Jace
An hour of time passes during our table read and blocking prep. It was the most entertaining block prep I’ve ever had, mostly due to Lennox’s incessant, flirty messages.
I shake my head. “Nah, I’m good with that.”
“How about you, Lennox? This is the final song played during their residency and Ryan would always climb up the pillars and sort of hang from the rafters. I think we could have you partially climb for the profile shot that Pierre wants, but we should have Isaac fill in for you for the rest.” She turns to look at Lennox and he sits up confidently.
“No way, that’s the fun part. I’ve been looking forward to it since I read the scrip,.” he says, excitedly.
Rose sucks in air through her teeth. “The drop is more than twenty-five feet, Lennox. You’ll be harnessed but, still…all of it is risky and we have stunt doubles for this reason.”
I agree with her and shake my head silently at him.
“Not a chance,” Lennox insists.
“That’s too dangerous,” I whisper to him.
“You’re doing yours,” he pushes back.
“I jump off an elevated surface from a couple feet in the air. You’re climbing rafters. Major difference.” I grit my teeth in frustration because he shouldn’t do this stunt himself.
“I like taking risks, Moose.” He winks then turns to Rose. “I’m all in.”
“Okay,” she relents, but doesn’t seem too pleased about it. “Alright everyone, this is the final film day for the residency performances. We’ll have a day off tomorrow, then film the remaining scenes back at the studio.”
We finish the table read, which doesn’t take long since most of the next scenes we’re filming will be our performance on stage, then we head over to the make-shift stage.
It’s set up in the exact place Iron Horizon originally had their residency in Vegas so it all looks identical to the clips I’ve seen on TV at their live concerts.
“Wow,” Lennox says as he steps up next to me.
“Surreal,” I say, taking in the stage, fully set up.
“Filming is almost over.” His voice is somber, a forlorn expression passes over his face, but passes quickly.
“Yeah,” is all I can seem to muster.
“This is the most fun I’ve ever had filming,” he admits.
“I know,” I say, smiling as I keep my gaze forward.
“You’re so cocky.”
“You’re rubbing off on me.”
“I’d like you to rub something on—”
“Gentleman, are we ready?” Lennox stands stick straight, stopping himself from finishing that sentence as Rose walks by us, leading us up on stage. “Let’s get started.”
“Let me hear you, Vegas!” Lennox screams into his mic and he hypes up the crowd.
The crowd being a handful of extras that Pierre wanted so some of the close up shots were more realistic than using the green screen.
He belts out the final song that we always finish with, Journey Together, and as usual, he sounds unbelievable. His tone, intonation, the way he fades off on certain lyrics. He’s embodied everything about Ryan Wilson and I’ve never been so impressed with a co-star before.
He stands at the front of the stage, one arm up calling to the crowd before he strides over to me as my fingers move effortlessly over the cords of my electric guitar.
I’m confident now, and can actually play a few songs pretty well which I never thought would be possible when I first started with my music coach.
Lennox stops in front of me, grabs my neck, and presses his bandana wrapped forehead against mine as he continues to belt out the lyrics.
Our eyes lock and there’s something dangerous swimming in his green gems. Can he see how much I’m falling for him? Can he see how much I’m struggling?
In true Lennox fashion, he winks at me with his back to the camera so it’s a little something just for me, then beams out a genuine smile as he holds the microphone between us.
I can’t help but mirror his contagious smile and sing the lyrics with him, loving how close he is to me.
Stepping back, he circles his arms clapping over his head and turns center stage, getting the crowd ready. He holds his arms out, gesturing to me for my solo riff, so I climb up on the large stage speaker, stand tall, and rip into my cords in the exact manner that James Davis would.
I tilt my head, the long blond hair from my wig falls over my shoulders showing in my periphery.
I bang my head to the beat a couple times as I watch my fingers move quickly over the strings, squeezing my guitar pick and then finish up holding a long, sustained note that vibrates through the speakers.
Just as the last note fades I take a step forward and leap back onto the stage, landing with dramatic flare and then slide onto my knees.
The small crowd screams a genuine holler of excitement since they had no idea that was coming and I run across the front of the stage high-fiving them.
Lennox passes me, still effortlessly singing into his mic with a sense of pride on his face.
“CUT!” Pierre calls out and the lights illuminate the stage, lighting everything up again.
“Fabulous. Oui! I love it. Get him harnessed for the final shot and we will reset,” Pierre instructs the crew.
It takes about twenty minutes to get him securely harnessed and the energy we had earlier has long faded but that’s the thing about filming movies.
We have no time to get back into the scene, but we have to find that same vibe, because for the viewer it should be seamless even when there’s a cut scene or angle change.
“Alright everybody, places!” Pierre calls out again as he ducks behind the floating camera gig he’s sitting on that hovers over the corner of the stage.
“And action!”
Lennox strides over to the pillars, tucks the mic into his back pocket and begins to make the climb. The metal bars criss-cross over each other as he easily ascends, grabbing each one, hauling his body up.
He tucks his foot into the corner, uses one hand to hold himself up then grabs his mic with the other. Taking a moment to shift toward the crowd and belt a few lyrics before making his way up to the top where the metal rafters are.
The harness is taut around his waist and between his legs, but my heart still hammers in my chest at the sight. I’m off stage watching with the crew since I’m not in the shot and from the angle it’s devastatingly high and now I’m shifting uncomfortably with anxiety.
I glance over at the stunt coordinator and she doesn’t have a lick of stress anywhere in her body language, maybe because I’m sure she sees this kind of stuff all the time, but most often stunt doubles do this. Not someone I can’t stop thinking about.
“Let’s go, Vegasssss—” Lennox calls out to the audience then one of the stage lights bursts, shooting blinding electric shocks through the air. A loud clang echoes through the room as the rod that Lennox was holding onto rips off the base and Lennox starts to plummet.
A couple of the crew members, along with myself, leap forward just as the harness tugs harshly, whiplashing his entire body as he hovers about twenty feet above the ground, with nothing to hold onto.
“Lennox!” My voice cracks as I call out and attempt to make my way on the elevated platform but someone holds me back while Pierre calls for his safety officer to begin to lower Lennox from the crane.
Relief washes over me as the harness cable begins to snake through the metal pillars and he starts to slowly descend, but then rattling and clanging of metal echoes through the room and the rafters begin to collapse.
Steel debris plummets, scattering everywhere as Lennox uses one arm to protect his head and uses the other to claw and grip onto something, anything.
The crewmen are screaming, scrambling to pull the harness but the rafters are completely unstable.
A sharp, earsplitting sound bursts through the air as the cable snaps and Lennox crashes to the ground, his body jolts harshly, slamming into the stage, then disappears under the heavy metal railings that capsize over the top of him.