Road to Nowhere Page #2

Nestor Duran.

Nice to meet you.

So I'm playing your daughter.

No.

You are his daughter.

S. De verdad.

Okay.

Sure, yeah.

Ah, yeah, uh, we'll go up to the pool,

we'll have a cooling drink...

and I'll explain to you

what the job entails.

All right.

What's the catch?

Why are you guys

paying me so much?

- It's too much.

- Well, there is an element of risk involved.

What does

"too much" mean...

if it's for

someone you love?

They're all planets.

They only reflect light.

You could finance 1 0 movies

just with these head shots.

We'll find her. If we screw up

the casting of Velma Duran,

we don't have a movie.

It's an audition

that Candace sent over.

Some girl who only did

one exploitation film.

Okay.

Oh, God.

She's unbelievable.

Hey, you haven't seen my level

around here, have you?

We've gotta find out who she is

and get her in here for a meeting.

Out of all the head shots and rsums

and reels and meetings,

what made you pick

Laurel Graham?

Of all the gin joints in the world,

she had to walk into mine.

I think if I have

any talent at all, it's for recognizing talent.

Wait a minute.

Wait a minute.

No, no. I-I'm sorry.

This is the craziest f***ing thing I ever heard.

They saw me in some

stupid horror movie I did...

that I never thought

would get seen anywhere.

And now you need money

to disappear again.

I paid you, Laurel.

What should I do?

You can't do this, Laurel.

Hold on. Hold on.

My phone's ringing.

- Hello.

- Hi, Laurel.

Hi.

It's Mitchell Haven.

Can I come up?

Let me call you back.

Um, yeah. There's a caf

on the second floor.

Uh... 30 minutes?

Okay, great.

Bye.

F***.

Hi.

Hi.

Hi.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you too.

Okay, before you say anything

about me or your movie, Wow.

I just have to tell you

that I'm not an actress.

Okay.

How do I say this?

You are Velma Duran.

No, I just did that stupid

vampire movie as a goof.

Well, great.

That's what this will be.

You're not understanding

what I'm saying.

I'm I'm really embarrassed.

'Cause I don't act.

That's perfect.

You know, um...

what Sam Fuller said

to Robert Stack...

when he asked him

how he wanted him to act?

He said one word.

"Don't."

The tragic deaths

of Bob Billings, Rafe Taschen and Velma Duran...

are coming

to the big screen.

Sources say the director

Mitchell Haven...

is in talks with Cary Stewart

to play the lead role of Rafe Taschen,

while Scarlett Johansson is rumored

to be in the lead to play Velma Duran.

Are these the right actors?

You have your say.

I think it's prophetic

that you're staying at the Scalinata.

I lived there

for six months, off and on.

Wow.

It was just a pensione then.

Well, it's a hotel now.

It's not as expensive as the Hassler or

the de Ville, but it's still pretty steep.

I think I'm gonna find

an apartment though.

But you don't need to do that now

'cause you're coming back to Hollywood with me.

You're very sure of yourself.

Not really.

Just you.

It's what they pay me for

understanding character.

We'll go over the script

in the morning.

Hey, man.

Hi, Moxie.

Hey.

How you doing? Hey. Good.

Hey, girl.

Let me grab these.

How you doing?

Hey.

How you doing?

So let me guess.

She's the reincarnation

of Louise Brooks. Better.

How was Rome?

Gotta tell you, this girl,

she gives off so much light she'll blind you.

Good news.

Scarlett Johansson's agent

said she'll do it for scale.

We just have to give her

a commitment by Friday.

Scarlett Johansson?

Yes.

What have I always said that

the three most important duties of the director are?

First is casting.

And second... is casting.

Third?

Casting.

It's 90% of the job,

and I can't even remember

what the other 10% is.

You remember what Warren

used to always say?

Mm-mmm.

That beauty

was only skin-deep,

but ugly

went clean to the bone.

Well, with this girl

her beauty goes clean to the bone.

She's not only beautiful

and perfect for the part, she's smart too, huh?

You, uh

You mentioned that a few times.

Just from talking to her

I've come up with a whole new ending.

Great. Well,

so we have no cast and no ending then.

No, we have a cast.

His agent finally

stopped blocking us.

Cary Stewart wants

to play the part.

Cary Stewart?

Sure you wanna do that?

So now

you've signed a star. Yes.

How much work did that take?

He responded to the material

immediately and

You know,

we've had discussions.

I'm honored to have

his creative input on the project as well.

But it's never that simple

in Hollywood, is it?

It's never

that simple.

Just as you think

you've crossed the bridges, then there's the deal

as you say,

the agents, the managers.

The managers.

The lawyers. Yeah. The press agents.

That is the complicated process.

At some point

it's just so unbelievably frustrating...

and it becomes like

something that obstructs the creative process.

You know?

I-It's like It's an industry, man.

Show business

is not just show.

Now, the costar.

Who is she?

Uh, relatively unknown.

Mm-hmm.

And she, um

She's incredible.

She's about

to be a huge star.

I just knew instantly

that she was the one.

She agreed to do the picture

and she arrived last night.

I think Cary's very excited.

He's seen some of her work.

Now, have you ever found

yourself involved with any of your actors- actresses, I mean?

I try and avoid that.

I like to think

I'm professional about it.

Do you see yourself following

a very scripted situation,

or do you think you're

going to improvise a lot?

I like my writer's work.

It's a very stylized piece.

I don't want it to shift tonally, you know.

There's that risk.

However, um,

I'll always do

another take for deeper truth.

Do you feel a little rusty

in any way?

A little.

I'm just excited

to be back on track.

Well, it's good to talk to you.

Good luck with this show.

Likewise. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Likewise.

Thanks.

I guess I should

apologize to you.

I told Mitchell that

he was crazy not to hire a big star to play Velma.

But the truth is,

nobody could play this part but you, Miss Graham.

Thank you.

We'll see if you still feel that way

after we start filming.

As in the midst of battle...

there is room

for thoughts of love;

and in foul sin for mirth.

As gossips whisper

of a trinket's worth...

spied by the death-bed's

flickering candle-gloom;

As in the crevices

of Caesar's tomb...

the sweet herbs

flourish on a little earth:

So in this great disaster

of our birth...

we can be happy

and forget our doom.

For morning,

with a ray of tenderest joy...

gilding the iron heaven,

hides the truth,

and evening gently woos us...

to employ our grief

in idle catches.

Such is youth;

Till from that summer's trance

we wake,

to find despair before us,

vanity behind.

I just can't believe that

for the cost of renting a Viper for a week...

we bought three of these

And we still have enough

left over for two caraway seeds and an agent's heart.

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