Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

The shooting for [The Black Saint] started quickly with everyone working together to take a few, small shots. No big scenes. Just a few characters walking here and there and short conversations. 

Zavier was used to starting out slow and then slowly moving onto bigger scenes.

The scene with Aiden was ready to be shot in the afternoon and till then, Judy was pretty tense as to how he was going to do it. He was the type of an actor who would do better in the presence of a good co-actor. 

As acting was more or less reacting to another person, he liked to have good chemistry with his co-star. It was evident by his filmography too. 

Thankfully, two hours before the scene, Aiden came to find him himself. 

“Can I rehearse my lines with you?”

Aiden had said while introducing himself and although Judy wanted to ask him why he had missed reading sessions and other things, he had focused on rehearsing the scene. 

Not a lot of time was left and that’s why, he focused on asking questions on acting, Aiden’s interpretation of the scene and a few other stuff. 

In the end, they just rehearsed their lines and what they wanted the scene to go like. Zavier had given them full freedom, so there was a lot of room to discuss. 

To his surprise, Judy found out that Aiden was pretty well versed in the scene and his interpretation of the scene was also on point. But one thing kept prickling on his nerves. 

That was Aiden’s eyes. 

‘They looked scary, almost possessed. Intense too. He’s talking normally but why is he giving such a weird feeling? His atmosphere is not normal at all.’

While talking to Judy, Aiden wasn’t in the character. As his immersion was something that he could turn off easily, he had a good grasp of controlling his character. 

But still, due to his high affinity, he was still giving vibes like Kai. 

Halfway talking to Aiden, Judy realised that it was not only him that was noticing this. Other people on the set were also glancing at him from time to time and whispering among themselves. 

‘At least I’m not the only weird one.’

He thought in his mind and shook his head. Ignoring all this, he tried to just rehearse the scene like a professional. 

In the end of this, Aiden suddenly asked him a strange question. 

“Can I ask you something?”

“Ah, yeah.” Judy looked up at him. He was a tad bit shorter than Aiden. 

“Do you mind if I do some unexpected stuff in the scene. Things that I feel like Kai would do.”

“What type of things?”

Judy tilted his head with a confused expression. 

“I don’t know. I’m asking because I feel like once the scene starts, my body would move on its own.”

He found it strange but still nodded without thinking much about it. A few actors would also experience this type of phenomenon where a character takes over you. He didn’t mind it because of that. 

At that moment, Zavier called up to them. 

“We are going to start filming the scene now.”

They walked up to them as he explained the whole scene again and talked about the camera placements. 

The scene was very simple with Judy playing the role of a gangster. Kai was going to barge into his office and talk to him about a deal. It was fairly simple and because of that, the actor’s job here was to build tension around the characters and elevate the writing. 

“So, let’s go slowly and do a few takes to get the right one.”

Zavier said as his eyes landed on Aiden who nodded. 

***

[The Black Saint|28 February-2019|Act 1|Scene 4|Take 1]

Ritchie Heart was going through some files involving his illegal businesses when suddenly, the door to the room opened. Slowly, like the wind was pushing it. 

A strange smell also entered his nose. 

He looked up at the sound and his eyes widened as he saw the scene in front of him. A man was standing at the doorstep wearing a black suit and holding a dead body in his arms. 

Ritchie identified the dead body as one of his men. He was presumably dead and there were sharp marks all over his face like someone who had made them with scissors. 

Even with a dead body in his hand, the man looked clean. Not a drop of blood could be seen on his clothes. 

It was a horrifying sight to see. 

“Who are you?”

Ritchie asked while one of his hands searched for a gun under the table. The man gave a smirk before looking at the sofa. 

“I will introduce myself but let me just put this dead body somewhere. You know it doesn’t look nice if it’s on the floor as we discuss things.”

The man said and literally dragged the body to the sofa before putting it there and patting the cheeks to see if he was really dead. 

Ritchie watched all this with widened eyes as the man turned towards him. 

“Now, we can talk. And you know you should put that gun somewhere else. Don’t look nice in civilised discussions you know.”

“Freak. How did you come here? What happened to my men?”

Ritchie asked as he pulled a gun in front of the man. His hideout was filled with people. Trained ones. Not anyone can barge in his office like this. 

“Don’t worry. They let me through.” He said, not scared of the gun. “That man though, he doesn’t have manners. Tried to jump over me. Can you believe it? You have not taught them discipline, eh?”

Ritchie was very close to pulling the trigger hearing that but at that moment, the man smiled. 

“Can’t you smell, my friend?”

“Petrol.”

“Bingo.”

The man smiled and walked a step closer. His clothes were soaked in petrol. The man clearly didn’t care about dying but he was too close to Ritchie that he was sure to get burned too. 

He put the gun away, getting a round of claps from the man. 

“Now, can we talk?” The man asked but there was only one question in Ritchie’s mind. 

“Who are you?”

“Kai. You can call me that. No need to introduce yourself. I know everything about you.”

Kai smirked as he licked his lips, almost in a predator like manner. 

“You know nothing.”

“I do. Ritchie Heart, one of the mob bosses. 20 years in the business. Your whole family is in Korea for their protection and you go there seldom, making your kids hate you. In the business, you do quite well, especially your drug business. So much so that I want a part of it. Not much. Just half.”

“Don’t fuck with—”

“I’m not.”

Kai said and in the next moment, Ritchie tried to attack him with a punch but Kai dodge it and pushed him against the wall. 

“I told you. Civilised discussion. Why are you bringing fists into this?”

Kai asked, almost innocently. At that moment, his years of experience in the underworld and his nerves were telling him that the man was a psychopath. Every bit of his action was pointing towards it. 

“Now, you know I have an interesting idea. What do you think would happen if I try to use this?”

Kai said and brought out a lighter. Holding it in his hand, he asked. 

“Do you think it will leave a mark on the wall?”

“Crazy… you are crazy.”

“Am I? I’m a little bit but not that much. Anyway, don’t you think you need just the right amount of crazy to survive this world?”

Kai said with a laugh, almost like he found it funny. Ritchie made a frightened expression hearing that and yelled. 

“Stop! Cut!”

Immersion broke right at that moment. 

Ritchie became Judy in an instant and a few staff members, including Zavier ran up to him. He was clutching his chest while sitting on the ground. 

People feared that he had gotten a heart attack. 

“Are you okay?”

Zavier asked, crouching down next to him. 

“Yeah, I’m fine too. I was just a bit scared. That lighter bit wasn’t in the script, so it just made me stunned.”

He said and looked up at Aiden who still looked like Kai. With those intense yet crazy eyes. Slowly, that went away as he looked at him. 

“I’m sorry. I just thought of it just before the scene.”

He said as he apologized. He could see that Judy didn’t look good as he was sweating a lot. 

“Ah, yeah. It’s fine. Just can you give me a few moments to calm down?”

Everyone nodded as Judy said that. But a lot of people were glancing at Aiden. His portrayal of Kai had stunned not only Judy but them too. 

Only Zavier looked like he expected it. 

‘What kind of freakish actor is that guy? I actually thought he was going to burn both of us.’

Judy thought as he took a deep breath.