These days a lot of good things were happening for Aiden at the same time. Not only did 'Lost in the Sky' reach the top on Melody charts and other different charts, but the soundtrack album of [30 days of Happiness] was also selling great.
Omar had even told Aiden that it might easily sell over 200k copies, and the numbers would just go higher if the movie was a success.
This was very rare as with MeTube and Melody, a lot of people would just listen to music there. It was just too accessible, so they would rarely buy physical album copies.
At most, digital albums would sell more.
If one makes comparisons, just last year, a very famous boy band released their fourth album. All of the songs had gotten hundreds of millions of views, but only 7 million physical copies were sold.
It was very low as over half of the songs had gotten over 100 million views.
This was just the reality of the world filled with streaming platforms. That's why the soundtrack selling so many copies was a very big positive matter.
Other than that, Aiden was also announced to be on [Searching for the One], a very popular sitcom.
Due to all this, his fan group was buzzing with different news every day. A lot of people were giving their views about Aiden and his strings of projects.
[Fedora the explorer: I just read about Aiden being cast in [Searching for the One]. Is he making a guest appearance in it? I thought only veteran and more popular celebs did that.]
[Man Eats Pants: It's confirmed that it's not a guest appearance. It's a full-fledged character. Apparently, they started to shoot again as the original season ending was not up to the level according to IBC.]
[Skyneves: It's also because of the plethora of negative reviews and regular viewers leaving. Though, I never expected this. I thought Aiden was busy enough with his song reaching the top spot on Melody.]
[Writer of Morbius: He's trying to do a lot of things at the same time. It's a very exhausting approach as he's basically juggling being an actor and singer, but it's working very well for him. I'm just a bit surprised due to how many projects he has been in since the start of the year.]
[Doomsday manager: It's definitely not the typical Hollywood formula. Purely talking about acting, actors are often advised to just show themselves enough. Not more nor less. That's why most actors don't do more than 1-2 projects in a year and have good gaps between each of their movies. Aiden doesn't have that gap.]
[Hope the quality is still the same: Yeah, but the increased visibility is really working for him. He was in [Black Saints] at the start of the year and has a festival movie next month. His appearance in a sitcom makes it three acting projects in one year. Actually, it seems more like he's always in the news because of his music. I really wonder why people are not exhausted of him till now. Does anyone know?]
[Hollywood Insider: It's mainly because he doesn't have a PR, so he's not pushed down people's throats deliberately. Moreover, his projects are diverse enough. He plays a crazy, psychotic guy like Kai and then goes on to appear in a sitcom. Completely different types of things. One more thing is that people still don't know a lot about him aside from his projects, as he isn't that active on social media. Mysteriousness is a major factor as to why people like stars. Despite all of this, his image is squeaky clean. That's why his different approach is working in Hollywood.]
***
"I have only seen this set on TV before. That's the street where the end of the first season happened, and that bar is the infamous place where the main characters gather to talk about their days."
Aiden muttered, looking around the set. [Searching for the One] was set in New York, and the shooting was also happening here. For the shooting, the crew was using an old bar that they had renovated, and at the same time, there were sets made out of houses.
There was even space for the live audience.
It had been two days since Aiden had met the cast of [Searching for the One] in a script reading session. After that, he was directly on the set to start shooting.
"Yeah, we always wanted to make it look authentic, so not a lot of parts are shot in a studio."
Amelia Fryman, the director of [Searching for the One], said. She took another look at the staff that was working around the set, the actors talking on the side and the studio audience.
They were all called back to reshoot the last few episodes, but none of them looked to be complaining. There was a slight disagreement with the actors before eventually, they agreed as the new ending was much better than before.
All of them also wanted the show to work well.
"Are you nervous? We will be starting with your scene. A lot of actors take time to adjust to the live audience."
Amelia asked, looking at Aiden. Unlike other directors he had worked with, she was the type to get close to her actors to make sure they weren't troubled by anything.
It was a pretty good thing as actors were able to relax and execute their roles without any pressure.
"Not a lot. I did theatre in India, so I'm kind of used to performing in front of an audience." Aiden replied with a smile.
"Theatre experience generally helps a lot. Anyway, just relax while acting. We can do reshoots and just try to emulate what you did in the audition."
"Yes, I will do my best."
Aiden said and Amelia talked a bit more before walking over to check up with the props director.
'The introductory scene won't be easy.'
The first scene that Aiden was doing was the introduction of his character — Alan Geller.
He would meet up with Frank Russel in the bar that is present in the show from the first episode.
For the record, Frank Russel was the main character of the sitcom.
Then, Alan would forcefully make Frank listen to his playboy ways to set up his character as a narcissistic sociopath who just wants to get laid and have a fulfilling life.
Of course, this was just the outer layer of his character.
More layers would be shown to the viewers as the episode went on. The reason why the writers chose this scene was to directly make the audience know about Alan's character traits in an attempt to make him likeable from the start.
Though, portraying a narcissistic playboy as likeable was a very hard thing, and Aiden had to be very convincing in his performance.
'I can do it.'
***
[Searching for the OneAugust 15-2016Act 8Scene 1Take 1]
"So, you have a bad breakup. Not the first time, obviously. You are getting older, life is going nowhere. You try to find salvation in a relationship only to wonder if that girl was really the one? Am I right?"
"Yes… but who are you?"
"Does that even matter? If it does, then I'm the guy god made you meet for a greater purpose. I have decided that I will be your wingman, so you can have the most amazing, fantabulous, legendary night of your life!"
Frank Russel, a guy in his mid-30s, looked at the waxed-haired guy in a black suit who had suddenly come to sit on his table and was now acting excited on his own.
It had been a bad day for him as he had again broken up with his girlfriend and was now seriously considering whether she was actually the one for him. As he was drinking alone in a bar, this guy suddenly came to sit in front of him.
"Again, who the hell are you?"
Frank asked, squinting his eyes with a confused face.
"Alan Gellar, nice to meet you."
At his question, Alan just shook his head as the strange atmosphere in the air still remained.
"Frank Russel and I have one more question? How do you know I have a breakup?"
"It's easy." Alan smiled, putting his hand on the table. "Your facial expressions, body stature, the act of drinking alone. All of it points toward only one thing — Breakup. Though you getting erectile dysfunction was another option, I would rather not go there."
Alan shrugged his shoulders as Frank kept looking at him like he was an idiot. He wanted to sit up and get some other place to drink in silence, but every other table was occupied.
He was kind of stuck with the weird guy who had appeared out of nowhere.
"Yeah, okay. What were you saying earlier?" Frank asked, taking another sip of the alcohol.
"I was talking about getting a legendary night for both of us. Me and you get girls. I help you get one and I don't really think you can help me get one as I'm amazing enough to get a girl myself," Alan said like it was obvious.
"How?"
"By talking to a girl. Are you not listening to what I'm saying?"
Frank chuckled hearing that. The man in front of him was acting like someone who had experience with all types of girls. If getting laid was such an easy job, then people won't be sleeping alone every night.
"How will you even get laid? Pickup lines are embarrassing and old-fashioned."
Alan smirked like he was just waiting for that question.
"You don't keep up with trends. Change with the world. If you just do that, getting laid is the easiest thing." Alex explained, then asked. "Do you watch movies?"
"Yeah, what do movies have to do with getting laid?"
"Everything, my friend. People are as smart as the type of content they get. Movies are getting dumber and dumber with time. People follow that, so it's not rocket science. If you just give me one chance, I will get you a night that would be talked about in legends."
As soon as Aiden finished the sentence, Amelia's shout rang in his ear as the immersion ended.
"Cut! That was a great shot."
...
