La La Land Page #9

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DIRECTOR (O.S.)

...We'll be seeing you very soon.

Revision 33.

An ACTRESS exits. Absolutely beaming. And then, a bored voice --

ASSISTANT:

Mia Dolan?

47 INT. AUDITION ROOM - MOMENTS LATER

Mia steps in. The pilot's DIRECTOR is seated at a table,

looking in his folder at Mia's head-shot. He looks up at Mia.

DIRECTOR:

Whenever you're ready.

Mia breathes in. Heart pounding. Sweat percolating. Has been

practicing this for days now.

Fighting her nerves, she begins --

MIA:

Two options. Follow my rules, or follow

my rules. Kapish? You want to bully,

you'd best be ready to get bullied --

DIRECTOR:

Thanks.

Mia is taken aback.

MIA:

I can do it another way --

DIRECTOR:

No, thanks, that was great.

We linger on Mia for a moment, and then --

48 EXT. PARKING LOT / INT. MIA'S CAR - DAY

Crestfallen, humiliated, Mia hurries to her car. Sees a voice-

mail on her cell. Plays it --

MIA'S MOM (O.S.)

Dad just helped me find Oxygen on the

guide! So exciting! So will you be

getting health insurance now?

Mia switches her phone off and drives. Clenches her jaw.

Turns left and sees a movie theater. The Rialto. Manages a

smile.

Something she can remain upbeat about...

Revision 34.

49 INT. MIA'S APARTMENT - DAY

Mia in her room, sorting through outfits. Slips into jeans --

ALEXIS:

Mia?

-- then spins around, startled. Alexis is at the door, eating

Fritos. Has been crying.

ALEXIS (CONT'D)

(with difficulty)

Greg's here...

Mia looks at Alexis -- completely confused. Then -- Greg steps

out behind Alexis. Waves to her.

GREG:

Hey... I'm parked out front. But we

should hurry, my brother just landed.

Mia looks at him, still confused. Then remembers.

GREG (CONT'D)

Did you forget?

MIA:

Sh*t. No. Yes. I'll change...

GREG:

(smiles)

It's ok.

Mia closes her door -- turns -- and we see her face. She's

crushed. She goes to call Sebastian -- then freezes.

Remembers something else. She never got his number...

We linger on her face, as, on his phone outside her door --

GREG (O.S.) (CONT'D)

Josh! Yep, just picking Mia up now. Will

be there in twenty.

50 INT. LIGHTHOUSE CAFE - NIGHT

Sebastian's playing a jam session. Excited, distracted. 10pm

can't come quickly enough.

51 INT. JAR - NIGHT

Mia, in a green dress, with Greg, his brother JOSH, and

Josh's FIANCEE. The restaurant is posh, modern. Josh wears a

Brooks Brothers suit: he seems better-off than his brother.

Revision 35.

JOSH:

That's right -- but now we've got a

surround-sound set-up, so it's like --

FIANCEE:

It's like being in a movie theater.

JOSH:

It's better than going to a theater,

really. You know theaters these days --

GREG:

Oh, sure --

JOSH:

-- they're so dirty, and they're either

too hot or too cold, and there's always

people talking, which is just --

(his phone buzzes)

-- just so annoying, I mean you're trying

to watch a movie -- one second --

(opens phone)

Hello?...

His Fiancée smiles, looks at Greg and Mia, proud.

FIANCEE:

Probably work.

JOSH:

Yeah, I'll have to call you back.

(closes and pockets his phone)

So, yeah, we love it.

Awkward silence. Mia hasn't spoken a word.

52 EXT. RIALTO MOVIE THEATER - NIGHT

Sebastian paces. People shuffle in. He looks. No sign of Mia.

53 INT. JAR - NIGHT

Midway through the meal.

Mia is bored, restless, uneasy.

JOSH (CONT'D)

One word for you. Nicaragua.

GREG:

I've never heard anyone say that. Was it

amazing?

Revision 36.

JOSH:

Oh my God. A five-star jungle eco-resort.

It was unbelievable.

Mia stays quiet, in her own thoughts, the voices around her

fading away. And then she hears it -- coming from the

restaurant speakers, peeking out subtly at first: the melody

we now know so well... Her and Sebastian's song.

She FREEZES. The radio music seems to have morphed into the

melody, and the tune stirs something deep within her...

A few seconds pass. And then she can't deny it any longer.

It's clear as day to her now. She rises from her seat --

GREG:

Mia?

-- looks at Greg --

MIA:

I'm sorry.

-- and -- as the sounds of a FULL ORCHESTRA swoop in --

-- RUNS out of the restaurant as fast as she can.

54 EXT. JAR - NIGHT

The MUSIC SWELLS, strings carrying us through and lifting

Mia's spirits as she runs down the street in her green dress,

for once absolutely sure of what she's doing...

55 INT. RIALTO MOVIE THEATER - NIGHT

Inside the Rialto, Sebastian settling into his seat, the show

about to begin. He's visibly disappointed that he's alone. The

lights dim. Projector light cuts through the darkness. And

then, as the movie's credits start up, Sebastian spots, out of

the corner of his eye, a figure in the aisle...

He looks. The figure turns. Looks at him. It's Mia.

And, caught like a freeze-frame in the projector light, her

green dress incandescent, the giant movie screen behind her

like a great piece of back-projection, she looks more beautiful

than ever right now. A true old-fashioned screen siren.

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