look at this idotic fool that you made me
"Hey guys, I’m Hope Mikaelson and I’m here for the wired-autocomplete-interview.”
Hope smiles into the camera, her red lipstick highlights the action and makes it so much easier to hide the fact that it’s not a very genuine smile. She had been smiling and laughing at first, but after doing the take 20 times, she had lost some of her patience and composure.
“Yes! That’s the one! Thank you, Hope. Now the lighting is perfect.”
Hope just can’t resist and rolls her eyes, it clearly hadn’t been her fault and now she is still stuck in the studio, about 40 minutes behind schedule and so so far away from her gigantic bathtub.
“Alright, give her the first set of questions.”
She doesn't pay any more attention to the producer, deciding then and there that she will try to get this over with rather quickly. So she gets a hold of the cardboard an assistant had been offering her, changes her seating position a little and turns her gaze back to the camera.
“Is Hope Mikaelson American?” Hope just chuckles at that one. “Well, I can see how people would assume that, considering I’ve played a fair share of American characters, but I’m actually not from here. Surprise.”
She lifts her eyebrow in a teasing manner and gets ready to slip into a much deeper accent than usual. “So for those who can’t tell by the accent, I’m actually a British-Australian mix.” She hesitates for a second, trying to figure out how much about her childhood and upbringing she wants to share in this particular interview and then opts for the fast and simple approach. “I was born in Sydney, but then moved to London when I was 5. So I consider both places home and have family both in England and Australia.”
She moves on to the next question, swallowing down the lump in her throat that always builds up when she thinks about her family, specifically her parents.
“Is Hope Mikaelson nice?” She laughs at that one as well, a little more forced this time. “I like to think so, but you should probably ask someone else to answer that question.”
She goes to rip off the next piece of paper, faced with question number 3.
“Is Hope Mikaelson a vampire? That’s a good one, probably related to my character in Tribrid Tales. I can assure you that I’m in fact a boring and plain mere mortal and that I’m unfortunately nothing like Faith in Tribrid Tales.” She smiles fondly, when thinking about her most popular role. “Also she is so much more than just a vampire.” She adds with a wink.
A snort escapes her upon seeing the next search result. “Is Hope Mikaelson perfect.” She shakes her head violently. “I’m definitely not, end of discussion.”
The next piece of paper falls, revealing another question.
“Is Hope Mikaelson left handed?” She places the cardboard more securely in her lap, so both her hands are free and points them towards the camera. “I’m actually ambidextrous which comes in handy — ha, pun definitely intended — for signing thousands of autographs at once. But for fight scenes and stunts in general my right hand tends to be more dominant.”
She waves her hands around for another moment and then picks up the cardboard again.
“The last one on this is…” With a calculated hand movement she tears off the piece of paper covering the last search result. “Is Hope Mikaelson gay?”
She sits up straighter in her chair, understanding the importance of the question and her answer.
“That’s another great question. I personally identify as bisexual and consider myself a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.” She throws the cardboard to the side and then decides that she’s not yet finished with the question. “I actually recently made a series of videos with teen vogue on biphobia and the poor representation bisexuality often faces in the media. So feel free to check that out!”
She gets handed the next cardboard and mentally prepares herself for a speed round, because she really doesn’t want to spend her entire Friday night stuck in this studio after already working for 12 hours straight.
“Who is Hope Mikaelson? Girl, I have no idea, who is that bitch? When you find out, let me know!”
She laughs and moves on quickly.
“Who is Hope Mikaelson related to? …. Ehm… my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, extended family, you name it.”
“Who does Hope Mikaelson look like? I get Katherine Langford a lot, but other than that I just look like myself.”
“Who does Hope Mikaelson play in tribrid tales? I play a character called Faith and she is a badass.”
With a little cheer she throws the cardboard to the side and accepts the next one. God how many more do they have?
“What was Hope Mikaelson’s first job?” She dies a little on the inside, realizing that questions like this one require some in depth answers. “So I don’t really count babysitting and helping my aunts out as jobs, so I guess my first official job was waiting tables in a cafe when I was 16.”
She is about to get to the next query when the producer interrupts her.
“Would you mind telling us about your first acting job? That’s usually what people want to know with these types of questions.”
He smiles at her politely, but his face tells her that he won’t take no for an answer. She takes a deep breath and mumbles a quick “no problem.” before plastering on a fake smile.
“I guess I could also tell you about my first acting job. I was in a commercial for shortbread and all I had to do was take a bite, smile and wave the packaging at the camera.” She is actually smiling fondly now, remembering how important and cool her young self had felt. “I was 6 and I remember that they filmed from so many different angles that I had to take close to 50 bites and ended up having a stomach ache.”
She scans the people behind the camera and gets a thumbs up from the producer as a sign of approval. He goes back to write something on a clipboard Hope hadn’t noticed before. Reluctantly she gets to the next question.
“What is Hope Mikaelson’s favorite food?” She immediately knows the answer to that. “Oh I love Beignets! They are amazing and it has been way too long since I last had some! My aunts live in New Orleans and it’s probably my favorite thing whenever I get a chance to visit, because the ones from there taste the best!”
She internally groans at the following search result.
“What is Hope Mikaelson’s favorite character?” To give herself a second to think she tries to correct the question first. “Wait shouldn’t it be who is Hope Mikaelson’s favorite character?”
She chuckles unsurely and then proceeds. “Anyways, I think this is about characters I’ve played, right? I pretty much love all my characters, even the flawed and partially evil ones. I guess Faith is pretty cool. She is such a badass powerful force, but honestly I think Alice from sweet disposition is my favorite. She is such a strong young woman, going through so much pain and growth in a short amount of time. Yeah, she’s my favorite, but you guys haven’t even met her yet, because the movie is currently in post production.”
Hope is pretty sure the dude with his little clipboard will ask her to please pick a character that the audience is familiar with, so she hurries along and just dives into the last question.
“What is Hope Mikaelson doing now? Right now? This interview.”
Another cardboard goes flying, but is quickly replaced by a new one. Seriously how many are there?
“Where is Hope Mikaelson from?” There goes the first. “We already established that.”
“Where does Hope Mikaelson live?” There goes the second. ”That sounds kinda creepy, like you all want to pay me unannounced visits. I won’t give you my full address, but I will say that I live in Los Angeles as of right now.”
“Where does Hope Mikaelson eat?” There goes the third. ”That’s oddly specific and again kind of concerning. I eat everywhere I guess.”
“Where does Hope Mikaelson work out?” Now the last one is done. “At home or in any gym.”
She tosses the cardboard away and takes a second to recover from these rather invasive questions. She shifts a little in her seat and carefully runs her fingers through her hair, earning a disapproving look from the stylist in the far corner of the studio. She gets a few more moments to herself, just sitting in the spotlight in front of a white backdrop, At least 10 people observing her every move. The bright light is radiating so much heat that she feels sweaty and gross. Her striped button up is glued to her back, a rather unpleasant feeling when there is also an air conditioner running that’s doing a poor job at cooling down the room, instead just making the sweaty fabric feel cold and sending a shudder up Hope’s spine. Her attention gets drawn away to a new cardboard.
“How old is Hope Mikaelson?” Simple question, simple answer. “23”
“How to get Hope Mikaelson’s hair?” What are these questions even? “Have some good genes I guess.”
She sighs, her frustration is growing, but so is her determination to not look too arrogant or unhappy.
“How is Hope Mikaelson?” She plasters on a fake smile par excellence. “I’m great!”
“How tall is Hope Mikaelson?” She genuinely smiles this time. “It should rather say how small is Hope Mikaelson. I’m only 5’3.”
“How to date Hope Mikaelson? Ask my boyfriend. I still don’t know how he managed that.” She laughs genuinely, a delicate blush spreading across her cheeks.
Her thoughts are about to drift off and daydream about her current relationship, when she gets handed the next set of questions. She sighs and prepares again.
“Does Hope Mikaelson do her own stunts? I do actually. Of course not all of them, but I like to be included as much as possible. I think it really adds to the character when you can tell that the actor is involved in stunt work and it’s not just cgi or stunt performers. “
“Does Hope Mikaelson paint? I love to paint. I spend most of my free time painting.”
Painting immediately reminds her of her dad and she has to take a deep breath to center herself.
“Does Hope Mikaelson have tattoos? None that you can see.” She says and tops it off with a smirk and wink.
That question really came at the right moment, drawing her thoughts away from her family. She is relieved to see that there is only one piece of paper left and rips it off.
“Does Hope Mikaelson wear a wig? For some roles and scenes I do. I used to wear lots of wigs way back when I was doing theatre in London.”
The cardboard goes flying and she starts to get up. “That’s all, right?”
Clipboard man starts gesturing wildly and stops her. “There is one more set and then we need you to say some closing thoughts. Like what you learned today.”
She drops her head in frustration. “Sorry guys, it’s just been quite a week and the technical difficulties certainly didn’t make it any better.”
She really wants to make sure people on set don’t get a bad impression of her, she has that much dignity left.
“Alright, let’s do this.”
“Can Hope Mikaelson sing?” She flicks the paper away. “Trust me, you don’t want to find out. It’s bad.”
“Can Hope Mikaelson dance? Of course she can. She took dance classes and had to deliver several dance performances back on the theatre stage.”
“Can Hope Mikaelson box?” She mimics some poor boxing movements with her free hand. “Heck yeah. I take classes and it’s usually a great way to prepare for movie stunt work.”
“Can Hope Mikaelson fight?” Knowing that this is the last one gives Hope some relief. “I think I could stand my ground in a physical fight, but it really depends on my opponent and their skill level.”
Someone takes the cardboard from her and she relaxes visibly.
“Alright, Hope. What did this teach you or what did you learn from this?” The producer asks.
“I learned a lot through this, it looks like you are all very invested in my private life and I don’t understand why, it’s pretty boring compared to what my colleagues are up to most of the time.” She laughs. “I think it’s kind of flattering that you folks are so interested and I’m very thankful for your support. It means a lot to me.”
It takes another hour to wrap up the whole thing. Hope apologizes profusely to everyone involved, realizing she had been pretty unfriendly and annoyed throughout the whole interview. The people in the studio don’t seem to mind her previous behavior, stating that they had dealt with much worse before.
She gets in the car and greets her driver. “Hey, David.”
As David pulls into LA night traffic she gets out her phone and calls her agent.
“Hey auntie Bex. I just wanted to let you know that the interview went well. I wasn’t that excited about it and they could probably tell, but I still got it done. We’ll talk tomorrow. Hope you’re all doing well. Love you.”
She is used to leaving messages on her aunt’s mailbox, because of the time difference they often have between them. Hope gets comfortable in her seat and starts picturing her bathtub filled to the brim with hot and foamy goodness. She spares a single glance at her phone, seeing multiple instagram and twitter notifications, something she has to get back to later.
Thinking about her bathtub and apartment leaves her wondering whether or not Roman’s going to be there. They’ve been dating for 2 years, yet she still values her own space and they haven’t officially moved in together. He has a key to her place though and often hangs out there waiting for Hope to get home from set.
Dating Roman is safe. It’s easy. At least that’s what she keeps telling herself. He isn’t romantic and therefore doesn’t expect any grand gestures from her. Obviously that also means he won’t ever do anything remotely romantic for Hope in return, which is what she wants, right? They met at an after party for one of her movie premieres. He was incredibly charming and sweet, asking her out on a date right there and then. Before him she hadn’t really had any relationships in LA and he took her by surprise. It was so easy to confide in him and finally open up to a person about all of her struggles in the spotlight. It doesn’t matter that she can’t look him in the eyes when he expects a hushed “I love you” or any pet name to come out of her mouth. She really has to work on that, she is an actress for god’s sake.
Hope frowns. Her thoughts are now drawn away from her tub and spiraling down an all too familiar road, dread washing over her in a wave that leaves her hoping her boyfriend won’t be home tonight.
David comes to a stop in front of her building, observing their surroundings and throwing her a questioning look through the rearview mirror. She can see a total of 3 paparazzis huddled together, staring at the car expectantly. Hope is too exhausted to deal with any more celebrity shebang tonight and just gives David the -get me in without any unnecessary walking, please-look.
He doesn’t seem surprised and drives towards the numeric keypad, effectively leaving the paps behind. He knows the code. He has been driving Hope for years now and is definitely her favorite driver. David is always calm, super smiley and most importantly quiet, the latter due to his hearing impairment. He drops her off right next to the elevator and signs a cheerful “have a great weekend”. Hope smiles, because David has the ability to make everyone smile at any given moment and signs back “good night and drive safe!”.
He waits for her to disappear in the elevator before starting his drive home and just like that Hope is so close to having some alone time.
The first thing she notices when she steps into her flat is the faint music playing from somewhere in the back. All the lights are on and for a second she feels like she’s still in the studio about to answer some questions about herself. The smell of greasy food and scented candles reaches her nose and confuses her. Since when does Roman light any of her candles? A weird feeling settles deep within her stomach and it only gets worse when she spots unfamiliar shoes next to the couch. Women’s shoes.
She just stands there for a good minute, thinking about possible explanations for all this, but deep down she knows exactly what’s happening here. It’s like she’s on autopilot. With calculated steps she approaches the door to her bedroom.
The doorknob feels so familiar in her hand as she twists it.
The little squeak of the door sounds so familiar in her ears as she opens it.
The man in her bed looks so familiar as he clumsily pulls on bedsheets - her bedsheets - and covers himself .
The scent in her bedroom smells so familiar as she takes it all in.
“HOPE!” Roman’s voice is panicked. “I can explain!”
Of course he can. She is sure of it. But does she care? No.
She spins around, trying to get the image out of her head and walks towards the front door. She can hear him chasing after her, can hear his desperate attempts to explain, can hear his panicked breathing pattern. She doesn’t turn to look at him, just takes the car keys from the hook next to the door and then she’s gone.
The elevator ride to the parking garage is short and silent. She rushes to her car and locks herself in. There are no tears, just disappointment. Disappointment in herself for staying this long. Disappointment in herself for being cheated on.
She takes a deep breath and starts the car. She hasn’t used it in weeks, because David is usually always available and as the passenger she has time to read through scenes and mentally prepare herself for work. She likes having a driver.
Right now she’s happy to be alone and steers the car out of the garage onto the road. The paparazzi are gone and she lets the tears fall.
Hope has one destination in mind.
…………………
This is what pops up when you search Hope Mikaelson on Imdb.
Hope Mikaelson is a rising star on the big screen. Following a childhood and adolescence spent mostly on British theatre stages, she has the talent and experience to make it big in Hollywood. She has various acting credits for young adult book adaptations, action movies and drama movies. Her portrayal of Faith in the fantasy action movies Tribrid Tales I and Tribrid Tales II has earned her lots of recognition and she has multiple roles lined up in the action genre, because she is able to physically adapt to the hard reality of stunt and fight work. Recently she has been dipping her toes into drama movies, going back to her theatre roots. The low budget film sweetdisposition is currently in post production, but everyone involved already praises her portrayal of Alice and some even claim its award worthy. She will reprise her role as Faith one last time for Tribrid Tales III next year.