I was undeterred. Plenty of our greatest movie stars dealt with rejection earlier in their careers. And this was the role I was born to play. Reporter? I’ve been method acting for years! (In my conception of the character, GQ still exists in New Rome.) Plus, among the names in the movie—Cesar Catalina, Clodio Pulcher, Fundi Romaine, Wow Platinum—“Gabriella Paiella” slots right in, possibly too absurd for even Coppola’s wild imagination.
Finally, the film’s reps found a way to fulfill my professional obligations dreams of stardom. For opening weekend, select theaters would be presenting “Megalopolis: The Ultimate IMAX Experience”—and I would be participating.
I took some time to reflect and consider how I would read the question in my debut, playing with different intonations:
Mr. Catilina, you said as we jump into the FUTURE we should be UNAFRAID.
Mr. Catilina, YOU said as we jump into the future WE should be unafraid.
What if when we DO jump into the future there IS something to be afraid of?
Maybe I could do a British-accent thing?
While lost in a reverie about accepting my award for Best Supporting Actress—“she’s not British?”—I received another email with very detailed instructions, down to the second:
“The reporter who breaks the 4th wall begins to cross stage from stage left [orchestra right] to stage right [orchestra left] with mic on mic stand from stage left to stage right/center) using a small flashlight or iPhone light to illuminate (walk briskly and leave a beat early to arrive on mark on time).”
Also, the audio would be pre-recorded, so I would have to mouth the question into the microphone. (This was for the best, because the question I really wanted to ask Adam Driver was: “What combination of preparation and direction possessed you to say ‘go back to the cluuuuub’ like that?”)
Once the line is spoken at the press conference, “the reporter pretends to take notes while making eye contact with Adam Driver on screen.”
When I arrived at the AMC Lincoln Square on Saturday evening of opening weekend, what I was attempting to do suddenly dawned on me. Megalopolis would be playing on the largest IMAX screen on the East Coast, with an audience of around 600. Two kind representatives got me situated, explained all the logistics, showed me where the microphone would be waiting, and provided me with my props (a flashlight, a pen, and a petite little notebook). The theater began to fill up around me and I realized it must be really hard for actors to not constantly be telling people, unprompted, “I’m in the movie, by the way.”
I checked my watch at regular intervals and, as the minute of my debut approached, I raced down the stairs. The theater lights went completely dark. And that’s exactly when I froze for a moment too long. I snapped out of it, grabbed the mic that was hiding in a corner, rushed to my spot and… missed the dialogue I was supposed to be mouthing by about half a second.
