349 - Hollywood: The Studio Gambit (Patreon)

349 - The Aquaman Auditions

"Is Ethan Hawthorne really in there?" one of the actors asked.

"He's a producer," another said.

"He's also running half the studios in town. I thought he'd send someone else to sit through auditions."

The hallway outside the Aquaman casting room was full of people pretending not to listen for their names. Ethan's presence had done more to unsettle them than the part itself. He had made careers out of unfamiliar faces; a good reading here might lead to a decade of work.

Tom Welling came out first. A few heads turned. On television he already played a young Clark Kent. Seeing him try for another DC hero felt odd, even in a business where the same actors crossed from one comic-book company to the next.

"You can ask," Tom told the nearest group. "Yes, I auditioned for Aquaman. Henry's Superman isn't my Superman. That part is settled."

"How did it go?"

"Ask the people inside." He adjusted the folder under his arm. "I'm reading for Green Lantern later."

Another actor said he was headed to the Wonder Woman auditions to try for Steve Trevor. Tom wished him luck. In the last month, one performer could make three appointments across two superhero slates and still be unsure which studio might call back.

Inside, Ethan had set aside a day to watch the process in person. Judy, James Wan, Zack Snyder, and Kevin Feige sent him updates every week. Reports told him who was available and what a schedule would cost. They could not show him what happened when an actor walked into a room and made the others stop reading their notes.

The next actor did exactly that, though not for the reason Ethan expected. Tobey Maguire stood in the doorway.

"Tobey?" Ethan said. "You're here for Arthur Curry?"

"I am. I've put in for the Flash, too. I know you already have me in your head as Peter Parker, but I'd like you to see the reading before you decide."

Zack glanced at Ethan. "We should hear it."

They did. Tobey had the control that came from years in front of a camera. He found the quieter beats in the scene and did not force a joke simply because the room was full of producers. The reading was good. The question was whether anyone watching a large Atlantis film would stop seeing Spider-Man long enough to accept him as its king.

After a brief costume and movement test, Ethan thanked him. "That was strong work. We'll consider it with the other readings."

Tobey knew a courteous answer when he heard one. He shook their hands and left his Flash material with the casting director.

"You don't see him as Arthur," Zack said when the door closed.

"I see Tobey playing Arthur. That's not quite the same thing."

"The comics usually give Arthur a fair-haired, athletic look. We don't have to copy it, but the actor has to feel at home in this world."

"Agreed. Who's next?"

Jason Momoa entered with a nervous smile. Ethan had left the role open because he remembered a later version of Jason and assumed the man standing in front of him now would seem too young for it. He had underestimated what Jason's voice, height, and easy physical confidence could do before anyone fitted him for a costume.

"My agent put me forward for Arthur," Jason said. "I know I'm not blond. I'd also read for Black Manta if that's more useful."

"We'll start with Arthur," Zack said. "Hair color is the easy part."

He took the opposite side of the scene and read Mera's lines himself. "Your mother was Queen Atlanna. Atlantis has been looking for you."

Jason held the pause before answering. "My father kept the lighthouse running. He was there when I needed him. Tell the people under the water they can keep their crown."

They ran the exchange again, then a second scene that asked for more anger. Jason did not play Arthur as a man eager for a throne. He played him as one wary of the people who came offering it. Zack put down the pages.

"You've thought about him."

"The script gave me something to work with," Jason said. "And I've spent enough time around the ocean to understand why someone would miss it when he's away. I studied marine life for a while. I keep fish at home."

Ethan was less interested in the fish than in whether the man could carry a film built around two worlds. "Let's see what the camera thinks."

The wardrobe team brought in a coat and the first version of a trident. They changed Jason's hair, gave his brows more definition, and tested him under a harder light. He removed his shirt for one costume pass so they could judge the character's physical silhouette, then dressed again while the images loaded. The photographs looked nothing like the fair-haired Arthur Zack had described. They looked like a man who might still take possession of Atlantis by force.

Outside, half an hour had passed. The actors waiting for their turns noticed. A long camera test could mean the person inside had impressed the team; it could also mean the costume had failed. Nobody in the hallway could tell which.

Jason came out lighter on his feet than when he had entered. "Good luck," he told them. "They'll give you a chance to show what you've got."

The casting director called the next name. Behind the door, Ethan and Zack studied the photographs one more time.