Apparently, Florence has talked about [Stars on the Ground] with Hank way before she did with Aiden.
He was also interested in the project, having heard the basic premise of it.
Both of them were on board after a few meetings and Hank was really excited as it was his chance to move away from the image of an action star. The role he was given was pretty comedic, so it was a great chance for him to flex his comic timing.
But one day suddenly, Florence called his agent and told him that she had found someone better for the role.
Hank was surprised and enraged, wanting answers. According to him, the role was his and only the contract needed to be signed.
If a director goes as far as to tell you that she can't imagine someone else in the role other than you, then it was a big confidence boost for the actor.
So, when Florence suddenly found someone else, it felt like a big betrayal to him.
His agent went to talk to her, to at least know who he was replaced with. Being an experienced actor, it would rarely happen with Hank.
There, he found out that the person who replaced Hank was called Liam Wilde.
"Isn't he a UK based singer?"
"'More like a superstar,' according to Florence but yeah. He has tons of young female fans."
"Can he even act?''
Aiden raised an eyebrow, having a lot of questions regarding what Hank had told him.
"He never did before. Probably another singer who wants to venture into movies because that's where the big bucks are. I am damn sure he never even attended an acting lesson. No offence by the way."
Hank looked at Aiden who was a singer who got into acting. Although that was not the case in entirety, Aiden didn't mind it.
"None taken." He said. "Why will she take someone who has never acted before in what she assumes is going to be a masterpiece."
"God knows. She just said that Liam is more likely to fill more seats instead of me and aside from that rude comment, she even forbade my agent from meeting her. I'm only here because I want to hear her reasons for myself."
Aiden wasn't able to talk for a while after hearing that. It was just a lot of shocking information at once.
Has Florence actually done something like that? It was very unprofessional. Aiden would have understood if Hank was replaced with a big star and a proven actor.
But replacing him with a singer? That didn't make a lot of sense unless Liam was some sort of acting prodigy who accidentally ventured into singing.
Even the method of replacing was something that was bound to ruin the relationship.
"I'm just advising you. Take it however you want. Doing the film would harm you more than anything as Florence is just not a professional filmmaker."
In the end, Hank only said that as Florence finally got free to meet him.
***
During the script narration, Aiden's mind was focused on what Hank had said. It was something that he was unable to get out of his mind because of how shocking it was.
He had to force himself to focus on the narration.
The script was pretty tight when Florence narrated it, having a lot of ingredients that would make people interested in the movie. At the same time, Aiden also noticed flaws that were very apparent.
From some plot holes that didn't make sense to dialogues being weird at parts, there was an abundance of them.
He just pointed them out one by one and didn't think much of it because every script has plot holes. A lot of scripts are also modified directly on the set, so it wasn't a big problem.
All in all, the narration was pretty good and Aiden decided to look more into the script after going home but the question about Liam Wilde was still roaming his mind.
His conversation with Hank had given him a pretty bad feeling and before leaving, Aiden decided to hear Florence's side of the story.
"Florence, can I ask you something?" He asked and Florence raised an eyebrow.
"Go on. You have already asked a lot of questions about the script. Why are you asking now?"
"No, it's different this time. I want to ask about something else." She tilted her head hearing that. "I met Hank Paige back in the lobby."
She widened her eyes after hearing that. An expression of hatred appeared on her face as she frowned. Her atmosphere changed in a second.
"What did that bastard tell you?"
"He said that Liam Wilde was cast in his place and he wasn't even given a proper explanation. I was curious to know what exactly happened."
"It's nothing. Hank doesn't have a great reputation in the industry if you don't know. We have differences in ideologies and that's why he was replaced. Nothing more than that. He's just bitter about it."
Florence didn't seem like she wanted to talk about it. Her voice was curt and sharp, like she hated Hank with every fibre of her being.
'She hates him.'
That's the feeling Aiden got seeing her talk about him.
He knew that the best thing here was to leave without asking anymore questions but he was curious as to why she selected Liam out of everyone else. It was an answer only she could give.
"Why did Liam come to his place though? He never had an acting job."
"He's a good actor, believe me or not. He's been studying it since the last two years and he passed the audition."
Florence sighed as she answered, like she was upset but her voice was a bit weird, almost like she wasn't confident in what she was saying.
"Don't ask too many questions. You are not the producer, you know."
In the end, she said that and knowing that he won't get his answers here, Aiden left.
***
'I'm not the producer but I want to be careful as to what type of movies I do. I can't afford something like [Disconnected] which failed at the box office.'
Aiden thought later that day, thinking of his eventful day.
For him, [Disconnected] was a pretty lucky movie. After failing terribly at the box office, it got rave reviews on the director's cut version on Zetflix and had become sort of a cult classic.
Those types of movies do help an actor's career.
But if he hadn't done anything back then, it would have just become a dark spot in his career. And it had solely happened because of who he was working with.
Seth Douglas and Franco Li — Both of them were responsible for what had happened.
Back then, he didn't have a choice but he had not signed [Stars on the Ground] yet, so he had a chance to get to the bottom of what was going on.
After listening to both Hank and Florence's side of story, he had gotten a very bad feeling. Something complex was going on that could potentially affect the movie.
He had felt that.
Replacing actors in projects was common but Florence's reaction was very weird and the hatred in her eyes made Aiden feel like she had removed Hank due to a personal reason.
Though, what she had told about Hank also needed to be verified.
"You asked about information on Hank Paige and Florence Levine right? Well, I got stuff for you."
Sasha said as she smiled. They were currently sitting in the office with Wade and Tom sitting on the side. The burly agent looked like he was in some sort of thought while Tom's eyes were shining for some reason.
"What did you find?" Aiden asked, leaning towards her.
"Don't expect too much. I didn't have a lot of time and what I found is just a mix of what is on the internet and from some friends of mine."
Sasha said and Wade couldn't help but interfere.
"Do you really think we need to do a background check? What you told me is shady but it's Hollywood. People are always shady in one way or another. If something even happened between Hank and Florence, I don't think it would affect the movie."
"I just have a bad feeling. Don't want to take a risk that could be avoided."
Saying that, he turned towards Sasha who started telling about what she had found.
"Well, Hank does have a bad reputation in the industry. Lack of opportunities isn't the only reason he's not a leading man in Hollywood. He had fights with a lot of his co-stars and directors and is known to be a heavy drinker."
"What's his relationship with Florence like?"
"They have been friends since long ago. To be honest, it's very weird to think that Florence replaced Hank in her movie. He's been a part of her every project."
Aiden put a finger on his chin hearing that. Even Wade looked very confused.
Remembering the eyes full of hatred, Aiden wondered what had happened that their relationship had broken so badly.
"What about Florence?"
"She's known more for her vocal ideological views and her relationship with Zavier that is said to be one of the best ones in Hollywood. Her acting was almost mediocre and her movies too, so don't really have a lot."
"And there's nothing about why she replaced Hank with someone like Liam?"
"No, not even a thing. UK media hadn't even reported that Liam is going to be in the movie. He's like their top musician for half a decade, so even if there was something like a rumour, there would be an article but there's none."
Aiden fell into a thought hearing that.
What was going on? Was he really thinking too much or was he just missing something?
He didn't know even if Hank was lying or Florence was lying. Both sides seemed to be in the grey zone.
