Rise To Stardom - Chapter 118

Chapter 118: Mixed Reception
Kyle was in a bit of a pickle.

Despite the scene being over, he was struggling, immensely to get out of [Deep Dive].

Typically, a simple command in his mind was enough to deactivate the skill, enough that he even did it subconsciously once he heard the Director’s orders.

But that wasn’t going to cut it today.

Luckily for him, he was still in the pawn shop itself and was yet to exit the doors so no one could see him still in character as he kept staring at what seemed to be a gigantic, yet bizarre-looking, hourglass vintage clock with a stupid grin, an immensely wide, vintage-styled library, all around him too.

So, with a conscious effort to get out of the world he was presently, in, Kyle spoke out loud;

“Deactivate, [Deep Dive].”

Instantly, the world around him faded away in an instant and finally, Kyle felt himself, back in the real world.

Letting out slow, deep breaths, Kyle tried to calm himself, one that he eventually succeeded in.

Everything had been so tangible to him today.

From the spaceships whizzing about, to the mist he saw exuding from everyone, to how they froze, like inanimate statues, everything was real. Too real…

The faded walls of virtual simulation he usually saw if he focused hard enough using his peripheral vision, was also nowhere to be found, making the fictional world, all the more immersive.

Having only experienced [Deep Dive] at Grade {C}, he hadn’t kept it in mind that the skill was now at Grade {A} when he had activated it.

Considering he had advanced to Grade {B}, just after filming Epoch One, and also advanced to Grade {A}, after his audition as The Curator, the changes in the skills advancement were instantly noticed.

“I’m a bit worried…” the young man said to himself as he watched his gloved hands, trembling.

Was it fear?

Or excitement?

Kyle couldn’t say.

Him, fully being The Curator for the past few minutes, was an almost intoxicating feeling.

One he himself, simply didn’t want to break out of.

But then again, fiction and reality were two different things.

And as much as Kyle loved fictional worlds, his reality was just as important.

Placing his hand on the knob of the door, a small sigh of acceptance escaping his lips, Kyle muttered to himself;

“I’ll be fine though. That, I’m certain of.”

Having said that, the young man donned a light smile, twisted the knob and then, walked out the door.

* * *

Tiana, smiled.

Not the kind of smile that was blooming but rather, a more subdued, subtle smile.

Still, the moment everyone on set noticed this, there was mostly a look of disbelief on their features.

It was a very rare occurrence to see Tiana smiling after a shot.

Yet, at the same time, everyone, especially the actors whom had read the script for this particular scene, knew the exact, sole reason behind her smile.

Kyle Kestis.

Honestly, the amount of improv and little additions that the young man had done in this single long take was beyond baffling to say the least.

First off, were the added lines.

Starting from; ‘I can never catch a break, can I?’, to ‘Oh you sexy, brilliant dame! You’ve redecorated!’; were lines that weren’t even in the script.

Considering how those parts of the scenes didn’t even require him to say anything originally as it wouldn’t have ruined the continuity of the shot regardless, especially since his expressions alone would’ve done the trick, those tiny little additions, helped cement his version of The Curator even more.

Secondly, was how he had returned Mason’s phone into his pocket and the spoon, back onto the napkin on the tray after fixing the roof.

Those scenes too, weren’t even in the script.

As for the third, now that was literally icing on the cake.

The fact that he had defiantly stated ‘Never!’ after knowing fully well that he stole the Belle Epoque attire, just because he liked it, almost caused every actor on set at the time who were within vicinity, to burst into laughter and break character from their frozen act.

Yet, considering how perfectly in line it was with Kyle’s chaotic version of The Curator, everyone on set knew, that when the first episode finally aired, that exact scene would be a major standout.

So, staring at the young man as he walked out of the pawn shop, every blessed individual on set, heard as he spoke, fingers pointing in every direction with a slow, motioning half-arc;

“The long coat’s mine.”

Instantly, laughter, giggles and chuckles escaped the mouths of almost everyone on set.

Jasmine and Tiana on the other hand, glanced over to each other and then, shook their heads in amused resignation.

Sure enough, Kyle Kestis’ obsession with long coats, wasn’t just a ‘Curator’ thing.

Rather, it was a part of his own personality that bled into the titular character’s persona.

That also, was a major reason, as to why his words after stealing the long coat, felt so in line with his version of The Curator.

As for the passersby and pedestrians, most of whom had no idea what exactly was going on, they simply gazed at the scene before them in curious amusement, unsure of what exactly to make of it.

* * *

Tweet talk was in chaos!

Why?

A particular video of the multiple actors, stoically frozen in time, was already making its rounds around the popular social media app!

However, despite that being an extremely curious incident of its own, what really drew most people to the video, was how after the director had given the order to stop filming, the actors whom were pretending to be frozen in time, waited for Kyle to come out of the pawn shop.

And, the moment the young man did exit said shop, his next few words, despite being inaudible in the video, made everyone on set laugh, chuckle and giggle!

That was where the video had ended.

Yet, that was just the start of it all as almost immediately, Jon, as if realizing this was the perfect opportunity to spread the news like wildfire without even a single promotion, casually retweeted and tagged the video whilst dropping a tweet of his own stating;

‘Hello, 10th Curator. Pleasure to have you.’

A flood storm!

A thunderous, torrential, ravaging flood storm!

That was what followed next after that single tweet from the DreamLand Exec!

Fans of the show, as if rejuvenated from the depths of wherever it was they had wilted, instantly began retweeting said tweet like rabid animals!

No less than a few minutes after that, #The 10th Curator, was trending at number one!

Jon Quentin was back to spearhead the 10th season of [The Curator]!

But, far more than that, was a literal nuclear bomb that no one had expected, one that multiple Media Agencies, Hollywood Tabloids and Blog Channels, big or small, jumped on the bandwagon to spread like wildfire!

As a result, in no less than an hour, headlining many articles was the title;

Kyle Kestis is The 10th Curator!

Yet, for the actual fans of the show and many of Kyle’s fans, drama was already brewing!

– – –

WaifuWithARocketLauncher: Holy! Holy!! Holy!!! How am I supposed to feel?! Am I excited or scared shitless?!! Someone tell me?!

Toxic_Watcher 99: @WaifuWithARocketLauncher; Neither, you dumb waifu! How can you be excited that they’re casting such a young actor who has only had one movie to his name, in the shoes of The Curator! Also, what are you scared shitless of? The series going any lower than it has been or your actor getting hate? I’m certain it’s the latter.

WaifuWithARocketLauncher: @Toxic_Watcher 99; I’ll nuke you 🙂 .

DumblingDore: Said @WaifuWithARocketLauncher; calmly. On a more serious note though, I don’t really get the hate. Let us at least, witness Kyle’s acting as the Curator before we start lambasting each other eh? No? Alright, time to grab my popcorn.

Boy_By_The_Table: My day is ruined and my disappointment, immeasurable. I need to bleach my brains after seeing this info.

Princess Peach: Kyle is a fantastic actor and you’re just too tunnel-visioned to see it @ Boy_By_The_Table! I have complete faith in his decision to pick up such a complex role! Also, here, have some acid. I promise you, it hurts a lot.

ItsAlwaysABadDay: This is rubbish casting! Has Jon forgotten what it means for an actor to be, The Curator?! Years of experience is literally a major criterion to select an actor for the role! Also, let’s be honest. Kyle Kestis only has his popularity going for him so what is this travesty of a casting decision I’ve laid my eyes upon?!

WeDoABitOfTrolling: I mean, checking out your username, I can tell you’re having quite a bad day so I’ll go easy on you. Now, kindly fuck off and get some rest @ItsAlwaysABadDay. If you can’t open your mind enough to realize that there must be some reason, for Jon Quentin, who’s known to carefully select actors to play the role of The Curator, to cast Kyle, then that’s on you.

100th Curator: Honestly, with this casting decision, I’m certain [The Curator] won’t be innovating anything for years to come, especially when considering Kyle’s role as Alex in [Epoch One]. Just another copy paste of the 5th Curator… Sigh…

Popsicle Popper: Man! I had high hopes when I read that Quentin was going to be the showrunner this season but damn have my expectations been crushed! I have zero confidence that this season will be any better than the previous with this revelation. Just total, all-around, wrong casting, period.

The 78th Curator: Hmmm… I’m actually going to keep an open mind here. I love Kyle. I really do. But at the same time, I hope he’s making the right decision by jumping into those shoes because dayumm! Those are some big, scary shoes to fill.

ManFromMars: DreamLand Inc. should just cancel the series all together. The way I see it, now that they aren’t attracting their core audience of young adults, they’re planning to cater to the teen demographic?! Yuck!

– – –

As more and more comments continued to roll out, it soon became obvious that the reception towards Kyle Kestis’ casting for the role of The Curator, was, unsurprisingly, mixed, almost tilting towards the negative side even.

It wasn’t a new information that only older actors, typically within the age of 40 years and above were usually cast for the role of the titular time traveler since their wealth of acting experience, guaranteed that the audience could look forward to complex and engaging performances.

So, seeing such a young actor, no older than 22 years being casted for the role, left a sour taste in the tongue of most, long-time fans of the show.

A good chunk of them, were of the belief that Kyle was too young to be casted for such a complex role and that DreamLand Inc., was just trying to ride off the coattails of the young star’s, current popularity.

Some, believed that he must’ve been casted for a really good reason since Jon Quentin was known to never pick an actor whom wasn’t good enough to deliver complex performances for the titular role.

For the most part, this faction of fans, remained neutral to the information as most of them, just wanted a new season of their favorite show despite its lack of innovation over the past few seasons.

As for the last faction, now these were the fans of the show who were more welcoming of the young star being casted for the role.

To most of them, casting a young actor for the role, felt like a fresh idea and an interesting direction for the series so they were all in.

These faction of fans, were also those who had the highest bunch of Kyle’s fans.

And considering they knew, that their boy wouldn’t just jump into acting in a movie or a series without having a good reason to do so, they truly hoped to high heavens, that their boy would prove all the haters wrong when the series finally started airing.