Chapter 85: Weird Lad

Several actors had worked with Murray over the course of his long, long career. Most of these actors had also shared a similar gripe that came with working with the man, that being that he was too overbearing.

Yet, every once in a blue moon, there came an actor that would come out and say that Murray was by far one of the best directors they had ever worked with.

When asked why, these rare actors often had a response that seemed to meander around the same ball park;

Discipline.

That was simply it.

It was also why the renowned director, despite trusting his chosen actors to deliver on their performances, knew well enough that they wouldn’t always bring out their 100% all the time. Not without an external driving factor at least.

Hence, he always felt the need to remind them all the time about the level of quality he wanted. It also helped that he had an uncanny ability to discern people within his first few exchanges with them, hence he knew exactly when to push and when to pull.

This was all to say, that Murray wasn’t playing any favoritism towards Niall like several of the extras and individual on the film crew alongside Matthew himself had been thinking.

Rather, the youth was so much of a literal perfectionist in his own right, Murray trusted firmly in his work ethic and found no need to hover around him a lot of the time to get what he wanted.

As a result, on the rare occasion that the director ever felt the need to point something out, he was assured enough that he would only require a few select words to get his orders across.

This was also why, as Murray moved over from his seat to check the cameras, all eyes were naturally drawn to Niall, a palpably undeniable sense of surprise lingering in the air.

It would be an understatement to say they hadn’t heard of him these past few months.

Afterall, Hollywood seemed to have had literally next to nothing to discuss but him through the tail half of last year. Understandably so, at that.

But even then, there wasn’t really much they knew about him asides him being the multi-talented artist who seemed to have shot out of nowhere and dominated three key areas in the industry.

Since he practically avoided interviews like the plague and the people he worked with equally seemed to be just as tight-lipped, there was really nothing about him to go by.

As a result, even when Murray had informed the crew--minus the extras and the main cast--beforehand that the supporting actor wouldn’t be needing a stunt double, they had only been mildly surprised.

Most, really hadn’t given it much thought.

Yet, none of them could’ve ever anticipated, much less, ever expected such a performance from him.

It was perfect... almost too uncannily perfect.

So much they’d thought the crash was a real one and not part of the act until he’d laughed out so boisterously, they were reminded he was still in character and it was in fact, part of the script.

Actors that could do that to the filming crew themselves--not to talk of the audience--were very few and far in Hollywood.

To that effect, they all finally seemed to key into why Murray seemed to ’leave’ him be as they watched him slowly glide across the ice, his hands behind his back and a thin smile on his lips.

As Matthew kept watching him, the scrutiny in his ice-blue irises now replaced by a genuine curiosity with just the slightest hints of intrigue, Colonel quietly said as he leaned onto the barricade;

"You know,"

"You would’ve lost the lead role to him if he had just been a couple years older..." the veteran actor remarked to which Matthew turned over, his brow arching curiously.

"His audition was that good?" the lead actor asked, his tone more intrigued than it was curious.

"Apparently, yes." Colonel nodded, to which he then looked over to Murray who kept checking the cameras.

Afterall, he and the director went way back and were very good friends, so naturally Murray had shared a conversation with him about their meeting.

"And I have to say... he’s probably even more of prodigy in real life than his counterpart in the movie." Colonel added in genuine acknowledgement, remembering how Murray had told him Niall had literally picked up figure-skating just early last year.

No sooner had he said that though, Murray spoke;

"Alright, everyone. Great take. Let’s move on to the next!"

Considering Niall’s first major scenes were so closely aligned and within set locations that were majorly within the skating center and one other scene of the street just outside said skating center, the director opted to focus on him for today.

As for Matthew, he was planning to circle back to it later. Considering he had a stunt double, it was going to take the crew more time to work out his scenes to perfection.

That said, after filming several of Noah’s training montages, one that had Niall switching between attires here and there for more than half of the day, the last scene of the day was about to be filmed.

It was a scene that would take place a week after Elias had begun practicing at the center. It was also the scene where Elias and Noah would actually interact with each other for the very first time.

As the crew had set up their equipment two hours prior, they currently stood outside the center and on the bustling street, the evening sun high above the horizon as passers-by disinterestedly walked past on the opposite side of the street.

This was LA, and it wasn’t exactly a rare occurrence for a filming session to be happening so most individuals uninvolved in the filming simply went about their merry way.

Twisting his torso slightly from side-to-side though, seemingly in an effort to reduce his back pain, Murray’s short frame was no less authoritative as he gestured to the crew and actors involved with an arm.

Upon receiving a favorable response and covering all the necessary braces, he spoke through his small megaphone;

"Alright, last scene of the day. Let’s try and get it in one take."

Then, almost immediately, he ordered;

"Begin."

-

{Rink | 28th, January 2018 | Act 2 | Scene 13 | Take 1}

As pedestrians hurried past and the traffic dawdled along the roads, the rhythmic sound of a cane striking the pavement echoed softly as Elias made his way down the sidewalk, his gym bag slung over one shoulder.

A brief wince passed his features as he limped on, but he schooled his expression right back to its usual tepidity.

"Mr. Mercer!"

Even as he heard the call from behind, he kept on walking, clearly uneager to entertain it.

"Mr. Mercer!"

He ignored it yet again, not that it stopped the voice from getting closer;

"Mr. Mercer!"

A pair of hurried footsteps approached from behind before eventually slowing to match his pace;

"I’ve been calling you for like, half a block!"

Letting out an inaudible sigh, Elias halted in his steps and turned his head over and ever-so-slightly as he asked;

"Can I help you?"

Standing beside him was none other than Noah whom was currently dressed in a hoodie over his skating clothes, a gym bag slung over his arm, and a pair of skate guards dangling from one of his hands.

For a brief moment, Noah seemed unsure of what to say, his hands already scratching the back of his head. Soon enough, he spoke, his tone honest;

"Well, this is rather awkward,"

"It doesn’t have to be." the jaded-looking man remarked dryly.

"Right, right." Noah nodded, clearly still unsure of what to say... only for him to speak a couple seconds after;

"I’ve seen you at the rink these past couple days,"

"Of course you have." Elias replied in typical fashion.

"I... wasn’t gonna come talk to you, though," the young chap then said, a small sigh escaping his lips, prompting Elias to raise a brow as he asked;

"Why not?"

"’Cause I don’t think you like me very much," Noah looked away as he said to which Elias remarked, a thin smile touching his lips;

"Smart kid."

"Yeah. I figured," Noah let out a small laugh in response despite himself.

"But I couldn’t help it, you know." he then said to which he expatiated with a faint smile;

"When I was little, my coach often made us watch recordings of all the best showings and you were always one of my favorites."

Despite that, Elias’ expression remained much the same as Noah continued;

"I watched your Worlds program so many times I practically memorized it,"

"Even tried copying your spread eagle and nearly knocked out three teeth because of it." he chuckled at the memory.

Yet, Elias remained unmoved, his gaze seemingly implying that he wanted the youth to get to the point;

"I always wondered, though," Noah then said, hesitating a bit before he spoke;

"What was it like?"

To that, Elias frowned, unsure of what to make of his words.

"What was what?" he asked.

"You know... being out there. In that moment," he gestured vaguely into the air as he added, his eyes shining with an unmistakable curiosity;

"The lights. The crowd. The World Championships. Thousands of people watching."

"What does that actually feel like?" he asked again.

This time, Elias stopped walking. For the briefest of moments, his gaze seemed to drift somewhere far beyond the busy street.

Then his jaw suddenly tightened. Without looking at Noah, he casually replied, a blunt edge to his tone;

"You don’t remember the stages or any of those things. All you’ll remember are the mistakes."

No sooner had he said that, he resumed walking.

This time, Noah didn’t follow. Instead, his gaze studied the man’s receding back for a while.

Eventually, he let out a resigned sigh and called out;

"You didn’t actually answer my question, you know!?"

There wasn’t the slightest hint of bitterness to his words. Rather he just seemed... pouty?

Yet, it was those very words and gesture that had halted Elias in his steps.

Casually adjusting the strap of his own gym bag though, Noah whom had already turned around began walking in the opposite direction as he waved goodbye, his voice bright;

"See you around, Mr. Mercer! Maybe you’ll tell me tomorrow, eh?"

To that, Elias frowned, complex emotions phasing across his features.

Afterall, rarely did he ever meet someone who didn’t seem particularly put off by him or his words these days. More so, when they weren’t carrying the slightest hint of pity in their tone.

As a result,

"Okay, reckless fool," he let out a moment after.

"You’ve been promoted to weird lad." he proceeded to turn around and be on his way.

"And... Cut!"

-

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/Caer07