The One That I Want Read Online Free PDF

Jumpers , which also starred a model/actress from Ontario named Serena Bilogian. I remembered Dane’s costars as well as my own extended family members.
    But the guy who stood onstage before me now, nearly twenty years later, was no nineteen-year-old heartthrob. Our seats were close enough that I could see the expression etched on his still very handsome face, and it was one of exhaustion and world weariness. In those short seconds after Rosemary departed the stage to thunderous clapping for the players and before the action of the production began, I got the distinct sensation that my long-time movie-star idol didn’t want to be back in the Windy City. That he didn’t want to be up onstage or, indeed, anywhere near other people at all.
    Huh.
    All of that changed, however, the second the director pointed at the actors from his position stage left and, then, marched to the back of the theater to watch the dress rehearsal, clipboard in hand. Dane and the rest of the cast sprang into action, and the serious, intense, displeased-looking man transformed himself instantly into the charming, light-hearted bachelor who was the lead in this play.
    I knew his work well—perhaps too well. I could pick out facets of his performance from films I’d seen years before. The way he delivered a humorous line to his acting pal, asking the other guy to keep one girlfriend busy while he dealt with another, reminded me of the way he’d handled a similar scene in Dorm Daze . And, oh, the short moment of sad introspection at the midpoint of the play called to mind immediately a poignant scene near the end of Warriors of Warrenville High . The words were different, of course, but I could track the facial expressions back to other performances. Was that simply his acting style? Or was it more deliberate? Maybe, on a subconscious level, he wanted his audience to make the connection. Wanted us to link his performance tonight to the familiarity of his glory days.
    After the final curtain fell, the audience—me included—jumped to our feet to give the actors a standing ovation. The cast came forward, the house lights were turned back on, and the director strode to the middle of the stage. He spoke briefly with the actors, commenting on details involving a couple of scenes. Then he turned his attention to the audience and opened up the floor to questions.
    “This is for Mr. Tyler,” one of the male university students said. “Do you have any advice for aspiring actors?”
    Dane smiled and cocked one eyebrow. “Consider changing your major to business.”
    The crowd laughed.
    “Seriously,” Dane continued. “If you want a long-lasting career in theater and film, you need to not only study the art of acting but the business of the stage and screen world. Plus, it helps to have some backup skills beside waiting tables, just in case it takes a while to land that first big role.”
    These seemed like reasonably wise words, if served, perhaps, with a side dish of bitterness.
    A young woman stood up and asked if Dane had ever been a struggling actor.
    “Well, I started pretty young,” he replied. “My mom didn’t expect me to support myself when I was still in high school, so any income I earned from acting was a bonus. She set up a special saving account for me. But, yeah, even so, as an adult I’ve had some leaner years.”
    “So, about how much money do you make on your films?” a college guy sitting next to the young woman asked Dane.
    My mouth fell open in shock. How rude!
    I expected someone to tell the student that he was out of line or to let Dane know that he didn’t have to answer that, but no one said anything. The crowd just waited expectantly for him to respond.
    He seemed unfazed, as if he’d grown used to such inappropriateness and had been asked questions like these countless times. “A lot,” Dane said simply and laughed in a way that dismissed the guy.
    At this point, one of the members of the press stood up. An older