Shorts: ‘The Talent’ Reveals a Potential Star’s Greatest Ambitions

“Wanting something is one thing. It doesn’t mean you know how to get it,” says Tommy in a daydream when they are imagining themselves as a dream guest on a talk show. Is this a premonition or a faraway fantasy? How much of the business is luck? Does that age-old saying, “the place at the right time” hold water? In Thomas May Bailey’s slick and alluring short, The Talent, an overlooked assistant seizes their opportunity to put themselves in the spotlight.

Do all stars who do car commercials phone it in? As Tommy (played by a quiet and calculated Emma d’Arcy), jitters around a luxury car commercial set trying to get coffee orders right and not seem too eager, superstar movie actor, David (Leo Suter), arrives as the dreamy star. We’ve seen these kinds of car commercials before. It’s like they mashed together one of those dreamy cologne ads from the ’90s but with higher definition and bigger actors. “The only wrong direction…is not moving at all…” David coos, his voice so raspy that it almost sprouts more hair into his coiffed beard.

David has bigger projects on his mind, as he keeps taking private phone calls about finding the right partner for his new buddy detective series. Tommy can deliver David’s car commercial lines better than he can–d’Arcy’s eyes focused hard right in from of them as they whisper them behind the monitor on set. How difficult is it for a performer to be capable of handling a project’s script or schedule but never have the nerve to step up themselves?

Bailey keeps the set stark and polished, the dark hues hinting at this high-profile commercial while the electronic score tingles and percolates like a Reznor and Ross joint. d’Arcy trembles with anticipation, but they give this ward of the set such a driving purpose, it’s almost as if we can see a montage of their deepest desires.

Everyone in this industry can relate to the ambitions laid out in Bailey’s film. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Marvel movie, an illustrious HBO limited series, or a cereal commercial–there will always be dreams ready to crash into harsh ambitions.