Film Star by Rowan Coleman Read Free Book Online Page A

himself. Remember that without your script you are literally nothing. Pay it respect and don’t just read it— listen to it. Listening to the rhythm of the lines and—even more crucially—to your fellow actors is the single most important skill you will ever learn as an actor. Because whether you and I have read this scene once or a thousand times, when our audience sees it, it must be absolutely fresh and spontaneous. Every single time you hear me say my lines to you, you have to listen to them as if it’s for the very first time.” Jeremy gave me a small tight smile. “If you can do that—you can do anything.”
    And when he said that, it was as if I suddenly understood a really long and really difficult maths equation that I had been staring and staring at for hours and hours and was unable to make sense of. It was as if at last I understood this great big secret that everyoneelse had been in on except for me. In the space of five minutes, Jeremy Fort had given me knowledge that would make me a better actor no matter how this audition turned out. And that all by itself nearly made it worth coming here today, whatever the result.
    But only nearly, because suddenly—knowing the kind of actors that I would be working with and learning from—I wanted the part even more badly.
    â€œWow,” I said, which wasn’t quite the wise and scholarly response I had been aiming for but it was all that came out.
    â€œGood,” Jeremy said, his smile warming as he looked at his watch. “Right—well, we have twenty minutes left, so let’s read again.”
    The second time he told me I was being too large. I took offence initially and said that I was only thirteen and that it wasn’t actually healthy to diet at my age. When he pointed out that he was not referring to my size but my acting, I was only a bit less offended.
    â€œLarge?” I asked him.
    He nodded.
    â€œYes—look, you’ve done TV work, haven’t you?” I nodded. “Well, imagine your face on a screen that’s a thousand times bigger than a TV screen. Every tiny little twitch, every tiny little hair magnified to giantproportions.” I thought of the spot that Mum and I had spent several minutes trying to cover up this morning.
    â€œEw,” I said.
    â€œExactly—well the same goes for your acting. In film you don’t need to act large. Keep it small, but precise.” He looked at his watch again. “Well, Ruby, our time is up, I’m afraid.” I felt a wave of panic well up in my chest.
    â€œBut—I haven’t done it small yet! Can’t we do it quickly being small like you said?” I pleaded, my voice high and stupid again. “I’m too large!”
    Jeremy smiled.
    â€œJust remember everything we’ve talked about and—if you can—I promise you that you will do splendidly. Come on, we have to read for Art and Lisa now.”
    There was something about the way he said Lisa’s name that made my stomach contract, because I knew that Lisa didn’t like me.
    â€œAre assistant directors’ opinions very important?” I asked him in a very small voice. Jeremy gave me a sympathetic look and squeezed my shoulder as we walked to where Art and Lisa would be waiting.
    â€œLet’s just say that this one’s is,” he said.
    Something had happened when Jeremy and I acted the scene for Mr Dubrovnik and Lisa Wells, something that had never happened to me before.
    For those ten minutes I forgot myself entirely. I forgot I was acting, forgot that I was reading lines, because for those few minutes I was Polly Harris, just discovering the truth about the father she loved. On the brink of understanding that in fact he was an evil historian who had kidnapped her at birth and was planning to sacrifice her at the precise moment the nine planets aligned, in an insane bid to bring about the end of the world. I felt