La La Land Page #7

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SEBASTIAN:

It was called Van Beek. The swing bands

played there. Count Basie. Chick Webb.

(then,)

It's a samba-tapas place now.

MIA:

A what?

SEBASTIAN:

Samba-tapas. It's... Exactly. The joke's on

history.

Mia laughs.

SEBASTIAN (CONT'D)

Anyway, that's L.A. They worship everything

and they value nothing.

They reach a patch of green. Another shoot. A P.A. yells out:

P.A.

Clear the frame!

MIA:

(to Sebastian)

We need to wait here.

SEBASTIAN:

I know. They shoot movies on my street.

"C-stands." "Apple box." "Don't forget to

sign out."

Mia laughs. A beat.

A.D. (O.S.)

Quiet on set!

Mia and Sebastian watch the cameras roll. Then, in a whisper --

SEBASTIAN:

How'd you get into all this?

Revision 26.

MIA:

Into...? Oh -- I -- my aunt was an

actress. She was in this traveling

theater company... And there was this

little library across the street from my

house when I was growing up. This was

Boulder City, Nevada -- every house

looked exactly the same. I was ten and

already I needed to get out. And one day,

my aunt flew into town, and she showed me

the library's old-movie section. We spent

a whole day watching one after the other.

Bringing Up Baby. Notorious. Casablanca.

(a beat; then,)

I never knew the world was so big.

DIRECTOR (O.S.)

Cut!

Mia and Sebastian resume walking. Now, at full volume --

MIA:

I started putting on plays in my garage.

I'd write the scripts and print up

programs, and she'd give me props to use

from wherever she'd just been -- New

York, London, Paris. And then she'd jet

off again and I wouldn't hear from her

for another year.

SEBASTIAN:

Who would you invite to watch? Your

parents?

MIA:

God no -- I didn't invite anyone. That

would have been terrifying.

C40 CUT TO:
The entrance to a giant soundstage.

MIA (CONT'D)

Honestly, I wish I loved something else.

I've tried so hard to want other things.

She and Sebastian stop. Peer inside the stage.

MIA (CONT'D)

I left school after two years to come here,

my fourth manager just dropped me, and my

last audition was for a teen soap pitched

as Dangerous Minds meets The O.C.

(a beat; then, deadpan --)

Should've been a lawyer.

Revision 27.

They resume walking.

D40 CUT TO:
A row of closed soundstages, sandy-tan against the

bright blue sky.

SEBASTIAN:

...`Cause the world needs more lawyers.

MIA:

Well it doesn't need more actresses.

SEBASTIAN:

You're not just an actress.

MIA:

What do you mean, "just an actress"?

SEBASTIAN:

You said it yourself, you're a child-

prodigy playwright.

MIA:

That is not what I said.

SEBASTIAN:

You're too modest to say it but it's

true. So you could write your own roles.

Write something that's as interesting as

you are.

MIA:

Last thing I wrote was a stand-up routine

for an open-mic night. It was horrible.

SEBASTIAN:

All I'm saying is -- Louis Armstrong

could have played the marching-band

charts he was given. What did he do

instead? He made history.

MIA:

Ok, I'll stop auditioning and make

history instead.

Sebastian laughs.

MIA (CONT'D)

Anyway -- I'm getting a feeling there's

something I should tell you...

SEBASTIAN:

Yeah?

Revision 28.

MIA:

I hate jazz.

Sebastian stops. Turns to her.

SEBASTIAN:

What does that mean? "I hate jazz"?

MIA:

It means when I listen to it I don't like

it.

SEBASTIAN:

But it's such a blanket statement. It's

like saying "I hate animals".

MIA:

I do hate some animals.

SEBASTIAN:

Do you need to be anywhere right now?

Mia looks at him. We hear DRUMS. A swinging ride pattern. And

we're in --

41 INT. LIGHTHOUSE CAFE - DAY

-- an old-school JAZZ CLUB. It's almost empty, only aged JAZZ

CATS here -- except for Mia and Sebastian, watching a QUARTET...

SEBASTIAN (CONT'D)

Most people say they hate jazz because

they don't have context. They don't get

where it came from. All these people

packed into flophouses in New Orleans,

speaking five different languages, and

jazz was how they talked to each other.

MIA:

I thought it was just Kenny G.

SEBASTIAN:

...What?

Mia looks at him. Already knows just how to get to him.

MIA:

I associate it with facials. It's

relaxing.

SEBASTIAN:

It's not relaxing! Sid Bechet got into a

gunfight `cause somebody told him he

played a wrong note!

Revision 29.

MIA:

(laying it on thick)

Right, but it's good to talk over. Where

I grew up there's this jazz station

they'd play at cocktail parties whenever

they served the salami and cheese.

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