In the Spotlight » Holland

1

lilia's foot nervously tapped against the carpet she was standing on. her body was leant against the backside of her chair, and she was dressed in the same blue sweater she'd worn to every audition for the project so far. her eyes traced over the faces of three other girls nervously sitting in the waiting room with her, and she tried not to focus too much on the fact that they looked so much like her. she wondered if they were better actresses, she wondered if they were prettier. she wondered if they were what they wanted, and that maybe they wouldn't like her.

one would think lilia was used to the process of auditioning. she'd been included in countless casting hunts, and none of it was new to her. she knew she was talented, and she knew she had to strength to take on any project, but this time was different. she'd managed to make it through an audition and four callbacks, but now the process was getting even more stressful.

it was the day of the chemistry read, which meant that lilia was patiently waiting in a room of a few potential castings, and they were all up for the same part she was. there were a few boys sat in the room with her as well, and she wondered which one she would be paired up with next. she'd already auditioned with two of them, and she was anxiously awaiting for the casting director to either call her back in with another actor, or politely send her home. she hoped it was the first option.

as if her thoughts were being projected out loud, the door swung open, and one of the casting agents stepped out, holding her clipboard. she cleared her throat, and all the people waiting sat up and listened closely as the two people who had previously been inside walked out. "can i please have lilia rowland and tom holland? this will be the last audition of the day, so if the rest of you would like to leave, feel free to."

lilia immediately stood up, tightly holding onto her script as she made her way into the room. the casting agent and the person named 'tom holland' followed her, and once again, lilia stood face to face with the other casting director, who was seated next to the two directors of the film. nervous jitters racked her body, and she tried her best to suppress them.

she stood in front of the camera, the bright lights shining on her face, and the boy came and stood next to her. she looked over to see which one he was, getting a good look at tom. his eyes instantly met hers, and she quickly noticed how cute she thought he was. not bad, she thought to herself.

"i'm tom." he introduced, extending his hand and giving a warm grin as the directors talked about the last audition, purposely giving the two actors in front of them time to get comfortable. "but you can also call me starving, i forgot to eat lunch before i came."

"lilia." she smiled back and shook his hand, raising her eyebrows at the peculiar way he spoke. "nice accent."

"you too. australian?" he asked, even though he already knew. many people knew who lilia rowland was, and he was familiar with her work on disney and freeform, and even her upcoming movie with fox.

she nodded her head. "that's right."

"alright, let's get this thing rolling. we're going to start with scene three, lilia has the first line." the casting director announced, and everyone sitting at the table shuffled their papers around.

lilia flopped through her script as she and tom took places. she found the scene, read her first line, and then let out a nervous breath. it was time to leave all fears with lilia and become the character. "everything okay?"