Epilogue
EPILOGUE
The interviewer paced the sound stage, fiddling with the microphone clipped to her shirt. Thank god the production crew remembered to set up the low-slung director’s chairs instead of the standard, tall size. The clause was highlighted in the contract. In pencil scrawled beside it, and underlined was Aka do not make her climb anything. Bad knee. We all heard what happened last time this detail was forgotten.
He’d gone on the warpath before she’d talked him down, and still he cut the interview after three minutes.
She sneaked a glance at the open door. Nothing.
“Are they on set yet?” she asked the PA.
“They’re just getting out of makeup.”
Cool. Great. She smoothed her hair and lapped the stage again, jumping when the producer’s voice buzzed in her earpiece. “They’re on their way.”
“Thanks,” she croaked.
She’d interviewed loads of famous people before. But not the creative team behind her favourite movie of all time.
A lyrical laugh sounded from down the hall, and moments later, a short woman waltzed through the doorway, followed closely by a man wearing head-to-toe black, their hands tucked together. He was leaning over to whisper in her ear, a grin just visible, and a fresh peel of laughter rang across the stage. The woman turned a bright smile to the interviewer, and the grin on the man faded into a polite nod.
The interviewer blew out a breath. This was it. She was interviewing Josh Graham and Cassidy St. Claire.
She strode up to them, holding out her hand like a lifeline, her smile splitting her cheeks. “Ms. St. Claire! Mr. Graham! I’m a huge fan of yours! I can’t believe I get to talk with you today!”
So much for being cool.
“The pleasure is ours,” the woman said, grasping her outstretched hand between her own. “And please, call me Cass.”
“Mr. Graham is fine,” he said, giving his own brief shake, and Cass elbowed him. The famous dimples creased his cheeks as he smiled down at Cass’s exasperated eye roll. “You can call me Josh. Always love to meet a fan.”
Whoa . She’d shaken hands with Josh Graham and Cassidy St. Claire. And that’s why he had been voted Sexiest Man Behind the Camera. The interviewer felt a warm glow rush through her at the sight of their exchanged glances, and she clasped her hands in front of her.
Get it together . She could be a professional for the next half hour. Fangirling could come later.
She motioned for them to take their seats, Josh lending Cass a hand to settle in the low chair, before angling his chair closer to hers. The interviewer took her place, tested microphone levels, and turned her attention to the couple who, along with several others on the crew, were up for a slew of awards.
“Can I ask you about SD ?” she blurted. “If you don’t mind?”
“Of course,” Josh said. He absently reached over the chair’s arms to grasp Cass’s hand, interlacing his fingers into her. “What would you like to know?”
Sirius Darker had captivated her from the moment she saw it. She picked up the book the next day, a second-hand paperback with an original cracked cover, then broke down and picked up another with an original movie poster cover. Then she made her brother see it with her, then her boyfriend, then her mom. When she got home tonight, she’d watch it again, to celebrate meeting the director and costume designer.
She’d seen it so many times she could recite the plot from seven different angles without a script.
“Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky, darkens with no warning. Scientists across the globe race to determine the cause. It shouldn’t run out of fuel for a billion years. No black holes. Nothing makes sense. Until Dr. Amelia Andersen discovers an alien species has built a Dyson sphere around the star to harness its energy, the hyper-massive infrastructure blocking the star’s light. She convinces the governing bodies on earth to send her into space to investigate. Little does she know her former lover, Dr. Rykoff, has been thwarting her attempts at winning the bid to take the journey, much like the movie Contact . But unlike Contact , not only does she convince her partner of her findings, and why it should be her and not the robot-led mission he fights for, he joins her on the trip to space and sacrifices himself to repair the ship so she can make contact with the alien race and return home.”
“So I’ve been told,” he said, looking more amused than bored with her rambling.
The interviewer clasped her hands in her lap. “It’s about fighting for what you believe in, even when everyone is against you. It’s about doing the right thing, even when it’s scary. It’s about admitting you’re wrong, and standing beside the person you love, and accepting forgiveness even after betrayal.”
“That about sums it up,” Josh said, grinning at her. Oh my god . Josh Graham is grinning at me. He continued, “I should have hired you to write my pitch letters.”
Cass clucked her tongue and shook her head. “I doubt she was even born when Sirius Darker came out.”
“I was alive,” the interviewer insisted .
Sirius Darker had hit theatres a month before her third birthday.
“What did you want to ask about it?” Cass said.
The interview shifted to the front edge of her chair. “How did you know? The book is so campy. I’ve seen original storyboards with crazy special effects written into the margins. How did you know to strip the film back?”
Josh tilted his head at Cass, and an entire silent conversation passed between the two. “You tell it this time,” he said.
“Because even with giant methane-breathing aliens and faster-than-light spaceships, it was a human story first. We didn’t want to hide that under a layer of polyurethane for our actors to be piled under.” Cass wobbled her head. “Plus, it saved us a ton of money on the budget.”
“Westy still says saving that million dollars funded her next project,” Josh joked.
Perfect segue into what they were here to discuss. “Not like budget is an issue for you anymore,” the interviewer pressed on, setting up the audience for the few people unfamiliar with the story. “ Sonnets continues to be the darling of the awards season, having swept the Golden Globes and taking home the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes. You’re up for your fourth Oscar nomination for Best Director, the film loosely based on how you two met. It’s the first original screenplay you’ve received a nomination for, having won for Best Adapted Screenplay twice previously, for Sirius Darker and Undertow , the sequel to Tideways . If you win for Sonnets , it’ll be your second Oscar for Best Director, and if buzz is any indication, you’re the front-runner for the award.”
Josh shrugged.
The interviewer turned to Cass. “You and Mr. Graham have worked together on every project since Sirius Darker erupted into the zeitgeist almost twenty-six years ago, having famously met on set.”
Cass pressed her lips together to stifle another giggle, and Josh shot he r a wicked smile, running his tongue over his incisors. “Something like that,” he said.
“You’re up for Best Costume Design for Sonnets , your fifth nomination. Every film you costume has been drastically different. Your last film had bright palettes and a high-concept approach to design, while this film is muted.”
“At least until the midpoint,” Cass agreed.
The interviewer steeled herself. The film’s dramatic shift had been criticized as reductive by some; lauded as evocative by others. “At the midpoint, the film overblows into colour, almost hypersaturated. Why did you make that choice?”
The couple exchanged another look. “We debated this a long time,” Cass said. “It’s not the most subtle choice we could’ve made …”
“But we decided we didn’t want subtle,” he finished. “I spent the first half of my life asleep. Then I met Cass, and she made the world come alive for me. The colour, the brightness. It’s all her.”
If the interviewer had known she’d get teary today, she would have worn waterproof mascara.
Josh brushed his silver hair back from his eyes. “I was an unknown hack when I submitted my first film to a festival?—”
“ Oblivion was great!” Cass insisted and turned to the interviewer. “If you can find a copy anywhere, you should watch?—”
“The remake, when I finally got my hands on a decent costume designer,” he cut back in, and Cass clicked her tongue. “As I was saying, if I hadn’t submitted that film, we never would have met. Taking that chance was the luckiest moment of my life. This film captures what that time felt like.”
The interviewer cleared her throat, muting the PA’s sniffling in her earpiece. “And what made this the right time to make this film?”
Cass smiled as he squeezed her hand. “A long time ago, he promised me sonnets.”