Take Four (8 page)

Because maybe her dreams of performing were about to come true.

K
EITH
E
LLISON BARELY WAITED UNTIL
B
AILEY
was out the door before he let out a victory whoop and grinned at the rest of his team. “Did you see that?”

“I couldn’t catch my breath.” Dayne wiped his hand across his damp forehead. “The girl has the most natural talent I’ve seen in years. Maybe ever.” He grabbed her paperwork from the desk and glanced over it. “I mean, my wife’s been working with her, but I had no idea. She’s had one speaking part in one film and she can bring
that
? On a cold screen test?”

Eleanor was an understated woman. After working with her for the past few weeks, Keith knew she wasn’t often effusive about her opinions of actors. She’d rather assess quietly from the back of the room and wait until she’d seen all possible talent before carefully weighing her options and making a decision. But here, for the first time, Eleanor looked visibly rocked. She took off her glasses, set them on the table, and chuckled with a shake of her head. “How much experience did you say she had?”

“Virtually none.” Keith stared at Bailey’s paperwork. “She doesn’t even have a formal resume. Told me earlier she could put one together if I need it.”

“If it weren’t for Katy, I’m not sure I would’ve taken a look at her.” Dayne went to the camera and hit the rewind button. Attached by a cable was a full-sized monitor; and as he reached the end of Bailey’s section, he hit play.

Keith moved closer, anxious to see if the screen would reveal the same level of purity they’d seen in person with Bailey. Her
scene began and, sure enough, from the opening few seconds she grabbed the attention of everyone in the room. After a minute, Keith was pretty sure everyone must’ve felt the way he did—like they’d just found the perfect Ella.

The reel ended and Dayne hit the power switch on the camera. “Well?” His expression asked Keith and Eleanor what they thought.

“I’ve never seen anyone like her.” Eleanor leaned forward, her hands folded on the table in front of her. “She’s as authentic as the farmlands in Bloomington…as charming as a school girl. And there’s an innocence about her…” Eleanor let her voice die off. “You don’t see that anymore.”

Keith thought about Andi, sitting home with her ultrasound pictures. Eleanor was right. Real innocence was beautiful and refreshing and impossible to imitate. But still the comment stung because of Andi. His little girl would never again be innocent the way Bailey was. He pushed the pain aside and nodded slowly. “Ella needs to be innocent. Her passion needs to be almost child-like.”

Keith remembered how they’d seen this with Bailey when she had the featured extra part in
The Last Letter
. “What Bailey has is very special.” He leaned against the wall and folded his arms in front of him. “It can’t be faked.”

“We’ve seen girls try the whole last week.” Eleanor looked from Keith to Dayne. “We can still see the other actresses scheduled for today and tomorrow. And of course we’ll need to test Bailey with Brandon Paul.” She nodded at Dayne. “Let’s check his availability to fly out and have a screen test with her.” She looked at her notepad and then at the guys again. “I can’t imagine someone more likeable, more genuine walking through those doors. The girl is amazing.”

Eleanor stepped out for a lunch run, which gave Keith and Dayne a chance to talk about the next most pressing matter: Brandon Paul’s recent spike in tabloid mentions.

Dayne cleared the resumes and headshots for a moment and spread a dozen Hollywood gossip rags across the table. “Look at those headlines.”

Keith gripped the edge of the table and studied the pictures and headlines. On one, Brandon was stepping into a black Escalade, his eyes barely opened. He seemed to struggle to keep his balance. The headline read:
‘Brandon Takes a Tumble—Star Caught Partying at All Hours.’
Another one had Brandon sitting on a sofa between two voluptuous blondes, both of whom were kissing his cheeks. The picture seemed to imply Brandon was about to have a night that went beyond wild. Over that picture, the headline said:
‘Brandon Doubles His Pleasure—Spends the Night with Two Girls Gone Wild.’

“Great,” Keith muttered, sifting through the magazines. Another one of them simply asked:
‘Brandon Paul Caught with Cocaine?’
And still another:
‘When Will the Partying End?’

Anger rose in Keith and he straightened, his eyes blazing. “This has to stop.”

“I’ve been telling you.” Dayne leaned against the wall, his expression as disgusted as Keith’s. “I see the tabs more than you do. I guess with my background, you never stop looking, feeling sorry for the next guy they set their mark on.”

“But Brandon isn’t a victim. This is his doing.”

“That’s certainly how it looks.” Dayne sifted through the magazines, turning a few of the pages and looking at the photos of Brandon caught in one compromising situation after another. “We used to say back in my acting days, this much smoke and there’s bound to be a fire somewhere.”

“Or a whole series of them.” Keith was still grasping the gravity of the situation. They were a month away from filming, and Brandon was being this crazy in his free time? “Doesn’t he get it?
Unlocked
is a Christian film.”

“Not in his mind.” Dayne frowned. “I talked to his agent
yesterday. They both acknowledge that
Unlocked
was a Christian novel, but the guy told me Brandon’s taking the job because the novel was a
New York Times
runaway bestseller, because of the strength of the story. He wanted to be very clear Brandon wouldn’t do interviews endorsing the faith views of the author or Jeremiah Productions. He was only taking the part because it stretched him as an actor and because he believed in the book.”

Keith remembered back to a feeling he had during the summer when Brandon came out to discuss taking the role. He’d had his doubts about Brandon back then, but he hadn’t spoken up. Every time the issue arose, he told himself he was being too critical of the kid. And, while the movie would certainly benefit from a name like Brandon Paul’s, certainly Brandon Paul would also benefit from the movie. Brandon could change his ways. If a miracle happened, the young star could even find a genuine faith in God, being surrounded by people with such strong faith. But there was a line between believing they could help Brandon and the very real possibility that his participation could hurt the film’s message. With the latest tabloid stories, they were headed to a place where Brandon would make it impossible for Keith—with a clear conscience—to cast him. The way it stood now, people would have to wonder if the Christian producers at Jeremiah Productions had sold out by giving the lead to Brandon.

Keith and Dayne talked about what had gone wrong, how the star’s image had changed. They both agreed, today Brandon was perceived far differently from the way people saw him just a year ago—when his role as a teen star for NTM Studios had made him the guy with the fresh face and the squeaky clean image. NTM had made him into a mega-star, no question. He was the heartthrob for every young teenage girl in America, and now he wanted to take on more serious roles. Keith looked at the magazines again. “What did his agent say about all this? The partying and girls?”

“He said it’s under control.” Dayne looked baffled. “Seriously. He told me his star client could party once in a while, otherwise he wouldn’t be seen as a competitive adult actor.”

“Mission accomplished.” Keith’s heart felt like it had settled around his waist. “We need to get word to him that we’re hesitating, that we’ll cast someone else if the craziness doesn’t stop.”

“You wanna have that talk with him, or you want me to do it?”

“He’ll hear it better from you.”

Dayne agreed. He still had Brandon’s cell number. He pulled his phone from his back jeans pocket and tapped a few times. In seconds he held the phone to his ear and waited. “Hey, Brandon. Yeah, man, it’s Dayne Matthews. Wondered if you had a minute?”

Keith could only hear Dayne’s side of the conversation, but his new co-producer seemed very adept at getting to the point. They talked about the film and the schedule, and the idea that Brandon needed to make time for a screen test in Bloomington. Then Dayne lowered the boom. “By the way, Keith and I have a dozen magazines spread across the table. Gotta be honest, buddy. We don’t like what we’re seeing.”

Brandon’s answers didn’t take long, and from the sounds of Dayne’s responses, the young star was contrite. “Okay, so it’s pretty serious. You understand, right?” Dayne was wrapping up the call. “Good. We still have a few weeks. If the tabs keep making you their star player, we might need a different Holden Harris.”

Dayne paused, pacing the floor a few feet from Keith.

“Good.” He went on, “This is very serious. Absolutely. This kinda’ film we need you on your game, buddy. Really.”

After another few minutes the call ended, and Dayne slipped his phone back in his pocket. “He’s worried. I could hear it in his voice.”

“Should we call his agent, let him know his role’s in jeopardy?”

“I think so. I’ll let you handle that one.”

Keith was more than happy to make the call. They answered
to God for their actions as producers. If that meant cutting a star as big as Brandon Paul, they would do it and let God show them who was supposed to play the part instead. Keith immediately called Brandon’s agent and explained the contract had included a character clause.

“The tabloids, right?” Dayne’s agent didn’t sound surprised.

“Exactly.” Keith kept his tone even. “The way it is now, if we were filming, Brandon would be breaking that part of the contract. Which means we’d no longer be obligated to keep him in the film. And we wouldn’t be obligated to pay him, either.”

The agent ranted for a while, explaining Brandon was an angel compared to so many Hollywood stars. But by the end of the conversation, Keith was sure that they had gotten the attention of the agent. He expected the man’s next call would be to Brandon, ordering him to clean up his act immediately.

“I keep thinking about that verse in the Bible, about what good is it for a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul.” Keith sat back down at the table and felt the heaviness of the past hour hit him square on his shoulders. “It applies to all of us.” He smiled, weary from the thought of Brandon’s antics. “I’m glad we made those calls.”

“Me too.” Dayne took the seat beside him. “I could’ve done movies full of compromise all day long. That’s all that was available when I walked away from Hollywood. But this…what we’ve got with Jeremiah Productions. This is special. We have to be the gatekeepers.”

Yes, that was it. Keith nodded.
Gatekeepers.
God had assigned them a small kingdom in the land of moviemaking, and now they needed to guard the gates with every breath, every action they took. “Let’s pray for a minute. I feel like the enemy is pushing in on us. We need the Lord’s Spirit so we can tell when someone’s rushing the gate.”

Dayne nodded, his face pensive, serious. “Absolutely.” He folded his hands and hung his head.

Keith did the same, and he prayed as intensely as he had back when they were filming
The Last Letter
and the union tried to shut them down. This wasn’t as overt, but it was even more a threat to the work they wanted to accomplish for Christ. Keith asked God to give them wisdom and discernment in the decisions that lie ahead. “And most of all, Lord, please give us courage. Make us brave enough to walk away from something the world would never walk away from. Give us ears to hear your voice above the noise of Hollywood, so that
Unlocked
becomes a film that turns the hearts of the people back to you. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

As they finished, Dayne’s eyes lit up. “Hey, I didn’t tell you. On our break, my brother called. He and his wife just got news—their adoption agency has a baby for them. A boy.”

“A baby! That’s fantastic.” Keith thought how different life must be right now in Luke Baxter’s house. He and his wife would be celebrating, thanking God for the new life headed their way. None of the heartbreak he and Lisa were experiencing with Andi. It was a tremendous coincidence, really. That Dayne’s brother would be preparing their home for a baby, while he and Lisa and Andi were preparing to say goodbye to Andi’s son, their first grandchild. “Have they met the birthmother?”

“I think so. I guess she just signed the paperwork.” He hesitated. “I think that’s what he said. He kept cutting out.” Dayne grinned. “Reception here still isn’t what it is in LA. Besides, I guess it’s pretty early.”

Suddenly Keith realized this was no coincidence. If God wanted Andi to give up her baby, then maybe He planned this timing just perfectly. In the coming weeks, Andi could meet with Luke and his wife and see what a gift adoption was for a family like theirs. In fact, maybe he and Lisa could join Andi in that conversation. So that all their hearts could better understand what
God was calling Andi to do. He sat back in his chair. “Let’s pray for Luke, okay. We should do that right now.”

“Definitely.” Dayne’s eyes danced. “My brother sounded gid-dy, so yeah…he would appreciate our prayers for sure.”

Keith took the lead. “Lord, You have this precious baby boy set apart for Luke and Reagan and their family, and now…we ask You to protect the birthmother, protect the baby, and let the situation work out the way You intend. Adoption is a miracle, but it’s never easy…so use this situation for all of us. In Jesus’ name, amen.”

Eleanor had returned as they finished the prayer. She was situating herself back at the table, a look on her face of mild amusement. “Praying again, boys?”

“Always.” Keith smiled at her. Eleanor claimed a nominal faith, but the intensity of Keith’s and Dayne’s beliefs didn’t bother her. She smiled at them, as if to say she thought it quaint they were praying between screen tests. As she took her seat she patted Keith on the back. “I could already tell you and Dayne had been praying.”

“That right?”

“Absolutely.” She pointed up, her eyes shining. “Who else could’ve brought us Miss Bailey Flanigan?”

Keith smiled at Eleanor’s observation, and silently he prayed that the process of making
Unlocked
would bring the casting director closer to God and create in her a hunger for His truth, the same way he prayed it for everyone involved in the film—especially Brandon Paul.