A Phone Call In London
It was a beautifully crisp day in London, the sky an astonishingly blue instead of the usual ash-grey. Alexander stood at the window, admiring the fair weather before returning to the sofa, where his daily cup of Earl Grey and his iPad was waiting for him.
Taking a fortifying sip of tea, Alexander swiped open his iPad and browsed through the latest entertainment news. However, he promptly spat out his mouthful of tea when he spotted the numerous headlines that had sprouted up in the past hour - while he’d been busy with yoga. Grabbing blindly for his phone, he quickly scrolled through his recently-dialed numbers and hit the one that appeared at the very top.
His agent picked up within two rings. “I was expecting your call twenty minutes ago,” Susanna drawled, unbearably smug.
“I had yoga,” Alexander said impatiently, blowing cool air onto his burning tongue. “More importantly, is it true?”
“What’s true? You mean the news that Empire Pictures will be adapting the Stormbreaker series into a trilogy?” Susanna’s teasing tone made Alexander roll his eyes.
“Don’t toy with me, Suze,” he pleaded. He grabbed some tissues when he belatedly noticed that tea was dripping down his living room table, mopping up the mess. “I need you to get me an audition. I don’t care how. You know I’ve wanted this since I was a kid.”
Susanna sighed on the phone, all playfulness gone. “That’s a pretty tall order. I already heard through the grapevine that Chris Hemsworth is asking about one of the two lead roles.”
Alexander let out a frustrated noise. “Which one? What does he want with the bloody part? He’s already Thor, for God’s sake.”
“It’s not just him,” Susanna said, before proceeding to rattle off every notable actor in his 20s and 30s in the public eye recently, all of whom were reportedly eyeing the very plum roles of Sir Donovan, the flawed protagonist of the popular Stormbreaker series, or King Thol, his icy but kindhearted elvish counterpart. Alexander felt his heart sink. Maybe he didn’t have a chance in hell of playing his childhood hero on the silver screen.
After a long, dejected silence on the phone, Susannah clicked her tongue in determination. “Okay, you know what? I will try my best, handsome. I’ll call in every favour I have. But no promises, okay?”
“Thank you,” Alexander said, shoulders sagging with relief. He hung up and sprung to his feet, too antsy to laze about on the sofa now. Heading straight for his beloved bookshelf, he reached for the three books proudly displayed in a place of honour, his fingers reverently brushing against the battered, well-loved spines.
Stormbreaker I: The Sword of Honor
Stormbreaker II: In Elvish Lands
Stormbreaker III: The End of the Beginning
Alexander took down the third book and held it gently in his hands. On the cover, a rugged, dark-haired swordsman was facing off against a tall, regal elf with long silvery hair. Alexander had first read the adventures of Sir Donovan and King Thol when he was ten, after his parents had split up and his dad had left him the books to keep him company. After Alexander had become an actor, he’d always kept his ear to the ground for news that a studio would decide to bring his favourite books to life.
Of course, there had been interested parties over the years. At one point, there were even rumours that Brad Pitt (who was still in his prime at this point) was slated to play the icy Elvish king, with Keanu Reeves taking on the mantle of Sir Donovan. But the project was stuck in development hell for the longest time, plodding from director to director as studios began believing the project was cursed.
Then comic book movies suddenly became all the rage, thanks to Marvel. High fantasy epics bombed at the box office. Alexander decided to be practical and even took a small part in a Marvel movie. Casting agents always referred to his dark features and piercing blue eyes as “too brooding”, which meant Alexander had long accepted that he was never going to become Captain America. At least he seldom had problems getting the parts of villains.
He let out a long, hopeful sigh. "Please let me get the part," he whispered, clasping his hands together in a silent prayer to a deity he'd long stopped believing in.
Now all he had to do was wait for Susanna to work her magic.
