Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

"We need to quickly move on to your next gig." 

Wade said, setting a piece of paper that had a schedule on it in front of him. It had been two days since they had returned to New York City.

Aiden's time in LA was pretty good, but he was mainly working there, so after coming to New York, Wade told him to take a two-day break, which he mostly spent playing video games and watching movies.

After the break was over, Wade had called him to his apartment to talk about his next ventures, and currently, they were sitting in his living room.

"More shows? And people are still calling me to their weddings. Why are there so many people even getting married?" Aiden grumbled, reading up on the schedule.

It was filled with shows in different bars and clubs, mixed with performing at some parties and, of course, weddings.

Aiden had thought he wouldn't have to perform day and night after coming to New York, but it seemed like his luck was cursed.

"Can't help it. You were in the 'Top Ten Indie Singers of the month' in Musicbox's latest magazine. 'Hold onto me' and 'Life is a story' are still in Melody's Top 50 Indie hits chart. You are famous now, so shows are inevitable."

He was very well aware of his newfound fame, especially after Lonely had done so well. Uncle Sam and his mom constantly called him to say how proud they were of him.

His efforts were finally bearing fruit.

"I know shows are inevitable, but I wanted to work on my next song. Or just focus more on the acting side."

Wade smiled bleakly at that and tried to explain, "I understand what you mean. But we need to first capitalize on your fame, and there's nothing better than getting your face out there as a celeb. Talk to people, smile. Even if you don't feel good, you need to smile. Give a good impression. The plan that I have set for you, the first step is to solidify the brand known as Aiden, the singer."

Realisation struck Aiden as he finally saw where Wade was trying to go and what the goals were in his mind.

"An album, you mean."

"You are smart. But not now. It's too early. We don't have that level of popularity or enough resources to pull out an album. Even if we did, it would more or less not work."

Everything has a time, and they need to slam the hammer at the right time. But the metal needed to be heated appropriately first.

"An album would cost more than a million dollars to make," Aiden said, trying to calculate in his head.

"Yeah, maybe more. Depending on how we go with it. We both are alone, with no godfather or company to back us up, so we would be investing the money you are earning. If we are lucky, you might be able to be a step closer to being the first mainstream singer who is not bound by a label."

Aiden slowly nodded. With the advent of social media, it's only a matter of time before a singer who has huge popularity but doesn't belong to any agency pops up.

But the thing was that record labels would generally give out deals to MeTube singers that are doing good. 

Indie singers who had rejected contracts like Aiden were few, and even then, not one of them have become mainstream. Though, the risks were a lot too.

"If we fail, we are basically back to square one," Aiden said, sighing.

"Yes, and that's why we must also slowly grow the brand of Aiden, the actor." Wade's sentence attracted his attention as he noticed something different in it.

"You have something for me?"

"Yeah, remember I told you about Granite films?"

Aiden gave him a nod, gesturing to Wade to continue.

"Well, I got confirmation that they are holding an audition next week. Fortunately, someone from Granite films watched one of your clips from [Shadows of War], and they liked it a lot, enough to send you an invitation to audition. So, if everything goes right, you might have your next acting role."

He couldn't help but smile upon hearing that. Finally, after more than a month, he would be able to prepare for another audience.

As Aiden's passion for acting was much greater, he was truly happy.

"You got any information on the movie or the character? Who's the director?"

"Not a lot in the movie. It's called [Black Saints]. Just know it's an action movie. It seems like Granite films are delving into different genres. As for the director, his name is Zavier Lamb, a rookie. But he has directed a few famous TV series like [Ghost under the sea] and [Mental magician]."

"Those series are pretty good, but it would be hard to prepare just knowing that the genre is action."

Aiden made an awkward expression. There were different types of action movies. Noir action, a no-nonsense cop movie, or even a cowboy action movie.

Action genre has a whole lot of subgenres in it, and it was tough for an actor to prepare for it without knowing what type the movie was.

"What about the character? There must be something about it."

Aiden asked, and fortunately, Wade nodded this time. 

"Yeah, they will send a short script tomorrow, so you could practice. As for the role, it's very different from your first role. You are not auditioning for a good guy this time. Instead, they want you to audition for an antagonist role."

"A villain? That's interesting."

They were calling him for an audition after seeing a bit of him in [Shadows of War] where he has played a morally good guy, and even his scenes were like that, so them calling him for the role of a villain was very unexpected.

"It is interesting. But any role currently is good enough for you."

Wade said, and Aiden agreed with him.

"I never really played a villain before. Though, I always wanted to play one."

"Yeah, and you need to give your everything if you want this role. From what I heard, Granite films are calling many good and even established actors to try out for the role."

***

"How's the casting going?"

A middle-aged man wearing a suit rested his arm on the desk and asked. He had a mustache on his face and was smiling.

His name was Anthony McCarthy, the CEO and major stockholder of Granite films.

"Pretty good, especially after we got Ray Hardy as the main character. Having connections with the X-art agency helps a lot."

A relatively younger guy replied. He had an unshaven beard and looked to be in his mid-30s with blonde hair.

He was Zavier Lamb, the director of [Black Saints]. Both of them were currently talking about the pre-production and casting of the movie.

"Ray liked your script, and he got on board only after that. He's pretty choosy in his script choices these days to solidify his position as an A-lister."

Ray Hardy was a British actor contracted with an X-art agency. He had given two back-to-back hits last year, entering Hollywood's prestigious A-lister category. But it was very hard for any actor to keep their position intact.

Their shares rise and fall with the release of each of their movies in the eyes of producers.

"Yeah, him choosing to act in [Black Saints] means he thinks the screenplay will work, and it would be a good addition to his filmography."

"But the problem is still the character of Kai."

Zavier said, and Anthony couldn't help but share the same sentiment. The major characters in the movie were the protagonist and the antagonists.

Kai August was actually not the main antagonist and only had a 15-20 minute role, but he was still one of the major characters and one of the beloved ones of Zavier.

Actually, there was even a plan to do a prequel to show Kai's backstory if the audience liked him enough.

"We are holding auditions for him next week. Some good actors that we recognised from small roles here and there and some that are more popular. It's an interesting bunch."

"Someone great in that bunch?"

Anthony asked, and after thinking for a bit, Zavier nodded.

"There's the godson of Harisson Owens, Tyler Reed." Anthony's eyes widened hearing that.

Harrison Owens could be counted amongst the most famous actors and producers in Hollywood. However, he had stopped acting long ago and was focusing on producing movies while enjoying a lavish lifestyle.

He also had many godchildren, one of them being Tyler Reed, who had only recently started making a mark in Hollywood.

Apparently, he was the nephew of Harrison, who had decided to help him out in his Hollywood aspirations.

"Is he any good? I haven't seen him act yet."

"He's average," Zavier replied, and after a moment of thought, he added, "But I think he's an actor who's just a bit lazy. He has talent, but it's about him putting in effort in his role."

"Probably because he has a huge backup being the godson of such an influential guy." 

Anthony tilted his head, wondering if it would be good for Granite films to connect with Tyler Reed, who will be a link for them to Harisson Owens.

"Yeah, it depends on the audition. I do want to give him the role if he's above average. The media focus on Tyler because of his connections, so it's free publicity."

"So, more or less, the role is his."

...

//DreamNote//

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