My Hollywood System

It was early morning, and the Dream Studios was bustling with activity.

Will was in his office, staring at the monitor screen in front of him.

After listening to the contents of the video, he let out a sigh, and closed the media player.

‘This is going nowhere.’ He frowned.

The video he was watching was of probable actors to get cast as Joey Tribbiani for the upcoming seasons of [Friends], and of all the shortlisted actors, none came close to what Will was looking for.

‘Should I postpone season 2 for now?’ Will wondered, but then shook his head.

He couldn’t do that, or it will just create more trouble in the long run and might even make him look desperate.

Honestly, he wasn’t quite worried. He knew he could solve this problem with time, but then, time was what he lacked the most.

‘Matt LeBlanc…’

He really wanted to find an actor. But was it even possible?

Out of the original [Friends] cast of his previous world, only the actors who played Chandler and Rachel were part of the show in this one.

Was it really necessary to make the required strict? Was he too focused on finding Matt LeBlac that he was ignoring the potential of other actors?

He couldn’t help but wonder as these questions popped up in his mind.

Then glancing at the file on the desk, he moved his hand and brought it infront of him.

This was the same file Amanda had given to him which contained the names and profiles of the shortlisted actors for the role of Joey Tribbiani.

These shortlisted actors were a talented bunch and Will had to say that it was only his expectations and wish to have Matt LeBlanc play the role of Joey that his heart wasn’t willing to take them in.

‘Why am I wasting their time?’

Will sighed. Then closing the file, he got up.

‘I need a break.’

He took a deep breath and walked out of his office.

As soon as he walked out, Alexia, whose cabin was just outside his office, raised her head.

“Where are the auditions taking place?” Will asked. 𝐟𝓇ℯ𝒆we𝒃𝘯𝒐νe𝑙.co𝚖

“Auditions?”

“For Friends.”

“Ah, I will forward you the details.”

Will nodded, and headed for the elevator.

While he waited for the elevator to arrive, he heard a message prompt notification on his phone. Amelia had sent the details he asked for, and suddenly, he heard quick footsteps approaching behind him.

Without turning back, he knew who it was.

“I have contacted the valet, the car will be ready.” It was Alexia. She would be accompanying Will for the trip.

Will thought for a moment, and turning his head, he said, “I think it’s best if you stay here.”

“Hm?” Alexia asked, “Sure, but is everything alright?”

Will nodded, “Yes.”

-Ding!

The elevator door opened and without waiting for her response, he walked in.

…

Luke Newman was sitting in front of a makeup mirror. He was staring at his own reflection with disbelief in his eyes.

Just twenty four hours ago, he was sitting in the waiting room of the Airport, ready to leave everything behind and return to his home.

Yet, here he was now.

As soon as he had registered for the [Dream Vision Auditions], he had received the prompt telling him to wait for the reply.

At that moment, he had assumed it would take at least a few days, if not a week before his Round 1 even began.

However, to his surprise, he received an update on his Sparrow account early this morning, and was called in for the auditions.

Fortunately he had at least watched a bit of season 1 of [Friends] when it used to air, although not all the episodes since he felt even more miserable and couldn’t even enjoy his life due to the depression.

But as luck would have it, the script in his hand was of an episode he hadn’t seen. Or even if he did see it, he didn’t remember how Benjamin Scott acted out the scene as Joey in this one.

Taking a deep breath, he went through the script again and tried to play out the part in his mind, while raising his head and glancing at a digital counter near the door.

The counter read 112. It meant the 112th applicant for today was having his audition.

Luke’s turn was 341st.

There were more than two hundred actors whose turn was yet to come, and one might think there was a lot of time.

However, Luke or anyone else in the room didn’t think so.

Because the counter had already changed to 113 and someone in the room stood up and walked out.

The auditions were happening at a very rapid speed.

‘They are eliminating them at the slightest dislike.’

This only made him more nervous.

-buzzzz!

Just then, his phone vibrated and taking it out, he saw a message from his friend, Kevin.

[I knew you wouldn’t go! Where are you? I am outside your room.]

Luke smiled. Kevin was a fellow struggling actor, and had become a close friend of his over the last few years.

He unlocked the phone and typed a few words.

[Audition. Will call you later.]

Then putting back the phone, he once again immersed himself in the audition script.

…

Just outside the theatre where the audition was taking place, a Hyundai Equus halted.

And a man walked out. The others around gave him a strange look because this young man was wearing a black face mask, which was quite uncommon, especially on a hot day like this one.

The young man was indeed Will.

Having gotten used to stared over the last few years, Will was unfazed as he stepped into the auditorium.

The auditions were open to the public, that meant, not only could they take part in it, they could also sit at the back in the theatre on the audience seats and watch the applicants test their luck.

Will walked in and sat down in one of the front rows.

Most of the theatre was filled, but people mostly chose to sit at the back if they weren’t too keen to observe the auditions.

Sitting at the front meant one had to maintain utter silence, and this was an unbreakable rule.

If any of the judges found them irritating, the person would be forced to leave.

For Will, who hadn’t come here with any friends or to cheer anyone, it wasn’t hard to find a good seat.

He could hear the actors try their luck and act as Joey Tribbiani.

After a few turns, he noticed all the actors had received the same script. And while observing them, he also noticed that most of them were giving an off vibe.

‘They are trying to copy Scott’s acting?’

It wasn’t surprising, considering it was Scott who had acted this role.

However, this also meant that they were ignoring an important fact — Scott was fired and wasn’t going to play Joey Tribbiani anymore.

‘They need to outperform him, not copy him.’

As time passed, he noticed that not all of them were bad. Some had gone for what Will was looking for, however they still fell short when it came to the ‘confidently incorrect’ nature of Joey.

‘This won’t do.’

He shook his head. And glanced at the judges panel.

He was unfamiliar with the judges. Or, the judge.

There was only one judge, and the other two on each side were checking the profile of the actors.

This was quite a natural process and Will wasn’t surprised by this. In fact, he even appreciated the fact that there were two others to help the judge because that would save time for the latter and he would just have to focus on how the actors played the role they were auditioning for.

“Next, Number 341st, Luke Newman.”

Will turned his gaze at the stage as soon as he heard the name.

The name wasn’t too unique, but it did have some flavour to it. However, a good name isn’t enough to win over hollywood.

As Will waited for the participant, one of the staff members seated beside the judge gave a short profile of Luke to the latter.

Unfortunately, Will was a bit too far so he couldn’t hear them. However, he didn’t care.

He was only interested in how the actors would play out the script.

Of more than two hundred actors he had seen play out the role in the last one hour, he was only impressed by one, or at most two. He had taken note of their numbers, and would send them to the next round, even if the judge decided to reject them.

Now, he was curious about the next participant, and as soon as Luke Newman stepped on the stage, Will’s eyes widened a bit and he looked at the scene in front of him with even more interest.

The person in front of him was an unexpectedly familiar face.

‘Brad Pitt.’

… f𝓇𝘦𝒆𝘄𝑒𝗯𝑛𝗼ѵ𝙚l.𝒄𝘰𝓶

//DreamNote//

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