CHAPTER 14 #2
Reed kept talking, but Dana didn’t hear her.
The morning had been a crazy whirlwind of people talking to her, asking questions, making various demands of her, and her mind was struggling to keep up.
Dana was more than nervous. She was panicked, and it was only her first day.
How was she supposed to do this for real if she couldn’t even do it in an easy rehearsal?
“Hey.”
Dana’s vision cleared up almost immediately when she saw Samara standing in front of her.
“You’re not in this scene,” Dana said to her.
“Yeah, I know. I just saw you,” Samara replied. “Can I borrow her for a second?”
Dana turned to see that Samara was talking to Reed now.
“Sure. We’ll take ten.”
A second later, Dana was being pulled by Samara, and she didn’t know where. Then, Jana appeared in front of them.
“I’ve got this,” Samara said to her, and Jana backed away.
They ended up back at the row of trailers, and Samara followed her up the stairs to Dana’s new on-set home.
“Hey, you okay?” Samara checked.
“I’m…” Dana’s breath intensified, and she realized she couldn’t quite catch it.
“You’re okay,” Samara said softly, rubbing her hands up and down Dana’s arms. “Dana, you’re okay.”
“I’m not. I can’t… do this. I don’t know what… They have questions… I don’t know the answers.”
“Hey, sit down for me,” Samara told her.
Dana then ended up on the sofa, with Samara crammed in next to her.
“Do something for me. Let’s do a little breathing exercise, okay?”
“Huh?” Dana asked.
“I’ve been here,” Samara shared, taking her hand. “It’s hard when you’re just getting started. When you feel my index finger touch your palm, breathe in for me. Then, as it moves away, breathe out. Look down at my hand and watch. Focus on it, okay? Focus on your breathing and our hands.”
When Dana nodded, Samara pressed her finger to her palm. Dana breathed in deeply for a few seconds, and when Samara’s finger moved, she breathed out. They did this a few more times until Dana had calmed down enough to breathe without it.
“How’s that?” Samara asked.
“How did you know what to do?”
“I told you, I’ve been there. Sometimes, what we do can be stressful, to say the least.”
“You’ve been doing this forever, though.”
“And yet, every now and then, I still get nervous. On my first big movie, I threw up right before we started shooting my first scene, and before my first sex scene, I couldn’t get out of my trailer.
Hot lights can be a lot for me, and I was already using all of my energy to deal with that and everything else, so the thought of being pressed up to some actor while we would both be clammy was too much. They had to give me an extra hour.”
“Did you get through it okay?”
“Yeah, but he had to pause next.”
“What? Why?”
“Let’s just say he was very happy that we were pressed up against one another,” Samara said with a smile.
“No…” Dana laughed. “Really?”
“He was… getting there, yeah.” Samara laughed as well. “So, he needed a few minutes to cool himself off.”
“In a way, I don’t envy them. It’s not like they can control their physical response. And you are hot, so that’s got to be hard.”
Samara tilted her head. Then, Dana laughed again.
“Sorry. That was a really bad way to phrase it, huh?”
“Yeah,” Samara replied. “At least, there’s no chance of that happening with our love scenes.”
“Right,” Dana said and looked around herself, testing the blurriness of her vision. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me for this.”
“For the flowers.” Dana nodded toward them.
“Oh. Yeah, no problem. I just wanted you to know that you had someone in your corner for today.”
“That means a lot,” Dana replied. “And I’m sorry. I’m trying, but I don’t know how to do all this. Acting, I can do. The rest of it, I don’t know.”
“The rest of what?” Samara asked.
“The wardrobe stuff. The makeup and hair. The PA ushering me around. I know it’s no big deal to someone like you, but I was making you lunch yesterday. I don’t know if I can do this. They want me to cut my hair, too.”
“They do, huh?”
“Yeah. They think it will look good, but I’ve always had my hair long.”
“Do you want to cut your hair?” Samara asked.
“It’s hair. It grows back. It’s not a big deal, but I hadn’t been prepared for it, and then, they were asking and moving my head around as if it wasn’t attached to my body, trying to imagine what it would look like.”
“For what it’s worth, I think you’d look great with short hair.”
“You do?” Dana asked.
“Definitely,” Samara replied. “Not exactly like Bryce’s hair – yours would have some serious waves in it, so it could be a little shorter than hers – but the general cut would look good.”
“I don’t know. It’s a lot to chop off. And what if it turns out awful? I’d have to deal with hideous hair for the next year while it grows back out.”
“I say trust them,” Samara suggested. “They’re professionals and know what they’re talking about. Same with wardrobe and makeup. Their job is to make you look camera-ready, and they’re good at it.”
“I don’t look like you, to begin with, though,” Dana said and turned away, trying to hide her blush from Samara.
“Dana?”
“Yeah?”
“You’re beautiful,” Samara said. “You might not see it, but it’s there.
And you’re talented. This is a crazy thing some people do for a living, but it’s not for everyone.
Maybe after this, you go back to theater because that’s more your thing, and you stay here, in New Orleans, and you cater for movies instead of starring in them, but if you want, you can have this now, too.
You can try it while you’re at home, surrounded by your friends and family and sleeping in your own bed at night.
You can give it your all once, and at the end, you’ll at least know if this is what you want for your life or not.
If it’s not, that’s okay. And if it is, if being on a set, acting out a scene, is the thing that gets you up in the morning, you’ll have a way in now.
You’ll have your breakout role, something that most actors would kill for, and you’re right here.
” Samara stood up. “If you get nervous again, that’s okay.
Ask for five minutes. Pretend you need to return a call or just tell them you need a quick break.
Disappear in here. Catch your breath and get back out there when you’re ready.
If you need me again, I’ll be here, too, okay? ”
“Okay,” she said softly.
“Now, I have to get back out there myself,” Samara told her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good, yes.”
“I’ll see you back out there, then,” Samara said. “And if not, I’ll send Jana for you.” Samara winked at her.
“She brought me food.” Dana nodded toward the small kitchen. “It’s all in there.”
“Yes, that’s part of her job,” Samara said with a smile. “Why don’t you have some water and grab a granola bar or something? It helps, too.”
“I will.”
“See you out there.”
Dana nodded and stared after Samara, who closed the door behind her. Then, she stood as well and walked to the thermostat, which read seventy-one. She lowered it to seventy and reached for a bottle of water.