Chapter 25

It started out as a normal Monday. I dropped my letter home in a mailbox at the studio entrance. When I arrived at my voice lesson things took a strange turn. There was shooting going on, but I wasn’t in it today so I had to work on my lines for my next speaking part. It was to be a four-hour session.

Halfway through two gentlemen came into the room. I thought I recognized one of them from his distinctive mustache but since no one introduced him I said nothing.

The other guy, one of the writers said.

“He was a no show. We are looking at Plan B.”

I wasn’t certain what that was all about but I figured the no show was Grant. Vince Jacobs gave me a thicker group of papers.

“Read these in your posh accent.”

I cleared my throat and started. Each page had a different flavor. I had to be happy, sad, angry, really angry, tired and insulted to name a few of the emotions that had to be demonstrated. The entire time I had to keep the accent. The further into the reading the easier it was. This was something I had done for days on end at home if I wanted to tease Mum a little.

In the end, the unnamed gentleman spoke up.

“He has the accent, you will have to work on his delivery.”

He then asked me.

“Was your Mum’s maiden name, Newman?”

From his accent, I knew who he was.

“Yes, it is Mr. Niven.”

“You look a lot like her. I thought I recognized your last name. I knew your Mum during the war and met your father several times. We were all jealous of him you know. We couldn’t figure out why she picked a Yank. Tell them I said Hello.”

“I will Sir,” as he left with the writer.

“What was that all about Vince?”

“I think Plan B might be a change in your role in the movie if Grant doesn’t come around.”

“But why do they want an accent?”

“That part I don’t understand.”

I had lunch at the cafeteria with several of the stuntmen. I thought I would be hanging out with the other child actors. I mentioned that and the stuntmen laughed.

“They play the part of children. The youngest is at least twenty-five. They just look young. They show up when they are needed for a scene.”

“What about their coaching sessions?”

I then had to explain my sessions on learning how to deliver my lines.

“Someone likes you kid, that is not normal. Actors are professionals that take care of themselves. If they need a coach they hire their own.”

I suspect I owed a Thank You to Mr. Wayne.

After lunch, I went for my World History exam. It was easier than I thought it would be. I had picked the right people, places, and dates to memorize over the weekend. Of all my tests, biology had given me the most trouble.

I finished the exam by three-thirty, so I headed over to the stunt area to start my work out. When I arrived I saw something very interesting going on. The stuntmen had the trampoline set up and were practicing falling off a roof. Of course, I had to watch that. It didn’t take long and I had a short course on how to fall off a roof.

It was really fun. One of the stuntmen told me he had seen me be dragged behind that horse in the movie It Never Happened. He told me that it looked so real. He wanted to know who the stuntman was. I told him I did it.

He wanted to know how the shot was set up, how many takes it took and other details. I finally broke down and told the truth that it was an accident caught by the cameras.