“Come on, relax, Rachel,” Thea laughed cheerfully, “It was just a joke.”
Rachel could only fake a laugh because everyone was watching. Thea secretly rolled her eyes.
****
The next scene was a fighting scene. Jim and Molly fell into a heated argument. Thea didn’t have many lines because of the autism of her character. Mostly, she needed to express her anger and desperation with her eyes and body language. It was not easy.
Thea took a deep breath before the scene was gonna begin. Rachel, however, suddenly stepped forth and asked the director, “Ben, I haven’t acted for a while. Would you let me act on this scene a bit? I really miss the feeling before the cameras.”
The director had been acquaintances with Rachel for a while. Besides, she brought a major investor to the shooting site today. He didn’t want to make her look like a fool. So he nodded, “Okay. No problem. Thea, come over here and take a seat. You guys can communicate the skills of acting a bit.”
Thea nodded and sat next to the director, staring at the monitor.
The scene happened in a small room. All Rachel had to do was scream and yell. Her purpose was simple. Even though it was already too late for her to get this role, she still wanted to outshine Thea in front of everyone, making them realize that she should have gotten the role.
Rachel invested herself deeply in this character. She used all her strength, and her emotion was powerful. She somehow managed to overpower Dylan’s vibe.
Everyone on site looked at her admiringly. The director, however, frowned a bit before he turned to Thea, “What do you think about her acting, Thea?”
Thea’s mouth fell open, not daring to say anything.
“It’s okay, Thea. Just speak what’s on your mind.” The director encouraged her.
“Well.” Thea cleared her throat, “I think it’s because Rachel hasn’t read that much of the script, her acting is a bit too much. It doesn’t fit Molly’s personality.”
The director smiled and nodded, giving Thea an admiring look.
When Rachel finally finished enjoying her time for the cameras, she walked over with a smile, “How do you guys think? I think it’s a bit too much… Whew… Tend to forget me before the cameras. I hope I didn’t put you much pressure, Thea, my love.”
“Oh… Not at all, Rachel,” Thea smiled.
The smile on Rachel’s face froze, “Oh… Oh really? I’m glad you’re so confident.”
“It’s your turn, Thea,” The director announced.
Thea nodded and stood up, putting the blanket on her knees away.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, counting to three. And she just became Molly like that.
The comparison was prominent. It was not hard to tell that Rachel was more focused on showing off herself. She tried too hard during the acting, not giving attention to the character’s setting or the male lead’s state at all.
Thea, however, took care of every aspect. Moreover, she and Dylan had cultivated chemistry during all these days. Their cooperation was just pleasant to watch.
Rachel’s face changed as she sat before the monitor. She had tried pretty hard to contain the heated jealousy churning in her chest, but she still failed to hide the shock and deep hatred on her face.
Thea was only in her 20s or so. But she was already so talented. If Rachel just sat back calmly and let Thea’s acting skills shine, Thea would replace her sooner or later.
“Thea! You’re soooo amazing! Ugh!! I can’t believe how talented you are, girl,” Rachel ran over to compliment her the moment the director shouted, “cut”.
Thea couldn’t get used to Rachel’s praises. She thought Rachel was a great actor. Why did this woman have to make everything so awkward?
However, everyone was watching. Thea could only force out an awkward smile, “I’m flattered, Rachel.”
Before leaving the crew, Rachel took a selfie with the director, Thea, and Dylan. She made a post on Twitter.
“Went to the crew to visit my best friends. Smoke is a great movie with talented actresses and actors! Come, watch it, and you won’t regret the money you’re spending on the ticket!”
Rachel was no doubt an A-List actress. Her endorsement naturally attracted countless fans in the comment section.
“Thanks for visiting Thea, Rachel!”
“Rachel, we love you!”
“When will your next movie come out? We’ve been waiting.”
“Rachel is the best!”
“Umm… Do people still remember this woman posted on Twitter to mock Thea just a couple of weeks before? Do you guys have memory loss? This is clearly a PR promotion to fix her image after running a new actress.”
“Thanks for visiting Thea!”
“I didn’t expect to see Thea from here. She’s disappeared for weeks.”
“Thea focused on the making of her movie, and she wouldn’t even make any posts anymore.”
“Rachel, would you tell Thea that we love her and care about her? Please tell her to take care of herself.”
Some anti-fans were furious.
“Why can’t Thea’s fans just shut up? Not everything is about Thea Todd!”
“By the way… I wonder how powerful her sugar daddy is. This is her first movie, and she’s cooperating with Dylan and Rachel. Who is this girl, exactly? How come she always gets the best treatment?”
Thea didn’t pay attention to any of those comments. She was still studying the script and her character. Zara had been monitoring the voice online, occasionally sending the PR to adjust the comment section.
Zara and other managers thought that was it. However, a famous account with a lot of fans suddenly “exposed” Thea later, saying that Thea was so bad at acting, and that pissed the director off.
The director asked Rachel to teach her on-site. The account also said that if Thea didn’t have that powerful sugar daddy, the director would have changed her with Rachel already.
It was clearly a fake piece of news made up to slender Thea’s name.
However, this piece of news was exactly what all those anti-fans wanted.
“I told ya that girl is only good-looking. She’s just a member of a girl band, for god sake. She doesn’t know how to act.”
“What happened to Ben? Why would he use a stupid dancing girl in such an important movie?”
“I bet Thea slept with the director as well.”
“Gross…”
Thea didn’t know any of those disgusting comments online. Candace and Daisy both decided to keep their mouths shut about this. And they were directing major fans with big accounts on the internet to fight those haters. Ben also saw that piece of news, and he was so annoyed. Rachel had clearly come with a purpose. She was still trying to snatch that role away from Thea. Or she would also be glad to give them some trouble.