Acting Well But Perhaps Too Well
The knock on her door came at five-thirty in the morning. It was Wyatt Riggs, and Avery Hayes was not ready for him.
She cracked the door open with her eyes half-closed, a sleep-dazed haze still clinging to her, and immediately turned to crawl right back into bed. But a gust of cold wind snaked in through the opening, making her shiver and clearing the fog from her head in an instant.
Avery glanced at the pitch-black sky outside. Her voice, still raspy from sleep, had a rare softness to it. "What time is it?"
Wyatt stepped inside and flipped on the overhead light, flooding the room with a painful brightness. "Five-thirty. The executive director sent the shooting schedule to the group chat last night. Your first scene is at eight, which means you need to be on set early."
He'd already gotten the lay of the land.
While Avery was at her promotional photoshoot yesterday, Wyatt had made the rounds, chatting with the other assistants to figure out how the production operated.
He learned that when a director says the shoot starts at eight, the actors are expected on set two hours early, maybe even earlier, since makeup can take forever.
Avery yawned. Five-thirty. No wonder she felt like she'd been hit by a truck.
She'd been breaking down scenes with Alden Pierce until well after midnight.
By the time she'd finished her skincare routine and showered, it was past one.
That meant she'd gotten a little over four hours of sleep, completely wrecking what was left of her normal schedule.
It looked like she'd have to master the art of passing out the second her head hit the pillow if she wanted to survive this.
She shook her head, trying to force herself awake, and shuffled into the bathroom.
After splashing her face with cold water until she felt human again, she rushed through her morning routine.
By the time she was ready and hurrying onto the set, almost everyone involved in the first scene was already there.
The makeup artists were a blur of motion, not a second to spare, and the actors' assistants were running around coordinating everything.
The production had assigned Avery her own specialist, so at least she didn't have to wait in line.
The first scene was a major one: Princess Isolde's arrival in the Central Plains, her audience with the Emperor, and the palace banquet that followed.
It was the same scene she'd used for her audition, a huge production by any measure.
The demands were so intense that the stage crew had pulled an all-nighter just to get the banquet set built.
When Avery finally emerged from the dressing room in full costume and makeup, the chatter on set seemed to dim as heads turned.
She stood at the entrance, talking to a staff member, her face a cool, distant mask.
The way she held herself, back straight, chin slightly lifted, projected a natural authority, the quiet confidence of someone born to rule.
"She really fits the role, doesn't she?" one of the older actors murmured from a corner where a few of them had gathered. "Striking, and she just has that air of power."
"She looks the part," another agreed. "But I have no idea if she can act."
"She's a newcomer. What kind of acting could she have? It's impressive enough that she can even capture the vibe of this barbarian princess."
"Well, putting acting aside," a third chimed in, "just looking at her presence, she's already a hell of a lot better than the last one."
Three days ago, when word got out that the third female lead had been recast with a complete unknown, the assumption on set was that she'd gotten the part through connections.
The previous actress, a professionally trained performer, couldn't nail the role and was constantly needing retakes.
They all figured a rookie would get eaten alive by Director King.
But then yesterday, Producer Sterling had pointed to a trending topic online and announced that the film crew had struck gold.
Their new actress was already a sensation before even setting foot on set.
As long as she didn't cause any drama, the hype around her would almost certainly translate into viewers when the show aired.
Curious, the veteran actors had used their downtime to look her up and quickly got the whole story.
After that, they stopped worrying about whether she could act.
Forget her backstory, that post she'd made on X, clapping back at the trolls, had them all feeling vindicated.
Those three questions she'd fired off were just so satisfying.
Every one of them had been dragged through the mud by haters online, where even just eating a meal could get you crucified.
Finally, someone was giving those trolls a taste of their own medicine.
But you can't please everyone, and Avery was no exception.
Among the younger cast, aside from Melina Warner, pretty much everyone acted like she was invisible.
No hellos, no acknowledgements. The reason was simple: the entertainment industry was a pie with only so many slices, and there was never enough to go around.
Now, another person had shown up to claim a piece.
And this person was a force to be reckoned with.
If things went well, she could cash in on her current hype once the show was released, prove her marketability, and start snatching up roles usually reserved for A-listers.
In a situation like that, who could possibly be happy to see her?
Avery was an expert at reading a room. If they were going to be cold, she wasn't about to suck up to them. She scanned the set, gathered the long, heavy fabric of her skirt, and walked straight over to the group of veteran actors.
The older actors didn't have the same hang-ups.
They weren't competing for the same roles, so no matter how famous Avery became, she wasn't a threat to their careers.
Soon enough, the small group of middle-aged men and one young woman were chatting and laughing.
One of the kind-hearted vets, worried she wouldn't know how to find her mark for the camera, even gave her a quick, on-the-spot lesson.
But Avery had already spent a day on Director Simon Vance's set, where he'd personally coached her on camera awareness between takes.
With a famous director giving her private lessons, how bad could she be?
On top of that, she had been subconsciously absorbing these skills since her first short drama, and Alden Pierce had been drilling the theory into her head.
All those pieces were coming together, giving her the foundation of a professional.
From the moment she decided to pursue acting, Avery had been methodically planning her path. The foundation was laid. Everything was in place. She just needed the right catalyst.
Before landing *Bones of Mountains and Rivers*, she thought *You Are My Defender* would be that catalyst.
Now, she would let this show give her the initial push, then use *You Are My Defender* to catapult her reputation and commercial value to the next level.
After both shows succeeded, her next step was a leading role.
She knew she had to take it one step at a time, achieving her goals one by one.
After she'd been chatting with the vets for a while, the main director, Conrad King, made his way to the monitors. Once he was in position, the day's filming was about to begin.
*Bones of Mountains and Rivers* had three director units.
A-Group, led by King, handled all the dramatic scenes and the overall artistic vision.
B-Group, run by the executive director, took care of the action sequences.
C-Group, led by the assistant director, was in charge of establishing shots and minor scenes.
Avery had both dramatic and action scenes, so her schedule was all over the place.
Today she was with A-Group; tomorrow she might be with B-Group.
For the first few days, though, it was all drama.
She hadn't even started working with the stunt coordinator yet.
Her action scenes were pushed to the back of the schedule, set to be filmed only after she knew the fight choreography inside and out.
At eight o'clock sharp, the first scene began.
The actors instantly slipped into character, and the entire set seemed to fall a thousand years back in time, transforming into the court of an empire receiving a foreign delegation.
The morning light streamed into the hall, bright and clear. The Huihe Princess entered from a patch of brightness, her gait calm and measured. The hem of her skirt, embroidered with gold thread, brushed over the threshold, shattering the light and shadows on the floor.
Inside the great hall, incense smoke curled through the air. Civil and military officials stood silently on either side, the only sounds the faint clinking of jade pendants and her own footsteps.
Isolde walked to the front of the throne and, following the customs of the Northern Wastes, gave a slight bow to the Emperor. Even as she paid her respects, her spine remained perfectly straight.
"Huihe envoy Isolde, by order of my Khatun, pays respects to Your Majesty, the Emperor of the Central Plains." Her voice was clear and carried through the hall, perfectly balanced, neither timid nor overbearing.
Without waiting for the Emperor to speak, Isolde slowly lifted her eyes, her gaze meeting the man seated on the throne. Her eyes held all the arrogance and discerning judgment of a princess sizing up a rival power. A flicker of assessment was there and gone in an instant.
Then, her gaze swept over the princes in the hall, this time tinged with something like contempt. When she looked at the second male lead, Franklin Price, her stare sharpened, carrying the immense pressure of someone judging the future leader of an enemy nation.
Franklin felt Avery's stare like a physical blow and flinched, his eyes darting away before he even realized it.
It wasn't just him. When her gaze passed over the male lead, Raphael Valenti, he was so stunned that he almost broke character.
Fortunately, the camera was focused tightly on Avery and the Emperor.
The two actors quickly pulled themselves together.
Mr. Vance, the seasoned pro playing the Emperor, saw that the director hadn't called cut. He shifted his expression, putting on a look of forced confidence to mask his unease, and launched into his lines, carrying the scene to its conclusion.
Avery waited for him to finish, then bowed again according to protocol, moved to the side of the hall, and sat, her robes settling around her in a smooth, graceful motion. It wasn't until she was perfectly still, perfectly framed, that Director King finally called, "Cut!"
The director's voice broke the spell, and the set immediately buzzed with life again.
The other actors stared at Avery with a mixture of surprise and curiosity.
None of them had imagined that this newcomer, this doctor-turned-actress, could command the screen with such presence.
That moment when she sized up the entire hall, the story she told with just her eyes, had stunned them all.
Conrad King was already reviewing the take.
After a moment, he frowned and turned to his assistant director.
"She completely nailed the presence, the edge a princess from a conquering nation should have. But... her presence is *too* strong. If Raphael and Franklin are in the same shot, she's going to completely blow them off the screen."