else do you know about me? Nothing bad, I hope?’
    ‘Well, that would be telling.’ He winked at her.