My latest...hope you like! Usual
disclaimers (Joss is g-d), archive at my web site members.nbci.com/mspangler/fics/
and you can have it for elsewhere if you ask first. No spoilers to speak of, although
you might want to brush up on S1 "Eternity" and I've taken a bit of
an unsual formatting liberty with this one. It's a bit different, so I hope it
works. FEEDBACK please....
On the Set
Editor’s Note: This is part 39 in Really Big Movie Star Magazine’s occasional
series on the little guys. In the last issue, we met XXR Studio’s Hazardous
Waste Disposal Coordinator Figaro Olvidado. For this installment, we return to
the more visible talent as we follow an unknown actress during her first-ever
big bit part.
The cameras won’t roll for another three hours, but the set of “Falcon” is
already bustling. On sound stage one, a props crew is taking light readings
while a set dresser puts the finishing touches on a run-down crack-house. On
sound stage two, star Rebecca Lowell, best known for her role as Raven in “On
Your Own,” is prepping for her big scene in this week’s episode.
“It’s an interesting role,” Lowell muses. “And I get to show a lot of range
this week. I play this detective, and there’s this pimp that gets killed, and I
have to interview all these prostitutes that worked for him…”
Lowell is in an especially bright mood today because the guest cast of young,
beautiful women includes an old friend. The friend, a relative unknown with the
unlikely name Cordelia Chase, has been stuck in make-up for the last hour, and
Lowell is growing restless.
“She has a weird day job,” the actress explains. “And from what I’ve heard, she
showed up today with some bruises, and they’ve had to do a bit of work to cover
them up.” Lowell paces the soundstage impatiently. “The part actually calls for
bruises,” she laughs. “Just not where she had ‘em. So they’re covering up some
bruises, then painting on others. Only in Hollywood, you know?”
When the elusive Ms. Chase finally does appear, she redeems herself by coming
armed with a peace offering, a low-fat Latte which Lowell pounces on
enthusiastically. “I am such a caffeine addict,” she grouses. “It’s my only
vice. Well, that and shopping.”
Lowell rushes off to have her own make-up done, leaving Chase alone to go over
her four lines in today’s episode.
“It’s not a huge part, but it’s a really important one,” she explains. “ There
are all these prostitutes, but I am like, the main one. And I might have seen
something, but I’m afraid to talk.” She laughs. “You know, I work for a
detective so I’m with this stuff.”
Bankrolling your acting career by working for a detective might seem unusual,
even for L.A., but this raven-haired beauty comes from humble roots. Hailing
from the tiny and insignificant little town of Sunnydale, California, Chase
moved to the big city after high school, as many young women do.
“I guess I took the typical path,” she muses. “I always loved performing, you
know? Cheerleader, May Queen…I did all of that. But L.A...I’m still not totally
used to it, you know? I’ve seen some pretty weird stuff in my day, but L.A…”
This week’s guest shot is her biggest role to date. “I’ve mostly done theatre,”
she says. “You might have seen me, I had the lead role in several productions
including Nora in ‘A Doll’s House’…in fact, I met Rebecca while I was doing
that one.”
Lowell returns from make-up, and the two girls lounge on a park bench, waiting
for the director to summon them. Lowell’s make-up is more elaborate than
Chase’s random scratches: a few fake bruises, a Chinese tattoo and Detective
“Falcon” Falconer’s trademark scar, an odd puncture wound on the neck.
“Isn’t it cool?” gushes Lowell. “They use this wax mould, which gives it
fabulous texture. They just pour the latex in…”
Will viewers ever find out how Falcon got the wound? The star shares a
conspiratorial wink with her friend. “Well, I know, the writers know and
Cordelia here knows. In fact, it was her suggestion. We were talking when I
first got the part, and I thought it would be cool if Falcon had some kind of
scar…and there is this LAPD detective she knows who has something similar,
although of course we made mine uglier and gorier…”
“The special effects they can do are amazing,” Chase agrees. “In fact, I was in
there earlier getting blood-stained, and let me tell you, the stuff they are
using handles a lot better than real blood. Texture’s a bit off, but you’d
never tell from how it looks…” She trails off, and Lowell chuckles. “You can
take the girl off the street, but you can’t take the street off the girl,” she
teases.
Chase pouts. “I am hardly from the street. You know, back home I was…” She
pauses, looking oddly disturbed. “Back home, I had a different life. But L.A.
is just so…amazing. I’ve really made a place for myself here, and…” She trails
off, wincing suddenly. As Lowell rushes to her side, she doubles over,
groaning.
“Hypoglycemic,” she gasps. “Pass out if I don’t…” she breathes deeply. “I’m
fine. Excuse me. I have to make a phone call…”
Lowell rolls her eyes. “She gets that way sometimes. Lots of weird stuff. Like
those bruises she came in with? I think they might have something to do with
it. I don’t know, we don’t really talk about that stuff.”
Lowell sighs. “You should see the guy she works for. He’s a huge brute with a
vicious temper. I’ve had a run-in with him myself, but with her…he’s like a
different person. It’s like he’s appointed himself everybody’s guardian,
especially hers. He shelters her, you know? Tries to protect her from all the
big bads. She doesn’t talk a lot about what she does for him, but I keep
telling her, use it. The guys a P.I., you know? It’s such great material!”
Chase returns, munching a granola bar and looking quite recovered. “Angel says
hi,” she tells Lowell off-handedly. She runs a nervous hand through her hair,
suddenly alert as the director approaches. “Well, to work, I guess. You ready?”
Lowell nods, and the two walk off looking to all the world like a care-free
bunch of kids heading to school or the mall or the movies. From looking, you
wouldn’t be able to tell that one of them in IN the movies, and the other…well,
by all accounts, she leads a life so varied that if it WERE a movie, no one
would believe it. But then again, who would have believed…Hollywood? the end.