My Hollywood System

Chapter 7:

Getting a positive response from Will, June asked after shaking his hand.

“Are you also an actor?”

Will shook his head, and after a pause, he said.

“Well, you could say that I’m a screenwriter and an aspiring director.”

He flashed the script in his hands and June’s eyes went wide.

“Oh, is that so?”

June replied, a bit sceptical. It wasn’t her fault, in the eyes of actors, screenwriters were the originator of whatever characters that they played.

So the respect and admiration an actor held for a screenwriter were above the general audience, and mostly all screenwriters were well above their 30s.

And that’s why June just couldn’t take the words of the 21-22-year-old looking man at face value. If he said he was an actor, she’d have believed without such doubts.

Looking at her expression, Will chuckled inwardly.

“Yeah, what about you? I bet someone with your face is a well-known actress.”

June smiled at Will’s blatant flattery but still remained humble.

“Oh, I’m an actress alright, but I’m not that renowned, yet.”

Will, who had already rummaged through his memory and already knew that she wasn’t that famous, raised an eyebrow.

It was interesting how she phrased the sentence, as if she was trying to say she’s not famous just yet, it won’t be the same in future.

“Wanna grab a cup of coffee? I’m kind of thirsty and need something to soak my throat. We can have a small talk too if you want. You sure seem like someone with a story.”

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“Ah, well.”

June hesitated. Although she was the one to call him out, she was here in hopes of having a meeting with Benjamin.

Seeing as to how June was looking towards Benjamin’s office, Will inwardly felt sympathetic towards her.

“Oh, it’s fine if you’re not free. Maybe another time. By the way, if you want to meet Uncle Charles, I could set up a meeting for you.”

Will proposed although he was in no way a charitable man, he didn’t back out from helping people in similar situations as him.

It would be up to June if she can impress Benjamin or not. Will was simply making another contact, as Hollywood worked with contacts.

It would be great if June can really impress Benjamin and land a role in some movie. She’d at least remain grateful and Will could use this to ask for a favour in future.

June, who saw Benjamin’s assistant closing the door to his office, sighed inwardly.

‘No meeting today either.’

Then she looked up to the man talking to her. Even though she was sceptical, she couldn’t deny the fact that he just walked out of Benjamin’s office.

Benjamin wouldn’t allow any random youngster in his office, so the man in front of him must have some talent.

Moreover, she was curious about his identity.

As there was no hope of meeting Benjamin today either, she decided to go and have a coffee to freshen up her mood.

“About the coffee, let’s go. My treat.”

In this industry, connections mattered more than wealth. And to get acquitted with a screenwriter or a director is almost like a once in a lifetime opportunity for most of the actors and actresses.

This was why after some hesitation, June accepted Will’s invitation and even agreed to turn it into her treat since Will was a screenwriter, and one day might become a very important connection for her.

Will had somewhat understood her thoughts. There was a special reason why he was inviting her for a coffee break, and since the other party even agreed to pay for it, he already had a better impression of her.

Minutes later, the both of them were seated opposite to each other in the building cafeteria.

Once both had ordered a coffee, Will didn’t beat around the bush and asked her.

“So, June, if you don’t mind, my guess is you were here to meet Uncle Charles?”

June paused for a moment and then nodded.

“Yes, I wanted to have a meeting with Agent Charles, but unfortunately he’s too busy. Ah, by the way, are you his relative?”

Will slightly nodded his head.

“Not a relative, but you can say he’s a family friend. My father and he have the same alma mater, so he treats me like a nephew.”

“Oh? That’s nice,”

June smiled.

“Were you also here for work-related matters?”

Will nodded.

“Yeah, but let’s see how much time it takes. Anyway, what about you? Seeing that you’re an actress, are you presently working on any movies or shows?”

June’s smile faltered a little as she remained silent for a moment and then spoke.

“Well, not currently. You wouldn’t know, but I have been acting in movies even before I turned fifteen, and over the years, I have acted in a few, so I do have considerable experience.”

“But the thing is, none of the roles was big enough, and in the eyes of the audience, I am still a child actress, even though I am already in my twenties.”

Just then, a waiter approached their table and served them two cups of cappuccino.

Once he had left, Will asked.

“That’s sad, what do you think could be the reason behind this standstill in your career?”

June had a thoughtful expression on her face as she took a sip of the coffee and after a long moment of silence, she finally spoke.

“I think the fault lies in me. I remember the years when I was working as a child actress, I was quite overconfident in myself, which even made me… um… a bit egoistical. And because of this, I had unknowingly created a lot of difficulties for myself. Mainly by being inconsiderate to the friends I made along the way.”

After a moment of silence, June shook her head as she laughed awkwardly.

“What am I even saying, we have just met and I am already blabbering nonsense. Maybe all the stress is getting to my head-”

Will interrupted her and spoke with a smile on his face.

“It’s alright, sometimes, you have to let it out. And trust me, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping for an answer similar to this. In fact, your words are what I wanted to hear.”

“…What do you mean?”

June was confused.

Will adjusted his thoughts and said.

“Well, I will explain everything to you, but first, I have something to offer. Would you be interested in auditioning for one of my future projects?”

“Hn…” June thought for a moment, and then replied, “I would like to know more about it.”

Although Will seemed like a nice guy, there were a lot of people in the industry with such a front.

She was already a bit sceptical about him being a screenwriter. She couldn’t just agree to act in the movie of an aspiring director.

Most of the time, new directors would try to be a bit extreme and release movies that garnered a lot of attention, as well as criticism.

They’d make the struggling females of the industry act nude or something similar to make the movie trending.

She didn’t wish to agree right away, only to find out later that she has to do something unspeakable like a nudity scene.

She had already offended a director by going back on her words, and she was not going to repeat that mistake.

Will explained to her.

“Well, the project I have in mind is of the horror and thriller genre. It will have three main leads, one female and two males. The female lead’s role is what I am offering to you.”

“But why me?”

“Because your history resonated a lot with this female character,”

Will replied after a moment of thought,

“Over the course of the project, the female lead will have a transformation, and from an initially egotistical and overconfident girl, she will become humble and face despair towards the end of the story.”

June asked

“Oh, will it have any explicit scenes?”

Many directors use explicit scenes to spice up horror movies.

Will understood her thoughts and shook his head.

“No, don’t worry about that. We don’t need anyone to do any explicit scenes”

June replied.

“Then I’ll definitely think about it. I’ll inform you when I come to a decision.”

“Yeah, it’s fine by me. Take some time and maybe we can have another coffee and talk about the details.”

June laughed lightly at that. If anything, Will was a charming man.

Although new directors or projects failed 8/10 times, June had a feeling that working with Will would change her life, in a good way.

Still, she didn’t agree to it straight out. After some talk, June paid the bill.

Will said his farewell and walked away home, inwardly pleased with himself.

If things went as he was predicting, he would not only manage to sell [17 Again] script but also get one of the leads for his first movie.