Chemistry read!
Harry collet x costar!reader (2,8k)
An incredible chemistry read with Harry Collett landed you both roles on HBO, and three years later, your on screen romance became real life. @moonlightlexie
MATERIALIST
The holding area in the London audition studio felt less like a modern media hub and more like a high - stress pressure cooker, dozens of teenage actors were pacing back and forth, clutching heavily watermarked script pages, muttering their lines with rigid, overly dramatic British accents, everyone knew the stakes, this was HBO’s.
You had been sitting in a corner chair for nearly an hour, trying to steady your breathing, you were reading for a prominent original character, a fierce, fiercely loyal noble whose connection with Prince Jacaerys Velaryon was described in the casting notes as an intense, deeply mature slowburn born out of political isolation and shared grief, up until ten minutes ago, you had watched a procession of polished young guys walk past, looking terrifyingly confident, trying way too hard to act like brooding future kings.
Then Harry had walked in, he didn't look rigid at all, his dark curls were entirely windswept from the London drizzle, and he was adjusting a slightly oversized jacket that looked like he’d borrowed it last minute, when his eyes scanned the crowded room, he caught you watching him, instead of giving you a competitive smirk, he had offered a remarkably warm, slightly goofy smile, navigated the maze of chairs, and dropped his backpack right next to yours. "Hi," he’d said softly, rubbing his palms against his jeans, “madhouse in here, innit? I’m Harry by the way”, there was an immediate, grounding lack of pretense about him, you smiled back, introducing yourself, and within minutes, the crushing weight of the audition had simply evaporated, running lines together in hushed whispers, you realized he wasn't trying to perform some stoic caricature of royalty, he genuinely cared about Jace’s emotional vulnerability, he matched your take on the script with an effortless chemistry that left you completely disarmed, now, standing outside the double doors of the main audition room after the casting assistant called both your names, Harry nudges your shoulder with his.
“don't stress" he whispers, his eyes warm, “we've got this, yeah?”
"You nervous?" you ask, teasingly raising an eyebrow.
“Absolutely terrified" he admits with a soft laugh, adjusting his collar, “which is great, because I'm pretty sure Jace feels terrified twenty four seven"
When the doors swing open, you walk in together, the room is vast, lined with high definition cameras and a long row of folding tables, behind them sit the showrunners, the casting directors, and Ryan Condal, they look exhausted, having spent days watching kids mimic fantasy tropes with deep voices and heavy, unnatural gestures.
"Welcome, both of you" Ryan says, offering an encouraging nod, “we’re jumping straight into scene three., for context Jacaerys has just discovered the crushing truth regarding his lineage and he’s spiraling, he’s furious, his pride is completely wounded... and your character is the only person on Dragonstone who can break through his walls and understand him. Whenever you're ready”, both of you swallowed with tension.
You and Harry took your positions on the taped X's in the center of the room, the red recording lights on the cameras blinked to life as harry closes his eyes for a single beat, when he opens them, the sweet, goofy boy from the hallway is gone, his posture straightens, but his shoulders carry a heavy, suffocating weight, his jaw is clenched so tightly a muscle ticks in his cheek, and his dark eyes burn with a raw mixture of teenage rage and profound hurt.
He begins pacing like a caged animal, reciting Jace's lines with a breathless, furious cadence. “let them whisper, then, let them call me whatever they dare in the dark, I am the eldest son of the rightful queen, and I will not sit by while they tear her name and mine to shreds" In previous reads with other actors, they had shouted the lines directly at you, puffing out their chests and turning the moment into a generic screaming match to show dominance, but you remembered the subtext you and Harry talked about outside, how Jace’s anger was just a desperate shield for his terror, and instead of matching his loud volume, you step directly into his path, forcing him to halt dead in his tracks.
“Stop pacing for a second….” you say, your voice dropping into a quiet, steady cadence that anchors the entire room, “let them speak their poison, let the lords of Westeros choke on their envy, you are a Velaryon, your blood is fire, a crown is not given by the whispers of old men, Jace. It is earned by the sacrifices of the one who wears it”, you gently tap his chest with your finger, right over his heart, Harry freezes, the raw intensity in your eyes catches him completely off guard, he doesn't just deliver his next line; he reacts to yours.
For a long moment, the space between you crackles with an electric, unscripted stillness, behind the folding tables, the executives hold their breath, nobody even dares to shift in their chairs, harry’s chest heaves under his jacket, his breath hitching slightly as his dark eyes search yours, drinking in the unwavering calm you’re offering him in the middle of his storm.
He shakes his head slightly, a harsh, humorless laugh escaping his throat that wasn't in the sides at all, “you speak of crowns as if they are ours to take”, he says, stepping even closer, his voice dropping an octave, raspy with unshed tears, “tell me how… how can I stand before a dragon, how can I lead an army when every lord in the realm looks at my face and knows I am a bastard? they laugh at me behind closed doors”, you could feel the fear radiating out of him, when you grabbed his arm he tensed.
“then make them bow before they can laugh”, you answer without hesitation, stepping toe to toe with him, refusing to let him retreat into his own dark thoughts, “let them doubt your hair or your eyes, but never, and listen to me...” you grabbed his face, so softly he thought he imagined it “…never let them make you doubt who you are. Stop trying to face everything on your own, you are not alone in this fortress Jace, I am here”
Step by step, the anger visibly drains from his posture, leaving behind a heartbreaking vulnerability. He takes a half step closer, closing the physical distance under the harsh studio lights. His breathing is shallow, and on pure, unscripted instinct he reaches out, his fingers brushing against your wrist, a silent, desperate plea for grounding., when he speaks, his voice cracks with genuine emotion, “they… they look at me and they see a lie... and sometimes... sometimes I look in the mirror, and what if they're right my love? What if I am just a lie?”
“then do not look in the mirror…” you whisper, closing the remaining space between you until your shoulders touch, your eyes filled with emotion as your face acted on its own, your hand moved on its own, locking your fingers firmly with his “…and come to me, I cannot promise to change how you feel, but I can make you see who you are”.
“and what if I fail?" Harry whispers back, unscripted, his forehead leaning down toward yours until your breath mingles in the quiet room, his eyes flicker down to your lips for a split second before locking back onto yours with a desperate, beautiful intensity, “what if I tear everything down?"
“then we can rebuild it together”, you answer instantly, the words spilling out completely naturally, as if you'd been waiting your whole life to say them to him, “burn the world if you must, Jacaerys, but I will not let you burn yourself”, the silence that follows your sentence is absolute, for three long seconds, neither of you moved, entirely locked in an intensity that makes the modern casting room feel like a candle lit chamber in Dragonstone. Nobody in the room dares to cut the scene, completely mesmerized by the sheer weight of the moment hanging between you two.
“and... cut" Ryan Condal says softly, breaking the spell like a gentle tap on glass, behind the table, no one is typing, the casting director slowly lowers her pen, looking at Ryan with wide eyes and raised eyebrows, the director sits back, a massive smile breaking across his face as he lets out a quiet laugh and shakes his head in disbelief.
“where on earth did that come from?”, Ryan asks, leaning forward on his elbows and staring between the two of you in utter awe, “guide me for a bit, uhm the physical contact, the improvisation… who told you to take it there?"
"No one, sir”, Harry stammers out, his face flushing red as he rubs the back of his neck, instantly breaking character, “we just... outside in the hall, we were talking about how terrified Jace really is under all that anger, and it just felt like what they would say to each other"
"It was pure instinct”, you add softly, catching your breath as you look over at Harry.
Ryan exchanges a stunned look with the director, tapping his pen against the table, “Mhm instinct like that is rare, very rare, you two didn't just read the scene, you completely rewrote the energy in this room, bam just like that”
"Well, well” the director says, "Sarah, I think we can officially cancel the rest of the afternoon’s auditions, don’t you think?, Kids, that wasn't a chemistry read, that was lightning in a damn bottle”, Harry slowly blinks, the heavy character melting away instantly as his ears turn a brilliant shade of red, he looks down at his shoes, then over at you, an ecstatic grin breaking across his face.
"The way you two moved together, trusting each other's rhythm... oh man you can't teach that" the casting director adds, making a massive mark next to both your names, “you two are literally them"
As you walk out of the casting office a few minutes later, the adrenaline is still humming through your veins, Harry turns to you in the quiet corridor, hands shoved deep into his pockets, his eyes shining, “so…” he murmurs, his voice laced with that brilliant, cheeky wit, “…I guess that means we're going to be spending a lot of time together"
“looks like it my prince," you smile back, your heart doing a strange, entirely unscripted flip in your chest, neither of you had any idea then that the intense connection that stunned a room full of executives was going to completely redefine the next few years of your lives, both on top of dragons, and off.
Three long years later… (idk how to do time skips im sorry)
"If you pull my cloak one more time, I swear to God, Harry, I’m telling the directors you’re sabotaging me" you whisper, leaning close so the lavalier microphones tucked under your heavy leather costume don't pick it up.
"It’s not my fault!" Harry whispers back aggressively, though the massive smirk on his face completely gives him away, “this tunic weighs like forty pounds and the velvet on your shoulder is practically begging to be grabbed, It’s for character accuracy babe, Jace is possessive"
"Jace is a dramatic menace and so are you" you laugh, ducking out of his reach as the hair and makeup team scurries onto the set to fix a stray lock of your hair.
You two where currently deep in the production of Season 3, sitting on a massive, foam-rendered battlements set in Wales, season 1 had been a blur of nervous rehearsals, learning how to walk in heavy medieval boots, and late night study sessions in hotel rooms over cold pizza, dissecting character arcs. Season 2 brought longer hours, heavier emotional scenes, and a realization that neither of you was acting anymore when Jace and your character looked at each other like the rest of the world was burning down around them.
"Alright, and… we are rolling" the assistant director calls out, echoing across the chilly studio stage, “quiet on set! and... action!" The playful banter instantly vanishes. Harry shifts his weight, his posture hardening into the prince of Dragonstone. The wind machines kick up, blowing fake smoke and ash across the stone floor, you step up beside him at the edge of the set's ledge, looking out over the green screen that will eventually be rendered into a stormy sea.
"The fleet sails at dawn," Harry says, his voice carrying that grounded, low cadence he’d mastered over the years, he turns to you, his eyes dark with the heavy knowledge of what’s coming, "If I go to the Gullet... if I do not return..."
“do not… do not finish that phrase”, you interrupt taking his hand, your thumbs brushing over his knuckles just like you did in that very first audition room, “do not speak of loss before the blades are even drawn, you will return to me, Jacaerys, that is not a request”, he looks at your joined hands, then up at your eyes, the camera creeps in close, catching the quiet, agonizing tenderness between you, for a second, the script falls away, the way his breath hitches, the subtle soften in his gaze, that’s not Jace looking at a fellow noble, that’s Harry, your harry, utterly besotted with you, completely forgetting that eighty crew members are watching.
He leans in, pressing his forehead against yours, whispering the scripted line with a sincerity that makes your skin tingle, “always"
"Cut! Oh so beautiful, that’s a wrap on the battlements sequence"
The set bursts into noise, technicians start moving lighting rigs, wind machines spin down, and the heavy atmosphere vanishes, Harry lets out a long breath, rolling his shoulders back “sweet mother of jesus, my lower back is destroyed today”, he groans softly, though he doesn't let go of your hand, instead he tugs you gently toward the side of the stage away from the chaos, "How did that feel? was it alright?"
“Come on you know It was perfect H”, you say reaching up to pick a stray bit of fake ash out of his dark curls, “you were brilliant, very brooding, very tragic"
"I aim to please" he winks, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you flush against him behind a wooden prop wall, he tilts his head, kissing you softly on the lips, a slow, sweet kiss that has nothing to do with Westeros or showrunners.
When he pulls back, he’s grinning that same goofy, warm smile from the audition room three years ago, “I love that I get to do this with you, seriously, best job in the world"
"Yeah? even with the forty pound tunic and both of us dying in the next scene?”
“Yes ma’am even with the dying” he chuckles, resting his chin on your shoulder, “though I wouldn't complain if we wrapped early so we could go grab proper food, I’m literally starving”, he pressed his forehead against your shoulder.
"We have two more scenes today drama queen”, you remind him, tapping his nose.
You're so bossy, you know that?" Harry sighs, though he's grinning ear to ear as he buries his face briefly into the crook of your neck, taking a deep breath of your perfume before stepping back, “two more scenes, then food, real food, not craft services fruit platters"
“deal" you smile straightening his leather collar that had gotten twisted during the scene. “now come on, let's get back before the director thinks we ran off"
Later that evening, after the long, grueling shoot wrapped and the heavy costumes were finally shed, you both found yourselves sitting in the back of a black car heading back toward your hotel in Cardiff, the rain was drumming a steady, rhythmic pattern against the tinted windows. Harry sat close beside you, his long legs stretched out, his fingers comfortably laced with yours, he looked so tired, the faint dark circles under his eyes proof of the intense filming schedule, but his expression was entirely peaceful, he squeezed your hand gently, looking over at you in the dim light of the passing streetlamps.
“remember when we first got the call that we both booked it?" he asked softly, a nostalgic smirk tugging at the corner of his lips, “my mum literally started crying in the kitchen, and I was just sitting there on the floor thinking, ‘right, don't mess this up, you've got to act with that brilliant girl from the audition room again'"
You laughed, resting your head on his shoulder, "You really thought I was brilliant?"
"Are you joking? You completely ran that room”, he said, turning his head to press a warm kiss against your hair, I knew right then, honestly, even before Jace and your character had their slow burn on paper, I was already totally done for"
"You're so dramatic Collett," you teased, though your heart warmed, leaning further into his side.
“just honest dear…” he murmured, his arm tightening around your waist as the car glided smoothly through the wet streets, “…just honest”.
the chemistry read dialogues are a big shit and trust me they were worse bc I changed them like 5 times