Birdman Page #10

SAM(Distant.)

Yeah.

MIKECool.

SAMIt wasn't all Dr. Drew or anything, but

that dude from American Pie was there.

A VOICE(From the street below.)

Juuump!

SAM(Calling down.)

Eat me!

A VOICEOkay. Jump on my face!

SAM(To Mike.)

I love this city.

MIKEYeah.

SAM(Casually.)

Why do you act like a dick all the time? Do

you just do it to antagonize people?

MIKEMaybe...

Sam turns and faces Mike.

SAMYou really don't give a sh*t if people like

you or not...

MIKENot really.

SAM(More comfortable.)

God, that's cool.

MIKEIs it...?

Mike leans on the railing, looking down at the street. For a

moment, he is somewhere else...

10/29/14 / 60.

(CONTINUED)

SAMHey.

(Mike doesn't respond. She pushes

him.)

Hey...

MIKEWhat?

SAMLet's play a game.

MIKEA game?

SAMYeah.

MIKEWhat are you, eight?

SAMWhat are you, seventy-eight? Truth or

dare...?

MIKEYou gotta be--

SAMTruth or dare?

He looks at her, intrigued.

MIKETruth.

SAMThe first time we met, you made a comment about

my ass. Why'd you do it?

MIKEBecause you have a great ass, and I noticed

it. So, I said it.

(A beat.)

Truth or dare?

SAMDare.

MIKEReally...

SAMUh-huh.

10/29/14 / 61.

(CONTINUED)

A moment of tension.

MIKE(Looking at the street.)

There’s a bald guy about to walk by down

there. Spit on his head.

SAMNo!

MIKEYou said dare.

SAMTruth.

MIKEToo late.

She stares into Mike's eyes, knowing she's being tested. She

leans over the railing and spits down toward the street.

SAMHappy?

MAN (O.C.)

(From the street)

F*** you!

Sam laughs. Mike smiles at her carefree laugh. It could be the

first time we've seen a genuine smile from him.

SAMTruth or dare?

MIKETruth.

SAMYou're boring.

MIKETruth.

She stares him down.

SAM(Nervous, pretending.)

Do you want to fool around with me?

A pause.

MIKENo.

10/29/14 / 62.

(CONTINUED)

SAM(Taken aback.)

Really? Why not?

MIKEThat's a second question.

SAMIt's a second part.

A pause.

MIKEI'd be afraid I couldn't get it up.

Impressed with his honesty.

SAMThat didn't seem to be a problem for you on

stage.

MIKENothing’s a problem for me on stage.

SAMI wanna ask another question...

MIKEYou just asked--

SAMOne more.

MIKEGo 'head.

SAMIf you weren't afraid. What would you want

to do to me?

He carefully considers it, then moves his face close to hers.

MIKEI would want to pull the eyes out of your

head...

SAM...That's sweet...

MIKE...And stick them in my skull, and then

look out at this street and see it the way

I saw it when I was your age.

10/29/14 / 63.

(CONTINUED)

Mike turns and stares out at the street once more. Sam stares

at the mystery that is Mike.

SAMG'night, Mike.

She walks away and into the building, never looking back.

A29A29Mike stares out into the night. We move to his POV. The street.

Night turns to day. Pedestrians begin to walk below.

B29B29We crawl down the wall until we arrive at Riggan's dressing

room window. We push in to find...

INT. RIGGAN'S DRESSING ROOM - THEATER - DAY3030...Riggan siting with his feet on the window frame, staring at

a manila envelope in his hands that reads... "R, MALIBU

REFINANCE DOCS. SIGN AND SEND ASAP. J." Riggan sighs and props

the letter up against the mirror.

With a soft knock, Laura enters. She stands in the doorway with

an odd expression on her face.

RIGGANWhat now?

Laura lays the Arts section of the New York Times down in front

of Riggan.

LAURADon't kill the messenger.

Riggan picks up the paper. His expression immediately changes.

Laura watches him sympathetically.

LAURA (CONT'D)

He's an a**hole.

Now we see the cover of the Arts section. There is a picture

of Mike lounging on a black sofa, his bare feet on a table as

he sips a glass of wine. The Title of the article reads...

"CARVING OUT HIS PLACE IN THEATER HISTORY. Shiner says Raymond

Carver is the reason he became an actor." Riggan involuntarily

squeezes the paper as he reads on, filling with rage.

BIRDMAN (V.O.)

He’s fooling you.

10/29/14 / 64.

(CONTINUED)

RIGGANShut up.

LAURA(Confused.)

I didn't say anything.

RIGGANFuck. This is it?

(He passes a few pages.)

This can't be it.

LAURAPage twelve.

Riggan searches desperately for page twelve. When he gets

there, he finds a huge ad of the new Toyota Camry that almost

fills the entire page, and down in the left corner a tiny

press release with the title:

"From Birdman to Carver: An aging Action Hero Grasps for His

Youth."

RIGGAN(Reading.)

"Riggan Thompson, better known as the face of

the Birdman films, tries not to lay an egg on

Broadway..."

(Flipping pages.)

Where's the rest of it?

LAURAThere is no rest of it.

RIGGANThey didn’t use the photo I sent them.

LAURAWhat photo?

RIGGANThe one you liked. The one you said

I look like a young Jack Nicholson.

LAURA(She lights a candle.)

Don't worry about it. Someone'll be using

that to pick up dog sh*t tomorrow.

RIGGANHow can you be so calm about this?

LAURAWhat are my other choices?

10/29/14 / 65.

(CONTINUED)

RIGGANAren't you scared at all?

LAURAAbout what?

RIGGANAbout being humiliated out there.

LAURAIt won't be the first time I've been

humiliated.

RIGGANI bet it won't.

Laura looks at him with fire in her eyes.

LAURAYou're an a**hole.

She charges to the door and is about to leave when she turns

back to Riggan...

LAURA (CONT'D)

By the way... I'm not pregnant. So there's

one thing you don’t have to worry about.

She leaves, slamming the door behind her.

Riggan remains still. Mike seems to be smirking at him right

through the cover of the Arts section...

BIRDMAN (V.O.)

That pretentious, little, theater f*** is

stealing your thunder.

Riggan charges out of the room and into...

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS3131...the hallway. He walks to Mike's dressing room, finds the

door half opened and enters...

INT. MIKE'S DRESSING ROOM - THEATER - CONTINUOUS3232...discovering Mike lying in a sun bed. His arm is sticking

out of it, holding on to a copy of Borges's 'Labyrinths'.

Riggan yanks the sun bed open. Mike is asleep, wearing tiny

sun goggles. Riggan slams the lid down on him.

10/29/14 / 66.

(CONTINUED)

MIKEWhat the f*** is going on!

RIGGANGet up!

MIKEBack away.

RIGGANGet up.

Riggan slaps Mike on the arm.

MIKEOw, f*** that hurts!

RIGGANSo, Carver is the reason you became an

actor?

MIKEWhat?

RIGGANThis is my play! I did the work. I raised the

money. I arrange the press.

MIKEThey called me for an interview. I said-- I

don't know, I said the first thing that

came to mind. Jesus, we got the cover of

the Arts section!

RIGGANYou said the first-- F*** the Arts section.

The first thing that came to mind? Right.

Cause that's you. Mr. Natural. Mr. F*** the

scene, just stare at my massive hard-on.

Because that's the truth of the moment.

MIKEYou think it looked massive?

RIGGANShut up. Shut the f*** up. You don't get

hard on my stage unless I tell you to.

MIKEYour stage? This stage belonged to a lot of

great actor's, pal. But you are not one of

them.

Mike storms out of the room. Riggan follows him into...

10/29/14 / 67.

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