Professional Stargazer
In search of a speaker
Solo projects are great, but when it comes to collaboration, I find myself needing help.
Have you ever talked about something for twenty years? The kind of talks that involve night skies and wishes for how it will turn out. Ideas are thrown back and forth. Sometimes it’s a desert, sometimes it’s a bustling casino. The locations change, the characters age and grow, but the ideas remain.
A conversation like this took place while driving across the desert this past spring. While playing the album Imidiwan, I shared a short story I’d written a few years earlier.
“I can almost picture it,” I said.
“Like it’s a film.”
“Exactly.” I reply.
“Then make it.”
I allowed myself the drive to think it over. I thought by dinner it would dissipate like a lot of other plans. A week later I was asked about my outline. Further into the summer, I was asked about my rough draft. Now we’re discussing talent.
The story that I began with, like all of my writing, has a lot of elements that aren’t literal. I have to take this protagonist out of my POV and make her mortal. In the real world, people don’t tend to make decisions on a whim because it was a nice day, there has to be purpose.
I’m making this woman a real person and not just one of my invincible characters.
I need someone for this protagonist that can walk the lines between two different worlds interchangeably while remaining the same.
I’m protective of her, but I’ll share as much as I can so you can find her. She’s a Tongan American girl somewhere in that millennial and Gen-Z demographic. She’s an assistant professor in an Astronomy program, which makes her a professional stargazer.
Like how a lot of things happen, the phone rings with an unexpected call. That conversation leads to a trip to Nuku’alofa to deal with family, finances, and everything else that falls in between. During that trip, she’ll decide. Is she throwing her chips into this new endeavor that just presented itself, or is she sticking to the original plan?
Obviously because this is me; there are elements of fantasy. No unicorns or anything like that. Simply, are memories unique to each individual. We are made up of cells, does that mean that cells related to us from the past count towards our own memories? That’s a thought I’d like my actress to think about. Are you a product of your environment and experience, or did you somehow live every life that came before yours? On that wavelength; does that wealth of knowledge follow you? Put a pin in that.
Wish list:
She is a Tongan American
She can speak both Tongan and English
She’s between the ages of 27 - whatever you believe mid-30 looks like
She will confidently switch between science lectures and emotional moments
She has a passport and can travel to Tonga
An inspiration for her was Marion Cotillard’s character in “Two Days, One Night”
I’m not putting anymore onto her because she will present herself. I’ve seen the work of UCSB and USC graduates. I see you and I’m so happy you’re out there. Shoutout to my niece, Victoria, for finding her peers for us.
If you’re interested in talking about this role, please reach out to me via any of my social media sites or in the comments section. I’m a phone call away once I hear from you.
I will ask for two audition tapes - one English monologue and one in Tongan. The Tongan one can simply be you reading a bible verse. I don’t need a Tonga High top student, just someone who will be able to converse in it convincingly, allowed all of the forgiveness that someone that was born and raised overseas would receive.
During the discussion, the outline of the film, pages, and the production information will be provided.
I mostly hop on here to provide humorous proofs of life and to talk to myself. This is the first time I’m writing it all out because I need my readers to find this actress for me.
My apologies for describing her as a Tongan American. She can be from anywhere, having also lived in the states. Personally, my roots are the Bay Area. My niece helping me is 4th generation San Mateo. All I know from my house is we are Bay Area to the bone marrow and our pilgrimage here involved a Pan Am flight from Nuku’alofa. Our passage story was exiting at the International Terminal at SFO and getting picked up at passenger pick-up for an exit somewhere between Millbrae Avenue and the San Mateo bridge. When I describe Tongan American girls, I’m talking about the life experiences of Bay girls. I’m not bias, I just haven’t met you yet.
This Bay girl is sitting at Norm’s Diner in Los Angeles finishing this up because she can’t sleep without writing it out. Help her get some sleep and find her the actress.