Dreams of Stardom (Hollywood SI)

“I know,” Alfonso agreed with me patiently. “But we need to show your fear. Think that you’re working on a horror film. Like that tent scene you did in [The Sixth Sense]. I want the same reaction from you in this scene.”

It felt like such a distant thing. We had shot [The Sixth Sense] more than three years ago.

Meanwhile, David Thewlis, who played Remus Lupin, took off the jacket he had draped over himself and said, “Everything okay, kids?”

“Yeah,” I reassured him before taking a deep breath. I’m a professional actor, and I can do this. Despite how funny that dementor figure was, I can’t half-ass this scene. I remember watching the original film series and thinking that this was the defining scene that turned the series from a happy kids’ film into the serious, dark film series it became.

Time to show everyone that all my awards weren’t just for show.

“Action!”

This time when the figure of the dementor entered the cabin, I forgot that this was a toy figure at all. For me, this was my worst nightmare. The worst creature there could be that was here to snuff the light out of me. I bent forward, just as Alfonso had coached me earlier, as if my soul was being sucked right out of my body. I heaved my chest out and arched my back. I felt good about this scene. I felt this would come out to be one of my best scenes in the series so far, only for Alfonso to shout, “Cut!”

I stopped and came down to my normal posture before looking at Alfonso for guidance, who didn’t look that happy.

“Troy,” he said slowly. “This is not exactly what I had in mind. Can you perhaps tone it down a little?”

“Tone it down?” I asked incredulously. In my opinion, I was doing a great job with this scene.

“Yes,” he said emphatically. “You look like you were being tortured. Like that ‘Crucio’ curse from the fourth book. Keep your face as blank as you can.”

“Okay,” I said reluctantly.

“Cut! Let’s do it one more time.”

“Cut! Troy, let’s calm down a little, yeah?”

“Cut! That’s too little, Troy. I need some real passion from you.”

In the end, I was so frustrated with Alfonso that before he could say “Action” one more time, I got up and walked over to my trailer. The entire crew stood in silence as I ignored them all. I closed the door behind me with a loud bang and plopped down on the sofa in anguish.

Why was this happening to me? Why was I unable to get such a simple shot passed by one of the most acclaimed directors of all time? There must be something wrong with me.

Before I could agonize any further, the door to my trailer opened, and in walked my brother, who looked hesitant.

“Are you okay, Troy?” he asked.

“Can’t you see? Of course, I’m okay!” I snapped at him and then immediately regretted my words. He didn’t deserve this from me. “I’m sorry, Evan. It’s just that… I’m having a bad acting day. Alfonso isn’t making it any easier for me.”

He stepped in front of me and put both his hands on my shoulders before saying, “It’s okay. You are doing fine. Some directors just need more takes than your usual directors. You can’t blame Alfonso for trying to get your best performance out.”

I hated that Evan was being so logical.

“Everyone on the set is relying on you, Troy,” he continued undeterred. “If a makeup person is missing, someone else can take their spot. Similarly, for lights, cameras, heck, even the director can be changed temporarily. But you are absolute. You are the face of the film, and so many people rely on you to make a living. Don’t let them down like this.”

Evan knew just the words to say to make me guilty as hell.

I looked towards the door of my trailer before saying, “How will I go back on set now? Everyone will think I’m a spoiled brat.”

“Don’t worry about that,” Evan smiled. “I made an excuse for you and told Alfonso that you will be out in 10 minutes.”

I smiled back at him in gratitude, “Thanks, Evan. Now I know for sure that one day you will become a great director.”

He waved off my praise before getting up. “Are you coming?”

“Sure,” I got up after him and followed him back to the set.

I saw Alfonso talking to a crew member. I knew I had made a mistake by acting like a child, so I walked up to him and apologized, “I’m so sorry, Alfonso.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he reassured me. “I had a bad case of diarrhea myself just last month, so I know it can be agonizing. It’s good that you came on set despite that. Don’t worry, we’ll take it slow for today.”

I shot a withering glare at my brother for making such a lame excuse, who shrugged helplessly. I turned back to Alfonso with a resigned sigh, “Thank you for understanding. Do we need to redo the dementor scene?”

“No,” Alfonso shook his head. “I rewatched all your takes while you were gone, and I found one which was just perfect. It didn’t seem so when I watched it live, but it looks good on a screen. Let’s do the next scene when you wake up after passing out."

I wish I could say that everything was smooth sailing from that point on, but it took some time to get to that point. While Alfonso was a visionary director and a genius filmmaker with an astute sense of camera placement, all his movies till now were small to mid-budget, so it was understandable for him to adjust to working on [Harry Potter] gradually.

And adjust he did.

Within a week, everyone had formed a tacit understanding of sorts. From cameramen to the sound team to VFX, everyone got to know how Alfonso worked. His way might be a little different than Chris Columbus’, but he was good. While Chris liked to use traditional camera angles held by cameramen for shooting a scene, Alfonso many times took the camera in his own hands and followed us actors while shooting the scene as if he was making a small indie film, not a big-budget Hollywood film, and that changed the entire outcome of shooting and for the better.

(Bonus Scene)

“This is Troy Armitage’s first Tony nomination and win. At the age of 13, he is the youngest person ever to win a Tony award in a leading category,” a female voice announced in the background as I took the stage and was handed my award by Anne Heche.

“Thank you so much to the Broadway League and the American Theater Wing for this tremendous honor,” I said in the mic while holding on to my latest trophy. “I wish I could say that this was all me, but that would be the biggest lie. First and foremost, I’d like to thank my first vocal teacher Paul Tanner, who inspired me to sing and do musical songs. Toni Collette, thank you for inspiring me to be a ballet dancer. You are responsible for this.” I pointed at the trophy before continuing. “My parents, who stood beside me every step of the way and left behind their life in London just so I could perform here. My brother Evan, Stephen Daldry, Peter Darling, Elton John, Lee Hall, our producers of the original movie, and all the crew behind the scenes who worked on the show to make it the success it has been. Thank you so much. Last but not least, thank you to the audience who came to see our show after the shit year that had been 2001.”

Huge applause erupted from the audience as I was escorted backstage for media interviews.