Guillaume, Her French Husband

“I don’t know what to say, sir. I had not really prepared for a different audition,” Lara pointed out trying to be as respectful as she possibly could.

“We understand that you may feel ambushed, Miss King.”

“You think?” she wanted to say out loud.

“But the truth is that we can see that you have exactly what we are looking for in this new role.”

Lara nodded.

“So, do you mind if I ask what this new role is?” she asked and the panelists looked at each other.

“Well, you start off as the protagonist’s assistant. We haven’t figured out what his line of business is yet…maybe some big shot hedge fund guy and you are his trusted assistant…the Donna Paulsen to his Harvey Specter if you will but instead of just having a strictly professional relationship, you will come in as the other woman,” the first panelist explained.

“The other woman?” she asked pretending not to know what was going on.

“Yes. The main protagonist is married. Maybe even a father…and the whole production focused on the highs and lows of their relationship. If and when it works is all up to the audience really. Ratings go a long way in determining how a particular concept is received.”

She shook her head and forced out a laugh. She could feel her anger rising…slowly. This whole story line sounded a little too familiar. Almost like she had seen the whole story out before. It was then that it hit her what they were really trying to do. But unfortunately for him, the idea had already been done. By so many people but the most successful being Shonda Rhimes. She let out a loud sigh and gently rubbed her temple as the realization hit her. They were trying to ride on the success of the popular TV show Scandal. They were trying to make her into another Olivia Pope.

“Can I get back to you on this?” she asked and they nodded in unison.

“Sure.”

She was just about to walk out of the room when one of the panelist called out her name making her stop in her tracks and turn around to look at them.

“I do hope that you don’t mind a few nude scenes,” he said and at that moment, she could not help herself anymore. She rolled her eyes and walked out. If she had been a cartoon character, you could have probably seen the smoke coming out of her ears.

“So, that is all the casting directors will ever see in me. A glorified porn actress,” she thought as she made her way towards the elevator. “Or just some maid.”

This was not the first time she was being asked to do a nude scene in a character that she was not prepared to audition for. If not such a character it was always playing the maid.

She took a long deep breath as the elevator slowly made its way back to the ground floor. Getting her acting career off the ground was proving to be harder than she initially thought.