Lucas entered Neil's hotel room, where his manager had already arranged a flight from Los Angeles to Northern Ireland, the filming location for "Game of Thrones."
They boarded the plane and as they flew over the Atlantic, the video Lucas had posted on Twitter hours earlier started to gain traction. The clip, titled "Whisper Challenge," featured Lucas and his co-stars, including Taylor Swift, Danny DeVito, and Ed Helms, attempting to guess movie titles or famous quotes.
The tweet, hashtagged with promotions for Lucas company, quickly went viral. Within a few hours, it had racked up tens of thousands of retweets, likes, and comments.
"This challenge is so much fun! Definitely trying it out!" one user wrote.
"Haha, Taylor was hilarious! And the others guessing were just as funny!" another commented.
"I recognize some of these people! Danny DeVito, Ed Helms? What are they doing with Lucas? Are they working on a movie together? Lucas and Taylor as a duo? Interesting!" a third user speculated.
"I'm dying! I can't wait to try this challenge with my friends!" one user commented, laughing emojis flooding the feed.
"Wait, why is Lucas hashtagging 'Uber' and mentioning the App Store and Play Store?" another user wondered.
As the "Whisper Challenge" took off, the Uber app began to gain traction as well. The more people shared and retweeted Lucas's video, the more the hashtags spread. Along with tagging the app stores, Lucas had also mentioned Uber in one of the phrases during the game.
"I wish Lucas had joined in and guessed a phrase too. I bet he would've come up with some hilarious ones," one user mused.
"This game is genius! Whoever thought of it is a legend," another replied.
Taylor Swift couldn't help but join in on the fun, tweeting, "@LucasXKnight, thanks for introducing us to this hilarious game! I had fun, and I'm sure everyone else did too!"
While Taylor's tweet credited Lucas, it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things. The "Whisper Challenge" was quickly becoming an internet sensation, with users around the world adapting and sharing their own versions of the game.
In just 18 hours, Lucas's Twitter video had amassed over 22 million views, with millions of likes and comments pouring in. The "Whisper Challenge" was taking the internet by storm, and while promoting Uber might have been a success, it was clear that the game itself was the real sensation.
---
Arriving in Northern Ireland to shoot a scene at Winterfell, the iconic "Game of Thrones" location, Lucas couldn't help but notice the difference in reception compared to his first season on set. His growing fame, thanks to both his acting and music career, had made him really famous.
Whereas before he could slip in and out of shoots unnoticed, this time all eyes were on him. Cast members and crew alike stopped him for selfies and autographs, eager to share a moment with the rising star.
The extras on set, while not allowed to bother the main cast, couldn't help but gawk at the now-famous Lucas. A few of them, die-hard fans, managed to sneak in a quick selfie or two before being reprimanded by the crew. However, it was Lucas who stepped in, asking the crew to go easy on them.
His kindness didn't end there. During breaks, he even sat with the extras, chatting and sharing meals with them as if they were old friends.
This treatment left a lasting impression on the extras, who, during takes, performed with renewed vigor. As they stood behind him as his soldiers, they felt as though they were truly under the command of Robb Stark, the King in the North, as Lucas portrayed him.
During downtime on set, Lucas often mingled with his castmates, including Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who played Jaime Lannister.
"You're causing quite a stir, Lucas," Nikolaj said, showing him a video on his phone. "The Whisper Challenge is everywhere now."
Lucas chuckled, popping an M&M into his mouth. "Want to give it a try?"
Karl Davies, who played Alton Lannister, shrugged. "We don't have headphones here." He glanced around the tent they were in.
"Come on, we can use earphones," Nikolaj insisted, nudging Karl. "Michael, you should record this for fun!"
Michael McElhatton, who played Roose, agreed to record the impromptu game without much fuss.
While Lucas just joined in for fun, and to everyone's surprise, he guessed correctly on his first two tries. Nikolaj jokingly covered Lucas's ears, suspecting he could still hear the phrase even with the earphones at full volume.
To their amusement, Lucas's guesses became hilariously wrong, eliciting laughter from the entire group.
Despite the lighthearted moment, the cast remained dedicated to their craft. They continued rehearsing their lines and getting into character even in between takes, ensuring they did justice to their roles.
***
As Lucas watched the filming of scenes he wasn't in, munching on snacks, his phone rang. Recognizing the caller ID, he picked up.
"Vincent? I'm in the middle of shooting, bro. What's up?"
"Lucas, I saw your promotional stunt. It was genius! Our app has gained around 2 million downloads each on App Store and Google Play!" Vincent sounded ecstatic.
Lucus couldn't help but grin. "That's great to hear. I was worried my marketing wouldn't work since everyone's talking about the Whisper Challenge and not Uber."
Vincent laughed. "Have you even checked the download count for Uber? You're blowing up!"
Lucas shrugged. "I haven't been able to check, no internet data here."
"Come on, you could use international roaming," Vincent suggested.
"It's too expensive," Lucas replied nonchalantly.
Vincent couldn't believe his ears. "Really? That's not something I expected to hear from you, especially with your current status. Your songs are playing on radio stations worldwide, and you're worried about roaming charges?"
Lucas laughed. "What can I say? I prefer not to spend money carelessly on data when I don't need it."
"You're serious, aren't you?" Vincent said, exasperated. "You do know you need the internet, right?"
"Alright, alright, I get it. But when I'm focused on shooting, I don't really use my phone much anyway," Lucas said with a smile.
"Lucas, as your agent, I'd advise you to splurge on a few hundred bucks for international data," Vincent said. "Spending that much won't matter much, especially our company Uber is about to take off. Hundreds of thousands of drivers have registered since your video went viral. We're finally turning a profit."
"It's about time we saw some return on our investment," Lucas said with a smile. "All those months of pouring money into development and server costs."
Vincent couldn't help but daydream about the day he will be lounging in his Beverly Hills mansion. "Soon enough, we'll be swimming in millions."
"Speaking of which, I've been thinking about starting another company," Lucas mused. "One that develops internet apps."
"Oh, no, don't even think about it," Vincent groaned. "I know how these things go. You'll come up with the idea, and I'll be the one doing all the work. No thanks."
Uber had taken a long time to take off, and that was only after Lucas used his fame to promote it.
"Trust me, it's a good idea," Lucas insisted. "And with the resources we have now, we can hire skilled people more easily than before. We won't need as many investors as we did with Uber."
Vincent reluctantly agreed. "Alright, we'll discuss it when you're not busy."
"Sounds good. Talk to you later," Lucas said, hanging up.
The apps Lucas had in mind were ahead of their time: an Airbnb-like platform for renting properties and even a Binance-esque cryptocurrency exchange. He envisioned a parent company that would house these ventures, and if successful, it could make him a billionaire—on top of the significant amount of Bitcoin he already owned, which wouldn't bear fruit for years to come.
Lucas knew that while Bitcoin's value would eventually skyrocket, it would take years. In the meantime, a successful app company could generate hundreds of millions, if not billions, in revenue much faster.
With that kind of money, his influence will grow, he thought, his chances of standing up against the Harvey Weinsteins of Hollywood and other industry predators would be higher.
For now, however, he pushed those ambitious thoughts aside as his scene arrived.
Lucas continued filming for a few more days, and then it was time to shoot the next scene, which was more intimate: the kissing scene between Robb and Talisa.
Lucas had prepared for this moment, so he wasn't as uncomfortable as one might expect. He had already kissed his female costars in movies like "Like Crazy" and "The Perks of Being A Wallflower," so such scenes were becoming normal for him.
However, the upcoming kissing scenes were going to be more intense than usual, as the director had envisioned.
The production team could only imagine the squeals of countless girls when they saw their heartthrob, Lucas Knight, in these intimate scenes, especially when he was half-naked, which was every fan's dream come true. Both actors were given a short break before their next scene, as even though they weren't completely uncomfortable with it, these types of scenes still brought a certain level of pressure.
Lucas, meanwhile, would have to imagine that it was Jennifer he was kissing, so he wouldn't break character and ruin the take by breaking the kiss prematurely. This was a trick he had mastered over time: imagining the person in front of him was the person he loved, so that the desire and love would show in his eyes, making the scene believable.