When I got back to my room, Cassidy made me go out to the beach, and we did
Word had gotten around that I wasn’t going out tonight, and Caryn had organized some food and a bar setup. Instead of watching a movie, we had music and soon had a party going. Most of the people were from the crew. The actors all wanted to go to the place I’d been to last night, but none of the crew was willing to spend $85 just to get in.
The suit that the studio sent to watch Laurent had shown up. His name was Bob Trimble. It didn’t take long to figure out he had an agenda.
“What can you tell me about Kimberly leaving?” he asked.
“Crocodiles are scary.”
“Did you hear anything about her relationship with Laurent?” he asked.
I motioned Caryn over, and we took Bob to my bedroom and closed the door. I told Caryn what he’d asked.
“Where’s this coming from?” Caryn asked.
“Your agent talked to some of our studio execs and filled us in. I was asked to confirm what Mr. Gessler said.”
“I can only tell you what was told to me. Kimberly wasn’t willing to come forward with a confirmation,” I warned.
“So, it’s true?” Bob asked.
“If you’re talking about Laurent asking for sex in exchange for a role … that’s what we heard. That the girl is underage, and he’s old enough to be her grandfather, is just creepy,” Caryn said.
“Is that what you heard?” Bob asked me.
I just nodded.
“Shit. This is going to blow up in our faces,” Bob said and then left.
“It sounds like something’s happening behind the scenes. Let’s hope they deal with Laurent. It makes me sick to think about what he did to her,” Caryn said.
“Allegedly.”
“Let’s not play word games. He did it, and he needs to be in jail with all the other pedophiles.”
At least Caryn wasn’t holding back.
We went back out to the party and had a good time. No one got out of control, and there was a lot of laughter. Keeping your crew happy is always a smart move. They could make you look either good or bad. I opted for good.
◊◊◊ Saturday May 28
“Hey, David, great party last night.”
“Thanks for letting me come over.”
“Let me know when you plan to do it again.”
These were some of the greetings I received as I walked onto the set in the morning.
“What’s all that about?” Heath asked.
“While you were out last night, there was a little get-together in my suite. A lot of the production crew showed up,” I said. “How was the show?”
“It was okay. You were right, it was sort of Vegas-lite. We had a good time, though. Thanks for suggesting it,” Heath said.
“There’s my favorite. Come get your makeup done,” offered the makeup gal.
“What about me?” Heath asked.
“Wait your turn.”
“But I was here first,” he complained.
“I think if you want to be first, you need to buy a round of drinks,” I told him.
The crew thought it was funny that all the other actors noticed my special treatment. I knew that the next one to throw a party would then be treated like a king or queen. I sighed. My people’s loyalty was so fickle. It was good that Caryn was around, or all this might go to my head.
If I needed to be brought back to earth, all I had to do was wait for Laurent.
“What was that?” Laurent asked during my first scene.
“I was trying to give you an honest emotion.”
“Honesty isn’t enough for me. Honesty is boring. You’re boring today. If you can convince me your acting is real and bigger than life … now that’s exciting. Excite me.”
I’d found that if I took a deep breath, rejected the insults, and focused on what he was trying to tell me, there was usually something worth learning. Don’t get me wrong, I hated the guy. But I knew that if my goal was to get better at my craft, I could learn from him.
The only problem was that sometimes he just confused me. The next take, I tried to go over the top.
“An ounce of behavior is worth a pound of words.”
I took that to mean it needed to be dialed back a little. I tried it again. Laurent just walked off the set. Everyone looked around to figure out if we were done or not. I threw my hands up.
“That’s a wrap,” I said.
◊◊◊
When we took a break for lunch, Caryn came and found me.
“Saul called. They’re starting to get numbers for
I felt a little disconnected from the movie. I’d been in Cuba and hadn’t helped with the promotional tour or done the red-carpet events for this one. Rita had understood that I was working, but it still made me feel bad that I hadn’t been there for Halle. This was her first significant role.
“What does second mean?” I asked.
I knew that the studio would be happy with anything over fifteen.
“They expect they’ll do over twenty million, based on early numbers. Saul said they could even do twenty-five.”
“I need to call Halle,” I said and pulled out my phone.
She answered on the first ring.
