Page 116 of Nathan
Talk Show
Fourteen Months Later
Nathan
“You’re up next.” A man with a headset waved Serena and me over. From the side entrance, we looked onto the stage where Norman Bridge was finishing up his interview with Nina Painter, the youngest elected mayor in the United Kingdom.
“How are you feeling?” Serena asked me with a concerned smile. She knew I was out of my comfort zone. “Remember why you’re doing this. The exposure will benefit your foundation. There’s over five thousand people in the audience and millions watching at home.”
“You’re not helping,” I muttered with my palms sweaty from nerves.
“It’ll only be a minute now,” the stage manager whispered and stepped aside for Nina to exit the stage.
As we waited for the host to call us in, I looked toward the first two rows where Serena’s family sat surrounded by the Robertson clan.
“Welcome back to The Albert Hall for our New Year’s Special, where we are celebrating those who stood out this past year. Our last guests of the evening blew us away with prize-winning performances and life-changing initiatives. Give a big hand to none other than Serena Star and Nathan Robertson.”
The audience applauded, and Serena waved at them as we walked out on stage hand in hand.
After greeting the host, we took a seat on the long blue sofa and waved to our families and the audience.
“You two look smashing tonight. I like your dress.” The host, Norman Bridge, was an openly gay man in his fifties who had won prizes for being Britain’s most popular talk-show host several times.
“Thank you,” Serena replied politely and smiled. She was used to talk shows while I felt like throwing up.
“Serena, what a year you’ve had. Let me start by congratulating you on your two movies and a sold-out West End show.”
“Thank you.”
“Now, you’ve done quite a few Broadway shows, but this is your first role in London, yes?”
“That’s right.”
“Did you hesitate before you accepted the role of Madonna? It must have felt intimidating to play an iconic woman like that, even to a talented actress and seasoned musical star like yourself.”
“Yes, I hesitated for a day or two and took some serious deep breaths. It’s one thing to play a historical character, but to portray an artist who might show up on premiere night is terrifying. But no, ultimately, it’s a dream role, and I couldn’t resist the chance to sing her songs and celebrate this strong woman.”
“And while you’re entertaining the West End audience, you’re also rumored to be up for an Oscar nomination for your role inSpecks of Graywhere you played a woman in a mental hospital. Critics raved about your performance, and I have to agree with them. I saw the movie, and you had me believing that you were truly insane. I don’t know if that’s a compliment or not.” Norman laughed.
“It came very natural,” Serena joked and smiled before elaborating on her experience of working on the movie.
After showing a short clip from the movie, Norman asked a few more questions of Serena, before he said, “And on top of all of your work in the movie industry, you’ve also been involved in the Sandra Liberty Foundation, isn’t that right?”
“Yes.” Serena glowed with pride as both she and Norman turned their attention on me.
“Nathan Robertson, you’re the man behind the foundation who helps empower women around the world. Can you tell us a bit about the work you do in your foundation?”
I straightened up on the couch. “It’s very simple. We believe that all women should know how to defend themselves if needed. At our events, we invite all women and teenage girls to come in and train with highly qualified instructors for free.”
Norman looked down at his cue card. “You’ve already helped more than forty thousand women in several countries, isn’t that right?”
“Yes, we began in Canada seven months ago, and since then, we’ve been in Ireland, US, and now England.”
“Can you tell us about the woman your foundation was named after? Who was Sandra?”
“Sandra was my mother.” The audienceawwed when a picture came up of myself as a baby with my father in his military uniform, and my mother holding me in her arms. “My father was killed in action shortly after this picture was taken, and it drove my mother into the arms of a man who she thought was going to be like a father to me. I was five when she tried to leave him. Unfortunately, he found her. My mother gave her life to save mine, and I’m doing my best to honor her sacrifice by teaching women around the world the skills that could have saved her life that night.”
Norman held a hand to his heart as his lips hung in a sad expression. “It’s such an incredibly tragic story.”
