Chapter 29.

Ian woke up and straightaway went to take a cold shower to get a fresh start to his day. Water poured from his hair to his face and then to his body, but his mind wandered around thinking about La La Land.

For the most part, he was curious about what kind of a person Ryan Gosling might be. And then, he kept thinking about the other actors and ideas for his next big projects.

A shower is somewhere creativity overflows and imaginations run wild. It was the same for almost everybody.

After making $350 million dollars of profits from Home Alone, the amount had been reduced massively due to the taxes, renovation, equipment, and other stuff. In fact, just the deal John and Ian made cost Ian $20 million. An entire company for that amount wasn't a bad deal.

It cost him a bit around $1 million to cover the cost of all the equipment. Also, around $500,000 were spent on the architecture and to start the renovations. After summing it up all, Mason's share and the wages were paid off in no time. It felt like a huge win for Ian when he spent that much money they earned together from just a single project.

Because of all that, Ian had around $150 million dollars left over for himself, and he was planning to invest $30 million of that in La La Land. Ian got out of the shower and put on some comfortable clothes while his mind still kept pondering several other things. Sitting in front of the laptop, he typed in the title of his next big script.

It was a series. The establishment of the reputation of a genius was what Ian was aiming for. Someone who can create masterpieces with his own scripts and make people wonder and be in awe. The reason why he was hurrying a bit with his projects was to turn stuff up a bit. He was sure that no one was capable of creating such movies and legendary works like him in such a short duration.

It takes a normal director or scriptwriter many years to come up with good ideas and create a good outcome on the screen. But he wanted to show himself off as someone who can master the field with a little experience.

—

Ian's arrangements to meet Ryan Gosling in Renner's Studio were about to happen in just a few minutes. But on the other hand, Mason was curious as to why Ian was even meeting a C-Grade actor. Regardless, he had his full trust and faith in him. He knew Ian wouldn't do anything stupid especially when it comes to business.

"Ryan Gosling is here," Mason's assistant announced.

"Send him in," Ian replied.

Ryan Gosling who looked exactly like 'Ryan Gosling' came in with a polite smile. Pun intended of course. The facial features were almost the same. The hairstyle could be changed a bit to look like the original world Ryan, but other than that his height, proportions, and smile were exactly the same as Ian remembered.

"Good morning, Ryan." Ian stood and shook his hand immediately.

"I can't believe I finally get to meet you, sir," Mason smiled hearing the words coming out of the actor's mouth. "I'm actually curious about the role I'll be getting," Ryan straightaway jumped to the point.

"Just call me Ian, please. It's nice to meet you too,"

Ian understood that Ryan Gosling was an outgoing, nice person from the way he talks. But he wanted skills and talent to confirm the role was going to be his. He, therefore, got into work straight away.

"Let's get onto work, for now, I can't say what role you'll be getting. I called you here because your appearance is exactly what I'm looking for. The facial features, height, body, and all. The rest will solely depend on your skills," Ian was honest with him. It was the truth.

"Oh okay," Ryan replied and nodded.

Taking a scene out of the script, Ian handed it to Ryan. It started with a funny conversation at the entrance with Sebastian, the male lead. It was a conversation that Sebastian had with his older sister. It took Ryan a few minutes to read the script over and over.

It was the scene where Sebastian finds his sister, whose name is Laura, 37 years old in his bare apartment; no furniture, boxes still packed and looking nothing like a home, much to the annoyance of Laura. Sebastian tells her that he will unpack those boxes in his own club and he can't believe it has become a tapas-samba place. His sister wants him to let go of the fact that he got ripped off and start living again. She wants him to meet a woman but he's not interested. After she leaves, he practices the same Thelonious Monk song he played in his car that morning, over and over, till he gets it right.

Since it was the first proper talk that Sebastian will be having in the movie since it started, Ian thought it would be good if he let Ryan do it. In fact, he would be able to see how Ryan thought about this character as well. Living inside the character was pretty important when it comes to movies like La La Land.

"It's just a small test, take it easy," Mason said.

"I'll try my best," Ryan said and kept reading.

Ian left the office and came back after a while with a pretty brunette. She was the receptionist in the office. Khadijah Nash wasn't smiling or frowning. In fact, she was so neutral it was a little bit weird for someone to watch. But it was obvious that she had been trained so well to smile fakely that it seemed real when someone first met her. In times like this, the only thing that became clear are things like her smile.

"She will say the parts of Laura, can you start now?" Ian asked.

"Oh okay," Ryan said and sighed loudly.

[...]

"Sebastian –" Laura said.

"How long has it been?"

"You need to get serious. You live like a hermit. You're driving without insurance."

Khadijah surprisingly took the role seriously and kept talking back to back with Ryan. Even though her conversations were good, Ian's focus was full-on with Ryan.

"I am serious. I had a very serious plan for my future. It's not my fault I got Shanghai'ed." Ryan's voice got a bit serious.

"You did not get "Shanghai'ed", you got ripped off."

"What's the difference?" Ryan asked.

"No… No, wait. Try it a bit more, it should be a back-to-back question. Try it again," Ian wanted to make Ryan Gosling act like Sebastian so badly. Listening to him, Ryan practiced his dialogue again.

"What's the difference?"

A smile formed on Ian's face.

"It's not as romantic as that. And everyone knew that girl was shady except for you."

"Why do you say romantic like it's a dirty word?"

"Unpaid bills are not romantic. Call her." She kept saying her dialogues right after him.

"You're acting like life's got me on the ropes -- what you don't understand is, I want to be on the ropes. I'm letting life hit me `til it gets tired. Then I'm gonna make my move. It's a classic rope-a-dope"

"I love you. Unpack your boxes."

"I'm changing the locks,'' Ryan said in a loud tone.

"Okay! That was good, thank you, Miss?" Ian asked, looking at the girl who was holding the paper without any emotion.

"Khadijah… Nash," She said and smiled for the first time.

"Thank you, you can get back into what you were doing," Mason said while Khadijah walked out of the office.

After hearing the small dialogues, Ian felt he was perfect for the role. Of course, it was not enough acting to perfectly judge his entire level, but from the way he had presented the small conversation, Ian was more than content. He was able to see the original Sebastian through his lines.

In the scene when Sebastian threw words back and forth with his sister, there was not much space for a huge thought process. It was quick, yet it was also an important scene. It was how Sebastian's expressions were and his behavior for Ian.

"That was good, I will talk with your agent and let you know, yeah?" Ian said and smiled politely.

"I really hope you mean it, this chance means a lot to me, thank you," Ryan said and left the room but not before shaking hands with both of them.

Even his personality was great while he was talking, which impressed Ian more. Actors with good personalities are as valuable as gold in the industry, especially in the process of filmmaking and associating with directors. Cocky actors tend to go off the vibe-check pretty quickly.

Ian knew he was perfect for the role. The more he thought, the more reasons he found. In fact, he watched several movies Ryan took part in in this world and was happy with how his acting skills were. They lacked a bit of professionalism, but with time Ian was sure he would be much better, proving points in Hollywood about how talented even a low-grade actor can be.

"I think he fits the role," Ian said and Mason was still confused. His facial expressions explained it all.

"Are you sure, Ian? I mean, he is talented but-"

"I'm pretty sure, make arrangements with his agency. This is going to be quick now. We need to find Mia, too," Ian said and smiled.

---

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