Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood

On Sparrow, Aiden's fan group was currently busy fighting out with people who were trying to bash him by calling him misogynistic for his comments. It didn't make sense but who needed logic when you were online. 

Just because he said that one shouldn't do a project for the appeasement of people even without taking any name, people were suddenly after him.

Thankfully, a lot of movie lovers hated how filmmaking isn't about entertainment and telling a compelling story now, so they sided with Aiden. 

[Valhalla is sad: Anyone saying that Aiden was on the wrong side during the interview should really watch it again. He stood against both privilege and bad appeasement. Probably the first time I have seen an actor being vocal about things.]

[Twerking with a flute: That was very disrespectful of Aiden. He needs to learn how to talk to people.]

[Chad Putin: Listen, you peanut. My eyes see no wrong in what Aiden did. If you have any problem, take out your eyes and throw them in the ocean. Just because you think you have an opinion doesn't mean it's true or relevant.]

[The man from North Korea: You said it, my friend. I'm eating a hamburger while enjoying this controversy. Call me if you need big guns. I will deploy a cyber army for you.]

[Half in my grave while waiting for daredevil: This discussion is very silly. In the first place, Aiden made sure to not be too obvious about things and stayed on the technical side of things, calling out Leona's entitlement to blame the audience for the flop. People getting enraged should really think a bit logically instead of being a part of a mob.]

[Catfishing on Tinder: Another day and Sparrow users again got offended by something that shouldn't offend anyone. I'm just waiting for the day people get offended by someone breathing. Humanity is truly doomed. Let's hope dogs take over the world soon.]

[Skyneves: Fight for Aiden! We can't let the fangroup of a guy on steroids and a squirrel faced girl to defeat us.]

"It's not a pretty picture online."

Aiden said, scrolling down on the comments. They disturbed him a bit as he wondered if he really said something wrong. 

But then he shook his head. 

Over 90 percent of the comments were either neutral or in his favour. Moreover, he had just said what he felt. 

Hollywood do have a habit of using the same template for years for movies and then, using whatever is mainstream to make profits. 

It was a business disguised as an art. 

"How many days do you think it would take for it to die down?"

He looked at Wade who was in the middle of eating a pizza slice. Bruce was working behind him, not focused on anything else but drawing. 

The next issue needed to be completed soon. So, Aiden was spending time in the Vikings publishing office. 

"Two-Three days, I guess." Wade said, finishing the slice and picking up another one. 

"Something new would pop up unless Leona and Tyler's agency tried to flame the issue by using bots. It's a bad situation but they must be happy that people are talking about them. Whatever to get their name out. You don't know how hard it is to get a topic about you in the trending page and look at this, [Sherlock of the Shadows] is getting benefitted from the controversy."

Wade showed him his phone. It was a photo of a few tweets that were about people wanting to check on the detective series just because they liked Aiden's view on movies. 

December had already begun and the series was in its third week.

It had slowed down and was in the 7-8th position in America according to Zetflix, already becoming a big, impactful hit. 

As the controversy became big, the roundtable interview got a lot of views, crossing over 2 million in a few days. It also gave the series a lot of viewers, so it would climb up the rankings again. 

"I guess something good came out of it." Aiden muttered, deciding to take his mind away from the controversy. 

"Only because you were on the right side. You dodged a bullet there." Wade said and at that moment, Aiden changed the topic. 

"Anyway, [Sherlock of the Shadows] is already a thing of the past now. I feel like I'm over Finn too. When are we going to go for the script narration for [Stars on the Ground]?"

Aiden asked, thinking that a lot of time had passed since his last meeting with Florence. They were keeping in touch via text messages but it was very short as she was busy dealing with the sets that were being made for the movie. 

"In two days." Wade said and Aiden smiled satisfied. 

[Stars on the Ground] seemed like something right up his alley. A role that was going to be a challenge for him in a different way because the character he was offered has a lot of charisma. 

As Wade and Aiden talked, Bruce suddenly looked up to them and opened his mouth. 

"Hey, Aiden. If you are done discussing it, can you help me out a bit?"

"Ah, yeah, sure."

Like that, he started focusing on the graphic novel for the time being. 

***

Two days later, Aiden went to Florence's office to get the narration of the script and discuss the characters. 

Although Florence wasn't a famous director and was still waiting for that one movie to change her career around, she still owned a pretty good office. 

As Aiden walked through the entrance of it, he couldn't help but think that.

The office was pretty big and looked well staffed. From what he knew, Florence had actually bought it instead of paying rent. 

'Is it because of her acting work? She has also acted in a lot of TV shows. I don't think the movie she directed gave her a lot of money.'

He looked around as he walked. 

From time to time, a few staff members would pass by. In the lobby, a few people who looked like struggling actors were sitting. 

Wade had left to attend a few important endorsement negotiations after dropping him here. He talked to Florence's assistant who told him that she was in the middle of a meeting and would only be free after a while. 

He was fine with it and sat down in the lobby, a few eyes directed towards him but he was already used to it. 

Time passed as he waited and suddenly, someone sat down next to him. He was a bearded man who looked a bit rough but had a good ambiance. He had brown hair and his body was fit, like he spent hours in the gym daily. 

For some reason, he looked pissed about something. 

Finding him a bit familiar, Aiden glanced at him. 

"Aren't you Hank Paige?"

Aiden asked and the bearded man nodded, turning towards him.

"Ah, yeah, I'm." He stared at Aiden and recognised him at first glance. "You are Aiden Silvereye. I loved your work, man. I didn't know I would meet you here today."

"Thanks. That's a big praise. I love your work too. You are one of my favourite action stars."

Hank was a Scottish actor who had been a part of a lot of action series and movies in the past. His career was just filled with action and adventure movies, making him a staple in a lot of franchises. 

Though, as he normally played second or third fiddle to the leads and sometimes, villains that are not written well, he had never been able to get a big popularity for himself.

"I'm far from being a star."

Hank said laughing, then suddenly frowned, like he remembered something bad. Aiden saw it clearly but he didn't think that it was his place to ask about it. 

Instead, he changed the subject. 

"What are you doing here?"

"I am here to talk with Florence. She refused to talk to my agent, so I came here personally." Hank muttered, his mood becoming worse for some reason. "Why are you here?"

"Ah, I have a script narration for [Stars on the Ground]. I have not signed the movie yet but I'm pretty close to doing it."

Hank widened his eyes hearing that. He blinked, thinking of something. After hesitating for a while, he took a look around to ensure that no one was hearing their conversations and whispered. 

"It's better if you don't sign the movie."

"What? Why?" Aiden raised his eyebrow, hearing that strange sentence. 

Why shouldn't he sign the movie? Was something hidden from him? Hank clearly didn't look like he was joking around with him. 

In the first place, he was known to be very serious in his interviews, appealing to a lot of men because of his manly nature and type of movies. 

"Just trust me. That woman, Florence, is a hypocrite who doesn't know how to act professionally. She's the worst type of director you could work with. Originally, I was supposed to play the role of the boyfriend of the main character but things went south pretty soon, just because Florence thought I was too manly looking for the role or something which is obviously a bullshit reason."

Hank said and started talking about what had transpired with him over the past few months. 

It was a tale that was pretty hard to believe for Aiden as Florence had acted pretty good with him. 

But it seemed like things were never as they seemed.