Dreams of Stardom (Hollywood SI)

After a week of negotiations, Mum had finally confirmed my salary. As she had predicted, my base salary was $2 million for the first part, and they may increase it to $5 million or even higher for the second part based on my performance and other factors like the film’s box office. For every consecutive movie, the earlier film’s performance would be a benchmark for increasing any future remuneration.

Then came the part of box office and home revenue participation. I would get the same percentage of the amount I invest in the film, and I cannot get more than 10% of the movie gross/home revenue in any case. I can also only invest my salary back in the film, not any additional investments. To explain it in simple terms, for the first film, I am investing $2 million. That’s 1.6% of the total budget of $125 million. Now suppose the movie makes $1 billion, then I’d get 1.6% of $1 billion, which comes out to be $16 million. But this was receivable only if the film earned at least thrice its budget, i.e., $375 million worldwide. Similarly, I’d also get the same share of home video sales of the films, as well as telecast rights sold to different TV channels. Usually, such deals are limited to theatrical profits only, not the revenue, but Mum successfully argued that I’m assuming great risk as well in case the film doesn’t work, and Warner Bros caved in at that.

The merchandise with my face on it or video games and all that other stuff would have a separate remuneration contract later on, so I won’t get into that now.

This lucrative contract came with some caveats as well. The biggest one was that I had to enter a seven-movie deal for the complete [Harry Potter] franchise. There are exit clauses, of course, but that would essentially leave me extremely poor, so it’s better to just stick with it till the end. Such a contract was illegal in California because of the De Havilland Law where no actor can sign a contract exceeding seven years, but since we were signing it under British laws, it was completely legal.

Originally, the child actors, including Daniel Radcliffe, signed on for only four movies and renegotiated their contracts before the fifth movie, which gave them massive payout bumps. I won’t have that sort of deal until the eighth movie.

The other caveat was that my total investment share was capped at 10% of the total budget of the film. If Warner’s terms weren’t so stringent, I’d have liquidated all my savings and invested all of that in the movie. Not that there was too much to begin with right now, but there will definitely be some available in the future.

The $40k I’d invested last year had turned into somewhat around $160k. That’s a four-times return. Then I also have some money from my work in [The Sixth Sense], which comes out to be around $150k after taxes and other expenses. So in totality, my liquid assets come out to be a little more than $300k.

If I could invest this money in [Harry Potter], I’d get a lot of money within a year and a half. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be! So it's better to stay invested in Yahoo, which will still give me good enough returns on my current holdings. Whatever reservations my parents had for my investments had vanished when they saw the value of my current holdings in less than a year.

Taking that into account, I had invested all of my remaining cash into Yahoo stock, making my total holding of Yahoo, $310k. This was in June 1999, before we started shooting [Billy Elliot], so I had not received any money from there. I would have to dump the whole of Yahoo holdings in the New Year 2000, but that would still give me good enough returns.

Setting my finances aside, I looked out of my window again, but now there was only one reporter there.

It was strange that the man was still there considering the fact that today was September 12th, the day of the Primetime Emmy Award ceremony.

Dad had called a stylist and a makeup artist for me, just like he had during the Golden Globes, and they had prepared my complete look.

I was wearing a light blue tight-fitting three-piece suit with a white shirt and a red bow tie, with a little bit of makeup to make my green eyes pop out more. I looked back at Dad who was still busy with his computer but fully decked out in his own blue suit exactly the same as mine, just in a bigger size. Mum had insisted that we wear the same thing tonight and I agreed. It was fun to match clothes with someone else.

“How much longer for the car to arrive, Dad?” I asked finally.

“The driver has already arrived, just around the corner. We’re waiting for your Mum to get ready.” He raised his voice as he said the last part.

“I heard that!” Came the voice from inside Mum’s room.

“You were meant to, honey,” Dad retorted back loudly.

Right then, the door opened, and in came Mum in a black floor-length gown with pearl earrings and her hair done up in a messy bun. Her stylist came out of the room along with her and made a hasty retreat. Apparently, he had many appointments tonight owing to the Emmys.

“Holy smokes,” Dad said with a grin, “You look ravishing tonight. Doesn’t she, Troy?”

“She sure does,” I agreed. “Now, if you’re done admiring your wife, can we go?”

“Troy!” Mum gasped out in mock outrage, “Show some decency. Don’t make me regret allowing you on film sets around adults.”

“Sure, Mum, whatever you say,” I answered back with a grin. None of our words had any heat behind them.

“Shall we go?” Dad changed the subject as he put down his mobile phone, “I’ve called the driver; he’s at the entrance.”

As we started moving downstairs, Dad asked, “You won’t mind the paparazzi, right?”

I shrugged, “I’m used to them by now. My only problem is that the same thing will start in London when we go back.”

From what Mum’s cousin Tiffany told us, the British media had already picked up on a British boy’s movie doing wonders in the States. Universal Studios had taken advantage of that situation, fanning the flames about ‘Dancer’.

Disney also took advantage of my British roots and promoted [The Sixth Sense] with me as the male lead while Bruce was the co-lead. This made sense because I had greater screen time in the film than Bruce Willis. I know because I checked. I had already watched the film at the press screening so I calculated screen time at the premiere.

What? I was getting bored. You can only watch your own performance so many times before it starts creeping you out or you start finding faults in it.

Finally, after forty-five minutes of driving because of the high traffic, we reached our destination: Shrine Auditorium, where the Emmys were being held. I got out of the limousine, a confident smile painted on my face as I waved to all the photographers on the red carpet. An instant wave of flashes almost blinded me, but thankfully, I was getting used to the lights, so I merely blinked once before letting my parents get out of the car as well.

“Troy! Troy! One question!” A loud voice rang out and I turned to the lady who was shouting loudly. I nodded at her in acknowledgment and she asked, “The Sixth Sense has grossed more than $275 million in North America alone. How do you feel about it?”

I shook my head at the reporter's stupidity. She had one question and this is the shit she asks? So I gave her one of the rehearsed answers, “It feels great. I’m very grateful to the audience who have given our movie so much love.”

“What about tonight’s award show? Hoping to win an Emmy tonight?” She pressed on.

“That’s three questions,” I smirked, and she looked concerned for a moment but I answered her nonetheless. “I’d love to get an Emmy, obviously, but I’m happy with the nomination itself.”

I tuned out her next statement/question/whatever and simply moved along the red carpet where many other celebs were also present.

Then something happened that I had not seen coming.

“Cole!!!!” There was a collective shout from one section of the crowd and almost everyone present around turned for a minute to see what the ruckus was all about.

I highly suspected that the call was for my name because of my character in [The Sixth Sense]. I was totally confused at that moment about what to do. Should I go over and say hello to the people or just wave at them from afar? What if there is some other celeb here named Cole and I make a fool of myself responding to their fan calls? I haven’t watched much American TV of this era to know for sure if there is an actor or another character named Cole there.

And I’m rambling again. I felt a hand on my shoulder to see Dad standing there, “Hey champ, why don’t you wave at them?”

Yeah, that was my confirmation, I had real fans out there. Oh GOD, this is really happening. I stamped down my inner monologue and still keeping the ever-present smile on my face, I waved at the horde of people ranging from kids younger than me to even a few middle-aged people. I wonder who in their right mind would bring kids to a place that is prone to stampedes?

Seeing the wave must have caused some sort of aneurysm in them because they started waving back or shouting either "Cole" or "Troy." I couldn’t help but laugh at the scene. While I won’t say I want to be mobbed, it feels good that people are appreciating your work.

Turning to Dad, I asked quietly, “Dad, can I go meet some of them?”

“Are you sure?” Dad looked around, and I followed his gaze to Mum, who was talking to some other lady, probably a producer or someone else from behind the scenes since I didn’t recognize her.

“Yeah. I don’t think anyone would bring kids to such events unless they want to meet someone. And I can’t just deny them; it would feel wrong,” I reasoned.

“Very well. Just make sure no one touches you; handshakes are fine. Don’t accept hugs from anyone, the security will handle the rest,” Dad laid out the conditions, and I was quick to nod.

So Dad accompanied me to the group of fans who were screaming my name not much time ago.

“Cole! Wow, you’re really here!”

“Oh Troy, you are even cuter than Oprah said.”

“Troy! Will you give me your autograph…”

“Troy…!”

“Cole…!”

I couldn’t hear all of them over the cacophony of voices, but thankfully I had my own personal bodyguard called Dad.

“Please stop!” He effectively silenced the small group, which was separated from us via a small metal barrier and a security guard standing on the side. Seeing Dad’s action, the security man came to action and quickly quieted down fans as I started shaking hands with different people and signing a few autographs.

“Cole?” A small girl who could be only around 6 or 7 asked in a sweet voice, “Can you tell me how my Mommy is? Daddy says she’s dead, but you can see dead people, right?”

My heart broke into a million pieces upon hearing that. That little girl reminded me of my own situation when I lost my first Dad all those years ago. Hopefully, her father would be better than how my bio-mother turned out to be. While my mind was running at full speed, I was at a loss for words. I didn’t know what I was supposed to say to the little girl. How could I say anything at all? The truth would break her heart, and a lie would be even worse and give her false hope.

That question silenced not only me but everyone around us. People can be crazy, but most people understood the dilemma I was placed in. While Dad was standing just a few feet away, the girl hadn’t spoken loud enough to be heard by him. I looked around to see if I could find a reasonable guardian for the girl, but no one seemed to come forward.

Not seeing any way out of the situation, I bit the bullet. “Hey, what’s your name?” I asked with a smile on my face.

“Julie.” An innocent reply came.

“That’s a beautiful name for a beautiful girl! Who are you here with, Julie?” I patted her softly on her head.

“I’m with my friend Susie and her Mommy! Look, she's over there!” She pointed first to the girl beside her who was of a similar age and then to a lady who was standing a few feet away from us in the crowd and had clearly not heard our conversation. Julie must have pushed forward to the front owing to her small size.

I knelt down to be at her eye level. "Julie, your Mom is always with you in your heart. She loves you very much, and she’s watching over you."

Julie nodded, her eyes wide and filled with wonder. "Really?"

“Really,” I assured her with a gentle smile. “What’s your Mommy’s name?”

“Angela!”

“Hmm,” I hummed audibly as I acted to focus, “She said she’s happy and wants you to be the best girl at school. Be nice to Daddy and always help others.”

Julie's eyes widened as she nodded rapidly at the words I had spoken.

“She has to go now, Julie,” I continued my story, “She’s tired and wants to rest.”

Julie wept silently as a few tears rolled down her cheeks, but she didn’t complain. So I patted her head and gave her a gentle hug. “Take care of yourself, Julie,” I whispered in her ear and stood up. The lady Julie had pointed to earlier noticed us and pushed her way over. As she approached, she smiled warmly, “Thank you so much, Troy. It means the world to her,” she said, her voice soft and sincere.

I gave Julie one last pat on the head. “Take care, Julie. And remember what I said, okay?”

Julie nodded vigorously, her face lighting up with a smile after wiping off her tears. “Thank you, Cole!”

“Anytime,” I made an exaggerated expression which made her chuckle as I walked back over to Dad, who was watching the whole scene curiously.

“You spent an awful lot of time with that girl,” he pointed out.

“Her mother passed away, and she wanted me to talk to her,” I explained my dilemma.

Dad seemed more understanding of the situation, “Did you tell her you can’t see the dead?”

“I told her what she wanted to hear,” I said simply.

“Isn’t that a lie?” Dad asked amusedly.

“So are Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. It doesn’t stop children from hearing about them from their supposedly honest parents.” I retorted.

He raised his hands in defeat as we made our way back to the entrance of the auditorium where Mum was waiting for us, having finished her talk.

Without wasting any more time, we made our way inside the auditorium, where we were guided by a man toward the main hall. While walking there, I saw many celebrities, some of whom I even recognized, like Don Cheadle, James Gandolfini, and Julianna Margulies.

I paused and looked a moment longer at that last one. I was a huge fan of her work in [The Good Wife]. Probably one of the greatest legal dramas ever made. The only problem was that I couldn’t go to her about it because [The Good Wife] has probably not even been conceptualized yet. And I haven’t seen much of [ER] to talk to her about that, to be honest.

Better to just be on my way to our seats so I could enjoy the show and hopefully [Sex Education] can get a few awards. Suddenly I realized I was walking all alone, and that Mum and Dad were talking to a man a few feet behind me. Probably an acquaintance from the industry.

Because I was looking behind and walking forward, I bumped into someone.

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