ROSE GOES ON
Chapter Fourteen
As the weeks passed, Rose continued to try to
break into the moving picture industry. Every day, after work, she would go to
one studio or another, or to an agency, and try to find work as an actress. She
often felt guilty about leaving Christopher with someone else so much, but she
did what she had to in order to follow her dreams.
It was a long time before she finally found
film work. The competition for work was fierce, and she was unwilling to do
many of the things that other women did to get roles. At times, she was tempted
to "audition" on a casting couch, but always changed her mind. Too
many would-be actresses found themselves used that way, with the promised film
roles never materializing, and she had her reputation to think of. What would
people think if they found out that she had traded sex for film work? It wasn’t
worth it. She had a young child to care for, and she didn’t even want to think
about what he would say when he got older and questioned such things.
In spite of the difficulty in finding film
work, Rose persisted. It wasn’t that she needed the money--she made enough to
keep herself and Christopher fed, sheltered, and clothed--but she had always
wanted to try acting, and no amount of being turned down was going to dissuade
her.
Finally, after nearly three months of looking
for work in the moving picture industry, Rose found her first bit of success. A
new agency had opened, one that specialized in finding extras. Two of the
people that Rose had asked for work from before had started the agency, and
they admired her persistence. In spite of her lack of experience and the fact
that she had a small child and no husband, they took a chance and hired her.
Many new actresses had far more scandalous backgrounds, and her persistence
showed them that at least she was reliable.
It wasn’t long before Rose was working as an
extra in the moving pictures. At first, she worried that someone from her old
life would see her and come looking for her, but when no one did she decided
that either she wasn’t recognizable, no one cared to look for her, or they
simply weren’t watching moving pictures. Whatever the reason, she was safe.
Her first moving picture roles weren’t much.
She didn’t have any lines--not that they would have been heard anyway--and
usually just blended into the crowd. After a while, however, she became a
little better known, and was able to stand out a bit more. She still didn’t
have any lines, but by March she was given her first role as a character who
had a name and was acknowledged in the credits.
With her newfound success as an actress, Rose
shortened the number of hours she worked at the restaurant. Fortunately, the
manager was used to the vagaries of actress’s schedules, and allowed her to
arrange her hours around her filming schedule. Once she got her first decently
paying role, Rose quit working there, concentrating her efforts upon her career
as an actress.
John, Mary, and Nadia wrote to her regularly.
The girls had seen every picture she had been in, even if she was only on the
screen for a few seconds. Mary told anyone who would listen that she knew a
real movie star, and went back and saw several films twice.
Rose was able to bring Christopher with her
for her second role where she stood out from the crowd. Her character didn’t
have a name, and she wasn’t acknowledged in the credits, but she was getting
better known and better paid. For this particular part, she played a young
mother running from a burning building with her child in her arms. She had had
to bring Christopher with her one day when his caretaker was ill, and the
director convinced her to run from the building with him in her arms.
Christopher was frightened at first, and then enthralled by what was going on.
No matter how often the scene had to be re-shot, he was still fascinated by
what was going on. He had inherited his mother’s talent for dramatics, and
acted very convincingly for such a small child. He, too, was paid for his work,
and Rose put the money away for when he was older, possibly to help send him to
college.
Rose’s career as an actress progressed slowly
but steadily, as she moved up in the moving picture industry. She still refused
to compromise her morals for better parts and better pay, but her sheer
stubbornness, combined with talent and an ability to learn quickly, moved her
forward in her chosen profession.