Breathe, idiot, breathe!
Asif was reminding himself not to think—any thought was unnecessary. If an idiot thought, even God would laugh. He just needed to focus on breathing and delivering the most important scene of his career, just like countless scenes, with or without lines, over the past fifteen years.
Play his role, do his job.
Maybe Anson Wood was the main character of this movie, but in this scene, the star was him, Asif Mandvi.
To be more precise, it was Mr. Aziz, Peter Parker's boss.
"Breathe."
Asif clenched his fists tightly.
Then, he opened his eyes. He knew he was ready.
Next to him, Anson remained patient, standing in place, waiting for his fellow actor. He could sense the change in Asif, as if he were donning Iron Man's armor. The look in his eyes and his expression were different—Asif was ready.
So, Anson stepped back into the starting position for the scene, signaling that he was also prepared.
This scene wasn't difficult—at least not for Anson. The truly challenging part was for Asif, so Asif's tension and anxiety were completely understandable. However, Anson's rhythm had also been slightly disrupted, and he needed a moment to calmly readjust.
A voice echoed in his ear—
Seventh take.
Anson realized they had already done six takes, and maybe this seventh one would be the lucky one.
"Action!"
Opening his eyes, Anson placed both hands on the motorcycle's handlebars. The motorcycle tires were not on the ground but instead held by two supports, which were fixed on a wooden platform. There were wheels at each of the platform's four corners, like a skateboard, with someone pushing it from behind.
This setup allowed Anson to focus entirely on acting while "driving." If a close-up shot was required, a camera could be mounted on the platform right in front of the motorcycle to facilitate smooth shooting.
However, this time, the camera wasn't focused on Anson but on Asif, who was standing directly opposite him. Anson was supposed to walk up to Asif, then enter the frame.
"Parker."
"Parker!"
"Stop! No, no, no, stop!"
Mr. Aziz stood in front of the pizza shop, raising both hands to stop Peter Parker, but clearly, Peter's thoughts were in another world, completely oblivious to the person ahead—he was about to crash into him.
"Stop!"
Mr. Aziz yelled, finally snapping Peter out of his daydream. Peter slammed on the brakes, narrowly avoiding Mr. Aziz, who still flailed about, trying to avoid getting hit, his hands on Peter's motorcycle, trying to create a barrier.
A bit comical.
In any case, they avoided a disaster.
Still catching his breath, Mr. Aziz kept his eyes on Peter, ignoring his own disheveled and awkward state.
"Parker! You're late, buddy, always late—Mr. Always-Late! Huh?"
He unleashed his frustration, raising his voice.
Peter struggled to control the motorcycle, like taming a wild horse, looking frantic. "Sorry, Mr. Aziz, there was… an interference."
He glanced down—the Spider-Man mask was almost visible from his shirt pocket. Peter quickly shoved it back in.
Mr. Aziz had no time for those details and muttered complaints, "Interference, interference, you always have some kind of 'interference.'" He didn't even look at Peter. "Come on, someone ordered a pizza twenty-one minutes ago," he grumbled, walking into the shop.
"Cut!"
Sam's voice rang out, stopping the scene.
The air became tense. The entire crew held their breath, eyes on Sam, while Asif stood frozen in place.
Then Sam waved his hand. "No problem."
In an instant, the crew erupted in applause and cheers, as if they had just wrapped the entire movie.
Asif finally relaxed, turning to see the celebration, feeling even more embarrassed.
It was such a simple scene, just two lines, but his mind kept going blank. The word "interference" kept coming out wrong—his tongue twisted, his brain frozen, like a malfunctioning robot getting stuck repeatedly.
Worse still, when the camera wasn't rolling, he could remember the lines perfectly; as soon as they started filming, it was a disaster all over again—
On and on.
Not even just the director or the crew—Asif himself couldn't stand it anymore.
Until now, finally!
The first scene of "Spider-Man 2" was finally complete. It wasn't smooth, but at least it hadn't spiraled into an even worse mess. They managed to finish before the entire crew lost their minds.
"Hey, good job." Anson gave a thumbs-up.
Asif scratched his head, embarrassed. Despite Anson being young enough to be his son, Asif had relied on him a lot today.
Noticing this, Anson added, "Let's keep going, shall we?"
Asif nodded repeatedly. "I'm feeling good now, Director, I can do this."
Actually, there was more to the scene. There was the lead-up:
They needed to shoot Peter riding up on his motorcycle, the near collision, Peter awkwardly dismounting and trying to explain—all of these had to be filmed.
This sequence involved multiple close-ups, wide shots, crane shots, and a stunt shot where the motorcycle almost crashed but came to a sudden stop, lifting the back wheel. It required a professional motorcycle stunt person.
Even if Anson had the skills, it was safer for Asif if a professional did it.
In other words, this scene might take two hours to film—not that simple.
Once they captured the full scene, they would then move to the part where Peter and Mr. Aziz went into the pizza shop.
What followed was the most important part, where the two would have an extended conversation, and Asif had a lengthy monologue.
Now, though, Anson noticed that Asif was finally relaxed and in the zone. Maybe they should keep going with that energy and film the dialogue before returning to the fragmented and stunt-heavy shots from earlier.
But that was up to the director.
Asif looked to Sam.
Sam was visibly irritated. Overall, the morning had been full of pressure. He couldn't quite settle down; the small setbacks were adding up, and while it wasn't a catastrophe, it was still frustrating.
He didn't explode, though, instead bottling it all up. He turned to Anson, giving him an inquiring look: Should they trust Asif?
Asif looked at Anson anxiously.
Anson gave Sam a nod of reassurance.
Sam took a deep breath. "We'll shoot the next scene. Camera, follow Anson into the pizza shop, stay close, match his steps."