Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

Lisa Silvereye was someone who felt like the odd one in her family. Like someone who was so different from the others around her that she sometimes wondered how she had become like this. 

Most of the people in her family were movie buffs, people who lived for stories and particularly movies. Even her mom was like that to a certain extent. 

As for her, she only saw it as a form of entertainment and never went beyond it. She never sensed passion in it like her father and the allure of storytelling had passed her without touching her. 

If a lot of people talk about a movie with her, she would watch it. Otherwise, she would rarely watch them. 

It was completely different from her father who watched even bad movies and had played 20 year old games after knowing that they have an interesting story. 

Her father was a very eccentric person and although those antics have calmed down a lot since he had aged, she still found herself unable to know what attracted him so much about movies.

He not only watched them. He knew most of the people working in any movie he would watch. He would talk about stories about those people like he knew them since childhood and even the process of how they would have shot a particular scene. 

Lisa understood it as it was her father’s previous job but she still was unable to have a proper conversation about him on movies as she never sensed the amount of passion that he did with movies. 

To add to that, her cousin had become a big movie star. She was happy for him as she had seen him struggle, drive taxis to pay rent and eat in temples for free. 

But somewhere, she saw the same passion in his eyes like her father. And that made her feel a bit disconnected to him. 

Though, they still have a good relationship as he had hardly changed since becoming famous and she was comfortable enough with him to even mock him. 

“Did you really make that bet?”

“Yes, I did.”

“You have become stupid after becoming a big actor.”

Lisa clicked her tongue as she looked at her cousin. He had aged nicely in the last few years and maybe because he had grown exponentially in his career but he gave off a mature vibe. 

Though, his actions seemed childish to her.

“Heh, it’s not stupid.”

Her father, Uncle Sam, stopped the car and said. He gave his daughter a disapproving look and got out of the car. 

“Actors should be proud and arrogant of their work. If they are not, then there’s something wrong with them.”

“That doesn’t mean to do things like that. Now, Aiden had to work in a movie for free. What if it’s a movie with a long shooting schedule of a year?”

Lisa said, making a pretty good point and he just shrugged. 

“It won’t come to that. You will see.”

“If you say so.”

As both of them bickered, Aiden pulled up his mask and glasses and completed his look with a cap. It was the first day of [The Black Saint] release and he was off from promoting it, so he was having a free day. 

Uncle Sam wanted to watch [The Black Saint] and Lisa wanted to come along too, so he had gotten tickets and now, he was standing in the parking lot of a mall, ready to watch an afternoon show. 

“You two should stop fighting. We are here to watch the movie. Let’s focus on that.”

Aiden said with a sigh. 

Both of them nodded and they walked inside. The theatre was on the third floor, so they took the escalator to go up. 

On the way, Lisa looked around suspiciously, like she was scared of something. 

“What happened?” Aiden asked her. 

“I’m just worried that someone is going to recognise you. There will be a lot of people who would be asking for autographs if they know you are here. I don’t want a ruckus like that.”

“I don’t think so.” Aiden lightly shook his head. “Celebrities often go to watch their own movies secretly and most of them are very used to hiding their faces. Moreover, people are mostly in groups in a mall and they would rarely focus on others.”

She nodded and they reached the theatre and outside of it, there were a lot of people standing. A screening had just ended and a second one was going to start soon. 

It seemed like people were very excited about the movie. 

Lisa perked up her ears to listen to a few conversations. 

“Did you hear from someone who watched the movie?”

“My friend watched the morning show and he’s been blabbering about it since then. I guess it’s a very good movie.”

“Some reviews called it the best movie of the year.”

“I think they are exaggerating. After all, you can’t add too much in a movie about a serial killer that’s never explored before.”

“Yeah, but I’m very excited to see Aiden.”

“Yeah, he’s my favourite actor.”

“I loved him as Kai in the first movie too.”

Hearing all those things about her cousin, she felt a bit proud and looked at him. 

“A lot of people like you.”

“Yeah but they are here to see Kai, so I’m sure he has more fans than me.”

“Aren’t you two the same?”

Lisa raised her eyebrow. Someone being a fan of Kai automatically made him a fan of Aiden in her eyes. 

“Not necessarily. Yes, I play him but he’s different from me. He’s a part of me yet he’s his own self too. It’s hard to explain but people would like Kai and not like me. It happens way more than you think, especially when a character gets too famous, it’s actor suffers.”

He spoke with the same passion that she was so familiar with. His eyes were shining as he explained. 

‘He seems to be in his own little world while talking about his character. Must be nice.’

She thought as they walked. Like Aiden had told her, people rarely looked at them despite Aiden dressing like that. They were all busy in their own little worlds. 

There would be a glance or two but it was just that. No one seemed to earn harbour the thought the one who played Kai was among them. 

As they sat down in the theatre, she asked her cousin. 

“I heard it’s a dark movie.”

“Yeah, it’s about violent things and about society.”

“Did you get hurt while filming it?”

The question came to her mind as they talked. Uncle Sam chipped in at the moment. 

“Didn’t you get injured during [Agnas]? I heard about it.”

“You did?” She asked. 

“Yeah, I did. A small injury. Needed a day or two to fully heal. I was back on the set shortly. Nothing like that with this one. Though, there were a few incidents with some extras but it was nothing major.”

He said and passed on the popcorn to her. The theatre had already filled to the brim and the movie was stroking. The logo of Granite films appeared as the opening credits started. 

While watching it, Lisa wondered whether she would be able to go back on set after an injury right away. She was obviously not an actor but it was an interesting thought. 

She knew that her answer would be no as she would try to rest as much as she could. Work was a burden in her mind that was necessary but she didn’t like it. 

Her definition of it was very different from Aiden or her father. Maybe that’s why she felt lacking in their presence. 

‘I hope the movie is good.’

She thought in her mind as the first scene started. It was then that she heard a voice. 

It was a couple sitting behind them. They were whispering something to each other but as they were sitting right behind her, she was able to hear it. 

“You know my friend worked on the set of [The Black Saint]. He heard that Aiden pushed himself too much during the shooting that he would have to go out of the set to just breathe to calm himself down.”

“What?”

“Yeah, he gave off a dangerous and crazy vibe in the whole shooting. And looked very troubled by the end of it. Some people were scared that he was going to get long term mental health issues due to portraying the role.”

“Poor him but if it’s really that, I’m pretty sure the movie will be good.”

Her eyes widened a bit hearing the conversation and she looked at her cousin who was sitting besides her. 

Did he really put his mental health on line for a movie? Knowing him, it might very well be the truth. 

Even her father had mentioned that Aiden was giving his all for his next movie. But was it really worth it?

‘Is his passion really that important that he could give up anything to make a good movie?’

She thought in her mind.