Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

"What do you mean more than just an interview?"

In front of Ron, Aiden was sitting with a smile. His hair was set in a way that it looked a bit messy but something cool. His costume followed a simple pattern with the addition of a scarf attached to it like a mask to cover his face. 

It was designed specifically for [Hex]. 

"Are you having any other actors for the introduction? Like taking interviews from them." He asked instead of answering. 

"Not right now. We wanted to take live reactions before their first scenes but most of the prominent actors rejected us. They said they would do it but then backed out at the last moment."

Ron said with disappointment evident on his face. Johnny, the cameraman, also nodded. 

"Those scenes might be added later on as an edit but right now, we are only thinking of taking a few answers from the extras working on the set and some crew members."

"In that case, you don't have a lot to add. How about just making it about the stunts in <Hex>. I'm doing them myself and they are pretty hard as you can guess, so I felt like it would become a good point in the video. After all, you are going to use it for marketing later on."

Aiden proposed and Ron thought about it for a few seconds. It felt way better than just taking a simple interview from Aiden then editing it with a few scenes from the movie.

Actually shooting the scenes of Aiden trying to do stunts looked to be a great introduction. 

"We can do that but you won't have any problems, right? I heard that there are chances of the stunt not being successful as the whole sequence needs very precise movement."

Ron asked. He had heard the plans for the whole stunt. It really looked a lot like Olio had tried to make it as seamless and stylish as possible. 

As it was a long chase scene, it won't be taken in one shot and had to be redo a lot, so much so that Aiden might not look good if a lot of bad takes happen. Ron wasn't sure that Aiden would want that. 

But he smiled.

"You don't have to worry. I'm already practising it for a while with the action and stunt director. Even if it doesn't happen in one or two takes, it's not a big deal. It's not the 70s for people to think that actors in movies are the same as the characters they play, so I don't have to maintain an image."

Normally, actors and their team would look at every material that would be posted online before giving it a go, in case it's not good for the image of the actor. Even Emma Lander had directly told them to try to look like she was a very important part of the whole shoot. 

Although he didn't know how that would be possible with her not even giving them a short interview, he still had to comply. 

But here, Aiden looked like he didn't really care about all this. 

"Okay, we can do that."

Ron said and discussed a few things before moving out of the makeup room. They went in with beating hearts and nervousness on their faces but they came out with relieved faces. 

"Rumours about Aiden were pretty true. He's not a bad guy."

"Didn't he be made fun of during [The Black Saint] promotions? That wouldn't have happened if he hadn't agreed to it. He knows how to take a few hits on his image for a large picture."

"Yeah, we might get a good introduction because of him."

While his crew talked, Ron tried to make plans on how to do the shoot. Time moved on as the set was prepared and Aiden appeared for the scene. 

Everyone listened to his conversation with the action director and Olio. 

"So, we are going to shoot in multiple shots and from different angles. The rooftop running scenes could be dangerous as you can lose the balance but we have protection in place. Just try not to slip. The camera will be there and there, so just avoid that and then, jump there on that spot."

The action director, a bald man, explained. It was not the first time he was getting such an explanation. It was already the fifth time but they were just being careful. 

The people chasing him in this scene were trained stuntmen who would have a much better chance at doing the scene smoothly. 

But Aiden had immersion through which he could literally become the character. He was counting on it to help him out. 

"Are you ready? We have people on all sides to help you if you fall down, so no accident takes place."

Olio asked and Aiden nodded his head. 

"Give me five minutes, then we can start."

***

<Hex> was a story about multiple characters but somewhere in the complex storyline of ancient gods and prophecies, the one man that was common was Blaze Hart. 

Blaze was pretty much a common person, working on the side of the law in an unruly way. A bit smarter than any other commoner while having the luck to rise above his status. 

Though, his story doesn't start until he starts getting visions of an impending doom. One that a lot of chosen ones will get but he was a different kind. 

As in most of the story, he was revealed to not be the chosen one but he had a piece of a soul of his dead brother who was originally supposed to be the chosen one. 

This made him feel more and more responsible for the things that were going to come as he was partly responsible for the death of his brother. 

As the story goes on, the character of Blaze goes through a lot of changes in his character that were synonymous to the changes the world was going through due to the opening of ancient devices known as 'Hex'. 

At the start of the movie, he was just a carefree thief but those changes in his character as the story goes is the highlight of the whole screenplay. 

That's why, Aiden had to nail down every emotion Blaze would go through. With each event, his body language would be different. 

'I need to imagine myself as a thief in this world. A cunning thief who doesn't even know what's going to hit him.'

He repeated in his mind as he closed his eyes. A lot of thoughts went through his mind as he tried to stop being Aiden and be more like Blaze. 

A bit more immature, carefree yet determined. 

When he opened his eyes, he felt like a changed person. He was standing on a ledge and he had to jump from it to land on the rooftop in front of him. 

Normally, it would look scary but currently, he just felt like his legs were light and he could jump very high. Heights didn't scare him anymore but it gave him a sense of excitement. 

To see how long he could stay in the air. 

'I'm going to nail this.'

He thought in his mind as the scene began. 

***

"That's pretty high."

"He doesn't even look scared."

"He has a smile on his face. He must have gotten used to it during the rehearsals."

People whispered as they watched Aiden from a distance. There was a sense of exhilaration just by watching him. 

Ron and Johnny were also focusing on it and the camera was shooting it. They were going to edit in a way that didn't give away the scene entirely. Anyway, the final edit of the movie would look very different. 

Suddenly, the scene started as a few people gasped. 

"Damn, he really jumped."

"He didn't fall. That looked like a good jump. Those rooftops look scary but he's running pretty fast on them."

"Ah, the other stuntmen appeared."

"Won't this break down into a hand to hand combat scene now?"

On the rooftop, two cameras were currently focusing on Aiden who was suddenly surrounded by three people. The whole chase sequence had a few hand to hand combat scenes as Blaze still didn't have any powers but he was exceptional in close combat. 

The people watching him saw Aiden dodge a punch and then, he took out a knife before a small knife clash went by. It was pretty cool and it looked like the stuntmen were pretty surprised by how good Aiden was. Or was it just acting?

No one knew and they didn't care. The whole sequence looked pretty cool even to Ron who was a director at heart. 

He saw Aiden fighting off the stuntmen and jumping off the rooftop to hang on to a zip line before going through a window. All of it was in several takes but everytime, it looked like Aiden had been an actor star for life. 

'I wish I could direct him some day.'

That was the only thought in his mind as he watched.