Our Chaotic Interview Prep [OCL Cast, TLLS Crew]

[Deleted]

@anna @drewlewis

When Savannah was preparing for the day, this was certainly not how she envisioned it going. Of course she wanted it to go well, but the definition of "well" was not clear. She did not think she would be trying to chalk up her baking skills to the host of the show in such a teasing, hopefully charming way, though she did appear a bit flustered. It did not help when Drew called her... Savvy? Most people just called her Savannah. Everyone called her Savannah, and if they didn't, she would tend to correct them. But for some reason, Savannah had no problem with Drew making up a name for her. She grinned regardless, letting it pass as if they were old friends. She couldn't come up with a nickname for his already short name on the spot, and it was clear at this point that Savannah was going to be the loser of this competition after her interjection: "Trust me, you won't be disappointed-" when Drew pulled his next move directly from When Harry Met Sally. Savannah let out a dramatic sigh, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow to watch him groan his way through his pretend cupcake, which then turned to gagging. Savannah tapped her foot playfully, not going down easily: "You done?" It was all joking, but now Savannah knew that he was definitely serious. Or that's at least what he was portraying. Savannah couldn't let her guard down or make him mediocre cupcakes - wait a second, was this real cupcake talk? To be honest, until this moment Savannah had been pretty sure that it was just trash talk for the sake of trash talk. Now she was pretty sure of the opposite.

The time in which Drew spoke to Anna gave Savannah some time to compose herself. She was vaguely aware of the fact that out of her and Anna, one of them was getting much more attention than the other, though Savannah wasn't quite sure why. It wasn't that they all weren't getting along. She also knew that Anna would be able to pull out some story, and she was eager to listen, though she had probably heard it before on set.

The thought of putting a picture of Toulouse on the show later was thrilling for Savannah. She would talk about and show off her cat to anyone that would listen, and this was such a grand opportunity. She flinched ever so slightly when Drew pronounced the social media name wrong, but at this point she knew better than to fall into that trap even with what little conversation they had had so far. "It's actually-" Savannah paused, not letting herself correct him because she knew that would only make it worse, then nodded vigorously: "Of course! I have plenty of pictures but I think this one is just perfect." It really displayed Savannah's enthusiasm, that was for sure. Was she supposed to ask for his number? The conversation moved too fast for Savannah to ask.

Normally, when people laughed at Savannah over her odd occasional snort, she would be angry. But Drew just thought it was funny in what felt like such a more innocent way that she couldn't bring herself to say anything. She found herself laughing right alongside Drew, analyzing the picture of the silly cat. Everything that Drew responded with about his cat and cats in general rang true for Savannah. "Of course he does. He's always staring at me and he's chatty, but at odd hours. Early morning, late at night, really just the times when I'm trying to sleep. To be fair, though, that's most of the time I'm in my apartment." Not that Toulouse complained about that, he loved having someone to cuddle with at bedtime, even if bedtime was often.

Savannah was actually very pleased with the way Drew talked about Maggie, solidifying her early opinion of him based on his affection for the cat. Sure enough, there was an elbow in her side again, and Savannah found herself laughing for what felt like the twentieth time that evening. It certainly wasn't a bad thing. It wasn't what she set out to do, but she liked it. "You just need someone who knows exactly what you're talking about because they've been there. Namely me. Anyone who thinks we're wackos is just missing out." Nothing against his audience, but they couldn't have these kinds of face to face conversations, and they generally wouldn't have much to compare. It was two different worlds, unfortunately. Though pets was more of a unifying subject than most.

The fact that Drew didn't turn Savannah away was somehow surprising to her. Not that she really expected him to directly say no, but she also didn't expect it to go this well. "Ghostbusters, huh? I'm just at Savannah Dalt, because I'm clearly not as good with making jokes as you are. They hired me for being able to deliver pre-written ones," Savannah joked, feeling like perhaps it was her turn to nudge him in the ribs. But soon enough he was even extending his offer further to between take meetings for coffee. Savannah could really use a new friend in a realm other than directly Our Chaotic Life. Glancing briefly at Anna but not long enough to raise questions, Savannah spoke: "Of course! - I mean, of course," she tried to dial it down a bit so as not to look too desperate. She had friends, she was just looking for new connections of all shapes and sizes, not just co stars. Savannah was looking to branch out, really. "I would love the chance to be normal and talk about normal things. Or as normal as we could be while going to craft services at one of the biggest American television stations," Savannah teased yet again. She felt more comfortable to crack such jokes with Drew than with others, such feelings developing over such a short period of time. What did that even mean, though? Hopefully the possibility of a strong friendship? How was she even supposed to tell?

Next thing she knew, Savannah pulled out her phone again without even thinking and offered it to Drew on a blank new contact page. "Here. I'll text you the next time I'm sick of the daily grind." This would seriously encroach on her between take naps. But he didn't need to know that right now.

WORDS 1073
NOTES this took me a day to write and i have no clue why. it got better towards the end imo but im sorry for this wow

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

[Deleted]

@savannah @drewlewis

They were still going on about the cupcakes. They had been talking about them since before she arrived. It was an amusing conversation on her part to listen to. But it didn’t feel right for her to step in and comment on it. This really was a private conversation between them.

She had to nod her head in thanks as Drew commented that she could pull off something a bit less innocent on screen and that he felt she had the range. “Thank you. Maybe some producer or director will think the same thing in the future.” That or she could have her agent start scouting around for a part like that for her.

When he asked about what she had done in the real world she just gave him a sly smile and shook her head. Holding up her hand to stop that line of questioning right there. “Oh no uh uh. Rule number one. I never ever talk about my personal life.” She wasn’t being mean about it like she knew some actors wre. Some of them when you crossed a line like that would storm out or get angry. It wasn’t worth the energy to do that. She just simply let him know. But that was one thing she never did and the press had been making speculations for years about who she’s dated or who she likes. Guy or girl, secret marriage. All of it. Let them wonder.

OK now she had to speak up in Savannah defense. She was seriously underwriting her ability there. “Don’t let her kid you about making jokes. She may have been all sorts of nervous starting out but let me tell you. Her ad libbed lines are some of the best on the show.” She did have to blink however and smile just a bit as Savannah glanced her way. Had Drew really just asked the girl out? She didn’t even try to hide the smile from forming. This was way to cute and sweet. She could already imagine the rumors and gossip that would be flying around the network in a week. Anna would love every moment of it if things did work out between them.

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[Deleted]

Believe it not, Drew didn't mind doing a little physical comedy every now and then. Truth be told, Drew was as clumsy as the most cliche blonde girl at the sorority. You know, the one who spills the margaritas on the one girl who was wearing white, or when that birthday cake meant for Britta was rewritten to wish happy birthday to the ground. If Drew had had a real cupcake during his little miming session, it would be in a puddle on the ground. You should see the guy try and brew coffee in the morning! Half of the water ends up on the counter. At least this time, the laughs were forthcoming from his audience of one. Savannah was playing along fantastically, getting into it as she crossed her arms. She didn't seem to mind his little nickname for her, either. One might say she appeared a bit flustered by the host's charms. Not as though that was Drew's goal, or anything, but hey, talk about a confidence booster. After licking his fingers clean of all that imaginary cupcake goodness, the late night host shot a sly smirk at the woman questioning him. "Am I ever done? Perhaps not. I still haven't found my off switch...keep your eyes peeled, if you don't mind." It was true that Drew had a tendency to make jokes out of everything, even when, on those rare occasions, comedy was not merited or even wanted. It was a character flaw, for sure, but not one that applied currently.

Back with Anna, things seemed to be stalling. It was painfully obvious that someone was getting more attention than someone else, but Drew was genuinely trying to include the actress in the process. She seemed reluctant, blatantly stating she doesn't talk about her personal life. This makes Drew's job quite the bit harder, and he was already throwing her oddball, non-personal questions and she wasn't giving him much back. It'd be a sluggish, awkward interview if this was what was to occur on-air. Trying to phrase it delicately, with a face showing restrained grimace at times, Drew spoke to Anna about the questions. "Oh, so...nothing, huh? I mean your name is personal, so I think you broke your rule there. But, honestly, Anna, this is practice. This isn't live. I can safely say though that if this is how our rapport is going to be on air, the producers won't be none too happy. I mean, this is supposed to be a promotion of you guys, you know? All you've really done is give praise to Savannah here, which is great and good and wonderful, but, when I ask you some questions...give me something to work with. People want to know about you. If you don't want to do romance, that's totally fine, I'll write some notes. But playing mysterious can only go so far. You've gotta have some anecdotal story to tell me, about anything you feel comfortable discussing. Let's go over it here, practice, polish, and viola, by the time we get to air, we'll have something to please the masses." Now, this wasn't Drew being mean. This was Drew attempting to do his job in as polite a way as possible. His gestures and hand motions during indicated a sincere and vested interested in not only the conversation, but the interview and show in it's entirety. The show was, for all intents and purposes, Drew's life. He wanted to make sure everything moved smoothly, which is partially the reason he agreed to these pre-show meetings in the first place. He just hoped Anna didn't take that too hard and started to play along a little more. The energy was in the room; she just had to plug herself into it.

Jumping back into something more fun, hoping Savannah didn't dip in energy as Drew just had, the cat conversation (catversation to some) continued burning the house down. Talking about "normal people" things like pets was great, and a key to grounding the celebrity to Earth and making them seem more relatable. Not that Savannah wasn't relatable, with her shy demeanor but warm reception and the constant outpouring of affability, she didn't need a whole lot of help in that regard. Plus, the fact that she was so receptive to humor and quick to put up her own comedic display made her a shoo-in for fan favorite. "Do you use him as a pillow? I'd use Maggie as a pillow sometimes, until one day when I actually kind of, uh, fell asleep on her. Put down a little too much pressure, I guess, and I got a taste of what it would be like if she was a full-fledged alarm clock. Just imagine a great, booming 'mwrawp!' right by your ear, oof. I heard Bowie's version of 'Cat People' in my head all day, which I bet was also Maggie's doing." Drew hadn't really seemed to connect with somebody as easily as he was with Savannah. Obviously the pet topic was helping, but her enthusiasm for her Toulouse was endearing. It's just always nice to meet another cat fan. "Maybe these anti-cat fans may be swayed by our shared love of the feline kind. I mean, especially after showing the masses that picture of Toulouse. We could start one of those 'The More You Know' campaigns but call it, I don't know, 'The More You Pet,' or something. Any ideas?" He's trying to set Savvy up for something here, but of what he wasn't sure. 

When Savannah uttered her Twitter handle, Drew, in as surreptitiously as one could be standing in front of two other people, pulled out his phone and within a few moments was following her. "Nah, I like your tag. When you get mad, you can ask people if they're Dalt-y...or, you know, you could not do that." Drew yanked on his collar, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Okay, maybe not my best work." He scanned her tweets, mostly innocent stuff, posts about New York, many featuring Toulouse. He'll have to keep his eye on this, and maybe even watch her show. That might be a nice gesture. He also managed to Tweet at her already, just to kick things off nice and early: Hanging with @savannahdalt before a new @llsdl! Talking about cats! I give her two paws up. Sweet, huh? Not as sweet as Savannah's excitement at getting a new friend, though. Drew also had to admit he was excited at the prospect of making a real pal out of this whole thing. He had the occasional twitter exchange with Paul F Tompkins or maybe there was that one time he got Michael Keaton to reply to a vaguely political tweet he made once. This seemed new and fun. Sliding his phone back into his pocket, he added his contact info into her phone.

"I mean, normal people can come in and drink coffee in the lobby. We're just a few floors up, so, we're basically still like..." he paused for dramatic effect "THEM." He couldn't even pretend to hide the dorky smile on his face as he handed the phone back to the actress. It was all exciting, meeting new people. Drew was real interested in seeing where this thing may lead. "I look forward to it. I usually only get texts from the assistant, asking me dumb things like 'where am I?' or other such frivolities." Drew remembered that, after all this commotion, they were supposed to be preparing for an interview. Heck, if they had taped this interaction, Drew thinks they might have actually won the night over the other guys' shows. "So, uh, I gotta ask for some feedback: how's this 'interview' going for you?" 


((1305 this time. Is it ok? I feel like it's JUST ok.))

[Deleted]

@anna @drewlewis

It was nice in a way, to have someone who really competed with her and didn't take no for an answer. It was a completely different vibe than what Savannah was used to on set. Everything she said and did at this meeting so far was all in fun, and she was sure that Drew knew that. Anna, however, seemed to be having a different kind of time with the conversation flow. It was as if there were two completely different conversations going on, which there were in a sense. Savannah felt a bit awkward watching the way that Drew and Anna's conversation was evolving, knowing how uncomfortable Anna was with sharing about her personal life. Rather, she just didn't do it. Savannah did understand what Drew was getting at, but she thought best not to say anything. Anna was an adult, she could respond for herself. But if she displayed that she needed it, of course Savannah would help her.

Drew didn't let it get him down, it seemed. He jumped smoothly back into they conversation, and Savannah could barely tell what had just happened previous. He quickly asked if she ever used Toulouse as a pillow, to which Savannah could offer a large grin. Yes of course she had. He didn't really know what Savannah's wild nights in were like, but of course she had. Even though she hadn't had the feline for relatively long, the two were fast friends. Drew's anecdote of doing just that felt vaguely familiar and Savannah shook her head: "Been there done that. I uh - I fall asleep on the couch a lot, and I mean a lot and I mean well but Toulouse doesn't take crap from anyone. Namely me. You'd think I would have learned by now. Or at least used a real pillow. He prefers laps to heads." Drew just flew through their conversation with such ease, and Savannah just tried to keep up. Savannah could talk for hours about Toulouse, and Drew seemed to be content with keeping the cat talk going. Savannah was all for the movement he wanted to start as well. She hummed the "The More You Know" jingle almost absent-mindedly as a joke, fully supporting his idea by repeating it: "'The More You Pet'... I like it. I think we can really make a change in this dog eat dog world." Was that even remotely funny? She wasn't quite sure.

"I'm more of a sweet than a Dalt-y person normally, but it's the thought that counts," Savannah chuckled as Drew pulled out his phone and began to type something away. She heard her phone chime and resisted the urge to check for a grand total of .2 seconds. As she got her phone back from Drew, Savannah quickly glanced at the notification and a grin spread across her face. Give her a half hour and she'd think of something witty to respond with. That would be work for when she was back in her dressing room. "I make no promises, but I can try to keep the tone: 'Where are you? I swear if we don't get coffee in the next ten minutes I'm going to explode because everything is urgent on set at all times no matter what.' Or not. Or I won't do that." Shuffling in place a bit, Savannah let out a puff of breath: "I'll leave the jokes to you next time. Anyway... Yeah, coffee's good." For some reason, despite the ease of conversation, Savannah was nervous again. It felt different than average publicity nerves. It might have something to do with the fact that Savannah had just agreed to what was probably a loose date but also probably not? This whole situation was so confusing to her and she thought it best to not question everything. That would make it worse.

Drew then asked how the interview was going, and Savannah tried her best to be honest without airing the fifty thoughts that just ran through her head in the last five seconds: "Honestly, much better than I thought it would. I'm normally super nervous for publicity stuff, but I feel much better. This is all okay, right? This'll work?" Instead, she felt some other different kind of nerves that were not even related to the interview that would be nationally broadcast very soon. "How about you, Anna?" Despite the rocky comments made just a bit ago about her needing to give something for Drew to work with, Savannah tried to throw her cast mate back into the conversation. After all, all the questions couldn't go to Savannah once they were on air. Anna was normally much smoother than her anyway.

WORDS 782
NOTES hush hush you are fabulous - also struggled w this post a bit but perhaps bc this thread is winding down on savannah's part? anna and drew are still sparring but i feel like sav has had her piece? idk ignore me

MADE BY ★MEULK OF GS

[Deleted]

@savannah @drewlewis

She blinked at his comment. Her usual smile lessening just a small bit. “Here’s the thing about this business Drew. Some things actors and musicians will not talk about. Generally your assistant would find what tops are off limits before we come on stage so that the little voice in your head could steer you clear. Some actors or performers will gladly storm off stage of those topics are brought up.” She let her smile return to it’s usual brightness. “As for your producer being upset. They wouldn't be upset at the person you are interviewing but at you since it’s your job to keep us engaged and on stage.

She may have been a bit harsh with all this but it was true. Anna had witnessed it plenty from those she had worked with. “As for breaking a rule? Not really. I have no problem with you asking personal questions. I have a problem about you asking about my personal relationships outside of my family.” In truth she had no problem talking about her parents. Her younger brother was a bit more difficult. “As for my name being personal? Hardly. I’m a member of the Screen Actors Guild. They don’t really like members to have the same name so each name has to be unique. They also tend to like names to sound American. Anna Simone isn’t the name I was born with. Wasn’t the name my parents gave me. It’s not exactly personal.”

Part of her knew she should just stop there, she had already vented enough. But Anna just couldn’t stop herself. “As for this being to promote our show? You’ve yet to really talk about it. Most of this prep meeting has been about baked goods and what pets you prefer. Neither of them have anything to do with the show.”

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[Deleted]

This redhead had been ignited by Drew's comments via her interest level in this interview. His smile seemingly sunk into more of a dastardly smirk. "Actually, if you stormed off, that might make for great ratings. You being here is meant to promote your show, a little cross-stream action from the network." He paused to lick his lips, adjusting his position to directly face the actress head-on, almost as if to indicate his sense of power or control over the situation. Drew was getting territorial over the flow of his show, which is about as aggressive as you might see the guy. At least she was talking. "Do you know how these segments work? I'll have you guys on for, what, like ten minutes, broken up with a commercial break. That first half, if you've ever watched this show before, I fill with fluffy marshmallows of tidbits of anecdotes in order to humanize you, the bourgeois upper class actor folk. Then, in that second half, we dig into the show and promote." Drew takes a moment to breath, himself getting a bit worked up via the brewing maelstrom. "I don't know you guys, and my notes are limited here. I wanted to get a feel for the both of you, and now I have. You might as well just make me a list since you aren't as malleable as your co-star here, Miss Simone." He'd said her name in his terrible, dime-store British accent, just to rile her up some more. As much as he liked teasing, sometimes it did lean into more mean spirited territory. Sometimes.

Drew wasn't kidding about the ratings, and if Anna wanted to come off caustic on air, well, that's not exactly his problem. David Letterman, after all, was almost drop kicked by a high Crispin Glover during an interview. Chris Farley sucked blood back up into his Devil's Dandruff-ridden nose mid-way through a disturbingly high-energy (and not the fun kind of energy) interview on Leno. The threat of storming off internally made Drew giggle a bit, because the audience would side with the host. It would only damage her own, highly-valuable reputation. Those interviews were generally the most-YouTube'd, after all. Or, it could be the spark that would drive producers to let her try out other parts, as she so desperately wanted. Those thoughts, however, were kept internal. "So here, okay, I'll throw you a bone: what is Emily's deal? What's happened in the show so far? What should we look for going into this new season? Any big reveals to tease?  Are you gonna try and get the audience's mouths salivating? How's that for a line of questioning?" Drew isn't cold. He's a little worked up, sure, but only because he is not used to guests challenging him in such a serious, terse way. Not on his home turf, at least. Drew didn't want this to go poorly, so he realized he needed to change his attitude quick. After that modest outburst, though, the tension seemed to be leaving his system quicker than that 20th shot of whiskey you took. Lets just hope that feeling was mutual.

After that bit of nastiness, Savannah's refreshing, down-to-earth, eager personality revitalized the host. The smirk faded back into a comfortable smile, teeth and all. The fact that she so readily embraced his dumb "the more you pet" pitch as well as she did, right down to the little theme emanating from deep within her vibrating vocal chords, made the transition back into goofy host mode that much easier on the ol' neuroreceptors. Maybe in an effort to release any lingering negativity, quite the hearty laugh emerged from the late night host's munching cave, maybe more than one might perceive as the "right" amount of laughs at Savannah's "dog eat dog" comment, but hopefully she took it as a compliment. Drew actually has to wipe a single, comedy-induced tear from his eye, exhaling sharply. "Wow, okay, Savannah. If that whole Our Chaotic Lives thing doesn't pan out, I'll have a seat for you in the writer's room, as long as you can promise me lines like that every night." 

Her follow up with the bit about the coffee, while not laugh worthy, was adorably awkward in its execution, complete with a little dorky "ah, shucks" shuffle by the actress. Her earnestness was a big selling point. "I'll just appreciate any kind of text. I don't know if you could have guessed, but I don't really mind attention. I especially don't mind it when bright up-and-comers feel like I'm worthy of getting coffee with," he said as a lip-licking smile flashed rapidly. Drew almost felt like Savannah should be blushing, some kind of nerves. He could read people decently enough in that regard, but why? It'd been so long since Drew had any feelings of stage fright. Maybe that's it? Too early to tell.

Savannah, ever the good sport, did attempt to wind Anna back into the conversation, showing off her ability to be the "glue" she mentioned before. Drew liked the dynamic, and could see that Savannah was entirely genuine in her pursuits. Very admirable. Drew couldn't have grinned any bigger as he attempted to soothe the nervous actress. "Oh, yeah, no this'll be fantastic. You're a great guest thus far, and I can't see the audience disliking you, one bit." He gave a bit of a sideways glance at Anna, wondering how she'd respond to her co-stars polite attempt to wrangle her back into the fray. "Yeah, Anna, how's this going so far?" 


[WORDS: 943. Oooo dannnngggg meeeeOWWW catfighting]