Rise To Stardom - Chapter 138

Chapter 138: Ride Through The Worst
“Early last year, we had him on the show, back when he was still just an aspiring indie artist!” Emma Harper, dressed in a fashionably chic attire whilst spontaneously adding a long coat today, gestured to the audience who roared in excitement as she continued;

“And now, alongside his already famous co-star, he’s rapidly become one of the most famous actors overnight!”

“So everyone, give it up for Kyle Kestis and Jasmine Faye!” Emma beaned at the crowd who cheered as both individuals, walked through the foyers while waving at the crowd.

Turning to face them, giving her greetings with a friendly handshake and a respectable hug, Emma grinned from ear to ear as Kyle and Jasmine moved towards the conversation area alongside her.

Just before they sat though, Kyle commented while pointing at Emma’s attire.

“You’re wearing a long coat today. Long coats are cool.” he grinned with a slight nod of approval, glancing over to Jasmine who lightly shook her head in resignation while the crowd and Emma, shared a hearty laughter.

“What is with you and your obsession with long coats?” the sexy actress amusedly asked as she sat on the plush, velvety couch, Kyle sitting right beside her as he responded;

“Because long coats, are cool.” he unabashedly emphasized again, earning a gentle face-palm from the lady who simply decided to leave him be at this point.

Yet, to both Emma and the crowd, this little interaction of theirs was something they found very amusing as most of them chuckled in response.

That said, now that Emma had allowed for both individuals to be comfortably seated, she then spoke;

“So, [The Curator]! Talk of the town these past few weeks and it doesn’t seem to be dying down, anytime soon…” Emma gestured with wide arms as some of the people in the audience cheered and whistled!

“How’d you both feel when you were casted for your respective roles in the titular show?” she asked with curious interest, directing her questions to both celebrities.

Jasmine was the first to respond.

“Well, I specifically, had the role handed to me, much to my surprise.” the lady explained with a reminiscent expression, Kyle and Emma, along with the crowd, listening to her as she spoke.

“[Evermore Chronicles] had just wrapped up not quite long and I was lucky to have being contacted by Quentin to come for a private meeting involving the show. So I did and well, the rest is history…” she chuckled as some people in the crowd cheered mildly.

“Now Kyle on the other hand…” Jasmine glanced over to him, watching as a beautiful, light grin spread on his lips.

“He told me the same thing you all heard in the trailer. ‘Spoilers’.” the actress who was similarly grinning, completed her statement with air quotes as the crowd, chuckled in amusement at her words.

To this, Emma quickly followed up, respectfully yet curiously prodding in amusement;

“What’s the story behind that?” she asked, causing Kyle to respond this time after he briefly chuckled;

“Well, in my case, Jon had me come for a private audition, amongst many other actors.”

“But after my audition, I was immediately offered the role, much to my shock…” he added, gesturing with a slight hint of disbelief in his eyes as he reminisced on it.

“Oh wow!” Emma exclaimed in genuine surprise while Jasmine, gazed at him with a knowing smile on her features since she had already found out about it.

“That said, I was meant to keep it confidential as at back then of course so, I couldn’t just run about, telling everyone that I was going to be The 10th Curator, hence, the ‘Spoilers’.” he concluded with a light smile, glancing over to Jasmine who responded;

“I still like that word a lot though.”

“I know you do.” Kyle casually replied to her, causing both Emma and the audience to share another bout of laughter.

Both of them had such good chemistry that played off well off of each other.

A few seconds later though, after the laughter had subdued, Emma then asked another question, moving over to the artistry side of things.

“How was it like, for you, mentally I mean, coming out of the last iteration of [The Curator] into yours?”

“Especially since you indirectly stated that it was your favorite show?” she directed her question solely towards Kyle, hinting towards the last time he was around and they’d been indirectly complaining about the series falling off.

Smiling a bit before responding, nodding in acknowledgement of what she was hinting at, the young man mused a bit before he then spoke.

“A jamboree, to put it mildly… both figuratively and literally.” Kyle, glanced over to both Jasmine and the audience as he said that, most of them chuckling in response to his words as he continued;

“The set was packed to say the least and obviously, there was still a lot of backlash from the fans and the general audience alike so, there was a certain feel of underestimation from most people on set because, despite not even believing that I had the chops to make The Curator’s gravitas work, they still wanted to see me act, I guess… really wanted to know why I was casted for such a hefty role…”

“And who can blame them really, you know. Twenty-two years with relatively little experience as an actor. It was expected really, so I took no offence at all.” Kyle smiled warmly as he continued, earning light smiles from Emma, Jasmine and the crowd.

“But, I’ve always been a fan of [The Curator] for as long as I can remember and I just knew, that if I was going to do it, I had to do it extremely right… and so I did.” he concluded.

“And now, you’re absolutely, brilliant!” the host chipped in with a genuine grin and a gesture of her hands, making Jasmine, alongside the audience, cheer him on with a round of applause.

Watching him as he smiled at the crowd though, Emma was really glad that the young chap she had interviewed last year, still maintained that endearing modesty to him that was hard to find in most of Hollywood these days.

Moments later, after the applause had died down, Emma then asked another question;

“So, how’d you come up with a chaotic Curator and his attire? It’s the best amongst other iterations so far!”

To that, Kyle gently nodded his head as he responded with a thin smile;

“Well, The 10th Curator wasn’t originally meant to be so chaotic. I had a more subdued version of him back when I did my audition that was more focused on him being cool and mysterious…”

To his words, some people in the audience, ‘oohed’ in curiosity while Jasmine and Emma, listened to him as he kept talking, expressions of interest on their features.

“But, when I got the script for the episodes, Tiana and Barry, alongside Jon especially, contacted me and told me they’d like it if I could lean more into that chaotic side of my iteration.”

“And well, after asking for their reasons, I did realize that it would make for a more interesting take on The Curator so I went with it.” Kyle lengthily explained as he continued;

“As for the attire, I think asides myself, I have Oliver and mostly Christina Aubert, a really close friend of mine, to thank for that.”

“Just a week and a few days before the audition, we headed over to a boutique and spent roughly half the entire day just picking outfits to wear till we eventually settled on the Belle-Epoque attire.”

“Overall, it was a pretty fun experience.” Kyle concluded with a genuine smile.

However, just before the audience could shower him with applause and cheers, Jasmine casually yet purposely threw in, side-eyeing her co-star with a sportive glance.

“I should have you all know though, Kyle, looted every single long coat he used on set. Yes. He can be very shameless when long coats are involved.”

Instantly, the audience alongside Emma and Kyle himself, burst into another bout of hearty laughter.

And just like that, the talk show went on, with more questions being asked from both celebrities, one even involving how Kyle had come up with the idea to troll the paparazzi alongside he and Jasmine’s interaction under the TweetTalk post.

A few minutes later, after talking on the more casual side of things, Emma then asked Kyle specifically;

“Now you’re moving on, possibly in search of new horizons. How does that make you feel, leaving such a big role but knowing you’re nearing the acclaim of an A-lister?”

“Conflicted, honestly. I think I’m really gonna miss playing The Curator. There’s just no role quite like it really that allows you to zip about with your acting skills.” Kyle responded with a mix of happy yet reluctant smile.

“One moment he’s the absolute mad man, the next, he’s possibly either the wisest sage in the room or the most dangerous being in the galaxy. Hard to top, really.” Kyle continued speaking.

“But you know, when you gotta go, you gotta go. Variety, after all, is what makes an actor bankable and dependable.” he sighed and then concluded with a light smile and a small nod of acceptance.

To that, Jasmine lightly patted his shoulder while Emma, smiled lightly as the audience in the room, cheered him on with another string of claps.

Glancing over to her wrist watch, Emma soon stated with a slightly reluctant tone;

“Oh would you look at the time, we have only a few minutes left on the clock…”

The host had been really enjoying her time with the two stars on set, she didn’t even notice how fast the time had gone.

Even some people in the audience, groaned in reluctance the moment she called their attention to it.

“But, before we round up, Kyle, Jasmine… Do you have any words of advice you’d like to give to any young, aspiring actors or actresses like you, starting out and trying to make it in the industry?”

In response to this, Jasmine lightly smiled, after which she then said with a genuine expression in her eyes;

“This is from personal experience so; No matter what happens, stay strong and stand tall.”

“Don’t ever, let the industry, change who you are to fit a narrative because, trust me, it really will try to do that, more often than not.” she concluded with an assuring gaze.

In response to the genuineness of her words, the audience applauded the lady with cheers and whistles, and so did the host and her co-star who nodded in agreement.

‘And what about you Kyle …’ Emma seemed to say with her gaze as she glanced over to him with a thin smile, the audience waiting in anticipation for his words, especially since he seemed to be very mature for his age.

Musing for a bit, contemplating on how to get his words across properly, Kyle soon spoke, his gaze genuine;

“My advice would be to ask you first; Are you sure?”

“And I say this genuinely from the bottom of my heart; if there’s anything else at all that you love, and you know would make you happy if you do it, then do it.”

“Because frankly, with my little experience in the industry, most of acting is being unemployed and being underestimated, really…”

“And I guess there are times that it will get extremely hard and extremely unfair…”

“So if don’t love it with all your heart, body, mind and soul, you may find yourself hating what you once aspired for…”

“But, like my agent once told me…”

“If you really love acting and you want to be successful with it, then you’ll have to be there and stay strong for the worst of those experiences…”

“And you’ll have to ride through the worst of those experiences, to get to the best.” Kyle concluded, a genuine smile on his features as he rounded up his advice.

Sure it was long, lengthy and not your typical PR-prepared answer from most Hollywood actors but… it was also real, genuine, considerate, insightful and heartfelt.

As a result, no sooner had he finished speaking, the audience, genuinely impressed by the eloquence of his words, got up to give him a standing ovation.

At the exact same time, Emma, got up from her chair and gave her farewell hugs and handshakes to both Jasmine and Kyle.

Even she, didn’t feel the need to properly round up the show.

Kyle’s advice, had already ended the talk show on a perfect note.