Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87933 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 440(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Today’s shoot is being filmed on location at a country club in LA, but where there should be lighting and camera equipment, almost nothing is set up.
There’s someone crying in the corner, an intern I’m guessing, production assistants are avoiding eye contact with everyone, and then I find Ben pacing by his director’s chair.
This is killing my first-day happy vibes.
I approach Ben and put my hands on his shoulders. “Hey.”
He flinches.
“What’s happening?” I ask.
“We’re already an hour behind, the shot isn’t set up, if we don’t get it all together soon, the sun will disappear behind the building and the lighting will be all wrong, and—”
“Breathe.” I take a deep breath and try to get him to mimic it.
He pulls out of my grasp. “Go hit wardrobe and makeup. We can’t be even more late than we already are.”
I don’t bother arguing with him. The thing is, I’ve been with Ben for almost a year. He’s a genius, and I admire his work, but he’s the epitome of the stereotypical artist. Meaning, he’s stubborn when he gets in his head, and there’s no talking him down.
I stand back, let him have his rant, and then he’ll get over it and pretend it never happened. An apology? I don’t think he knows the meaning of the word.
“Oh, and Jordy?” Ben calls after me when I walk off.
I hate when he calls me Jordy, but that’s a whole other thing. “Yeah?”
“Go check on your friend. The one you insisted I needed to cast. He’s freaking out.”
Aww, fuck.
Why can’t anyone love the first day of filming as much as I do?
I hit wardrobe first because I already know what my outfit will consist of: me in a Speedo. That’s it.
The scene today is Blake’s character, Madden, meeting me for the first time after my meddling onscreen sister sets us up on a fake date. Madden’s ex is getting married, and he needs a date to the wedding so he doesn’t look as pathetic as the script tells him he is. It’s like the gay version of The Wedding Date with Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney. Just with less male prostitution.
I think Ben chose to shoot this scene first so he can play with our chemistry a bit. He originally wanted to shoot the first sex scene on the first day, but I told him doing that with a straight actor would only lead to scheduling problems when we ran overtime.
Turns out we didn’t even need the love scene for that to happen.
I get in my Speedo, and they give me a robe to cover up in and slippers to wear around on set. When I get to the makeup trailer, they oil me up and then contour my abs so they look more defined on camera.
It’s a rough life, but someone has to do it.
Jojo follows me like a shadow, fetching me water while I get makeup done, but when I head for Blake’s trailer, I tell her to go take a break in mine.
I knock, movement sounds inside, and then a wide-eyed Blake, with his blond hair perfectly styled—and I don’t mean Coby Godspeed styled where they slicked it back but teased and molded it into a high pompadour—and wearing a white button-down and chinos answers the door.
“I heard you were freaking out,” I say.
“I’m not freaking out.” His voice goes high-pitched. “You’re freaking out. Why would I be freaking out?” Okay, now he’s squeaking.
I won’t admit it out loud and make him uncomfortable, but it’s endearing and cute and somehow makes him hotter.
“What are you freaking out about?” I ask.
“I’ve never done a serious movie before. Half of my Coby Godspeed movies don’t even make sense.”
“If it makes you feel any better, Ben keeps playing with the script because he’s not happy with it. Soon, this won’t even be a serious movie. Did you hear the new title for it? Faking It. That’s not an Oscar-winning title.”
“That doesn’t help. At all. I did this to get more exposure and depth and be taken seriously as an actor. I already don’t get taken seriously as a musician, and with Eleven doing this reunion—”
“Whoa, Eleven is getting back together? When?”
“Shit. No one is supposed to know that. I didn’t say anything, okay?” He mimes zipping his lip.
“Trust me. I’m not telling anyone.”
“We’re writing and recording while this film shoots, and we’ll be touring afterward.”
“What about acting?” I ask. Like I said, Blake has so much potential to be huge, so I don’t understand why he’d go back to being a backup singer in a boy band.
“I’ll still do that too. The Eleven thing is supposed to be for in between gigs. We’re doing it more for fun than the money or fame.”
“Doing something for … fun? And … no personal gain?” I speak in a robot voice. “Sorry. Does not compute.”