Emma (Not by Jane Austen) by Alex Phuong

Emma Bovary by Helena Perez Garcia
from Flickr

During the fall semester at Brown University in 2017, a young woman named Emma had big dreams of becoming a Hollywood actress. Emma had a very interesting childhood given that her name was the same as many famous individuals in both literature and film. When Emma was a little girl, her favorite Disney movie was Beauty and the Beast (1991). Emma was a lot like Belle because they both loved to read. In fact, Emma was a Janeite because she loved the novel Emma by Jane Austen as well as admired Emma Thompson’s Oscar-winning screenplay in the 1995 version of Sense and Sensibility. Emma was also a fan of Emma Thompson’s work in films ranging from Howards End (1992) to her roles in the Harry Potter series.

Speaking of Harry Potter, Emma obviously loved Emma Watson, and Hermione Granger was Emma’s favorite character from J.K. Rowling’s series. Emma loved Emma Watson so much that she spent her entire spring break watching the 2017 remake of Beauty and the Beast. Emma had high hopes that Emma Watson would receive nominations for playing Belle during the 2018 awards season. In fact, Emma went to Brown University simply because Emma Watson was an alumna from that prestigious school!

Emma was also a huge fan of Emma Stone. She loved the film La La Land (2016), and thought that Mia was a very inspirational character. Emma was in her film class watching Birdman (2014) one day when “someone in the crowd” noticed her uncanny appearance to both Emma Watson and Emma Stone. That person was a casting director looking for a singer for his Broadway adaptation of La La Land. It was a funny coincidence, actually, because Emma had brown hair like Emma Watson, yet had the facial features of Emma Stone.  That someone in the crowd was definitely the person that Emma needed to know.

The casting director’s name was Ryan, and sounded a lot like Sebastian from The Little Mermaid (1989). Ryan asked Emma if she would be willing to audition for the role of Mia in his Broadway adaptation of La La Land. Emma agreed because she wanted to achieve the notoriety of the famous women who shared her name. Emma performed the song “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” for Ryan, and he was blown away. Emma went on to have a long and interesting career that was as “emmazing” as the lives of Emma Thompson, Emma Watson, Emma Stone, and Emma Woodhouse.

*****

Alex Andy Phuong graduated from California State University-Los Angeles with his Bachelor of Arts in English in 2015. He currently writes articles and film reviews online, and resides in Alhambra, CA, USA. His writing has appeared in The Bookends Review, Society of Classical Poets, and Wilderness House Literary Review #12/4.  The link to his movie review profile is Alex Phuong, Author at MovieBoozer