#heart has been a no dark arts somewhat goody two shoes run

[toupee-or-nottoupee]

[jacobwardfilm-blog]

Acting and Performance

The key actors in the film are James, Kayla, and Dani.

JAMES

James has three siblings, two brothers and one sister, and a pair of the most supportive parents anyone could ask for. However, his father is an alcoholic which has led to a strain in his relationship with him and ultimately serious attachment issues, which manifested through certain “obsessions” throughout his childhood and even now. He fixates on a topic, a person, etc. and makes that his purpose in life. For most of his childhood it was basketball and, recently, he became that way with film. Outside of Kayla, it consumes his life. He latched onto Kayla when he was 14 and never let go. There was no reason to, and he loved having someone there for him. Lucky for him, she was perfect and he found himself falling in love at a very young age. He struggles with anxiety and depression which have somewhat stunted his emotionality. He is very dry and sarcastic and uses humor to try to get attention and to mask certain feelings. He is a kind-hearted boy. He tends to beat himself up over anything he does wrong, anything he says that could offend someone, etc. There is no getting away with anything. He has always treated Kayla as well as he knows how. He finds great pride in being a great boyfriend even if it is one of the only sources of pride for him. He’s always gotten good grades and tested well, but never put in the work that his peers do. He has attention issues as well, combined with his narrowed interests, and anxiety and depression, which makes school a difficult place for him. He has a core group of friends that he is happy with, but he always has wanted to be more popular, more loved. He doesn’t enjoy parties because he doesn’t drink as a result of his father, but he does love the attention he gets when he shows up sometimes. People do like him, but nothing is ever enough. He is close with his parents and can tell them almost anything, but his primary confidant, his best friend, is Kayla.

James is as happy as he’s ever been with Kayla. She makes him smile, so easily, and unlike anyone else. He loves to mess with her and get a reaction so he does so quite often. Because he is so close with her, he sometimes struggles to keep things in that might upset her. He says almost anything, and doesn’t even think much about it. That said, he is always well-intentioned. Kayla is his world, and he really does have full faith in their future, even when they break up. There’s a weird period, though, where he questions all the time he’d be wasting waiting for her if it didn’t end up working out. When Dani comes along, some of this creeps in. They aren’t together and maybe they never will be again. Still, he ultimately decides to wait for her. He is motivated by Kayla, and by family and friends. He wants to be the best at everything he does, and he tries to find ways to be good at things and do things that other people don’t.

James has dark features, around 6 foot, and in shape.

KAYLA

Kayla is the goody-two-shoes at her high school that everybody loves, except for the people that are jealous of how good she is. She’s intelligent, a talented cheerleader, and is always nice to everyone. She grew up in a small family that was relatively dedicated to the church. They moved around a couple of times and lived in some places where she and her sister didn’t have a ton of friends, which led to her building very strong relationships with her family. She has a deep fear of disappointment, perhaps because of the respect she has for her parents and the way they’ve raised her. When she was a freshman in high school, her family moved to the Dominican Republic briefly to adopt a young girl who would become her sister. Because her other sister is closer in age, she never quite took protection of her the way she does with her adopted sister. Her relationship with her family has always been the most stable and important thing in her life. She cares about school, she cares deeply about friends, and she cares about things such as cheer. She is in love with James, but her commitment and respect for her parents can still lead her to make decisions out of their will.

At the beginning of the story, Kayla is as happy as can be with her life. She is living under the comfort and support of her parents, succeeding in school, has tons of friends, and is dating who she considers to be the most wonderful boy around. There’s a quality about their relationship that seems mature for high schoolers. They’ve been through a lot together. They have dealt with long distance relationships. They know what love is. But there is still an immaturity inside of Kayla as she’s never been forced to run her own world. She has always listened to her parents and not often doubted them. Her peers have little influence but she makes them think they have a lot to keep her friendships strong. She has yet to grow into herself completely, but she doesn’t feel any sort of urgency to do so. She is loving her life, and loving being with James. When  she comes home after being with him one night, her parents decide it’s time to have an important discussion about her future with James given that they’re both going off to college. They essentially tell her she should break up with him so that she can find herself in college and not have attachment to a previous life. She cried all night but agreed to do it for her parents, so that they might accept their relationship if they get back together in the future. Kayla doesn’t fully believe this will be the end. So, she breaks up with him, but tries to make clear that she wants a future together still and that this is temporary. On the night of the party, she had nothing else to do and wanted to hang out with friends. She doesn’t usually go to parties, and would rather be with James or with family, but felt a pressure to be there to basically say goodbye to the people she will be leaving soon for college. She sees James at the party and doesn’t know how to react. Should she talk to him against her parent’s will? How can she let him know that she is still thinking about him?

DANI

Dani grew up in the midwest in a large family with 3 brothers and 2 sisters. Her family is relatively well off. Her dad works a desk job that asked him to travel every so often and her mom stays at home for the most part, taking care of the kids and taking part in different school-related functions and organizations. Her relationship with her parents has never been hostile but she has a much better connection with her siblings, particularly her older sister and younger brothers. She was never strictly disciplined, never really given much attention at all by her parents from a young age, which led to her seeking attention in other ways, from other people. She loves her family and would respect any wishes they might have for the way she lives her life, but they let her do what she wants to do. She became deeply interested in art in middle school, particularly drawing and painting, and invests a lot of time in her friends and boyfriends. When she entered high school, she started trying to build her image as one of the "cool girls" and got more into partying than she maybe really cared to. She was never wild, but she liked being in the environment, feeling like she was a part of something. She started latching onto any boy that showed interest in her, especially if they were part of the "popular crowd." She is always nice to everyone, even those who are shitty to her. She laughs off tasteless jokes because she doesn't want people to dislike her. She isn't super bright, but she works hard enough to make it by. Now a senior in high school, she's scared thinking about what she might do next year. She's going to a school near her hometown but is pursuing a major she doesn't have much interest in and all of her friends are going to different schools.

The night of the party comes at the end of the summer. She has been spending as much time as she can with her friends that will be leaving her in the coming months for their own schools. She can feel a distance beginning to grow between them. Kayla, who was James' girlfriend of 4 years, is one of her better friends, but she's always sort of liked James. Now that they're technically broken up, she sees this as an opportunity to talk to him. She is subtly flirty. Part of her doesn't want to be overt because she knows Kayla wouldn't be okay with it, but she still wants James to know she's interested.

Dani does not look innocent. She isn’t trying to. Dark hair, dark eyes.