Adam in Real World and Harry Potter(Showbiz/OC/HP/Hollywood)

Chapter 28:

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-August 8, 1996

The summer sun shone over Los Angeles, reflecting off the skyscraper windows. Despite the warm weather, Adam White wasn't exactly in the mood to enjoy the day. 

Since early that morning, he had been on the Leave It to Beaver set, filming scenes at Colonial Street Backlot.

After nearly three months in production, the filming routine had become kinda like a second nature to him—waking up early, reviewing his lines, doing multiple takes of the same scene, interacting with the cast, and following the director's cues.

Overall, he really liked it. 

In fact, if he had to choose between filming or doing endless repetitive press interviews, he'd pick filming a thousand times over. No, a million times over. 

And he'd certainly rather do that than go to fancy wizarding events with Lucius and Narcissa to meet lots of people he doesn't really give a damn if he knows them.

But as a future Malfoy heir coming up on his eleventh birthday, he had to start getting to know all the people that his parents in that world considered important for him to meet. 

Luckily some of these events had their positives and not just negatives, he even got to spend time with some of his possible future classmates at Hogwarts and his already close friend Blaise. Oh and he met a beautiful French girl a few years older than him, yeah, that was a major highlight, heh.

However, even if he had his share of good moments, much of the time was just tedious and rather boring, and between the thousands of weekly lessons he had to attend imposed by his family and the various events he was taken to, Adam had almost no time to do anything on his own these past weeks as he had no more free time and after Bogus what he needed most of all was to clear his mind, something that in the wizarding world was usually easy to do

Yet as was said before, Lucius and Narcissa picked just the worst time possible to suddenly push all of these things on him. 

Such that Adam certainly thought he was going to break out, which he would have done, he may have been more mature and intelligent than his age peers, but he was still a young boy who was tired of everything... yet he always controlled himself thanks to his Natural Oclumen ability. 

Yeah, if it wasn't for this one he would have already blown up in Lucius' face many, many times.

Anyway, because of all this, lately, no matter what, he couldn't shake off a lingering frustration.

Yep… 

The Bogus disaster still weighed on his mind. 

The bad reviews.

The box office failure.

The feeling of having given his best performance…..his first starring role alongside major actors...

Only for the film to fail to connect with audiences.

And yea, sure, he knew it wasn't his fault. Oh yes, everyone had said so. Even the critics pointed out that his performance was one of the best things about the movie.

But still, it had been his first leading role… and it had flopped.

At least knowing he was already locked in for a role in The Lost World: Jurassic Park was keeping him motivated. That, along with his current work on Leave It to Beaver, helped lift his spirits.

Oh and he had grown pretty close to the other actors he worked with frequently, even the older ones like Erik von Detten (Wally Cleaver), Adam Zolotin (Eddie Haskell Jr.), and Erika Christensen (Karen L. Connelly).

They all got along well.

Even with the actors he only saw for certain scenes, he had formed friendships—E.J. de la Peña (Larry Mondello), Brenda Song (Susan), Brighton Hertford (Judy Hensler), Glenn Walker Harris Jr. (the boy who steals Beaver's bike), and Matthew Carey (Kyle).

And yet… Bogus' failure was hard to ignore. 

Though they seemed to notice it and were always trying to cheer him up.

In fact, Bogus' failure had actually helped him bond more with them, through jokes, games, or small activities whenever they had free time.

One day on set, while finishing up a scene at Courthouse Square, Adam was sitting on the curb with Erik and Adam Zolotin, waiting for the lighting crew to finish setting up for the next take.

"Wanna give it another shot?" Erik asked with a mischievous grin, resting his foot on his bike pedal.

Adam squinted at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I didn't miss last time…"

Adam Zolotin burst out laughing.

"Sure, sure. You didn't miss… except the newspaper ended up smacking a sound tech in the head instead of landing on the porch"

"Details" Adam shrugged.

Brenda Song, the youngest of the cast at just eight years old, sat nearby and couldn't hold back her laughter.

"I say you try again. But this time, maybe don't cause a scene."

"Oh, please," Adam scoffed as he hopped onto his bike. "If I'm not causing a scene, I'm not doing it right. That's my character, after all"

Erik rolled his eyes.

"Just go before they call us back"

"Yeah, yeah, but don't forget you still owe me my money," Adam reminded him before grabbing a newspaper, pedaling a few feet forward, aiming… and throwing.

The newspaper flew… spun in the air… and—

SMACK.

Right against the window of a production trailer.

An awkward silence followed.

Then, Adam Zolotin erupted in laughter, followed by Brenda and Erik.

"That was worse than before!" Erik wheezed.

Adam shrugged again.

"Maybe the newspapers have something against me"

"Or maybe you're just bad at this," Zolotin teased. "I've got experience, you know. I used to make a few bucks doing this as a kid"

"You're twelve. That's only three years older than me," Adam pointed out, unimpressed.

"Almost thirteen—November, I'll be thirteen" Zolotin corrected.

"Yeah, not until the 29th," Erik snickered, already thirteen himself and the oldest of the group.

Just then, the assistant director called them back for the next take, and they all ran to set, still laughing.

Another day, while waiting between scenes, Adam and Brighton Hertford sat at a table, playing with small water guns they had brought to set.

"Okay, listen to me" Brighton said in a hushed voice. "Erika and Brenda are plotting against us"

Adam furrowed his brow with fake seriousness.

"Plotting?"

"Yes. They ambushed us yesterday after lunch with ice-cold water"

Adam narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"That's unacceptable"

Brighton nodded solemnly.

"Exactly. We need payback"

Adam glanced around and spotted Erik and Zolotin nearby, completely unaware.

An idea formed in his head.

"I've got a plan"

Minutes later, without anyone noticing, Adam and Brighton filled a couple of water balloons.

When Erika and Brenda stepped out of the makeup trailer, Adam and Brighton exchanged a look.

"Now" Brighton whispered.

And with impeccable aim—

SPLASH!

The balloons exploded right on top of them.

A surprised shriek, followed by laughter, echoed across the set.

"ADAM!" Erika yelled indignantly, touching her now-drenched, previously perfect hair.

Brenda also yelped, though she seemed more determined to get back at Brighton than Adam. Unlike Erika, she simply shook the water off her clothes and didn't seem too bothered. In fact, she was trying to sound outraged, but she was laughing too hard to pull it off.

"Yes?" Adam asked innocently.

"You're gonna pay for this, you little brat!"

And then—

The water war began.

Everyone ended up soaked, even Erik and Zolotin, who didn't have time to react before Brenda and Brighton started throwing water at them in the heat of the moment. The only one who wasn't thrilled about getting wet—especially her hair—was Erika, who complained a lot afterward.

Even director Andy Cadiff, passing by, simply shook his head and sighed:

"Please tell me you're at least not ruining the costumes"

Okay…

Yeah… well, all might have gotten a serious reprimand that day…

Good times. Yep, good times.

Too bad he wouldn't be seeing Brenda and Brighton anymore, as they had both wrapped their scenes.

Anyway, that morning's shoot was over. Now, Adam sat in his chair inside his trailer, reviewing his script for the next scene.

Then, Andrew walked in, phone in hand, with a strange expression on his face.

"Hey, shorty. Got a minute?"

Adam looked up curiously.

"Why do you sound like you're about to tell me they found a long-lost brother?"

Andrew rolled his eyes.

"Estelle wants to talk to you. Says it's important"

Adam blinked.

If his manager was calling him during filming, it meant it was actually something serious. Well… It usually was.

Without wasting time, he grabbed the phone.

"Estelle?"

"Adam," Estelle's voice was calm, but with that particular tone she used when she had good news. "How are you?"

"Just a little tired. Oh, and covered in fake dust. And for some reason, Andrew's looking at me like I'm about to faint"

He heard Estelle chuckle softly.

"Well, I hope you're ready for another audition"

Adam raised an eyebrow.

"Another audition?"

"Yes. And not just any audition" Estelle paused, building anticipation. "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace"

For a moment, Adam went silent.

Star Wars?

Oh, shit.

His body instinctively straightened in his chair.

"…What?"

Andrew, who had been listening in, leaned closer, his eyes wide.

"Oh, bloody hell"

"That's right," Estelle sounded pleased. "George Lucas and his team are interested in seeing you audition for the role of young Anakin Skywalker"

Adam felt his heartbeat quicken.

"You're telling me George Lucas wants me in Star Wars?"

"No, no. I'm telling you George Lucas saw Bogus, liked your performance, and after talking to Norman Jewison and Alvin Sargent, decided he wanted to see you audition"

Adam ran a hand over his face.

Okay.

This…

This was huge.

"Holy shit!" Andrew blurted out, clearly more excited than Adam. "It's Star Wars! You HAVE to do it!"

Adam didn't respond immediately.

He was still processing.

Yeah, Star Wars was one of the most iconic franchises in film history. There was no doubt that playing Anakin Skywalker would be a massive opportunity. Hell, he loved Star Wars.

But he also knew the competition had to be brutal.

He'd seen reports that since 1995, the casting team had been searching for the perfect kid to play Anakin. Over 3,000 actors had already auditioned. Sure, if you compare it to the 5,000 candidates he beat out for his current role as Beaver it doesn't seem like much, but it's freaking Star Wars and the role of Anakin Skywalker! There's no damnear any comparison! At least not for him.

So yea…. 

Three thousand! 

And him?

Well…. He hadn't even been in the race from the start. Back then, he hadn't even considered acting. Soooo….He hadn't been one of the kids lining up for the role.

"Estelle, how the hell did I get into this?"

"Well, George Lucas heard about you through some industry contacts. Then he watched your performance in Bogus and was impressed. After speaking with Norman and Alvin, he decided you were worth seeing in an audition"

Adam took a deep breath.

This was definitely unexpected.

"But hold on," Estelle continued. "This doesn't mean the role is yours. It just means you're being given a shot at joining the final candidates"

"Yes yes, obviously," Adam rolled his eyes. "This isn't like Jurassic Park, where they basically had the role reserved for me from the start"

"Exactly. In The Lost World, they sought you out specifically and prioritized you. Here… well, here you're coming in late"

"How late?"

Estelle hesitated for a moment before answering:

"There are already two kids shortlisted"

Adam exhaled slowly.

Alright.

That made things tougher. But with Perfect Acting, it should be easy to land the role—or at least, it should be.

"Oh and they're still looking at more candidates, and your name caught their attention," Estelle sounded optimistic. "In fact, you're getting an opportunity most of the other kids never had"

Adam narrowed his eyes.

"How so?"

"Unlike the thousands who auditioned since 1995, you're not starting from scratch. You're being placed directly among the top contenders"

Adam raised an eyebrow.

That…

That sounded a little unfair to the other kids.

But hey… lucky for him.

"Alright, so what do I need to do?"

"First, you need to record a video audition, just like you did for Jurassic Park. The casting team wants to see how you perform before officially inviting you for in-person auditions later"

Adam nodded to himself.

"And if they like it…"

"Then maybe—maybe—next April, you'll be part of the final selection alongside the other shortlisted kids for the in-person auditions."

Then it is not going to be until next year …

Adam leaned back in his chair, thinking.

Realistically, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

It was Star Wars, for crying out loud. And for the role of Darth Vader—well, Anakin, technically, but still.

If he landed it… he'd secure another role in a huge franchise. And one he was actually a fan of.

But if he failed…

Well, at worst, he'd just lose the chance to play young Darth Vader—one of the greatest villains of all time.

"Alright. Let's do the video audition"

Estelle smiled on the other end of the phone.

"I knew you'd say that."

Adam let out a short laugh.

"Come on, Estelle. I'm not turning down Star Wars"

"Good. In that case, I'll prepare the material you need to record. We'll have everything ready by tomorrow"

Adam nodded.

"See you tomorrow, then."

He hung up the phone and sat in silence for a moment.

Then he looked at Andrew, who still had a shocked expression.

"Dude… do you even realize how huge this is?"

Adam let out a sigh. They were both massive Star Wars fans.

"Oh yeah, I do"