The moment he woke up, Eric’s head felt as heavy as a mountain. He shook it a few times to get rid of the feeling, and once he had taken note of his surroundings, he smiled as he sat up. It was already quarter past nine in the morning.
In the Williams residence’s second floor bedroom, the blazing summer sun rays were streaming unhindered through the south balcony’s French doors. It was already August and one could feel Los Angeles’ warmth way before noon.
It had been half a month since his rebirth, and Eric had been busy with all sorts of things. He hadn’t even had the time to act as a tourist before becoming a part of the exclusive Hollywood circle.
He laid back down and looked around him.
The bedroom was large, more than thirty square meters. Even including his bed, wardrobe, desk and other appliances, it still felt empty.
Ralph, his father, had wanted to divide it into two separate rooms but refrained since only he and his son lived there. Even until his death, he had never made an attempt to remarry either.
Eric wondered if all drinking addicts were the same, burdened by similar heartrending pasts.
When he got down from the second floor, it took him half an hour to tidy up the mess in the living room left behind by yesterday’s party, and after having his breakfast, he drove out.
He spent several hours visiting music shops and finally settled on a Strauss piano. He left behind his address to get it delivered, and purchased a thick stack of books on music arrangement from the bookstore nearby.
The purchase of an expensive Strauss piano wasn’t done on a whim or because Eric suddenly wanted to become a singer, it was to prepare for the soundtracks in his future movies. He had so many classic movies in mind, and if he wanted to replicate them to perfection, he couldn’t neglect the soundtrack. He had to at least understand arrangements to some degree or he’d be turned into a laughing stock by those music professionals.
Hollywood was different from China. In China, directors would often just find a musician, listen to his works, and if they liked something, they’d shake hands and be done with it.
But in Hollywood, original soundtracks were an integral part of movies. Not to mention background music, just the theme songs were enough to become classics. Songs such as Unchained Melody from Ghost, New Divide from Transformers, My Heart Will Go On from Titanic, Young and Beautiful from The Great Gatsby, and Let it Go from Frozen, had forever become classics.
Soon after he arrived home with his new books, several delivery men came and the piano was set up in the study on the west side of the living room. Although it was called a study, there wasn’t a single bookshelf there, just a large desk and other miscellaneous stuff. It previously belonged to Ralph, but he never had a habit of reading, so Eric placed all his books on music in his room upstairs.
After the piano was put in place, he had to tune it. As Eric sat on the bench and placed his fingers on the keys, the delivery men didn’t even attempt to hide the ridicule in their eyes. He ignored them and started playing Happy Birthday. After playing for a while, he glanced at the amazed delivery men and their necks stiffened. Even in his past life, Eric’s piano skills could be considered good.
As a revenge for their previous contempt, he cut their tips by half. The several delivery men didn’t notice that as the tall white one muttered to himself once they were in the car: “Strauss, ah, Strauss! That’s worth at least 20,000 US dollars… We could’ve gotten so much more in tips...”
The tone of his voice was as heartbreaking as a woman learning about her grandfather’s death on the eve of her marriage. If Eric had heard it, he would’ve probably felt ashamed at his earlier gesture. Luckily though, he hadn’t.
***
“Audition? What audition?” Eric asked in puzzlement, “Penny, hasn’t my role already been decided?”
For the past few days, Eric studied music and practiced basketball everyday. Three days after he had gotten used to this routine, he received a phone call from Penny Marshall.
“Of course, Eric. What I meant was for you to be present during the auditions of other roles. After all, you’re the writer, you could offer some advice, right?”
Eric knew he would only be able to give his opinion and that the final decision wouldn’t be his, but he still readily agreed to Penny’s offer as this was a good way for him to earn some experience.
***
After arriving at Fox’s lot, he saw Penny Marshall and James Brooks inside one of the studios. Casting was one of the most important parts of film production, so naturally the director and producer had to be present. There were also several other staff members, but Eric was the youngest.
There were still a good ten minutes before the auditions began, so Penny Marshall took the initiative to chat with Eric about some matters regarding 17 Again.
“Following BIG’s success, Fox has high hopes for this film so they’ve given us a budget of $20 million. They’d like to release it by Thanksgiving, so we have two weeks to make all our necessary preparations and finish the filming before the end of summer break when schools reopen.”
Eric thanked the staff member who gave him the list of auditioning actors, then replied to Penny Marshall, “If everything goes smoothly, three months should be enough to wrap up production, the film doesn’t require any special effects, so it shouldn’t take too long.”
Penny Marshall nodded, “Indeed, but we also need to set aside some time to promote the film.”
“Right, Penny, for which roles are they auditioning today ?” Eric asked.
“We’ve invited Dan Aykroyd and Susan Sarandon for the adults Mike & Scarlett O’Donnell. Also, James recommended a friend of his for the role of Ned. Today, the auditions are mainly for Mike’s children, as well as the other teenagers, so I thought we should let you take a look.”
Although Eric already knew the final decision wouldn’t be his, when he heard that most of the actors had already been decided, he was somewhat depressed. Fortunately, Penny Marshall informed him that they had kept Eric’s description of the characters in mind when they chose them. As for Ned’s role, James Brooks wouldn’t joke around with a $20 million project, so the actor he settled on shouldn’t be too shabby.
Eric still felt a bit stifled and unwilling as he secretly vowed that he wouldn’t let that happen again in the future. Being marginalized left him with a bad taste in his mouth.
He wasn’t in the mood to keep chatting with Penny Marshall, but she didn’t seem to notice his gloomy expression as she went towards James to discuss something in a low voice.
Soon, the auditions began, and after almost a dozen people, Eric finally saw someone he was familiar with: Brad Pitt, who was auditioning for the role of Alex O’Donnell.
In the original film, Alex’s appearance was that of a weak and feeble guy, and Eric recalled thinking how it was hard to believe that someone like him could suddenly shine on the court, draining three-point shots and easily dunking despite his meager stature.
He reckoned that the only reason they chose a skinny boy instead of a tall and handsome guy was to ensure that Zac Efron, with his 5'8" stature which was somewhat short for a Caucasian male, would not be outshined.
Brad Pitt was 25 years old right now but he could easily pass as a high-school student with some makeup. Eric pictured his tall and strong stature getting bullied, then owning everyone on the basketball court; it was at least less far-fetched than the original. Besides, Eric was convinced that his performance would not be outshined by Brad Pitt.
When the latter would become famous, people would still talk about how he played Eric Williams’ son, how awesome was that ?
While his lips curled into a smile, he studied the remaining list and tried to spot celebrities from his previous life.
He looked through the list which contained more than a dozen actresses’ personal information as he stopped at the first name on the list, and his chin almost fell off: Angelina Jolie. Well, it looks like the whole family is in attendance today!
He remembered that Angelina Jolie should have just graduated from a performing arts school, and would begin her unsuccessful modeling career next year, so he had no idea what she was doing on the audition list for Maggie O’Donnell.
Caucasian girls mature quicker than boys, soJolie’s headshot was that of a thirteen-year-old slim, blonde-haired girl with iconic lips, who exuded a slightly wild aura. Eric didn’t really expect much from her performance as she was simply too young. In fact, she probably only got to audition thanks to her father, Jon Voight.
While he kept looking through the list, Eric found a very interesting girl.
“Hey, Penny,” Eric turned around and asked, “How come Drew Barrymore is on the list? You know, with how she’s been behaving for the past couple of years… I don’t think she’s really suitable for a campus romantic-comedy...?”
Penny Marshall smiled helplessly, “Steven recommended her. That woman shamelessly begged him so many times that he simply grew tired of it and recommended her. He also implied that we don’t have to take his recommendation into account when she auditions.”
Penny Marshall nodded, “Yeah, he is Drew’s godfather.”
Eric sighed, the woman Penny mentioned with an undisguised tone of disgust should be Drew Barrymore’s greedy mother.
In just a few short seconds of conversation, Eric was able to get a better understanding of Hollywood. It wasn’t anything like how the media or people had described it in his past life: fair and transparent. In reality, it was all about connections.
Penny Marshall patted Eric’s shoulder and said, “Alright, Eric, let’s start.”
Eric had the list of the candidates in hand as he waited for the auditions to begin.
He initially thought he would just sit down and provide additional comments, eventually even ask some symbolical questions, he didn’t expect that when the first actor came in, Penny would face him with a smile and say, “Eric, you go and perform this scene with Mr. Wolfson.”
Eric shrugged, glanced at the script, and stepped forward.
***
Once the fifth actor was out of the audition room, Eric sat back in his seat and jokingly complained, “Penny, when you called me to be a referee, I didn’t think it would be on the basketball court.”
“Ha, nice analogy! Alright, don’t be mad Eric, it was James’ idea. He kept whining about how I canceled your acting classes, and so he thought of this method to make you practice your acting skills.”
Eric pretended to be angry as he stared at James Brooks and said, “Why didn’t you tell me about it?”
“Don’t you know now?” Penny Marshall asked with a smile.
“… Whatever,” Eric shook his head, speechless.
