Our driver dropped us off at the Tewin Bury Farm Hotel. It was an elegant, older hotel that certainly looked like it had been a farm at one point. After we got situated, Dad and I went to the dining room and talked them into making us breakfast, even though it was mid-afternoon. He decided to go for the traditional English breakfast. I knew we’d be eating dinner soon, so I just had tea and scones.
We were almost done when Saul and his wife found us.
“I can’t believe they hid us away in this dump,” Saul complained.
“Hi, I’m David, and this is my dad,” I said to Mrs. Gessler.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Kelly,” she said to my dad.
“This can’t be right,” Dad said and then turned to Saul. “You said you were married to an evil woman who was the bane of your existence.”
“You just met her,” Saul said, deadpan. “She’s on her best behavior this weekend.”
“You better settle down, or I’ll run off with David, and we’ll spend all your money,” Kelly threatened.
She knew exactly how to get Saul in line. I smiled when he made nice. He was a different person when he was around her. I think I could like this Saul. He looked at his watch.
“We have to go,” he announced.
“Where to?” I asked.
“Elstree Studios, where they’re filming
◊◊◊
We met Mark Philpott at the studio. He was responsible for casting the yet-to-be-named Han Solo movie.
“Welcome. Tonight, you’ll meet the team who will make the selection for Han Solo, but Garrett Silas, the director for
Mark took us through the different areas at the studio. This was an entirely different scale of production from anything I’d ever seen before. Disney and Lucasfilm had made a commitment to expanding the
We were able to watch them shoot a scene. It was interesting to watch Garrett work. He had an improvisational style. I watched as he actually held one of the cameras as they filmed the scene. When they were done, Mark let him know we were here.
“This must be the next Han Solo,” Garrett said as he shook my hand.
“If they’ll let me.”
The woman in the current scene came over.
“Hi, I’m Joy. I hear we’ll be shooting a scene today.”
I’d not been told that, but why not?
“Sure. Do I need to get dressed for it?” I asked.
“No, no, we just want to see the two of you on camera together,” Garrett said.
I spent the next hour reading lines with Joy Holmes. She’d started acting when she was twelve, over twenty years ago. She had a knack for putting me at ease and getting a good performance out of me. Garrett figured out that I was an athlete and had some training for fights. Joy had been learning kung fu for her role. He had us do some things on camera at three-quarter speed to see how I moved.
He brought out his stunt coordinator, Edric Hurley, to stand in for Joy.
“Have you ever trained with swords?” Edric asked.
“Yes, and I’ve used batons as well, though I’m better with a Bo staff.”
Edric grabbed a couple of training swords, and we sparred while Garrett filmed us. He then had one of his people bring me a Bo staff so I could show him some of my flashier moves.
“Can you shoot?” Edric asked.
“You mean like Han Solo, or for real?” I asked.
“What do you mean by that?” Garrett asked.
“Harrison Ford has an awkward way of moving when he runs and fires a weapon. I’d be surprised if he could actually hit anything in real life.”
“Show me what you mean,” Garrett said.
Edric gave me a prop they used in the movie. It was a handgun of some kind. I just acted like it was the real thing.
They had me run across the room like I was Harrison Ford and fire my gun. I imitated the way he rolled his shoulders when he ran, and I skidded to a stop and shot it like I was him. Then I turned and ran away, like he always seemed to do, and fired behind me like I was being chased.
I then did it like I would in real life, using a two-hand grip, and killed several imaginary villains. When they were all dead, I blew across the barrel as if blowing away smoke and sauntered off.
Garrett loved it.
“I see exactly what you mean. That’s the best Harrison Ford impression we’ve seen. Thanks for spending time with us today,” Garrett said, and we were done.
◊◊◊
We’d just gotten back to the hotel when my phone rang.
“Hello,” I answered.
“You thought you could sneak back into the UK and not call me?”
I thought about who I knew in the UK. She didn’t have a Russian accent, so it wasn’t Kat. I smiled.
“Now I feel bad, Aubrey. I should have made it a point to call. I’m only in town for a couple of days. Can you get free and see me?” I asked.
