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“For some reason, I couldn’t get a role to save my life, if I’m being honest. They say that many times, you are simply at the right place at the right time. I was at a Hollywood party and saw a studio exec with someone who wasn’t his wife and snapped a couple of quick pics. The next day, I had the role.”

I tried to combine my best innocent smile with puppy-dog eyes as I shrugged helplessly, but Stewart spoiled the effect when he erupted in laughter. It took him a couple of minutes to pull himself together.

“That explains a lot,” he chortled. “What made you want to do The Royal Palm?”

“At first, I thought I’d be working with you while you were still playing an alien, which is how we normally interact,” I said teasingly while also plugging Star Academy.

Stewart tried to look nonplussed, but he couldn’t contain the grin.

“Either that or something to do with magic,” Stewart offered.

I’d have to thank him later for plugging The Secret Circle.

“Yeah, I can’t forget that. I guess they tricked me into doing a period piece.”

“A film based in the early ’60s isn’t really a period piece,” Stewart said to correct me.

“Oh, that’s right. You’re old.”

He was pretty accurate at throwing his index cards.

“They warned me never to work with animals or children.”

I gave him my best angelic smile.

“The Royal Palm is out in theaters this Friday. Come see the kid and me in a great film,” Stewart concluded.

“And we’re out,” the director said. “Great job.”

◊◊◊

The rest of the day, I did interviews with different castmates. It was good to see Heath Rooter, the veteran character actor who played a CIA agent in the movie. He and Stewart had become my best friends on the set. The two of them had drawn the coveted Tonight Show appearance. I’d gotten Kitty Ellis, and we were doing a new show called Backstage.

It was a late-night entertainment show that was similar to Inside the Actors Studio in that it was centered more on the craft of acting. As such, the studio audience was made up of actors, directors, producers, and others in the industry. The majority were learning their craft.

The show was shot at the Geffen Playhouse on the UCLA campus. It held 512 people, and Frank told me it was sold out for tonight. The studio had held several pre-screenings of our movie for influential people and critics. Tonight, they planned to have one before the taping of our show. The only qualifier the studio put on it was that they couldn’t give away any of the good stuff like me being shot and killed in the movie. They wanted it to be a surprise to the movie-going audience when they went to theaters.

Kitty and I sat in the front row with the host, Kent Bloodworth, to watch the movie. I noticed that they’d made some changes from the version of the film that was shown to my football team in St. Louis. Kitty shared that based on focus groups, they’d tweaked it. At the end of the picture, I was surprised when the audience stood and clapped. I imagine they had an appreciation of how much work making a movie was.

A quick break was taken while they put a table with three chairs around it on stage. Kitty and I were warned that this was a ‘live’ show. Then, before it began, Mr. Bloodworth reminded the audience as well. What could go wrong with being ‘live,’ I wondered.

As they played the intro, I noticed that Kitty had started to act nervous. As a director, she was used to being on the other side of the camera. I reached over, squeezed her hand, and smiled at her. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. It was lucky that Mr. Bloodworth started into a monologue about who we were and that he and the audience had just screened The Royal Palm.

“This movie is better than I had been told, and I was informed it was probably the sleeper everyone would end up seeing. The only film that might give it a run for its money for all the awards this year is La La Land. I would also say that both Kitty Ellis and David A. Dawson may be taking home some hardware for their efforts.”

He then focused on Kitty and how she’d gotten her start. I hadn’t realized that she’d been in the business for fifteen years before she’d gotten the chance to direct The Royal Palm and followed that up by doing Love Letters. It just highlighted how hard it was to break into this business because I thought she was one of the better directors I’d worked with.

It was now my turn.

“How did you get your start in acting?”

“I was a high school athlete on a recruiting trip where I met an actress who was involved in the Star Academy movie. She thought I had the look and confidence to play her son. I was invited to a casting call in Chicago for the role,” I answered.

“How did that go?”

“They were very nice and let us dress up in costumes for our scene. I got bored waiting, so I hit the gym and lifted weights while everyone else got their turn. I was put last because I was a late addition.”