little bit of (excess)

celine mercier, 18, freshman acting major at darden

[prssdroses]

—  intro

CELINE MERCIER — 18, acting major at darden (the supernova) 

penned by mai, 22, aest

BASIC STATS !

Full name: Celine Yeoh Mercier

Age: 18

Date of Birth: August 1st 

Astrology: Leo Sun, Libra Moon, Aries Rising 

Hometown: San Francisco, California 

Family: Faye Yeoh (Mother) Charles Mercier (Father) Thea (Older Sister) Leon Mercier (Grandfather) 

Gender: Cis woman

Pronouns: She/Her 

Sexuality: Bisexual 

Religion: Agnostic

Positive Traits: Ambitious, passionate, theatrical, meticulous, refined  

Negative Traits: Competitive, self-centred, duplicitous, brusque 

Occupation: Freshman at Darden College (Acting Major) / Instagram Influencer 

Likes: Well-lit dressing rooms, glossy headshots, chocolate-chip cookies, the feel of cashmere, watching reruns of bad reality shows, walking through the aisles of Sephora, the look of a marked-up script, playing the lead part 

Dislikes: Gardening, polyester, salted caramel, a quiet Saturday night,  unprofessionalism, being ignored/being given a supporting role (they’re basically the same thing to her yikes) 

Living Arrangements: Leone Winters Residence Hall (roommates with Charlotte Washington) 

Faceclaim: Natasha Liu Bordizzo 

BACKSTORY ! 

The Mercier family is infamous in performing arts circles. Celine’s grandfather, Leon, cut his teeth in the Dramatic Writing Department at the San Francisco Academy of Arts before debuting an Off-Broadway show that launched his career. In a decade, he had established himself as one of the most exciting playwrights of his generation. Her mother, Faye Yeoh, is an acclaimed theatre actress (her turn as Lady Macbeth in a 1999 production at The Globe Theatre is still discussed by critics) and her father is a frequent name in the Best Production Design lineup at the Tony’s. But even before Leon put pen to paper, the Mercier family had long been legacy alumni of the Academy of Arts University. Take a walk on campus, and you’ll find multiple gold plaques and even a theatre department under their name. 

Despite Celine’s natural love of the spotlight (you couldn’t get through a family dinner party without little, eight-year-old Celine gracefully tapping a champagne glass, primly announcing to the adults that they must listen to the song she was practising in choir) she didn’t just grow up in the shadow of her family name — she also had to compete with her older sister, Thea. 

Where Celine’s talent is sharpened by embittered hard work, thousands of vocal warm-ups and scripts marked up to look as effortless as possible — Thea’s talent was always miraculous. After her older sister’s first lead part (Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz - Thea had the entire first row in tears by the end of the third act) her family had decided who would carry on their legacy.

As Thea’s talents extended to composing and writing, words like genius, prodigy, artistic marvel — were declared by anyone who read her work. Meanwhile, silly, frivolous Celine, received indulgent smiles for her “little school plays.” Never mind that she had been in the lead role for almost her entire high school career (save for, of course, that one seriously misguided incident where a director had given her a supporting part). Occasionally, after careful networking, she would land a background part in a sitcom or police procedural (her acclaimed roles included: Mean Girl #1, Teenage Partier #3) but it paled in comparison to the true artistry that Thea possessed. Celine, to her family, though they would never explicitly say it, represented the superficial. Her performances, her obsession with keeping up a social media presence, her complete lack of dramatic writing ability, she was, by Mercier standards, mediocre. 

The competing play this year at the Academy of Arts will be her sister’s directorial debut. Her family, of course, are sinking all their connections and funds into the production — anything for their daughter’s creative vision, for her chance at the coveted Dickenson Award. And, say, Celine, couldn’t you help your sister? Wouldn’t it be a service to the family, if she could join Darden’s quaint, little theatre troupe and figure out what they were up to? In exchange for her year at Darden, they would introduce Celine to agents and managers, someone who could secure a real chance for her. But the possibility of finally receiving her parent’s approval (no matter how deceptive the job) — is more tempting than Celine would like to admit. 

[travalicious]

[storiesofoblivion]

Natasha Liu Bordizzo via Instagramfor Inprint Magazine