La La Land Page #2

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CASTING DIRECTOR (CONT'D)

You know what? I think we're good. Thanks

for coming in.

Mia looks at her. A beat.

6 INT. LOBBY - DAY

Mia exits. Nerves still on edge. Passes one beautiful redhead

after the next -- all getting ready to cry.

Enters the elevator with two other WOMEN -- tall, statuesque.

Also redheads.

7 INT. MIA'S APARTMENT - EARLY EVENING

Mia enters. Exhausted. Heads to her ROOM.

Revision 5.

Old movie posters hang on the walls, including a big Ingrid

Bergman one over the bed. There's also a shelf filled with

acting books -- Uta Hagen, Stella Adler. Various other

trinkets:
an old globe, an old blue-and-red suitcase. Mia

takes off her shoe. A blister on her sole.

8 WE CUT TO:
Mia in the BATHROOM. Just showered, wrapped in a

towel. She hums to herself.

The mirror is fogged up. She turns off the vent. The mist on

the glass thickens. She dabs some of it away. Dims the

lights. Looks...

With the fog in place, her reflection looks like one of those

soft-focus old Hollywood close-ups. She hums as she brushes

her hair...

Then -- the door SWINGS open -- and the spell is broken.

TRACY:

Holy Mother of God.

Mia snaps out of it. Turns. Fog is enveloping TRACY, 27.

TRACY (CONT'D)

Ever heard of a vent?

MIA:

I wanted to give you an entrance.

ALEXIS:

(appearing in the hall, 26,

eating Cheetos)

Mia! How'd it go?

MIA:

Eh...

ALEXIS:

Same here. Was Jen there? Or Rachel?

MIA:

I don't know who Jen and Rachel are.

ALEXIS:

They're the worst.

MIA:

I don't know if they were there.

As Mia slips away --

ALEXIS:

I bet they were.

Revision 6.

CAITLIN:

(appearing, 27)

Why is there a convention in the bathroom?

TRACY:

Two minutes, people! Mia you're coming,

right?

WE PAN TO find Mia poking her head out of her bedroom --

MIA:

Can't. Working.

TRACY (O.S.)

What?

(we PAN BACK to Tracy)

Did she say "working"?

A8 We follow Mia INSIDE her room. She closes the door. Takes a

moment. You can tell in her eyes -- work or not, a night on

the town is the last thing she wants to do now.

B8 WE CUT to the HALLWAY, to find Tracy POUNDING on Mia's door.

MIA:

(opening up)

Yes?

TRACY:

Look, I know things didn't go well today.

There are four things in my inbox that

you're perfect for and I will submit you.

But right now -- you're coming.

C8 With that -- she barges in and beelines to Mia's closet --

TRACY (CONT'D)

It'll be fun.

MIA:

It'll be a bunch of social climbers packed

into one of those glass houses.

TRACY:

Exactly. Fun.

She pulls out a blue dress. As Alexis hurries in --

TRACY (CONT'D) MIA

This looks familiar. I was going to give it

back!

Alexis moves from Mia's perfume to the dress, lighting up as

she grabs it --

Revision 7.

ALEXIS:

Come on, Mia. When else do you get to

see every Hollywood cliché crammed

into a single home?

TRACY:

(faux-offended)

Lex! I'm disappointed in you. There's

nothing to make fun of. This party will

be humanity at its finest.

Mia rolls her eyes -- and, with that --

Tracy BREAKS INTO SONG. [SOMEONE IN THE CROWD]

She play-acts the clichés this party will represent. Alexis

and Caitlin join in, giddy and playful. Mia can't help but

laugh. The roommates sing and dance, hoping to persuade Mia

to join the night's revelry...

Mia remains reluctant. Stays behind in her room as her

roommates head out the door. But she's starting to wonder: A

night at home, feeling sorry for herself -- or a night out

with her friends...?

9 EXT. APARTMENT BUILDING / STREET - NIGHT

We're outside now, and BACK with Tracy, Alexis and Caitlin,

marching across the courtyard and toward the street. They

sing, dance, half-assuming Mia is a no-go --

-- until Mia APPEARS, blue-dress-clad. Her roommates look at

her in surprise -- then delight. The energy swells and the

four characters dance their way together down the street.

They dive into a single CAR, and WE DISSOLVE TO...

10 OMIT.

A10 OMIT.

11 EXT. CITY - NIGHT

An old-fashioned MONTAGE of a night on the town: neon signs

and overflowing champagne glasses. Soon enough, we're at...

12 EXT. MODERN HILLTOP HOUSE - NIGHT

Valet cars lined up. We FOLLOW Alexis, Tracy, Caitlin and Mia

to the door...

13 INT./EXT. HILLTOP HOUSE - NIGHT

...and into a big-glass hilltop pad. We FOLLOW Mia as she

takes in her surroundings.

Revision 8.

A D.J. turning tables. A FAT OLD PRODUCER dancing with a

TWENTY-SOMETHING. A trio of AGENTS glad-handing each other in

rhythm by the bar. Yep -- every cliché is here...

Mia tries talking to a pair of WOMEN -- who promptly ditch

her.

Seeing she's now alone, a YOUNG MAN swoops in to hit on her.

She makes a hasty exit toward the bar -- but the line's

obscenely long.

She nears the BATHROOM door -- but a COUPLE stands in her way,

making out.

She slips in behind them...

A13 Inside the BATHROOM, Mia takes a moment. The joy of seconds

ago is gone from her eyes now. She gazes into the mirror --

-- and SINGS by herself.

This verse, sung in private, belongs to a new style: less

brash, and far more vulnerable...

Once finished, Mia takes a breath, steels herself to once

again face the world, opens the door -- and rejoins the

crowd...

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