The stage manager then takes the audience back a year to a point where Emily had confronted George about his cocky attitude. They had then talked about how they felt about each other. George decided not to go to college, as he’d planned, but to work and eventually take over his uncle’s farm.
The play is then brought back to the present where George and Emily get cold feet. They talk to their parents, are talked off the ledge, and are happily married.
Act III was nine years further into the future. It began with the stage manager in a cemetery, telling the audience about all the people who’ve died since the wedding. The town’s undertaker takes the stage and talks to a young man who’s come to town for his cousin’s funeral. It turns out that it was Emily’s funeral they’re talking about. She died giving birth to her second child.
After the funeral, other dead people from the town join Emily and urge her to move on. She ignores their advice and relives a day when she was twelve. She comes to realize that every moment of life should be treasured.
Emily talks to the stage manager and asks if people realize what a gift life is. He tells her only poets and saints do. She goes back to her grave to find George kneeling over it as he weeps for her. The stage manager then wishes the audience a good night to end the play.
We did a read-through of Act I, and Mr. Dutton wanted to work with us all to be better. I was quite surprised that Halle and I were the only ones who knew most of our lines. Maybe Hollywood had done more for me than just make me money. I might actually be getting professional about it all! No matter. I knew every girl I’d ever been around for any length of time would be more than happy to smack me down if I got a big head.
Mr. Dutton asked if I could come the next two nights after baseball and we’d walk through Acts II and III. Cassidy wouldn’t be happy, but something had to give.
◊◊◊ Thursday March 366
After several rounds of negotiations, my dad won the trip to London with me. I would test for the Han Solo role in the yet-to-be-titled
The young Han Solo movie’s release date was at least two years out. Early buzz had Chris Pratt as a shoo-in for the role with his recent successes in
Saul told me that thousands of actors tested for the role. Once Chris Pratt was out, Disney and Lucasfilm seemed to target actors between the ages of 20 to 25. The only exceptions were Scott Eastwood at 29 and me at 17. The studio execs had cut the list down to about a dozen actors. They released names of those who had made the cut with me, including Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Dave Franco, Adam Trimble, Scott Eastwood, Logan Lerman, Emory Cohen, Micah Phelps, and Blake Jenner.
We had to sign an NDA (NonDisclosure Agreement) and test deals before we could be flown to London for the second round of auditions. Saul told me I was one of the last to meet with the producers. He said they would probably cut the list to a final three or four.
◊◊◊
I think this was an adventure for Dad because he seemed to take it all in. Though when we boarded the plane, I was the wide-eyed one. I’d flown domestic first class where it was two seats to a side, instead of the three seats in coach. This was a completely different experience. We were on a Boeing 777 that American Airlines had configured to their international first class. Instead of side-by-side seating, you had what can best be described as a cubicle. They’d laid it out so there were single mini-suites on the outside rows and two in the center. Dad and I had seats a couple of rows back and next to each other.
The seats were designed so they would actually lie flat and turn into a bed, which was good because we were taking the red-eye to London. Our flight would take eight hours. We were scheduled to take off from Chicago at 10 p.m. (4 a.m. London time), and we would land in London around noon the next day with the six-hour time difference.
I would miss a day of school, but Lincoln High was supportive of my acting. Moose wasn’t as forgiving, but he understood that this was important to me.
