It's the 50's and Arthur Trilby, an affluent and refined asset to the banking world has been found dead. His entire fortune has been given to his wife, a great surprise to her considering their distance within the marriage. In the presence of the en...
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September 1952; Los Angeles
Penny Pellegrini:
"CUT!"
I've patiently waited this entire scene to frantically pull my wig off. The net of the fake brunette locks have been irritating my neck for the entire shoot. It was my fifth movie with Micheal Elwood and I've realised now that uncomfortable costumes were his speciality. But there was no need for me to undermine his unique talent, he'd managed to get my name out there. I was finally watching my dream unravel before me and if that meant wearing this hideous and scratchy wig I was happy to partake.
We're currently shooting a beach film in LA, fortunately my hometown, meaning I could be closer to my daughter. Thinking about her at home with a nanny made me feel immensely guilty. I was sacrificing vital childhood time with her mother for my dream of being an actress. Connie's father was also away, directing an abstract psychological film in Paris. The more I think about how much she must miss her parents the more I question just quitting here on the spot and staying at home forever, never leaving her side. "Darling, that scene was wonderful" Micheal appeared by my side clutching a script "I want you in my next film, You'd be the main part, a widow living alone with nothing but...." I cut him off abruptly, finally acting upon my desires. "I quit Micheal, my daughter needs her mother" I begin walking towards my trailer ignoring the rubbing of my heels. Who even wears heels on a beach?
"Imagine Penny Pellegrini on every billboard, It's gonna happen Penny" I sigh and pause crossing my arms and raising my eyebrow at him. I've heard these very words many times before. In Fact he told me these exact words 5 years ago when I was pregnant with Connie. "I'm going to make sure every household knows your name darling" he'd promised in a diner late one summer night. At that time it was almost impossible for me to be cast, being a pregnant woman, but Micheal had sworn to me I was exactly who he was looking for. But that was five years ago and here I am only just getting attention. It had been a long few years of guilt and dedication, the kind of stuff that plays around with your head.
I reluctantly took the script telling him I'd read it but I couldn't promise him anything. As I enter my trailer it's clear I was going to take the job. I just needed a moment of hesitance to remind myself I had what it takes to be a good mother. Staring into the mirror I began to sob, when I found out I was pregnant with Connie I promised to dedicate all my energy to her. Here I am missing out on the most important years of a girl's life but I just wasn't ready to give up my career yet. Mascara is smeared down my cheeks, my blonde hair remains frizzy from being suffocated by a wig for the last few hours and my lipstick is smudged. I don't have what it takes to become an actress. I'm a mess. I pull a cigarette out my top draw and set it between my lips.
Attached to a mirror is a picture of my husband holding Connie when she was born. He'd come all the way from Paris to be there for her birth. Even my own mother couldn't take a 40 minute taxi ride to be there with me. After me and my husband getting married and becoming pregnant having only known each other for 6 months, my mother began to resent me for making the same mistakes she had. It was torture, she had the complete inability to articulate that my situation was very different to hers. I'm not going to be like the mother I had to Connie. I'm going to call my husband in Paris and tell him to come home as soon as he has finished shooting. I swear to myself that this film would be my last one until Connie was older. I carelessly skimmed the script quickly and unexpectedly becoming invested. I look into the mirror and begin to clean my face up. This is were I was supposed to be, Penny Pellegrini deserved to be on the screen. I take one final drag releasing the smoke from my red lips as I do so there's a faint knock on the trailer door.
It's Micheal his usual sanguine energy is replaced with a solemn gaze. I've never seen him like this before.
