Mia Brooks's father, a likely emotional reference point in her guarded world.
- Occupation
- unspecified
- Core traits
- steady, observant, caring
- What they want
- Support Mia as she navigates the Eastside Melanated Christmas Ball pressure.
- Inner need
- To stay present for Mia without pushing so hard that she retreats.
- Main conflict
- Supporting Mia as practical setbacks and Ball pressure mount around her guarded way of living.
- Arc
- flat-supporting
- Voice
- calm, direct, reassuring
- Performance range
- warm, grounded, emotionally resonant
- Required abilities
- credible fatherly presence
- Preferred abilities
- subtle dramatic depth
- Physical performance
- minimal
- Accent
- unspecified
- Language
- English
- Comparable performances
- supportive father in grounded holiday romance
- Audition sides
- family scene with Mia
- Casting notes
- Must feel believable as the father of Mia Brooks and fit a warm holiday-romance tone.
The character breakdown from the writers, so you know who you'd be playing.
Scene 5 INT. MIA'S PARENTS' HOUSE - NIGHT
A house full of Christmas. Warm light. A tree dressed in ribbon and family ornaments. Soulful holiday music low from the kitchen. Stockings slightly uneven on the mantel. The place is elegant, but lived-in -- food on the stove, wrapping paper on a chair, somebody's coat thrown over the banister.
MIA stands just inside the doorway, still in her coat, taking it in before anyone notices her. For a brief moment, she is not evaluating. She is simply outside of it.
In the dining room, MOTHER adjusts candles while FATHER comes behind her with a serving tray. She points him left without turning. He goes left. Easy. Practiced. In the kitchen, NADIA laughs as STEVEN stands beside her drying dishes badly on purpose while she bumps him out of the way with her hip.
Two worlds of marriage in motion. Familiar, affectionate, unforced.
MELANIE BROOKS
Mia? Baby, why are you standing at that door like company?
Mia blinks, comes back to herself, and steps in.
MIA BROOKS
(covering)
Because nobody told me this was a full production.
MATTHEW BROOKS
Around here Christmas is always a full production.
MELANIE BROOKS
And unlike some people, we decorate before the week of.
Nadia appears from the kitchen with a dish towel over her shoulder, already smiling because she knows exactly who that was for.
NADIA BROOKS-COLEMAN
There she go.
MIA BROOKS
Hello to you too.
They hug. It's quick, real, sisterly.
NADIA BROOKS-COLEMAN
(looking her over)
You came straight from work.
MIA BROOKS
I changed earrings. Respect the effort.
STEVEN COLEMAN
That's how we know it's family. Anybody else would've got the full version.
Mia smiles. Small, but true.
Steven crosses to take her coat without being asked. FATHER reaches for a platter at the same time MOTHER hands him the oven mitt she already knows he forgot. Nadia catches Steven sneaking a piece of cornbread and slaps his wrist lightly with the dish towel.
Mia watches all of it -- these little private fluencies of shared life -- and something in her stills.
MELANIE BROOKS
Don't just stand there, baby. Go in that kitchen and make yourself useful.
MIA BROOKS
See, this is why I should've stayed mysterious.
CUT TO:
Scene 7 INT. MIA'S PARENTS' LIVING ROOM - CONTINUOUS
The room is full and warm. Dessert plates pass hand to hand. The tree glows. MATTHEW BROOKS settles deeper into the sofa while MELANIE BROOKS fusses over slices of pie like presentation still matters at home. STEVEN COLEMAN is finally winning his fight with the loose strand of lights.
MIA enters carrying the pie. NADIA follows with plates. The family makes room for them without asking. It is seamless -- one of those small domestic movements Mia notices more than she lets on.
A ripple of laughter. Mia sets the pie on the coffee table and, for once, doesn't correct the placement.
Her phone buzzes in her bag.
Mia ignores it.
NADIA BROOKS-COLEMAN
(clocking her)
If that's work, let it be work for six more minutes.
MIA BROOKS
It may be a client.
MELANIE BROOKS
And you may be somebody's daughter in this house. Sit down.
Another buzz. Longer this time.
Melanie gives her a look. Mia exhales, pulls out her phone, glances at the screen -- and freezes just slightly.
ON THE SCREEN: MS. EVELYN PRICE
MIA BROOKS
(under her breath)
Oh.
MATTHEW BROOKS
That's not an "oh" I know. What kind of oh is that?
MIA BROOKS
(already standing)
The kind I need to take outside.
MELANIE BROOKS
Take a shawl.
MIA BROOKS
Mama, I'm going to the porch.
MELANIE BROOKS
And the porch is outside.
CUT TO:
Record yourself, upload it to YouTube (unlisted is fine), Google Drive, Vimeo or Dropbox, and paste the link with your application. Make sure the link can be viewed by anyone who has it.
Mia Brooks is a gifted, tightly controlled event planner who creates warmth and elegance for everyone but herself. As Christmas lights and community traditions fill the Eastside, Mia’s own apartment remains bare, reflecting how emotionally closed off she has become. In client meetings she is sharp, funny, and impeccably professional, but she shuts down even harmless flirtation and keeps real connection at arm’s length.
At her office, her loyal friend Tiffany Hall notices the cracks beneath Mia’s polish, especially when Mia reacts to a call from Kevin Rush, a man who seems to represent an old pattern of disappointment and inconsistency. Tiffany also shares a rumor that the Eastside’s prestigious Melanated Christmas Ball may need a new planner. Though Mia is clearly intrigued, she doubts that talent alone is enough to gain entry into such a legacy event and worries she will never truly be trusted in those circles.
Later, at her parents’ Christmas-filled home, Mia is surrounded by easy family love, ritual, and partnership. Watching her parents and her sister Nadia move through their relationships with comfort and familiarity forces Mia to confront what is missing in her own life. In a quiet kitchen conversation, she admits that despite her success, she expected to have built a fuller life by now, not just a flawless schedule. The excerpt ends with Mia exposed in her loneliness, setting up a story about ambition, belonging, and the possibility of love.
