Returned to Sender - Scarlett Johansson

Part 32

Scarlett's POV

So, this week, Sawyer is learning French. After I bought her that Russian dictionary last week, she decided that she needed to be more busy between filming and her math, science, and whatever that professor sent her. So now Sawyer has taken it upon herself to learn new languages. She seems to have already learnt Russian, and I would be surprised except for the fact that it's Sawyer, and everything seems to come to her naturally.

At this point, I'm pretty sure there is actually nothing Sawyer can't do, which is scary, really. Speaking of scary, she has her first proper stunt scene today. So far, she's not had to do anything too strenuous, just the odd fake punch here and there, but today, we are starting to film the final battle scene, and the writers thought it would be a great idea to throw Sawyer right into the heart of the fight.

She has been training all week with JJ and Ken, the stunt coordinators, and has loved every minute, which never fails to bring a smile to my face as she learns that other people aren't a danger to her. Sawyer has banned me from coming to her training sessions, saying I would stress too much and be a distraction, which is a hundred per cent true but doesn't make me worry any less. I don't even know anything about the scene we are filming today; the only thing my script said was to react in character. Which was vague and has definitely put me on edge.

"Mama," Sawyer pouted as she poked my cheek, leaning across the gap between our makeup chairs. "Mama, I'm talking to you, and you're not listening," she whined, making me turn to her, snapping out of my worried thoughts. "Sorry baby, I was worried about your stunts today; let me see your script so that I can see what we are filming. My script doesn't say anything useful," I pout, trying my best to mimic Sawyer's puppy dog eyes, making her erupt in a fit of giggles. 

"I can't show you my script, Mama; Mr Kevin said this one is top secret; he even used the classified stamp from set on my script," she said excitedly as she waved the top secret item in front of me. "Fine, don't show me," I whined as she giggled, "but just promise me it's nothing dangerous; you know I hate seeing you hurt," I said seriously as I looked at her. She must be able to see the worry in my eyes because she jumps out of her seat and onto me. This is what I'm worried about. She's so fearless when it comes to things like this.

"They're ready for you both on set," Mark, my new assistant, called through the door as Sawyer ran to grab her script and Nat. She has her own adorable little routine before filming. She all but runs to set five minutes before we film, clutching her script and Nat; then she chats with whoever is in her scene as if she's warming up to the idea of interacting with people. 

Then, finally, she walks over to her mark, slowly mumbling something I haven't been able to make out yet, but whatever it is must be important because she says it over and over till Joss calls "ACTION," and then she just slips straight into character, for such a young actress she is doing an extraordinary job. Hell, I mess up more than she does when we film together, which she seems to find hilarious.

Sawyer is drinking her water on set as I walk over to Joss, who is looking at me firmly. "Scarlett, I know you have only got half the script for this scene, which is fine. We want you to improve the second half for the first take, and if that doesn't work, we have a script for you. It's just super important that you trust everyone and stay in character," he said with a serious face, only adding to my worry. 

"She will be safe the whole time, right?" I ask, resisting the urge to bite my nails, given how nervous I am. "I promise Scarlett, she's practised this scene a few times with JJ and Ken, and it's been fine. It's no different than when anyone else does a stunt," he said softly as he looked over to Sawyer. "We all love Sawyer, and no one is going to let anything happen to her." he smiled at me before waving over to Sawyer. "You ready superstar? If you want a stunt double, it's not too late. Just say," he said to her softly, and she just shook her head.