June 2009, Phoenix Motion Pictures HQ (Formerly Sony Columbia)
"We would love for you to continue working on the film," Tobias said emphatically. He leaned forward in his chair, palms pressed together, as if trying to soften the blow. "You are a great director. But this is not the direction we want to go in."
Not satisfied with the answer, the man in question turned to me. Chris Columbus adjusted his glasses before giving me a frustrated look.
"Believe me, Troy, this is the perfect direction if you want to make a hit film franchise," he insisted. "You know me. I made [Harry Potter] what it is today, and I fully intend to do the same with [Percy Jackson]. You only need to show a little trust in me. Teen fantasy films are all the rage today. [Twilight] is a prime example. Even [Harry Potter] can be considered in the same category now. Cinema trends change every five years or so, and this is the era we are in."
I sighed audibly. I respected Chris a lot. But sometimes, lines have to be drawn firmly.
"I trust you," I said, choosing my words carefully. "But I am a huge fan of the books. The changes you suggested are good, and they would definitely make a good movie, but that movie would not be the Percy Jackson I love. [Harry Potter] is what it is today because it stayed true to the original source material. Fans love the series because they can move between the books and the films and still grasp the story clearly. Aging up the characters just to cater to an older audience is not acceptable to me. I am part of that older audience, and I don't want to see a movie where Percy is in his late teens in [The Lightning Thief]."
The fourth man in the room, who had been silent until now, lifted his head at that. Rick Riordan's eyes brightened with interest, though he held his tongue.
Chris pressed his lips together before nodding. "I understand. But if you do this, I cannot direct the film."
I stood up and shook his hand firmly. "That is too bad, but I respect your need to follow your artistic vision. I am sure we will work together again on another project."
With a small, restrained smile, he left the room, leaving Tobias, Benji, Rick Riordan, and me sitting around the long conference table. The atmosphere felt noticeably lighter.
"Thank you, Troy," Rick said gratefully. His voice carried relief, as if he had been holding his breath for months. "That is exactly what I have been telling Chris, but he never listened. Neither he nor anyone at Fox ever took my concerns about staying true to the characters seriously."
I rested a hand on his shoulder. "I meant what I said. I love the series, and I want to see a faithful adaptation. Since you are done writing the books, I would appreciate it if you could stay involved behind the scenes. Tobias will need all the help he can get producing the film."
"I would love that," he said, his smile widening.
I turned to Tobias. "Now that this is settled, you mentioned you needed my help in selecting the cast for the movie?"
Tobias nodded before clicking a button on the remote. A large television on the opposite wall lit up, casting a soft blue glow across the conference room. On the screen appeared an audition tape of a preteen boy, somewhere between eleven and thirteen, nervously introducing himself.
"We sent out advertisements across all English-speaking countries to find our three leads for Percy, Annabeth, and Grover," Tobias explained after pausing the tape. "We received thousands of audition tapes, and our team carefully narrowed them down so that only the top ones remain for your review. The biggest problem with casting child actors is that you never know how they will turn out in the future. Child acting and adult acting are completely different, and if we make these films like [Harry Potter], we will face the same aging-out issues that we faced with your cast mates."
I nodded, fully understanding what he meant. The problem had first appeared when they cast Jamie Bell and me together. He was nearly three years older, so during the second and third films, the height difference became visibly obvious. Then there were the supporting actors, the ones who played Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Neville, and others. Not all of them developed into strong actors after growing up.
Heck, Crabbe's actor had even been arrested recently. We had finished filming the series by then, so it didn't affect the production, but things like that could easily create problems. Some of these issues were unavoidable, and no producer could predict which children would grow into good adult actors, or in some cases, just good adult humans. But I had a little foresight that no one else knew about.
"Okay, play it," I said, motioning toward the screen as I settled into the chair beside Rick Riordan. I braced myself for what I suspected would be a long and uneventful review session.
Audition after audition played, each child trying their best to embody Percy Jackson. It was disappointing, knowing these were supposed to be the best submissions. At most, they were mediocre. It was understandable, of course. They were children, and very few had the kind of experience or instinct I had at their age.
Everything changed when one particular boy appeared on the screen. I felt a flicker of recognition before he even finished his first line. And as luck would have it, he dominated the screen from the moment he appeared. His presence was undeniable.
"Him," I said, pointing at the screen the instant his audition ended. "Who is he?"
"Timothée Chalamet," Tobias replied, already flipping through the folder in front of him. "He is 13, almost 14. From New York. Has appeared in a few movies and TV shows."
I had the sudden urge to stop the process entirely and cast him on the spot. I already knew how talented Timothée was, and his performance only confirmed it. But I could not. He was simply too old for the role. If we wanted to plan for the entire series, we needed someone younger. I would even consider casting 10 or 11-year-olds, since they wouldn't age out too quickly by the time the last book was adapted.
Besides, seeing Timothée gave me entirely different ideas for him.
"He is good, but too old for this part," I said after a moment. "Let's keep looking."
Tobias nodded and played the next audition. This time, the decision was almost immediate. The boy on the screen had the right balance of vulnerability and determination, and his performance felt natural. Moreover, I knew his possible future work in the form of Martin Scorsese's [Hugo] and hit TV series [Sex Education].
"Asa Butterfield," Tobias said when I asked for his name. "He is 12. British. Has appeared in a few films."
12 was still on the higher side of what I wanted, but it was far better than casting someone who was nearly 14. And as far as the spirit of Percy Jackson went, Asa felt right.
"Shortlist him and get him to audition in person. I have seen him in a movie, and I have a feeling about him. Let's move on to Annabeth."
Rick Riordan took a double-take at the quickness with which I decided him for the role. "Sure, he is good, but shouldn't we see the others as well?"
Tobias and Benji started laughing at that.
"We're not laughing at you, Rick," Tobias explained after a moment. "Just the situation. We have been trying to tell that to Troy for years, but he does his own thing. Be it selecting his scripts, actors for movies he is in, or even business investments, he makes quick decisions, some of which don't make sense to us either, but he is rarely wrong, so I have stopped questioning his methods."
"That's why I am me, and you're you," I joked before turning to Rick. "You guys can still continue looking at other kids and call them for auditions. I have places to be in the afternoon, so I want to get this out of the way as soon as I can. Don't worry, though, I guarantee you that the actors I recommend would be top-notch."
He was still not fully sure, but nodded nonetheless.
After a minute or so, Tobias started playing clips for girls, and this time, I made my decision on the second audition tape itself, which was undoubtedly one of the best audition tapes I had seen all evening.
"Her," I said with utmost confidence.
"Peyton List," Tobias read her file. "11. American. No professional acting experience."
I nodded, "Let's move on to Grover."
It didn't take me long to shortlist a boy for that role as well. This time, it was Jharrel Jerome, an actor I remembered seeing in the Oscar-winning movie [La La Land]. No, I mean [Moonlight]. Yeah, definitely [Moonlight].
Jerome's audition didn't stand out from the rest, but I still asked Tobias and Rick to audition him in person because of my meta-knowledge.
"As much as I'd like to be here to see the rest of the auditions as well, I have places to be."
I got up from my seat, shook hands with Tobias and Rick before taking my leave. I wasn't lying when I told Rick that I was busy in the afternoon.
(Break)
"Everything has to be perfect today, Jon," Kevin said to the director of the movie. "Do you understand how important this is?"
This was the first movie that Marvel was producing under the banner of Phoenix, so it made sense that Kevin was a little tense. If things didn't go well, it was likely that he could be replaced in the next movie.
"Yeah, I know," Jon Favreau said. "The big boss and the biggest boss are coming around the set. But I don't know why you are so worried about it. Scarlett is already in the cast, and I'm pretty sure Troy would know everything there is to know about the film production."
To this day, Kevin found it hard to believe that Troy convinced his own girlfriend to sign a long-term contract. This just showed Troy's long-term vision for the film series. Relationships are not set in stone, and no one knows if they will be together after a decade. Troy understood that and kept his private and business relationship with Scarlett separate. Like all other actors involved in the cast, Scarlett had signed a long-term deal with Marvel.
Sure, as long as Troy wanted, he could always set aside the contract, but that was so far in the future that Kevin didn't want to think about it right now. What he knew right now was that the [Black Widow] movie had been greenlit and was actively under pre-production. Scarlett was more than excited to participate in that and the first [Avengers] movie.
Now there was just one important thing that was left to be included in [Iron Man 2], and Kevin was more than a little hesitant to go forward with the plan suggested by Troy.
"Kevin, Jon," Suddenly, the first AD on the movie came running up to the producer/director duo. "Troy and Steve are here."
Kevin took a deep breath before fixing a smile on his face. "Take me to them then."
As soon as Kevin saw Troy, he relaxed immediately because Troy was in a loving embrace with his girlfriend, a big grin visible on his face.
"Kevin!" Troy released Scarlett soon enough and walked forward to shake hands with him. "How are things here?"
"Great!" Kevin replied honestly. "There was a slight delay getting permission from the government to shoot on the military bases, but eventually they agreed. We will be shooting there in a few days."
"Good to know," Troy nodded.
Kevin's gaze lingered over to Steve Kloves, the newly appointed head of Phoenix Motion Pictures, and he seemed to be busy talking to Jon Favreau. Scarlett also had joined them, and the three seemingly started an animated discussion about the movie.
"So, did we cast Peter Parker yet?" Troy asked without beating around the bush.
"We have not," Kevin confessed. "That is the only thing that I have reservations about. I understand your point of view about hiring a young actor, but it would be so difficult to work with a literal kid. Why can't you play that role? I guarantee that people will lose their minds when they find out that you were playing Peter Parker."
Troy chuckled and shook his head. "I could have considered it, but I recently signed a deal with Warner. Before that, I will be doing a stage musical on Broadway, which will take about a year. Spider-Man is the soul of Marvel. We need someone who has time to devote to the role. I don't have that luxury."
"But still, a 13 or 14-year-old kid is too young," Kevin protested.
Troy shook his head slowly. "You are not looking at it the right way. According to the current plan, the kid and his aunt will appear in this movie only in a small cameo appearance. No one will even know he has been cast as Spider-Man. Then he will make his surprise superhero debut during [Avengers] in 2012, which I guarantee will send the audience into a frenzy. A 14-year-old today will be 17 by then, and 18 when we release the standalone Spider-Man film a year later. If you cast an 18-year-old now, he will be 21 by the time of [Avengers] and 22 when his own film comes out. We want our actor to play Peter Parker for at least a decade, and for that, we need someone younger."
Kevin opened his mouth to argue, then closed it again. Troy was right. They needed a younger actor if they were going to tease the character this early.
Troy gave him a knowing smile. "You know, I might already have the perfect actor. I was reviewing some audition tapes for another project, and one young actor stood out. He was simply on another level."
"Who?" Kevin asked, curiosity sharpening his voice.
"You won't know him. I will send you his profile. Call him in for an audition, but don't be too hard on him. I have a feeling he will do great. This way, we won't even advertise that we are hiring for Spider-Man."
Kevin nodded, still a little unsure. "Alright."
"Good." Troy rubbed his hands together, excited to see the day's progress. "Now enough talking. Let's watch [Iron Man 2] in action."
(Break)
I could not help feeling a little bad about taking the role of Spider-Man away from Tom Holland and Andrew Garfield and giving it to Timothée Chalamet, but I had to keep things in perspective. Even Timothée would be considered on the younger side for the version of Peter Parker I wanted, and Tom was even younger than him, which made casting him now almost impossible.
Andrew was far too old. I don't understand who in their right mind cast him for that role in the original timeline. He is a great actor and an excellent Peter Parker, just older than my requirement for the role.
Kevin's suggestion that I play Spider-Man myself was never feasible. For starters, I was far too tall to portray Peter Parker convincingly. And by the time we reach [Endgame], I would be too old. Tobey Maguire had done it as well, but that was exactly what bothered me about his films. I still remember that scene in [Spider-Man 2] where he was unmasked on a train and a civilian said, "He's just a kid."
I had laughed out loud in the theater the first time I saw it. No one in their right mind would call Tobey Maguire of [Spider-Man 2] a kid.
Then there was my schedule, which made my involvement nearly impossible. Spider-Man would be one of the central heroes in the MCU, and for that, we needed an actor who could commit long-term, with films releasing every two or three years, sometimes even sooner. After [Harry Potter], I had no desire to jump straight into another massive franchise. I needed time to explore different genres and reshape my career before signing myself into something as demanding as the MCU.
"What are you thinking?" Scarlett asked, lying casually across our bed with her hair fanned over the pillow.
"Nothing," I said with a small shake of my head. "Just work."
Her eyes brightened immediately. "I am so excited that we will be together in New York again, preparing for the stage."
I inclined my head. "I took that into consideration before accepting the part in [The Book of Mormon]."
I walked over to the bed and leaned down toward her, propping myself on my hands as I hovered over her. "I don't know how other actors handle long-distance. I regretted agreeing to that tour with MJ the moment I realized you wouldn't be with me."
She let out a warm, melodic laugh before pulling me into a kiss. Within seconds, her legs wrapped around my waist, and our gentle kisses deepened into something far more heated.
After what felt like forever, she released my lips and whispered against my ear, her breath warm against my skin.
"You weren't the only one who missed this. Now fuck my brains out before I decide I am too tired after today's shoot."
I didn't need any more encouragement.
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AN: Check out my second story, 'Swimmer to Superstar (A Hollywood SI)', which is now publicly available.
Link: www(dot)fablefic(dot)com