The Actress

Written By

Samuel Gunther

cSamuelGunther2021Samuel.Gunthe
r@biola.edu720-227-5230
FADE IN:

OVER BLACK:

We hear a deep breath from THE ACTRESS, early 20's, kind

voice- the pretty side of plain. She begins her audition
slate.

ACTRESS (V.O.)
Hello, my name is Ellie Adams. Today
I'm going to perform a monologue from
The Servant of Two Masters.

Those words hang in the air.

INT. COLLEGE DORMS - NIGHT

We see the interior of a dorm room through a doorframe. The

dorm is is put together but not tidy. The room is lit by a
lamp, string lights and the moonlight streaming in from the
window. The Actress sits on her bed watching herself perform
her monologue on her laptop.

ACTRESS (ON LAPTOP)

Here's something I don't understand-
Here's a girl on the point of killing
herself and you sit there looking on,
just as if you were at a play.

We begin to PUSH IN through the doorway, entering the

Actress' space.

ACTRESS (ON LAPTOP)

It's like it always is; they say women
are unfaithful, but men commit
infidelity all day! We get all the
blame and you do as you please.

She continues to study her monologue with fervor. You can see
the gears turning in her head as she processes her own words.

ACTRESS (ON LAPTOP)

Do you know why? Because 'tis men who
have made the law. If I were queen,
I'd make every man who was unfaithful
carry a branch in his hand, and turn
our cities into forests!

As her monologue draws to a close we see her beam with pride

for a brief moment. She takes a breath, composes herself, and
clicks "submit" on an acting agency's website.

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 2.

She gets up from her bed and places her laptop on her desk.
She begins to pace nervously around her room waiting for a
response.

*DING* A notification rings out from the laptop.

She hurriedly runs over to check it. The laptop reads "We are
excited to welcome you to the Trinity Casting family!"

The Actress lets out a squeal of excitement and pulls out her
phone. She calls someone. Beat. Her MOTHER, early 50s, sweet
but nagging voice, answers the phone.

ACTRESS
Hi mom! Guess what-

MOTHER (O.S.)
Hi Ellie! How have you been? Things
have been crazy here at home since you
left- Did you know your younger
brother's being looked at to get
recruited for the track team by a
couple colleges? Your father and I are
so proud of him! Dad's actually here
right now- did you want to talk to
him?

The Actress, overwhelmed by her mother's monologue,

desperately tries to cut in.

ACTRESS
No! Well, yes at some point- I just
wanted to tell you-

MOTHER (O.S.)
It's no problem-

The Actress' excitement bubbles over.

ACTRESS
Mom! I got an agent!

MOTHER (O.S.)
An agent?

ACTRESS
Yeah, I've signed with a talent
agency!

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 3.

MOTHER (O.S.)
Talent agency? Oh, for the acting
thing... Well, congratulations!

ACTRESS
This is really big... I'm finally
going to make it!

She slouches, her passion deflates.

MOTHER (O.S.)
That's good... You're still going to
stay in college though, right?

ACTRESS
Well, yeah, at least until I get
something big.

MOTHER (O.S.)
Oh thank goodness.

The Actress, nervous again, stands and begins to pace the

room. We move with her, tracking her movements.

MOTHER (O.S.)
I thought you were going to give up on
college like your music- or your
Spanish- or that time-

The Actress compulsively begins to straighten and fix things

around her room to distract from the conversation. We follow
her Fincher-esque level of dedication.

ACTRESS
Mom! It's not like that, I can do it
this time.

MOTHER (O.S.)
It's okay to not go for something big,
you've just got to stick with it.

ACTRESS
I know, I got an agent. This is me
sticking with it!

The Actress appears to be trapped in this conversation by the

confines of her room like a gazelle trapped in a zoo- to be
watched and pitied but not actually helped.

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 4.

MOTHER (O.S.)
I know, but it's going to be hard-
there's a lot of girls out there.

ACTRESS
Most of them don't have agents! This
is my shot!

MOTHER (O.S.)
It's not a steady career.

The Actress isn't listening anymore. She's tired of the

pushback.

ACTRESS
I don't care- this is what I want to
do.

MOTHER (O.S.)
Wanting it isn't enough. Your father
wanted to fix the car before it gave
out- and it gave out on his way to
work.

The Actress stops pacing. She leans on her bed.

ACTRESS
Mom.

MOTHER (O.S.)
I wanted to get along with your
fathers family- didn't happen.

The Actress is caught off guard, pulling the wind out of her.
She stands back up.

ACTRESS
Mom!

MOTHER (O.S.)
Your brother wanted his running
scholarship, so he worked his ass off
for it and got it!

The Actress is suffocating- She begins to clean off her desk.

ACTRESS
MOM!

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 5.

MOTHER (O.S.)
Wanting it isn't enough. Besides,
girls like you don't get cast in
movies.

These words cut the Actress. Not knowing whether cry or

scream she recoils and knocks over a lamp, glass shattering
on the ground. The room goes dark, only lit by string lights
and moonlight pouring in from a window. We break away from
tracking the actress, shifting to handheld.

The Actress stops dead, taking a moment to process what

happened.

ACTRESS
Mom...

MOTHER (O.S.)
Ellie, I didn't mean it like that-

Tears well in the Actress' eyes. She stops the emotions in

her stomach from welling up before she speaks.

ACTRESS
Stop... please.

MOTHER (O.S.)
I know... I'm sorry, your father and I
just want you to be safe and
financially secure. Acting doesn't
promise that.

ACTRESS
I need to do this.

The Mother sighs.

MOTHER (O.S.)
The agent is a big step. I am proud of
you.

Those words are too little, too late. The Actress' face
falls, there's little life in the Actress' voice.

ACTRESS
Thanks... I'll let you know if I get
cast in anything.

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 6.

MOTHER (O.S.)
I'll look forward to that call. I love
you.

ACTRESS
I love you too.

MOTHER (O.S.)
Goodbye sweetheart.

ACTRESS
Bye mom.

The Actress drops her phone on the bed. We pull wide on the
room. The Actress has never looked this small before. She
takes a beat, composes herself, and reassures herself.

She bends down and begins to pick up the glass off the
ground. We pull back out of the doorway, again framing her
within it.

CUT TO BLACK

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