I went to the makeup department next door, where a very nice Black lady and gay guy spent the better part of thirty minutes deciding what type of haircut and makeup I should have on. They ended up going with a more natural look for the makeup and gave my hair more volume, while also cutting it at a medium length, brushing just past my ears and putting it into a sweep at the front.
"You're all set," said the hairstylist, smiling.
"Thanks," I replied.
"It's 10:45, so you still have 45 minutes before you have to go on set. Make sure to relax a little bit, I noticed you were really tense right now," stated the makeup artist, giving me a warm smile as well. "You know, it's normal for you to be nervous. It's your first day here, and from my understanding, it's your first speaking role ever, so it's normal to be nervous. Just don't let that destroy you."
"Okay, thanks," I replied, nervously nodding my head, I did wonder tho, how did even the hairstylist know that, was the crew mocking my lack of experience already? Were they unhappy about having to work with a complete rookie?
Truth is, I was closer and closer to having a full-blown panic attack the closer I got to my first scene. I had spent nine years auditioning for roles and failing. Time after time, I had tried to get roles. I had auditioned for National Treasure, Batman Begins, Night at the Museum, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Lemonade Mouth… those are all things I auditioned for that I didn't get that became successful. Spending almost ten years seeing that shit happening and almost never making it was depressing as hell.
Now, finally being able to be on a set was exciting, but also very nerve-wracking.
I got out of the makeup room, and that's where I met Elle Fanning in the hallway, dressed in a blue dress and with slightly wavy hair. She embodied the role of a princess perfectly.
"Hey, Xavier, right?" said Elle, walking my way.
"Yeah, that's right. Nice seeing you again, Elle," I replied stiffly.
She chuckled at my awkwardness. "You were more than great in the audition, there's no need to be nervous."
"Yeah, well, it's my first time having a speaking role in a movie, a big one at that," I gulped. "I just don't want to mess it up."
She looked at me for a moment, then smiled kindly. "Do you want us to practice together? There's more than half an hour left before your first scene starts filming."
I raised my brow at that. "How do you know my schedule?" I asked, confused.
"I was with Angelina a while back, and she told me she was going to be doing your first scene and asked about you."
I flinched in surprise at that. "Angelina… asked about me?" I said, with a whole new level of nervousness hitting me.
It must have shown on my face, because the next thing I knew, Elle was putting a hand on my shoulder and said, "Hey, calm down. She's actually really nice, and it was just casually, in passing. It's nothing, really."
I nodded.
"Come on now, let's go to my relaxing room. We can practice there," she said, grabbing my hand.
"Alright, yeah, let's go."
I was about to go when I heard a cough behind me, and that's when I remembered my father was right there.
I swiftly turned around, and Elle did too, releasing my hand at the same time. I looked at my dad, and he was looking at me with that amused, prideful look parents have when you do something unexpected that makes them proud. I felt myself blush in embarrassment at that and quickly looked elsewhere, where I noticed Elle was blushing just as hard, so I simply looked down.
"Hey, Dad… um, me and Elle are going to go practice in her private room. Is that fine?" I asked.
"Yeah, that's fine," he replied, still smiling pridefully.
I promptly turned around, as did Elle, and we went to her private room.
"Just leave the door open!" I heard my dad shout from behind me, laughing. I blushed in embarrassment and looked down.
"I'm so sorry about him, he just likes embarrassing me," I said, not looking up.
"It's fine, my mom and sister do that all the time," she replied, but I could still hear the embarrassment in her tone of voice.
We soon arrived at her private room and started practicing, where I slowly got more and more into the character.
(Break)
Angelina got out of the set and was on her way to her private room. She had a lot of things that had to be put on, and because of that, she didn't get out of her costume and was just going to relax in it for now. As she passed the multiple departments and other cast members' rooms, she passed by that little girl Elle Fanning's room, where she heard her practicing with a voice she didn't recognize. Curious about it, she took a peek inside the room, where she saw a cute little boy there as well. He was actually quite tall, which made him look a little older than he actually was, but he still had a hint of childlike innocence on his face that gave away his age.
"Well, that's probably Xavier, my next scene partner," she thought neutrally, continuing to observe. "He's actually pretty damn good," she murmured. "I guess everything will be fine after all."
Initially, when she heard that they had cast a complete newbie, a kid at that, she was a little surprised. Newbies usually cracked under pressure when they had to act in front of the camera for the first time, and she was preoccupied about that. It didn't help that his first scene was going to be with her, a very well-known Academy Award–winning actress.
She could understand if it was intimidating. In fact, she knew it probably would be.
"Hopefully he'll be as good on set," she thought, then looked at the two rehearsing for a few more seconds before going to her private room, smiling. "They're cute together, these two. I wonder if they'll end up dating in the end," she thought, continuing on her way.
Thirty minutes later, she came out of her room and walked toward the set, where she encountered the two kids walking toward it together, smiling and laughing closely. They soon saw her, and Elle said:
"Hi, Ms. Jolie. Are you on the way to the set as well?" she asked, smiling.
"Yeah, I was just about to get there," she said, as a makeup assistant came her way to retouch her makeup before the scene. "Want to walk with me?" she asked.
"Of course, we would love to," said Elle, turning toward Xavier. "Do you want to—Xavier? Hello?"
In fact, Xavier had simply been too starstruck when he saw Angelina Jolie. He had seen Mr. & Mrs. Smith as well as the Tomb Raider movies and had obviously been a fan of them, like most teenage boys, but that wasn't even half of it. The reality was, he was also shocked by the sheer accuracy of the Maleficent costume she was wearing. From the horns to the makeup to the flowy kind of robe she was wearing, it was scarily accurate to the 1959 movie.
"Hello, Xavier?" asked Elle.
At that moment, he snapped out of his shocked state and blushed in embarrassment at his initial reaction.
"Right, sorry, yeah, I would love to walk with you, Ms. Jolie. Sorry about that, it's just… your costume is really, really good. It's really impressive," he said, looking at her in admiration.
"I know, right? It's crazy what Anna has been able to do. Without her designs, this movie wouldn't be the same without her, that's for sure. You guys look great in your costumes as well." she said smiling
"Thanks," Elle and Xavier said in unison.
"Now, let's get to the set. Robert is a pretty nice guy, but it is his directorial debut, so it's better if we don't stress him out more than he already is, alright?"
The two teenagers both nodded in unison again, making for a very cute sight.
(Break)
We soon got to the set, where I was once again amazed by everything I saw: the big lights, the cameras. The set we were currently in was inside, but we soon passed everything and arrived outside by a small barn, where the horse I was going to ride was relaxing for now.
While going there, we also met Sam Riley, who played Diaval, the shapeshifting crow companion of Maleficent.
Both he and Angelina got ready for the scene, which consisted of Prince Philip arriving at the same place where he initially met Aurora, encountering Maleficent, and after a brief conversation, getting knocked out by her and taken to Stefan's castle. Of course, we would film that scene later, but for now, this was a pretty simple scene to start with.
"This is Max. He's a nice horse, so don't worry too much. Have you ever ridden a horse before?" said the guy in charge of the horses.
The answer was obviously no, but I had said yes because I wanted the role that badly. I wasn't sure it was a good idea to have said that anymore.
"Um, no," I said, checking to make sure no one in the crew had heard me.
The horse guy chuckled. Patiently, he said, "Put your right foot here on the stirrup, then grab the horn at the top right there and push up."
I did exactly that and got on top of the horse, where I could see everyone from above.
"This is pretty cool," I said, smiling at the horse guy.
"It is, right? Now I'll help you get down," he replied. We then spent a few minutes where I just got on and off the horse to make it look as natural as possible.
"Is everyone ready?" I heard Robert Stromberg say. "Where's the new kid?" he asked loudly.
"I'm right here, sir," I answered loudly.
"Alright, I'll properly meet you after the scene. Let's not waste any time. Everyone in position," he said, taking a seat in the director's chair. He received a nod from every crew member and then said:
"Okay. Ready. Set. Action."
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Hey, y'all sorry for the three day break I just got a bunch of things I had to do at the same time and couldn't update until now but hopefully, the same thing won't happen this weekend. Thanks for sticking with the story 😁