Interview with a fictional person.

Was looking around in my schoolwork folder for something interesting. I found this mock interview that i made for my Journalism class about... four months ago... I thought i'd share it.

Sometimes i think i put a little too much effort into these things... :P

Anyways, i know i've made a few mistakes, like, i'm not supposed to say 'i' or 'my' i think... but i was still learning! Don't pick on me please, unless it's constructive. :)

I also know that the paragraphs aren't right, but it's easier to read on my blog this way.

I liked writing it, so i hope you like it too. Anytime i get to be creative, you can bet i'll go overboard and do more than is necessary...

But that's only because i enjoy writing that way. :)

And don't forget that this is 100% fictional. :P



A Phoenix from the ashes.

Amber Saville returns from the TV wasteland with an insatiable desire for perfection, and she knows just how to get it.

It seems that Australia’s memory of our old child star is like that of a strange dream. After several years on the popular channel 10 soap Acquaintances, and moving on to the surprise hit, Elevator Execution, she had already built up a strong fan base. But at perhaps the peak of her career so far, she disappeared to try to make her way along the well-trodden path to Briton fame, and disappeared from our screens without a trace for many years.

Sitting in a Sydney hotel room with the lively star; she has her hair sculpted by a well-groomed male hairdresser, and a glass of expensive champagne in her left hand, you wouldn’t think that the journey she had travelled to get to her current status had been such a treacherous one, and one which she had stumbled on at almost every turn.

"You know, I really thought it was the right decision, to head out and look for better things," she says, between glances at the mirror. "Britain seemed like the most… logical place for me to test the waters. It’s worked for so many other female stars, why not me, you know?"

When asked why she decided to leave at a time when she was one of Australia’s golden girls, she lets out a quiet sigh.

"It was the same every day, you know? As much as I loved my job, and the people I worked with, oh… and especially the fans," and she glances down at the tape recorder with a mischievous smile, "I wanted so much more. I had dreams. I wanted the world to know my name."

I ask her what her first experience of the British television industry was like, and she pauses for a moment. She rests her forehead on her knuckles, before she looks up and stares into the distance.

"I tried out for a lot of TV shows. My agent was fantastic, and he got me auditions for a lot of different things he thought might suit me… But, it was the same response each time. I was constantly told, ‘you don’t really suit the part,’ or, ‘we don’t think this is what you’re looking for,’ so I never really made any progress, you know?"

I bring up the instance of her first break, a small, two-episode appearance on the late-night comedy of the BBC, 70 Faces, and she half-smiles, half-laughs.

"Break? I’d barely call it a break. I played an eighty-year-old," and she starts to laugh. "My face was covered in prosthetics. I knew nothing about the character I would be playing when I signed up. All I wanted to do was get my face on British TV, and look what happened… But, I had to make a living somehow, you know. I did a lot of shows like that, and I was glad I finally got some work."

Before I get a chance to bring it up, she continues onto the next thing on my list of questions.

"It was a surprise when I got a call from my agent, and heard that the guys from Glances At Time were looking for a small-time character. I was so excited to have a go at it, cos I’d been watching the show for years. I went to the audition, and put everything I had into it… Maybe it was my acting skills, maybe my enthusiasm, but they liked what they saw."

With millions watching each episode of the time-travelling drama, Amber had finally had a major success. Her character, Vivian Venom, the volatile partner-in-crime of one of the show’s major villains, struck a cord with many of the viewers. So much so, that she was asked to consider joining the show as a main character.

"I didn’t need a moment to consider it. I jumped at the chance. I was thrilled to finally have a decent job."

She goes on to tell me that she remembers her time on the show very fondly, and I ask her to elaborate.

"The people were wonderful, the storylines were so smart, and I loved doing my job. It was hard at times, sure, but the good things far outweigh the bad things…

I mention the well-known rumours about her relationship with British co-star and on-screen love interest, Sammy Brief, and she looks at me from the corners of her eyes for a moment.

"He’s a sweetheart, oh, and that adorable accent… He was lovely. But nothing ever happened… We were great friends, and we wanted no more. And even if I had wanted it to, well… I think he had a thing for… you know, less feminine people, if you know what I mean," and she starts to giggle again.

Her role on the popular show lasted for four seasons, during which it won several prestigious British television awards. But eventually she got the call, and found out her time on the show was to come to an end.

"If I could’ve stayed forever, I think I might have, but I understand why they had to get rid of me. They were running out of things to do with me!" she laughs. "But they finished me in a very nice way… I took the bad guys with me into oblivion. It was very sweet… and on my last day the cast and crew all got together and threw us a big party."

But that was to be one of the few successes the Aussie actor had overseas. Following her stint on Glances At Time, she joined the cast of risqué comedy/drama The Thirteenth Cow.

"Eurgh… Don’t remind me. What a horrible show. Let me just say for the record that I had no idea the show was going to take the turn it did… Those poor animals…"

Along with many other dismayed actors, she quit the show, and once again found herself unemployed.

"I was back to where I started, jobless and desperate."

She found herself doing the small parts again. She filmed a series of cameos across a broad range of shows, hoping to one again get the call she prayed for.

"I was just hoping the people weren’t sick of me. My agent told me to get my face off the TV, so people don’t get Amber-overload. I did, and was hoping I wouldn’t fade into nothingness like so many others… But luckily I got a call from him a few months after Cow. The producers of a new miniseries wanted an actor to play an off-the-streets vampire… Yeah, apparently they’d seen my work and knew I was versatile. I took the job. Hell, I would’ve taken anything…"

The show was called Not So Lonely Nights, and was supposedly to tell the story of the rise of assorted horror characters throughout the country. The episodes were filmed, and the media was abuzz with curiosity, because the show was expensive, the special effects were supposed to be amazing, and the crew and cast were very tight-lipped about what the show actually entailed… The premiere was watched by millions of people, but what came next came as a shock to most people involved in the project.

"The critics absolutely slammed it. So did the public. They said it was vulgar and unfunny… The next episode barely scraped through, and I think the third one and all those afterwards were cut altogether… Yeah, and when I saw them, I could understand why. The scripts were awful and the way they showed the women was sexist. And the ways the characters talked were offensive, and I think you can see the regret in the actors eyes while they do their thing," she chuckles. "Hey, it was an awful show. All you can do is laugh now…"

But as the show took its horrible dive, so did Amber’s credibility as an actor. Her attempts to regain her former standing in the television world were ineffective.

"I got the feeling nobody wanted to touch me with a ten-foot pole! I felt like… I had no chance at breaking back in. I was back to queuing at auditions, and even then, I was getting the same replies I’d been getting almost a decade ago! I decided I might have to come back home, although I didn’t like the thought of that. Hey, don’t get me wrong! I love Australia, but it hardly has the bustling hub of celebrity other countries have, you know?"

But only days before she was to book her tickets back home and pack up her things, her agent called one last time.

"Yeah, I was doubtful, but he begged me to hear him out, so I did. It was the least I could do for him. He’d been with me through the good and bad all these years, you know?"

American producers of an optimistic new adventure show were looking for a female actor to play the lead role. The show, Resistance, had already signed up many new cast members from auditions and from actors colleges, but the producers had specifically called Amber’s agent to request she take a look.

"When I read the scripts, I got a really good feeling. They sent chills down my spine, they were that good… I was so excited to get back to work, doing what I love. I had a real buzz."

Given that Resistance is still yet to premiere, in Australia, Britain or the US, Amber is reluctant to give away too much.

"I wish I could give you a few spoilers, but my lips have been sealed. We all want it to be a big surprise… You’ll just have to get what you can from the trailers."

But she is more than happy to talk about her role on the show.

"I play Zola Phoenix, a disheartened soldier in a fictional world. My people’s long time enemy have found the source of our power and captured it, and my character defects to their side, seeing it as her only chance for survival. Her family died long ago, and the enemy imprisoned her lover. She has little to live for, except life itself… It’s a role I can really sink my teeth into, you know? It’s great. I’m loving it, every second of it. I couldn’t think of a better place to be in right now."

Realising that my appointment with one of the world’s budding actresses and stars is coming to a close, I ask her where she sees herself in a few decades time, and whether the fact that she has always dreamt of big things will have an effect on that.

"Sure, I’ve always chased fame and renown… and I don’t regret that… but I see things differently now. I’ve been at the bottom and I’ve seen what really matters. I’ve met so many people and heard so many stories. It’s really changed how I view myself, and the world as a whole… What really matters? Happiness. You just have to figure out what your ideal happiness would be, and how you can get it. I want a family, a husband and children. I want to raise the best damn kids in the world and be the best damn mother as well. And it doesn’t matter to me whether they see mummy on the big screen and in the newspapers, or sitting at the sidelines of a soccer match or just reading them a bedtime story. In my mind, I couldn’t ask for anything more than a loving family. I would be so happy with that."



Can you see Mirrorboy as a journalist?

:)?