Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

The shooting for [Action Hero] happened in a very quick fashion. But it didn’t mean Aiden was able to walk his way through the shooting. 

It was a hard job. 

Action movies are never easy to shoot. So, the stunt coordinator continuously rehearsed the scenes everyday with his team. Aiden was also there when it was happening as he was doing most of the stunts himself. 

Obviously, the harder ones were left to the stunt doubles and Aiden only insisted on doing a stunt when he felt like he would be able to do it. 

The movie had several fight scenes one after another and the last half hour was just one big fight scene, containing a lot of people. 

From corridor fights to a stairway fight before eventually leading up to a rooftop battle with the main antagonist of the movie. 

Wade had called it one of the craziest things in movie history as even in action movies, the climax contained way more than just fist fights. 

Currently, the stunt coordinator Heath was explaining one of the scenes to Aiden. It was the stairway fight scene. 

“We need to really make it simple in a way that it gives a sense of anxiety to the audience. It’s not metahumans or super trained spies punching each other for two minutes before one throws the other from the building. It needs to be grounded and filled with human emotions.”

Heath said, looking over the set that was prepared for the scene. His stunt team was going to rehearse it for Aiden. 

“Ray needs to look exhausted after taking on so many people.” Aiden said and Heath nodded. 

The bearded martial artists smiled before replying. 

“In normal fights, people are exhausted after taking on a couple of people and I’m talking about trained martial artists. Movies go for coolness but there’s something special about the grittiness and realism that they don’t try to explore. We are trying to explore it with this scene.”

Heath said and looked over at his team. At his gesture, the team got into position and performed the scene in front of Aiden’s eyes. 

The person playing the role of Ray saw the stairway pull of students who were ready to block his way. If he wanted to go upstairs, he needed to go through them. 

There were a total of five people. 

The stunt artist moved, jabbing at the first student’s neck and then throwing him down the stairs before moving onto the next. A punch came his way as he tried to parry it and push the second student down. 

In the whole scene, the stunt artists feets kept moving and they didn’t stop. Moreover, after dealing with every student, he looked more and more exhausted. 

He sat down when he reached the top, having dealt with so many people. 

Aiden was observing every minute detail of it and one thing he noticed was that it didn’t look impossible. He felt like any well trained martial artist with heightened senses would be able to do it. 

Maybe that was the thing that Asano was going for. 

“How’s it?” Heath asked after the rehearsal was over. 

“I would like to take part in the rehearsals. After that, I feel like I would be able to do it. It’s a very well choreographed scene.”

Heath smiled at the compliment. He was the type to enjoy people praising his work and Aiden was very respectful to everyone on the crew, a habit that not a lot of celebrities retain. 

Because of that, a good impression was bound to be made around Aiden. 

“Yeah, I tried to incorporate the styles of Hong Kong and Korean movies in it. It’s a pity that Hollywood is straying more and more away from good action.”

“Action movies do earn billions.”

“That’s VFX. True action isn’t just a spectacle. It’s more than that. You need to feel what the main character is feeling. We are behind in that in Hollywood just because not a lot of projects like [Action Hero] are made here.”

Heath ranted like he was letting out his frustration. Aiden had heard from Asano that Heath was the one to approach him to work on him, only because he wanted to work on a grounded action movie that breaks the norm. 

He was clearly very passionate about his work. 

His words also gave Aiden more insight into action movies. 

[Your knowledge of action scenes is increasing.]

[You would be able to do action more efficiently.]

[You have gained experience.]

Aiden smiled seeing the messages. To better understand action movies, he was studying up a lot of old classics these days. He was also spending a lot of time with Heath, just listening as he talked about action.

Those things are now helping him in the form of experience. 

‘It would take a long time before I reach the next level.’

Currently Aiden was in Intermediate Grade 6 which was a pretty high one according to the level of actors in the industry. But Aiden wanted to improve more to break through to the next grade. 

He hoped that he would be able to reach there by the end of the year. 

“So, shall we start the rehearsal?” Heath asked and Aiden nodded. 

“Yeah.”

***

[Action Hero|9 March-2018|Act 4|Scene 4|Take 4]

Ray moved through the hallway. He had just finished up a fight in his battle against the delinquent gang that ruled the school. Now, he was moving onto the rooftop where the leader of the gang was present. 

His steps stopped as he was climbing the stairs. Five students blocked the way and they were looking down on him with a menacing smile on their faces. 

“You are not going anywhere.”

Ray didn’t say anything at that and just took a deep breath. 

He moved as the five students prepared themselves. Punching the first guy, he knocked him down on the ground, his head hitting the edge of the stair. Then, he blocked the punch of the second guy as the third tried to push him down. 

He tried to move between them while keeping them at bay.

Then, kicked at his knee, making him roll down on the ground. Someone grabbed him from behind and tried to suffocate him but he bit his hand and hit his head with the knee while kicking the person in front of him. 

The person in front of him stopped his leg and slammed down on it. Then, punched his chest. 

Ray groaned in pain as he got himself out of the lock and threw the third student down the stairs. Then, he kicked the guy who had hit him, eventually defeating him after a couple of punches. 

His whole body felt like it was in pain. He had taken a lot of hits and his stamina was depleting. His face looked like he needed water and wouldn’t be able to stand for long. 

The fifth student tried to take advantage of this but letting out a low grunting sound, Ray held the last person by the collar, taking advantage of his height and slammed him on the wall, the body rolling down from the floor. 

He took a few steps to reach the top floor before submerging to the ground. His legs were given up and he was exhausted. He touched his lips. 

His lip had been torn due to the fight and there was blood in his mouth. A taste he didn’t particularly like.

But there was a lot to do still. For now, Ray just wanted to take a break. 

“Cut. Okay! This is a great take. Everyone did a phenomenal job.”

Asano’s voice came out, ending the scene for good. 

***

“We have gone through most of the candidates that came to audition. We need to select the cast. Especially the role of Agnas. I don’t think we should delay too much.”

Theodere said, looking at everyone in the meeting room. Presentations about each actor and the public interest in the movie and some other statistics were on the screen. 

Theodere’s eyes were locked on Baz. 

“Baz?”

The only reason they have not been able to come to a conclusion was because Baz was taking too much time. 

“I know we need to make a decision but the image of Agnas doesn’t come to mind when I see these actors.”

He looked at the photos of the actors that were going through. Aiden’s photo was there alongside Liam. Unfortunately, Cameron’s audition wasn’t that great and he was instead being looked for one of the supporting roles. 

“Which one is the closest? Aiden?” 

Theodore asked and a couple people in the room felt like it was a good choice. 

“I saw his audition. It was one of the better ones.”

“I feel like he understands Agnas better mentally. What he said about him holds true and it was like he was able to relate with him.”

“He’s good looking too.”

Baz didn’t give those words much attention and after thinking for a bit, he shook his head. 

“He’s good but…”

“But?”

“He just doesn’t fit in my eyes. Moreover, we wanted to go for newer actors. I feel like I’ve been seeing him a lot everywhere for a few years.”

“He rarely takes breaks and has been in some impactful movies.”

“Maybe because of that.”

The eyes moved to the photo of Liam. He should have been rejected just on the basis of his scandal but Liam’s agency has pushed for him and they have a good relationship with Zero International. 

Moreover, Baz wasn’t someone who minded scandals. Unless someone was a murderer, he would work with them if they know how to act. 

“So, should we go with Liam Wilde?”