The rest of the day was more scenes...in fact all of them. Jon was starting to find it easy to slip into the identity of Jonathan Madison, young actor playing Jon Gibson, memorize his lines...even change them to fit the character he was playing..basically him.
It was harder to see Georgia playing the angry Zoe so well, and Lauren being so friendly when the camera was off, and putting on the harsh mask of Sarah when it was on. Or Shannon being so unlike Karyn. He wondered if he'd be stuck here for the rest of his life.
"Okay folks...that's it..." the showrunner, Matthew called. It was after 10PM by this point. "We're going to put together a rough cut...and screen it for the execs on Monday...but they've already greenlit the show, so we'll do the table read for Episode 2 on Monday afternoon at noon instead of the usual 10, so we can discuss their feedback. Normally, I'd invite you all out to celebrate the completion of the pilot, but we still have some work to do....so after next week's show...drinks are on me..."
Jon didn't really need much time to change, but his castmates did. He found himself waiting for Lauren. He was a bit excited, despite being annoyed at Georgia for setting this up.
Lauren finally came out of her dressing room, back wearing her glasses and hoodie. "Are you ready to go?"
"Sure..." he said.
Lauren smiled at him in a wholesome way. "What are you in the mood for?"
"It's kind of late...maybe just something light," he said.
"How about pizza?" She asked.
"Sounds great," he said, trying to smile back.
Lauren's car turned out to be a modest sedan that must have been at least ten years old. "I don't know how you get around LA without a car," she said. "I mean, I hate driving...but..."
"Georgia lives in the same building as I do...we carpool," he said, hoping that was a regular thing.
"She's great...I mean, I can't believe I'm working with the voice of Terri McShea...have you watched it? I mean...she doesn't just do the lead...they have her do all these bit characters...you can't even tell she's talking to herself. I mean, I was seriously fangirling when I found out."
"I didn't know you liked that kind of show..." He said.
"Well, we only met a few weeks ago," she said. "There's a lot you don't know about me. I mean...you wouldn't believe what people I went to high school with would say if they knew I was playing a cheerleader."
"You didn't stand out in high school?"
She laughed. "This is California...do you know how many blonds there were in my school?"
"A lot, I'm guessing?" He replied as she backed out of the parking spot.
"That and there was always another Lauren in my classes."
"Well, how many of them are on a TV show?"
"I don't think any," she said. "I never even thought I'd get it. I mean...I was right out of high school...going for a lot of auditions....That's why Shannon saying they only cast me because I looked like her bothered me so much."
"She shouldn't have said that."
"We're all used to her by now...I mean...she's a great actress....I remember when she played the little girl on that sitcom....but...I just wish she was nicer off camera, you know." She giggled. "Where's a magic rock when you need one?"
He suddenly had an idea. There was a prop wishing stone on set....what if he tried wishing to go home on it? Could that work?
