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April 3rd, Buckinghamshire, England
Last week was hectic. I no longer had to go to school, as I was offered the role of Pablo in Children of the New Forest. My first ever role in TV or anything professional was as a Spanish orphan boy. I was offered the role by call, my father had to drive me to London during the weekday to sign the contract. So from Tuesday, I had to cut down most of my practice sessions, and from today onwards, I would not be back in Chester for however long it takes for me before I had a week off. My agent had earned his first ten percent commission. Adrian would earn £3.1 per each day I spent on set. Hilarious, but he told me that everyone started at the bottom.
Life had changed massively, and my mum had recruited Grandma to be my guardian in London. For now, Mum had taken her annual leave to accompany me to Buckinghamshire. The day I signed my contract, I had a costume fitting where I had several photos taken and afterwards even had my ankle circumference measured because it was apparently important. Afterwards, I was given a script for all the scenes from when I will be introduced. Pablo would be featured for four episodes, starting as an orphan in chains, then getting saved and becoming a loyal friend (servant) to his white saviors. But surely that is no longer a problem because Pablo was turned white instead of the brown gypsy he was in the original.
Anyway, I had a last few sessions with Gilles, who did his utmost to get me up to speed to be able to start a rehearsal in a West End play without embarrassing myself. He also gave me some advice on how to deliver my lines on TV. Having previously worked with Spanish coworkers, he provided some feedback on my accent. Gilles' choice of words were terrible, too much and over the top. I was apparently a natural Spanish speaker in my past life. So I respectfully ignored all of Gilles' criticism.
Buckinghamshire was a county northwest of London, not too far away from the big city but far enough to be largely unmarred by people. It was a beautiful area full of rolling hills, small farms, and wide forests. Sadly, production wanted to save on the cost, so we were now only thirty miles away from London in Dorney. A place that could only be called in Buckinghamshire due to technicalities. The village of Dorney was a timepiece to tell the history of England. Driving through the tiny village with dilapidated buildings made me feel like I was back in the 17th century, as our TV series was meant to replicate.
We rolled into the largest spectacle happening in the tiny village. An area near the only untouched and small wooded area looked like a spot for a concert. Five long trailers were set up in a row, and almost a hundred people were working around the clock doing who knows what. I wondered if this brief encampment was bigger than the entire village of Dorney.
"Wow, that's a lot of people," Mum said.
"I'll say," I muttered.
"Hope it's fine for us to park on the green." Mum sighed, squeezing us next to the car park that rose out of necessity to accommodate all these people.
We walked through the jumble of trailers, looking like we had been transported into a parallel universe. I saw people with walkie-talkies and high-visibility vests going from place to place carrying nothing pointing at people. Meanwhile tiny women were dragging a long rail full of costumes across the uneven grassy field.
"Welcome to basecamp, she's a rough but functional," a man mused to our side.
"Hi, my son's booked for a role," Mum explained, introducing herself.
"Alex, good to meet you. I'm the 3rd AD. Assistant director," Alex said, gesturing us to join on his walk.
"We've got a trailer for the kids. You're a bit early, but let's get set you up."
"Thanks," I said awkwardly.
We were led to a trailer that looked slightly different from the rest due to the only one entrance it had. Inside was a small classroom with an actual chalkboard set against a wall, desks and chairs in the style of any old school in England.
"Welcome to the classroom. BBC has a bunch of these for productions with child actors. Your chaperone and tutor should be here soon. You'll share this trailer with three other kids. I'll call the production coordinator over, she'll get you guys the hotel keys," Alex rattled out. "Make yourself comfortable, there's the kettle, we've got electricity and plumbing. O'rite?"
That was something I was getting used to hearing a lot from people in London. "Alright" was cut short and pronounced the Cockney way and everyone seemed to say it. Mum and I thanked him, and I went through the trailer to check out everything available to us. We had a fridge full of water and soft drinks, a pantry full of snacks, and a small kitchen area. The center area was the classroom—six desks and chairs set up to look towards the chalkboard.
"Tetley's?" Mum asked bringing me the hated teabag.
"Yeah…" I nodded.
—
First to arrive was a boy. He could've passed for someone in Henry's age group, but I was shocked to learn he was fourteen. Weird how he looked much younger than that. Danny was playing one of the Beverley children, the main focal point of the story. Danny's role, Humphrey, was a character with a penchant for growing food and a supportive little brother to the main character, Edward.
Next was Piper, a lovely young lady who hit it off immediately with my mum. She was to be the tutor for all the child actors and requested Danny and I for our most recent school materials and notes.
The last two were girls who came in with a chaperone leading them. Emily was to play Edith, the smartest and youngest of all the siblings at age eleven—as her actor was. Finally, Claire, who played Clara, a daughter to a Roundhead family who would act as a bridge between the Royalist and Parliament supporters, a distinction that essentially divided the good guys from the bad. Once everyone had settled to their place, Pamela, the chaperone, took to the front of the chalkboard to address all the kids and the parents.
"Welcome to the set, I'm Pamela. You can call me Pam, think of me as a cool aunt when you're on set. I'll bring you from the hotel to basecamp, to the trailer, or to the set. Basically all of your movement on the set will be accompanied by me. That means no running off to random places, that's a big no-no. We've got a lot of people moving heavy equipment, so don't get in the way and get injured. Right, let's start by doing a tiny little introduction for everyone." Pam pointed to our tutor.
"I'm Piper, your tutor on set. You will have three hours of shooting per day, and I will be tutoring you for five hours every single school day. Don't think you're off from school. Though, I'll try and make the class a happy and fun place." Piper smiled all through her introduction, giving a very friendly impression.
"I'm Danneh, and thas' my da, Ronneh." Danny pointed to a short, skinny man. I liked his accent.
"Hi! I'm Claire, that's my mum Sally. I'll be playing Clara Ratcliffe!" The blonde girl rattled off excitedly.
"Erm, my name is Emily—for Edith. My sister Amy's with me." Her sister was a fully adult woman, a big age difference.
"Wilfred, but you can call me Wilf. I'll be playing Pablo." I nodded in greeting.
"You're not from Spain," Claire pointed out.
"And you're not a girl from 17th century England," I replied, with a grin.
"Wot?" she said with a cute expression. I just chuckled.
Parents were off to one side of the trailer, but they were mostly talking with each other by that time. Claps cut through until our attention was back on Pam.
"Very important detail everyone, you will have to be on set with your children. I'm the chaperone; that means I'm the closest contact to your children. Most of the shots you will be placed a bit farther away than the crew, so if you—the parents, or you boys and girls—want to see your family, just let me know and I will bring them over. By law, the only place that your children can be out of your sight is here in this trailer while they're with either me or with Ms. Burton. People who have the required licenses. You can also designate me as the official guardian if you don't have the time or have to go to your jobs. However, I recommend that you stay at least a few days to make sure you can trust the people around here. If there's no trust, there's no reason to endanger your child. I'm paid by the production company, but I have the powers to put a stop to your children's acting if I deem anything untoward is happening." Pam warned.
"Please, know that there is nothing better than the parent always being on set. I'm supposed to be your replacement on the set space, but it's important that you all know that no one else can compare to a mother, father, or family. No one can give the emotional support like a family can." Pam then shook herself out of the serious tone.
"Now, who wants to start filming?" Pam shouted out with a smile.
We all cheered in reply.
—
We did not start shooting that day. In fact, we went to school in the trailer right after Pam's speech. I liked Mrs. Ramsdale—she was an amazing teacher—but I'll be honest that Piper was a much better educator. She was incredibly patient and very nice with all four kids. I suspected that it was mostly because she never had a classroom with twenty to forty unruly children causing chaos. It was no wonder that she was able to retain her sanity.
Mum and the other parents were set up in a trailer opposite of us, with a window directly overlooking the only entrance to our trailer. She had stayed for the first hour of class, but every parent found it boring and instead chose to socialise with each other. Danny was a bit of a class clown and the problem child, probably because he was going through puberty and Ms. Burton was a pretty teacher.
At around 2 PM, Pam arrived with the third AD from before to fetch us to rehearsal. My stomach felt like it was buzzing alight with how excited and nervous I was. First ever acting role of mine, and I would start it today—hopefully a beginning to a long and fruitful career. We were set up in a nice clearing in front of a house with eggwashed walls and a thatched roof, looking appropriate for the English Civil War era. In front of it were dozens upon dozens of people; only a handful seemed to be actors.
"Great, everyone is finally here. Let's start this damn thing," an older gentleman with a woolen cap said, establishing himself as the big boss.
"Welcome to the set everyone, most of you know me because I hired you." A small round of chuckles went through the crowd.
"But to most of the actors, I should be a new face. I'm Andrew Morgan, the director. This week, we'll try to get all the shots for the child actors. On this set there are only two names you should listen to: mine," Andrew waited for some laughter, "and Peter. I said two because there are actually two Peters. This is Peter Tabern; he's the script supervisor and producer of the show—you can think of him as my boss. That Peter is Peter Errington, my first assistant director. His word is the same as my word."
I'll be honest that I almost dozed off in the next thirty minutes of Andrew introducing every person in production side and going through set etiquette. I would've been paying more attention if Andrew wanted to actually explain anything, but he mostly just introduced people and their roles without going on to what those roles actually did. He spent most of his time explaining his vision for the show, which boiled down to the script I already read back in Chester.
"I want to make this the best adaptation of this classic novel. Our actors were all chosen for their talents and looks that would put the best image together. Let's go down the line for the actors. Tom, come 'ere."
"Hi, I'm Tom Wisdom!" A young man stepped forward. I received a revelation.
My memory had no recollection of his name, but his face was memorable—and I realized he was in a movie called 300. For now, I kept the movie hovering at the edge of my memories to be enjoyed at a later date.
"Edward Beverley, that is!" Andrew pointed "He'll be in almost every scene and will go off to Oxfordshire to finish filming with the adult actors once we're done here." Andrew gestured down the line of people to introduce themselves.
First to introduce himself was Malcolm Storry, a man with a full gray beard and buzzcut. Some sort of recognition passed through my brain, yet a revelation didn't trigger. I wondered why.
When my eyes landed on the next person and before they could introduce themselves, I immediately received a revelation.
"I'm Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Miller Sprigge." Roger said, as I couldn't help but peruse a tiny bit of the huge revelation sitting in my mind.
This man would go on to play a recurring role in a major show called Game of Thrones. A show so big that it rivaled the fame of Harry Potter. My revelation about the show was bigger than the massive chunk I received for Harry Potter. Another huge part of culture and person I was in the past.
"Ralph Ineson."
I received tiny revelations about tiny snippets of parts. Much in the same way with how it worked with celebrities in pop culture that I'd see on TV. I would know who this person was in the future but only through some sort of cultural osmosis. This man was going to be in many things, but not popular enough on his own to really register as a name to my past self.
"Kelly Reilly."
Biggest revelation so far for the actor themselves instead of their roles in massive productions. Kelly would play in massive movies like Pride & Prejudice and Sherlock Holmes but ultimately prove herself as a great actor in Yellowstone, a critically acclaimed TV series. So many people with great careers in the future, yet I had no revelations about the director nor the TV show itself Children of the New Forest. Good actors and a terrible director, I realized that I was cast in a flop series. Somehow, it calmed my racing heart and stabilized my hands. Knowing that there was no expectation, it was a freeing feeling.