Kiera made it back to the waiting room and she was just glad Sophia and Emmanuel just let her sit and think. Her hand had started shaking again after the adrenaline wore off. She just wanted to eat a lot of garlic bread and pasta then go into a food coma.
For now, she just needed to hang on and hope what she showed was enough to get the part.
She didn't know how long she sat there, just looking mindlessly into space; when Amira slammed the door open and stormed into the room.
She could hear the cursing but she treated it as white noise she easily ignored.
Getting frustrated over a spoilt little princess would not get her anywhere. In fact, she might be the one that could potentially end up being bashed by her fans. It would take one post "New starlet was rude to popular Amira". Just the whiff of a potential scandal and all the hounds will be investigating which starlet Amira had contact with.
The next thing you know your personal social media accounts would be found and it flooded with all sorts of negative comments.
Kiera had seen enough rising starlets stomped out this way even before they debuted on anything substantial.
Showbusiness was all mind games and one-upping and Kiera had seen almost anything anyone could possibly dish out. If it was the 18-year-old her before she went back in time, she might have tried to ask Amira to tone it down because 18-year-old original Kiera was a naïve idiot. Good thing this more experienced Kiera has her survival instincts all polished and working to the fullest.
After several more minutes of waiting, a production assistant came in. "Actresses kindly follow me."
Kiera found herself back into the audition room, this time the main lights were bright and the production lights were turned off.
She and Amira were standing in front of a long table.
She recognized the director and her own boss, Ava, who gave her an encouraging smile. Some faces seemed familiar but she can't for the life of her remember their names.
The director cleared his throat, "Hello once again, ladies. We would like to ask you both a question relating to the musical piece you played. Why did you choose that piece and how does it impact Veronica York's character?"
Kiera took the microphone handed to her and she was about to respond when Amira spoke.
"The piece I chose was Rachmaninoff Prelude in C sharp minor, which was the piece chosen by the crew." Her tone implied whatever problem they had with the piece was not her problem. "Of course, it was an avenue to express Veronica's anger at her step-sister who had stolen her fiancé from her."
Kiera pointedly did not look at anyone's reaction to Amira's response. She did not want to possibly change her reasons if she saw probable satisfaction in the faces in front of her.
"Let's hear from Onyx' actress."
Kiera looked straight at the director, "The musical piece I played was Chopin's Nocturne No. 20 in C-sharp minor, it is also called Reminiscence. It is a haunting piece that conveys anguish and despair. I chose this to express more on the despair Veronica York would have felt as her family and the life she had always known crumbled in front of her eyes. At points I expressed the possible anger she felt towards her father and his other family. She would also have thought back on the good old days that's now gone. The ending of the piece was supposed to be as hauntingly lonely as the first few bars but I expressed her anxiety at seeing her half-sister and her fiancé together."
A woman of Asian decent had been listening very closely to their responses, she raised a hand before the director could say anything. "I'm curious, you both expressed anger at different levels and this scene is aptly named The Turning Point, for this is where Veronica decides to fully go against Elizabeth, her half-sister. Who do you think is her anger pointed at?"
"Of course, at her fiancé, he did turn his back from her. Her world was crumbling and feelings of love can easily turn to hate. That scene was just the final straw that broke her. Also seeing Elizabeth suffer was a plus." Amira readily answered.
The woman turned to Kiera, waiting for her reply.
"I believe Veronica wanted to make Elizabeth suffer." That had the woman leaning forward, a certain glee showed on her face. Kiera tried to ignore her unexpected reaction and continued to try and share her thinking.
"Hurting her fiancé is only a bonus for her. If Elizabeth suddenly decided to choose another man, Veronica would be there trying to make them suffer. Throughout the novel Veronica never targeted her fiancé in her schemes, it was always Elizabeth she planned to make suffer. She hated Elizabeth because she was the one who came in and threatened her way of life. Her parents are going to divorce, her father obviously preferred this sudden eldest sister and her position as heiress was at risk. Hurting Elizabeth would also hurt her father and his mistress."
At this point the Asian woman had a wide grin on her face. "You read the novel?"
Kiera nodded, "I followed it as it was updated chapter by chapter. Though it has been several years so some details are a bit of a blur to me. It was something I enjoyed reading."
The woman's face softened, "Thank you for supporting me and the novel."
What. Supporting her. Good god, this was Lisa Yu, the author of the novel.
Lisa turned to the man beside her, "This is why I told you there are several layers to Veronica's character. Anger is not the end all of who she is after the turning point. And in order to properly portray those layers we need an actress that can properly convey them."
The burly man beside her nodded his head, "You're right. We might need to make some edits to the script but it's something we need to properly show." He then turned to Nathan, "I vote for the Onyx actress."
There were hisses and objections from the other people at the table.
The man glared at all of them, if Kiera saw that man looking at her that menacingly while walking out on the street, she will give him a wide berth.
"If you think you know more than the original author and myself then go ahead and write the script yourselves." That put the objections to a murmur.
He was the scriptwriter. This muscled bear of a man was a scriptwriter for a romance drama.
Nathan clapped his hand once to get everyone's attention, "So that's three votes for the Onyx actress and one abstained vote."
Amira made a strangled noise and stomped out of the room, a man at the table ran after her. Despite the closed door they could hear a muffled commotion in the hallway.
A beautiful middle-aged woman smirked at Nathan, "You called me all the way here and I couldn't even give my vote."
Nathan bowed his head, "Maybe next time, Madame. But isn't it a relief to know who will act as your daughter?"
"As long as she's beautiful enough to be my daughter, I don't really mind." She sent a wink at Kiera. "What was your name again, dearie?"
Kiera realized who this was, Gloria Steinfeld, she was considered as one of the very best actresses of her time and she preferred to act the villainess roles. Sophia had actually prepared a slide show of her various successes as a villainess.
Kiera bowed her head, almost in reverence, "I'm Kiera Moireach. It's an honor to be working with you."