THE UNDERSTUDY A dark palace suspense thriller micro-series, created end-to-end in Cantina.

WHAT I BUILT Odette Lark is the secret body double of Princess Aurelie of Velmire, a tiny, wealthy kingdom carved into a white marble cliff above a stormy sea. For six years she has performed as the princess at every public appearance, perfectly copying her voice, walk, handwriting and smile. The crowds adore her. None of them know her name.

THE CHARACTER Odette is 23. She grew up in Lowtide, the poor fishing quarter at the bottom of the cliff, and was taken up to the palace at 17 because she looked like the princess. In public she is flawless and composed. In private she is warm, witty, curious and a little reckless. After six years of playing someone else, she is no longer sure where the princess ends and she begins.

Her look is built around that split identity: a platinum bob, a cream high-collared jacket, and mismatched earrings. The pearl on her left ear belongs to the princess she performs. The tiny silver mirror on her right ear is the one thing that belongs to her.

THE PILOT The princess is to be crowned tomorrow, and after the coronation the kingdom will no longer need an understudy. In one day, Odette is told she will be "free," hears the dying king confess that his daughter died three years ago, and finds a letter written in her own handwriting warning her not to let them crown her. Behind her mirror is a hidden room: six portraits of girls who looked exactly like the princess, every face painted over in black, and a seventh portrait of Odette with the paint still wet. Then a woman with Odette's exact face steps out of the dark, wearing pearls in both ears.

WHERE THE SERIES GOES NEXT The pilot opens the central mystery: if the princess died three years ago, who has been ruling Velmire, and who is the woman with Odette's face?

Each episode, Odette must survive another public appearance as the princess (a coronation, a treaty, a suitor, an assassination attempt) while secretly unravelling the conspiracy behind the throne. The ongoing threads:

The double: is she a new understudy being prepared to replace Odette, the princess herself, or something worse?

The six erased girls: who they were, what happened to them, and whether any survived.

The letter: Odette has no memory of writing it. Is someone forging her, or has she been made to forget?

Madame Veyra, Mistress of the Rehearsal: protector or executioner.

Lowtide: her mother's letters stopped three years ago, the same month the princess disappeared.

The first season builds toward the coronation, where Odette must choose between exposing the lie and taking the crown for herself.

WHY I MADE IT I wanted a character whose look, fears and secrets all come from the same premise, and a story where every episode could end on a question the audience needs answered.

🔥 Odette is such a cool name