HWI 278

Hollywood What If Chapter 278

"Miss Watts, let us start your audition." 

Doug Liman said while the cameraman started filming. They record the audition of the cast. 

Naomi Watts nodded. For this movie, she was given a chance to perform a scene in the script that she liked. 

As expected, Naomi decided to go with the dinner scene. The part where the Smith couple met at the dinner table after they realized that the other person was actually an agent. 

"How was Atlanta?"

"Big deal?"

Despite doing a solo performance, Naomi did the part right. 

Solo performance, sometimes called One-Man Show. Naomi said her lines as if she was really talking to her husband. 

However, a minute into her audition, Doug Liman raised his hand and stopped her. 

"Your acting is great, but I want to see you act with another person."

The role of Mr. Smith was still unoccupied because the crew was still deciding between the three actors which were Hugh Grant, Russell Crowe, and Brad Pitt. The crew was okay with casting Hugh Grant and Russell Crowe because their salaries were affordable. Producer Harold Witsend preferred the two. 

However, both Doug Liman and Kazir Grey prefer Brad Pitt. Grey Pictures was not a small production studio anymore and they could afford to hire superstars. Heck, Kazir and Tom Cruise even have a collaboration this year. 

Since Doug and Kazir were interested in casting Brad Pitt, the negotiation started. Brad Pitt agreed to a trilogy and cameos but the salary was still getting negotiated. 

So since there was no official Mr Smith at the moment, someone had to step in to join Naomi for her audition. 

"Kazir, um, would you mind?"

Doug talked to Kazir who was next to him. Inside the audition room, only Kazir had experience in acting. He had been in so many movies... All of them were cameos of course. 

Kazir nodded and agreed. He knew that Doug had no hidden intentions. He already did this twice earlier when Charlize Theron and Cate Blanchett showed up. 

Kazir sat across from Naomi who was poised and gorgeous. The two started their acting. 

He was not a professional actor so he could not keep up with Naomi. Just like in the dinner scene, Kazir and Naomi talked peacefully at first until guns were brought up... Fake guns(props) of course. 

They had a scuffle until both of them admitted that they loved each other and they didn't want to kill each other. Naomi was so close to Kazir, it was a miracle that Kazir maintained his sanity. 

"Too bad, this is just an audition and I can't kiss you... Unless you want me to." 

Naomi whispered into his ear and Kazir slightly blushed. After that, the actress thanked Kazir and the acting ended. 

"Miss Naomi, are you fine with trilogy and cameos."

"Yes. I want to be part of the Continental Cinematic Universe."

A common response. All of the actresses who auditioned had almost the same answer. 

"You have to sign three to four months of training once you get the role, are you prepared for that?"

"I've been exercising and I'm confident in my body."

Perhaps these questions were so obvious since CCU was all action movies. 

All of the actresses who auditioned were fit and went to the gym to train. 

"That's good to hear." 

Doug Liman ended the audition, he said to Naomi that she would receive a call today or tomorrow regarding the result of her audition. 

Once Naomi left the room, the people started talking about her and said their thoughts on Naomi's audition. 

'This is going to be tough. Every one of them is amazing to work with. Personally, I prefer Charlize and Naomi in terms of appearance but I prefer Cate if we're talking about acting.'

'Charlize Theron might be the first choice because her future films were Aeon Flux and Mad Max: Fury Road. But we can't be sure that she is currently fit for action movies.'

However, the three actresses were all expensive to hire. All of them already have a foothold in the industry and they could ask for a minimum of $2.5 million. That might be a problem since there would be trilogies and cameos. Furthermore, they already had a talk with Brad Pitt and the guy was asking for at least $7 million on the first movie alone. It would be painful if the actress would ask for more. 

Even if Grey Pictures has a bigger budget and can afford big expenditures, they have to be smart regarding their money. 

Another truth was that there was a pay gap between actors and actresses. It didn't help that actors have longer peak careers than actresses as well. 

Even if actors were over 50 years old, they could still get leading roles but that was the opposite for actresses. If an actress reached the point of 50 years old, it would be hard for her to compete with younger actresses. 

The crew won't spend big on an actress unless she was Julia Roberts or Michelle Pfeiffer, these actresses had worldwide box office appeal. 

Then, Doug Liman called for the last actress who would audition for Mrs. Smith. 

Kazir was not surprised when he saw Jennifer Connelly. She was still beautiful as expected. 

'She's born in 1970, she's only two years younger than me, huh.' Kazir thought to himself while looking at Jennifer's information. 

Yes, Kazir was 33 years old as of 2002. 

Jennifer glanced at Kazir but kept her emotions... She was surprised that the guy she saw wheezing in the gym and vomiting at a party was actually a superstar director. 

Her first impression of the man was not positive but more on the negative side. Her agent told her to audition for the role because the era of Cinematic Universe was getting started and Jennifer needed a steady role. Her career lately was steady... Well, actually, it was getting downhill and she needed a breakthrough. 

CCU might be her door to accomplish that. Since she was here, she might as well do her best. 

She kept her smile and started her audition... Only to realize that Kazir would participate in the dinner scene. Yep, she chose the dinner scene as well. Perhaps because it was one of the most compelling scenes in the movie. 

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[This is the best I can write today. I'll try to write two chapters tomorrow instead.]