Chapter 2 Man of steel
1. Man of steel...
Rainy Sunday morning, January 2020, Northern Europe. David had been locked in his dressing room for hours. Outside, the security guards of his team were banging on the door and threatening to break it down.
- Leave me alone! I'm all right. I just need to be alone for a while.
David sighed. He couldn't wait to get some rest. At least they were on the last shot - the last shot, of one of his last film projects.
It had been years since David had known what it was like to have a real vacation. Even on weekends - when he was free from filming movies and TV series - he ended up involved in a thousand commitments with the brands he had a contract with.
His circle of friends always had to do with work. He was never alone. His advisors, contractors, security guards, and promoters were around him 24 hours a day. His parties were formal, with many paparazzi and spotlights pointed at him. All the compliments, greetings, and salutations had to do with business. All the new people his team let approach him came out of some kind of interest, no matter how small. Even the women who slept with him did so because of who he was: one of the most famous and richest actors in Hollywood.
Standing in the dressing room bathroom, staring into the mirror, David stared at himself for minutes. He was very tired. The exhaustion on his face was clear. He was always smiling, even though inside he was shouting, "Let me go now, you fucking director. He was about to explode.
He would sleep late at night in trailers or hotels, depending on where they were shooting and how long they were shooting. He finished one contract and was already waiting for several others to start work. When not, he had already renewed for sequels to his films that were not even finished yet. Many times he recorded more than one show at the same time. No wonder he was so exhausted! Years and years without a deep rest... Everything in him was crying out for help!
David opened the dressing room door. There was a crowd of employees outside the trailer. He smiled, tried to joke, and calm everyone down. He said that everything was fine and that he just needed a little rest alone. His staff quickly attended to him, trying their best to support him, engaging him in technical matters as they walked together. Seconds later, they were talking about his incredible scenes, about his magnificent performance in front of the cameras. A thousand different topics for David to process.
The general direction team for that shoot announced that everyone should go home and rest, and they thanked everyone there for their cooperation, stressing that the work had been enough for that day. The majority leaders behind the big sponsorship franchises also thanked everyone and said goodbye, but not before giving David a big hug and a few pats on his shoulder, saying:
- Can we have a meeting tomorrow before the last re-shoots of scenes?
- Of course, we can. If it's something urgent we can talk now," answered David with a downcast and exhausted face.
The gentlemen smiled and asked him to go and rest.
The mood on the set was light. David Nichols was a very charismatic and beloved actor; basically the most well-spoken and respected artist in the business. Everyone knew they could trust him. When David committed to a job, he was unbeatable, and sometimes he paid a very high price for it because no man is made of steel.
