The sunny morning with the birds chirping outside the window of Ian Renner’s room was an eye-catching scene one would see if they walked outside the balcony from his room. The trees had grown tall enough that they were visible from the inside of his room in the huge mansion, and Ian adored every part of the picturesque view. The outside looked peaceful and helped take his mind off stressful things. His mind was generally occupied with so many things at once, yet he knew it was all for a good start in his new life.

With everything that was on his mind recently, his mornings have become the most stressful part of his day. On days like these, taking a fresh breath of nature sounded absolutely heavenly to Ian.

Taking a look at his phone, he felt as if the day might turn upside down if he spent any longer staring at the green leaves. He'd get lost in his musings, and he would be unable to do anything productive, so he reluctantly turned away, and decided to get ready.

‘Ah fuck! Let’s get this over with!’ He showered quickly and went to the theatre where the auditions for Lucifer were to be held.

Lucifer had officially entered its pre-production phase.

-

Walking inside the theatre, he was greeted by the wooden stage and people from the LeoTV pre-production crew. The casting director, producer, and many other essential interviewers were already present.

“Hey, I’m Micheal,” A guy with a long black beard and grey hair greeted Ian. “The casting director, glad to work with you, Mr. Renner,” He said while extending his hand to shake with Ian.

“The feeling is mutual, how many people will be here today? Around 50?” Ian asked.

“Yeah, fifty to fifty-five. Just the selected ones from the documents. Based on the descriptions that came along with the script, I guess we did a pretty good job with cutting 200 requests to fifty. Trust me, that took three whole days,” Micheal laughed while remembering how they were in a tough spot with so many good actors.

“Haha, looking forward to seeing some real talents then, I have high hopes for this, Micheal,” Ian smiled while taking a bottle of water from where they were stocked.

“Yeah, the script and the descriptions said it all, let’s hope today is the day,” Micheal said hinting that today might be the day where they see the potential Lucifer in one of the fifty.

[..] Within the first three hours of listening to dialogues and skills of different types of actors and actresses, much to everyone’s surprise, Ian found his Lucifer. Not like they let him know immediately, it was just as soon the guy presented his skills, Ian was like,

“This is the type of guy I’m looking for,” He whispered to the casting director.

He had stunned the casting director on the other hand. He first saw the acting skills of Chad Carter. He was a B-Grade actor who climbed to the top after a few side roles in some TV shows, among them, there were many awards he won including, best actor, best upcoming actor, and the people’s choice award. Trying to audition in Ian's new series was something he wanted to give an attempt.

“Okay, Chad Carter. Let’s jump straight ahead onto the script, I mean, almost everyone knows who you are when it comes to the TV. This will be a small dialogue between Chloe, Ella, and Lucifer. Lucifer’s part is the one you have to act, so get ready in two minutes?” Micheal said and gave a brief nod which Alex returned.

After two minutes, Chad was ready to present his skills to the auditions and the people in the front who were the judges for the day.

“I'm fine. It's a bad one. One dead. Jason Biglin. White male, 38. His wife, Miranda, woke up to find him in the living room. Really gruesome scene,”

The lady, Gemma was the one who supported by repeating along the lines, so the auditionee can show what they got. Gemma’s repetition of the script was monotone. Almost as if no color was included. But that’s where the actor should show their true colors by completing their part. This was tricky and confusing, but a professional finds it easy and compelling to face such auditions.

“I'll take the wife as the murderer for 800, Detective,” Chad read along the lines.

In the scene after the words were how the female lead, Chloe looks at Lucifer in disapproval. It was as if Chad ‘understood the assignment’, he looked straight in front giving the eyes of ‘I-am-not-joking’ which fit the role perfectly.

“What? I've been watching more television recently. Honestly, I'm starting to understand why you humans spend so much time on shows. They can be quite addicting!”

“Okay! That’s enough~ Thank you so much for coming here today, Chad. We will let your manager know the results within a few days!” Micheal said while Chad smiled in return.

“He must be it,” Ian whispered for Micheal to hear.

“Will be waiting for a good response, and nice to meet you too, Ian. I’m a huge fan of Home Alone and La La Land, I’ll leave the stage to the rest of the people in the line, thank you,” He said and walked away with a smile still plastered on his face. It was as if he was content with his acting skills. No wonder he has established his own place in the rankings and in the ‘hearts’ of people.

“The feeling is mutual, Chad,” Ian said before he walked down the wooden stage.

Chad had a squared shape face, not sharp but perfectly smooth jaw, a slight stubble growing on his face, with tanned skin, he looked somewhat like Tom Ellis, the actor who played Lucifer Morningstar from where Ian was from. What gave off the perfect ‘Lucifer’ feeling was Chad’s vibes.

It was finally settled in no big time.

Chad Carter.

32 years old.

1.90m in height.

From, Florence, Oregon.

Role given: Lucifer Morningstar. (Lead)

[...]

“Lawrence household. The daughter, Marcella, was scooped up just after noon today. 9 years old. Same age as the Biglin girls,” A man who looked like to be in his early 30s was now performing the small part of Daniel.

Ever since he laid his two feet on the stage, he was sweating. The nervousness was clearly visible and felt to where Ian was seated. Micheal was unsure about the audition because he showed no signs of professionalism. An actor must be someone who shows realism for what is fake. And can fake the realism.

“Anyone hurt?” Gemma asked without seeming to care about the world.

“Nope. The girl was outside with the maid and the family dog. Apparently, the phone rang inside and the maid went to get it. When she came back outside, girl and the dog were gone,” Walker Livingstone repeated his lines trying to act in front of the people who seemed to look way too judgy for their own good. Yes, it was Ian, Micheal, and the other four project helpers.

“That’s enough, thank you. We’ll call you,” Ian said while dismissing him away without wanting to waste any of their time.

“I know he became slightly famous from a sitcom, yeah?” Ian asked looking at Micheal.

“Yeah, dude was famous for nervous breakdowns before auditions. The sitcom he acted in, there’s a whole different story from the audition itself. Before the audition, his wife had to act all lovey-dovey outside the theatre for him to calm his nerves. I think the matter today was her absence, but whatever. Professionalism is something we highly aim for here, right?” Micheal said while laughing at his own words. The story was something that got popular after Walker Livingstone’s movie release. The director of the movie explained what happened and released the footage of their hugs and consolation. It just gained more popularity for the movie.

“Yeah, you’re right. I just hope he overcomes it, Next!” Ian shouted saying the last word.

“Scarlett Johnson!” Gemma announced as a girl who looked to be in her 30s stood tall on the stage. Seeing her, Ian looked shocked and stunned. He wanted to take a double look as if he is seeing the same thing he thought. There she was. What more to describe if Scarlett Johansson was right in front of Ian’s eyes. Ian looked quickly at the document and noticed the slight changes in her name. But that’s all.

Her hair looked a bit longer than the real Scarlett Ian knew, and her eyes were darker. Ian couldn’t utter a single word but kept watching her every move.

There would be no more explanations needed other than her name of her. But if someone dared to ask who Scarlett is, the answer would be simple, yet worthy. She was an American actress from Ian’s previous world. In fact, she was elected the world's highest-paid actress for two consecutive years. She had been featured multiple times in the Forbes Celebrity 100 list. Time magazine, which was a popular Hollywood magazine in that world, named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Her films had grossed over $14.3 billion worldwide, making Johansson the ninth-highest-grossing box office star of all time. She has received various accolades, including a Tony Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards and five Golden Globe Awards. That was barely her worth all over the years she was on the screen.

She stood straight and looked forward to maintain her posture.