She squeals again. “My baby’s boy’s having a baby!” She yells into her house. “Oh, Tara’s here! Let me get her. TARA,” she yells off screen.
I can hear my sister yell back, “What!”, and can’t help the chuckle that escapes me. “What’s with all the yelling?”
Tara bursts onto the frame behind mum. “Jackie? What did you do to Mum?” she asks bewildered as our mother grabs her in a hug.
“Jackie’s having a baby!”
Tara’s eyes bug out as she picks up the phone. “He’s what?”
I can’t do much more than nod my head.
“Withwho?”
I open my mouth to reply, but Mum cuts me off. “Her name is Rosie, she’s friend’s with Danny’s wife, you know, with the song.”
“Oh, the autumn leaves guy?”
“Yes! They met at the wedding and have been together for months.”
“Well—” I try to interrupt.
“He kept that to himself!” Tara exclaims, peering at me. “I can’t believe this. What’s her last name? I’m looking her up.”
“No, don’t do that for Christ’s sake.”
There’s a knock at the trailer door and I glance at the time on my watch. “Right, I’ve got to go back to work now, but thank you for being happy for me.”
“For you?” Tara says, “This is all Mum being happy for herself.”
I laugh. “Okay I’ll talk to you guys later.”
“Ooh Jackie, I want to talk to Rosie soon. I need to meet her!”
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do.”
I don’t need to remind them to not share this news around. There’s been a few moments in the past where my personal business was in the public eye. Rosie hasn’t reallyacknowledged the fame aspect of my life yet, and I don’t want her to. She sees me as a guy with a job, not baggage that she’ll get dragged into one way or the other, and I need it to stay that way for as long as possible.
“Love you, Jackie,”
“Love you too. Bye.” I hang up the phone and hand it over to Eric who is waiting outside the trailer with my daily sides.
“Thanks man,” I say as he beams.
The backlot we’re shooting on is the size of four rugby pitches stitched together so we get a fun little golf buggy to zoom around in. Eric lets me in the driver’s side and I shift it into gear. No matter how old I get, zooming in a fake car on a fake road always gives me a thrill. It’s like being behind the bars of my Harley. I love that bike.
I might have to import it over here if I’m staying. And I will be staying. I never liked LA much anyway. I’m much more comfortable with the dramatic seasons you can get in England. It reminds me more of back home. It’s unnatural to not have rain.
Though, I don’t think I’ll be riding the bike much when the baby comes. It would be way too small for a helmet.
Pulling onto set, I park the car and climb out, the frame shaking with the movement. I shake hands with Sam the director, and Shaun the 1st AD and listen carefully as they explain the layout of the scene. It’s low on action, heavy on plot so I rub my hands together. It’s not that I don’t love the action scenes, the high stakes and physical demands that get my heart racing. Get me a harness and a water tank any day, but my agent made the wise choice to get me doing something that can show off what I can do without the explosions and crashes.
I’m ready. I’ve been prepping this film for months. Rehearsing my lines day and night.
Apart from the last few weeks, where I’ve spent every spare second in Rosie’s cramped apartment eating vegetarian food and watching a reality TV dance competition.
I can’t even bring myself to worry though. The words are in my head and they’re coming out correctly.
My mind switches off, zeroing in on the lines I’ve memorized and the blocking Sam took me through in rehearsals.
