Role of a Lifetime
By: Kenneth Kirk
(© 2021 by the author)

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kkirk@tickiestories.us

Chapter 25

I ignored the chirping of my cell phone as I stared open-mouthed at Brant.  “I cannot believe you said all that and even kissed me!”

He chuckled.  “God, I haven’t had that much fun not involving my dick in years!”

I laughed.  “You realize 99% of the world now thinks you’re gay, right?”

“Gay for you, my dear, not for just anyone.”

“Yes.  By the way, you were so sweet!”

“I was being very truthful in what I said.”

“I know, babe.  That’s why it means so much to me.”  My cell phone chirped again.

“But also, by being very suggestive about it, we’re fueling the gossip, which will result in lots of speculation on the internet, on TV, and in the print media.”

“I’m sure you’re right about that.”

“And all publicity is good publicity, Oscar Wilde said, right?”

“Actually, he said something similar.  Phineas T. Barnum said it originally.”

“Well, let’s pray they’re both right.”

“What happens if you decide you aren’t really gay?” I asked timidly.

“Then I go on Hollywood Weekly and tell them that I’m really straight and that you are a spectacular human being who I will always love in my heart while I look for women to corrupt.”

Chuckling, I said, “I can see you doing that, too.  First in line for your kisses will be Juanita Montez, no doubt.”

“Hmm,” he grinned, “I could do a lot worse.  Imagine how my career would soar if I was boffing the great Juanita?  I’d be on Hollywood Weekly, well, weekly!”

Simultaneously his cell phone beeped and mine chirped.

“Our publics call,” I groaned.

We picked them up and Brant said, “My agent.”

I said, “My friend Andrew.”

“Take it,” he said as he tapped his screen.  “Hi, Freddy.”

I clicked the pick-up icon and Andrew screamed, “How dare you!”

I headed upstairs to put some distance between our two conversations.  As I took the steps I said, “How dare I what?”

“Kiss him right in front of the entire world and, most terribly, in front of me!”

“Calm down, hon, you do not look good in green.”

“That’s my best color and you know it.”

“I’ll give you that.”

“He’s head over heels in love with you, Sky.”

“Uhm.  No comment.”

“He is.  The way he looked at you.  The way he kissed you was so …. loving!”

“He’s totally sweet.”

“You two are clearly fucking.”

“What an accusation, dear.”

“Hmmph.  I’ll bet you’re walking funny!  I just know he’s hung well.  He is, isn’t he?  I can’t believe you’re doing this to me, your best friend!”

I laughed.  “Whatever I’m doing, I’m not doing it to you.  I’m doing it to Brant!”

“Oh!”  He sounded strangled.

“Listen, Andy, I’ll probably be home next weekend and then it’ll all be over.”

“Not likely.  You guys are the hottest couple since…”

“Laurel and Hardy?  Meat and potatoes?  Anthony and Cleopatra?  Bogart and Bacall?  Bennifer?”

“Bennifer 1 or Bennifer 2 or Bennifer 1 Revisited?” 

“Nevermind.  I’m really kind of tired.  Be a dear and let me go tonight.  Maybe I’ll tell you what really happens when we shoot sex scenes.”

“I knew it!”

“Good-night, Andrew.”

“Good-night, Sky.  By the way, you both were spectacular on the show.”

“Thanks.”  I hit End Call.

As I went back downstairs, I heard Brant say, “Good-night!”

I looked at Brant quizzically.

“He loved it,” he said gleefully.

“Yeah?”

“He said in half an hour I made myself the number one sexy bad boy in Hollywood and the suggestion I might be gay for you was so hot it would drive all the ladies wild.”

“What about guys?”

“He says they’ll secretly envy me because everyone thinks we’ve got to be having amazing sex.  They’ll be so jealous.”

“Could be.  Andrew was livid with me because he’s convinced we’re having a torrid affair and that you’re in love with me.”

“Andrew is very perceptive.”

The message alert on my phone sounded.  I looked down to see it was from Rachoud.  “Are you coming over?  Everyone wants to congratulate you.”

“I think we’re wanted next door, babe.”

“Hell,” Brant snickered, “we may be wanted everywhere.”

******* 

The first thing I noticed when I opened the door to the main cabin was the delicious smell of chocolate chip cookies in the oven.  The second thing was the loud sound of applause.  The third thing were the slightly stunned looks of respect and awe on all the faces.  We were hugged, clapped on our backs, patted, and kissed by almost everyone.  (Kenny kept his usual quiet demeanor, but did have an unusual smile.)  For a few minutes the room was abuzz with sound and movement.  Eventually, Tammy came out of the kitchen with a huge platter of soft, warm chocolate chip cookies.  She was followed by Gianni with a tray holding small dishes of vanilla ice cream and a stack of spoons.  We gravitated to the dining table and sat down to enjoy our dessert celebration together.

For the next hour and a half we heard how impressed our friends were with our interview and Brant’s amazing openness.  All agreed ticket sales for the movie would be much better with this type of publicity although there were some concerns expressed about the potential impact on our careers. 

After some discussion, Tammy turned to David and asked, “As a major director, what do you think about the impact on their careers?”

(This sexy photo is from David’s IMDB page.)

“I think there will be some immediate effects and some long-term effects,” he said.

That got everyone’s attention, especially Brant’s and mine.  The room became deathly silent as we all waited for him to go on.

“Short-term, people who were not aware of you guys before or were barely aware will take a much stronger interest in who you are and what roles you have had.  There will be an uptick in downloads and purchases of most of your earlier work.  I think it will be especially good for both Conquering Heaven and Royal Sex Wars, which cinema buffs already know about even if they didn’t see them in the theater.  Since your prior roles are not as significant, Sky, there will be less effect, although perhaps a little.”  I nodded in response.  “I think you will see an immediate increase in people Googling your names, searching for you on IMDB, and talking to their friends about you.”

 “That’s all good, of course.  Since it is pretty clear you are in some secluded filming location in the mountains at present, I think the press and paparazzi will be making their plans and waiting for you to appear.  Sky, you might warn Rachel and Brodie to expect some additional snoopers in the neighborhood.”

“Oh, hadn’t thought of that!  I’ll do that tomorrow”

“All the usual rags and TV shows that follow Hollywood will be clammering for an interview.  Your agents will be earning their percentages as they field all the requests.  I think you should rely a lot on their judgment about which interviews to grant and which to turn down.  Frankly, for the movie, each interview results in a lot of free publicity so we welcome it.  However, it is still likely to be 8 or 9 months before we release the film to the public, so I think it would be best if each of you limit yourselves to 1 or 2 per month.  If you can continue to titilate the audience without getting them frustrated, that would be awesome.”

“Sure, David,” Brant said.  “We’ll certainly try to drag out the interest rather than overwhelm it right now. “

“Yes.  If you are open to it, David, I would like to be able to consult you a little as to which interviews to grant.”

“I’d be happy to help, Sky.”

“What about long-term?” Tammy persisted.

“She never let’s me forget anything, folks.  That’s why she’s such a good assistant.”

Tammy blushed and several people agreed with our director.

“Okay, long-term, huh?”  He pondered the question for a few seconds while we all fidgetted.  “I guess I think it will be a little different for Brant than for Sky and some of it will depend on how the fans receive the movie and their performances.”

David turned to me.  “Sky, you are at the very beginning of your career really.  You’ve been working awhile, but you haven’t come onto most people’s radar – until an hour ago, that is!  I thought coming out on national TV to several million viewers was a great strategy and you handled it very well, making it no major event and sound like you were saying something as earth-shaking as ‘I jog every morning.’  I’m very impressed, my friend.”

Wow.  Not only was David affirming my interviewing skills, he called me “friend”.  He’d not done that before, so it really made me smile broadly.

“Thanks,” I murmurred because I couldn’t think of more to say right then.

“So, given that now all casting directors will know that you are very handsome, gay, and about to appear in a breakout role, I would expect you will receive scripts from everyone contemplating making a movie or series with a gay character in his early 20’s.  They’ll be coming in next week.  If you pick the right ones, you can likely have several gigs lined up to carry you through next year.  Downside, you probably won’t get offers for non-gay roles until after Laying Low comes out.  Casting directors would not be willing to take the risk that you are too flamboyant for their rookie cop, college student, or rom-com lead.  So, expect some good offers for gay roles for now.  After we hit the theaters or the streaming platforms, depending on the damn pandemic, I predict you will be a hot property for a wider range of roles since you are not flamboyant in this movie and you are a good actor, even when you aren’t naked with Brant.”

That reference to our sexual situations caught me unaware and I blushed deeply.  Brant laughed and hugged me while Max and Cole shouted their agreement with David.

“In the long-run, I think this role will boost your career a lot and move you onto the A-list a lot sooner than if you had needed to continue with the unnoticeable small roles you’ve had.  Even ten years ago, you would likely have been type-cast and had very few opportunities to play non-gay roles.  I really don’t think that is true anymore.  I think you will do at least as well as your parents have.”

“Wow, thanks, David!”  I got a kiss on my right cheek from Brant and one on my left cheek from Valerie.  Nice.

“And Brant?” Tammy prompted her boss.

David snickered.  “There she goes again!  Uhm, Brant.  It’s harder for me to predict how this is going to affect your trajectory.  We’ve already talked quite a bit about even doing such a sexy gay role and how that will be received by your fans.  I think your approach to talking about it unflinchingly is a very good plan.  Look how well the interview went after you shared that you have a boyfriend in this movie and that you have a real sexy relationship.”

Brant and I both nodded.

“You’ve had several increasingly major roles and have become a young romantic lead already.  Women rank you right up there with Zach Efron, Channing Tatum, Noah Centeneo, Jamie Dorman, or the entire cast of Teen Wolf.” 

Several laughed. 

“Or Penn Bagley, Chace Crawford, or Ian Summerhalder,” Valerie added.

“Hey!” Cole stared incredulously, which caused more laughter.

“Anyhow,” David said a bit louder in order to regain the floor, “I think this role allows you to find a more vulnerable side of your onscreen persona and to expand your range, particularly in the romantic area.  You might not get considered as quickly for the next hot romantic role, but you will be stronger in competitions for meatier roles.  You’ll also get some offers to do other gay roles, I’m sure, and you need to be careful not to do only gay roles in the near future or you will be type-cast seriously.  But, if you were to do a gay role every fourth or fifth role and some good mainstream roles between those, I think your career will continue to build just as before but with a little more variety.”

“Good to know,” Brant said.

“We have so many A-list actors who happen to be gay nowadays, it doesn’t seem to hurt them to be out.  And, it’s a little hard to think of a straight actor over 35 who hasn’t played gay at least once.  Even Will Smith, Russell Crowe, and Dennis Quade have those in their filmographies.  You’ll both be fine.”

******* 

Brant, Rachoud, and I finally went to our own cabin just past 10:30.  On the short walk, Brant said, “I knew about Will Smith in Six Degrees of Separation and Russell Crowe in that Australian indie film, but Dennis Quade played gay?”

“Oh, yes, sug,” Rachoud responded.  “He was the closeted husband of Julianne Moore in Far from Heaven.  Oh, it was so tragic!  Thank the Good Lord, gay people can be ordinary folks nowadays.”

“Like us in Laying Low,” I said.

Rachoud guffawed.  “Hell, Mr. Ford, you boys are sex machines in this flick.  That ain’t what I’d call ordinary!  No, sir!”

When we got to our living room, he assured us he was full of pride in us for our openness during the interview and suggested both of us would henceforth be very popular in the gay community.  We thanked him and went upstairs.  Wearing only our briefs, we settled into Brant’s bed to cuddle ourselves to sleep, after some rather torrid good-night kisses.

To be continued...

Posted: 10/29/2020