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

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

kkirk@tickiestories.us

Chapter 34

Three Months Later 

January 2021 brought mixed emotions to me.  On the one hand, we were nearing the end of the filming for Stronger Than Ever and I was very enthusiastic about the eventual quality of the film.  It seemed to me destined to be a great drama that would endure the test of time.  On the other hand, rehearsals for South Beach Shenanigans began immediately after New Year’s with filming on location in Miami Beach beginning on January 15.  So, Brant was off to Florida on the 16^th not to return until February 12.  My final scenes for Stronger Than Ever were filmed on January 27 and I flew to Miami the next day for a week with my man.

As was virtually inevitable, the press got wind of my presence in town while Brant was filming so we were hounded by paparazzi.  The next edition of The National Enquirer carried this photo of me in a coffee bar with the headline “Waiting for Love?” and a ton of speculation about Brant and me along with a couple of shots of us, one walking down the street holding hands and another of us dining alone together in one of South Beach’s many outdoor restaurants along Ocean Boulevard. 

The timing of our appearances in Miami Beach couldn’t have been more provocative since Laying Low premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 30.  While the film did not win any Sundance awards, it was obviously considered for several based on comments made by judges.  The film (which cost a little more than $3 million) was sold to Monumental Pictures and Hulu for $5.5 million, so the producers were quite happy.  We were disappointed that we couldn’t go to Park City due to the pandemic, but we were still very excited by the release of the movie.  The film was scheduled for theatrical release March 1 and streaming April 1.

Whoever said “all publicity is good publicity” was probably right, but it still felt like an invasion of our own private relationship to have strangers snapping pictures all the time.  Several Instagrammers posted #Branskysighting pictures of us minding our own business around South Beach.  Neither Brant nor I cared about the speculation, we just wanted the chance to enjoy this great location together.

While Brant was at work that week, I concentrated on studying the sctipt for my next project: B-School Confidential which didn’t begin filming until April.  I did have a Zoom interview with a young gay film student named Aaron Testin, who was doing his thesis on the merging of gay cinema with mainstream cinema for his MFA from Columbia University.  He impressed me with really thoughtful and probing questions about Laying Low, Stronger Than Ever, and the future of gay cinema.

One afternoon Joan called me to see if I might be interested in a guest star role on Grey’s Anatomy as the gay brother of a patient.  The drama would come around my pursuit of one of the hot young non-gay interns who actually gives it a whirl, but then decides it’s not for him.  I would appear in two episodes and be paid $10,000.  When she said filming would be March 22 through April 2, I said I would love to do it if she could negotiate with the producers of B-School to get me a 2-day delay in starting that project.  I would need to audition as soon as I get back to L.A. from Miami.

Brant and I had a great time together in South Beach, in spite of the paparazzi and occasionally intrusive fans.  We enjoyed a lot of great sex to try to make up for the three weeks we’d been apart.

I returned to California, auditioned for Grey’s Anatomy and was hired that afternoon.

The producers of Hollywood Weekly had set Brant and me up for their Valentine’s Day special to be shown from Zoom on February 14.  It was a very cool time for us to be on the show, since Laying Low was about to open in select American theaters and world-wide via the Hulu streaming services and speculation had been rampant about us for several weeks.  Again, we were allotted the full half-hour slot, which is about 22 minutes of actual content.

I went to Brant’s apartment for the show, but I used my computer in his bedroom while he used his computer in the dining room.  We had our reason for appearing separately, as will become obvious in a while.

Juanita Montez introduced us with a brief monologue about our careers and the fact that Laying Low had been shown and sold at Sundance.  Her producers had obtained a clip of the scene of us having sex on the cliff above the lake with the mountains in the background.  Of course, this being network TV, they could only show the beginning of the scene up to us kissing passionately and beginning to strip each other.  When the clip ended, Juanita looked over her shoulder at her audience.

Juanita: Do I love my fans or what?  Who else would give you such an exciting first look at these two fine and fabulous actors in their soon-to-be hit new movie Laying Low?

She turned back to her computer and spoke to us.

Juanita: Welcome to our show, guys!  And Happy Valentine’s Day!

Brant: Thank you, Juanita, it’s good to be back.  Happy Valentine’s Day to you, too.

Me: Yes it is good to share Valentine’s Day with you and your fans, Juanita!

Juanita: We knew what was coming in this movie, but I think that clip shows that the heat between you two is even more than most of us anticipated.

We both smiled and nodded.

Juanita: How does it feel to see that clip along with my millions of fans?

Brant: Wonderful, Juanita.  Sky and I have seen a rough cut of the film, but not the final version as it is now, so it’s fun to see it.

Me: And it’s fun to remember how great the location was and what fun it was to make this film.

Juanita (looking knowingly at her audience): Yes, we can see you were certainly having fun that day.

We chuckled and nodded.

Juanita: Is the film as good as you had hoped it would be?

Brant: You know, Juanita, the actors, the director, the entire crew – everyone does their best to film great footage and then the post-production crew spends thousands of hours editing, adding sound, remixing, composing and performing music, adding titles, and more.  We haven’t yet seen the finished product, but I think it’s safe to say that it’s even better than I anticipated.  I was stunned at how good the rough cut was.  David Dawson and all the crew did a fantastic job!

Juanita: Thanks, Brant.  Sky, what would you add?

Me: As you and most of the fans know, Juanita, this is my first big role.  Seeing the film is like a dream come true for me.  And to be on screen with a great actor like Brant Kimber makes it even better.  I love seeing our, uhm, intimate scenes because they just reach right into my heart.

Juanita (a little choked up): How beautiful, Sky! 

She paused and took a centering breath.  She turned to the studio camera.

Juanita: We need to go to our sponsors for a moment and then we’ll be back to talk about where Brant Kimber and Sky Ford are at this point.  Are they friends?  With benefits?  Lovers?  Something else?

As the studio lights went down, she turned back to us.  “You did tell the producer you’re ready to be open, right, Brant?”

“Yes, what a perfect time for my announcement.”

He didn’t seem at all nervous, though I confess I was about to piss myself.

“We’re about to go live!” someone announced in Juanita’s studio.

Juanita: Welcome back everyone.  We are about to get a real answer directly from the mouth of the delicious Brant Kimber.  Are you ready, ladies?  Festive gentlemen?

Juanita: So, the most anticipated question of the new year goes to Brant Kimber.  Brant, please tell me and my spectacular fans what your true feelings are for the gorgeous gentleman beside you on our screens.  Who is Sky Ford to you?

Brant (sporting the biggest, widest grin imaginable): Sky Ford is many, many things to me, Juanita.  He is the most exciting co-star I have ever had the privilege of working with.  He has the biggest heart, the most open and caring heart of anyone I’ve ever known.  He is so smart that I get smarter just being around him.  He is the greatest communicator ever.  I grow so much because of him and what he teaches me.  He is the best kisser, bar none!  He also has other stellar, shall we say “techniques” that let me know how much he wants to give to me, how much he cares, how much he loves me.

And I love him.  I love him totally, completely, passionately.  He’s not only my friend, my bro, my model, my teacher.  He is the love of my life and I am absolutely head-over-heels in love with this man!

I stood up, stepped away from my computer, and walked into the dining room.  I came up beside Brant as Juanita was screaming, “I knew it!  We all knew it!”  Brant turned to look at me and I stooped to put my face even with his.  I leaned into the camera frame, put my hand behind his neck, pulled him toward me, and kissed him, long and hard!

Juanita: Holy shit!

Immediately, the director cut to commercials.  We kissed a moment more before breaking and looking into the computer.

“Oh my God, guys, that was so beautiful,” Juanita gushed.  “It will be broadcast on the 11:00 news all over the world!  I love you guys so much!  Well, not as much as you seem to love each other, but a lot!”

Brant and I laughed.

Juanita rambled on about how beautiful we are together until the assistant yelled, “Live in 3, 2, 1.”

Juanita (looking at the studio camera): Welcome back!  I know we have everyone’s attention now!  Brant Kimber has just given us a beautiful description of the love he has for the gorgeous Sky Ford.  I think we need to hear from you now, Sky.  How do you feel about Brant?

Me (looking at Brant lovingly): I first met Brant a bit over a year ago when I had a chemistry read with him in an audition.  I was so thrilled to learn that he was signed on as the star of this little movie that I almost couldn’t focus enough to read my lines.  He made me very comfortable and asked me to relax and just “go for it” when we went through our scene, which included some making out at the end.  Well, by the time we got into the kissing and, uhm, more, I had forgotten all about acting.  It became real to me.

Brant: It became real to me, too.  (Looking at me): Actually, hon, our kisses in that audition were the first time I had ever kissed a man.

Me (looking at him in surprise): Really?  You didn’t kiss like it was your first time.

Brant (grinning): I’m an award-winning actor, babe.

Juanita looked over her shoulder at her audience and mouthed the words “hon” and “babe.”

Me (looking back at the computer): So, Juanita, from the moment we met and kissed, I began falling in love with Brant.  I’ve been out for several years and have no issues about that, but I tried to keep myself from falling for him because I thought of him as completely straight.  I think everyone did.  Even my mom and dad cautioned me to watch my heart because no matter how much fun we had Brant would eventually drop me and go find a woman.

Juanita: So Rachel Hughes and Brodie Ford were worried about you?

Me: Yes, they were.  I mean, they also loved Brant from the first time they met him.  The four of us had several nice dinners together with great conversations and Mom and Dad never ragged on him at all.  They would just occasionally remind me that he is, maybe I should say, was straight.

Juanita: So, let’s talk about your performance in Laying Low, Sky.  Was it hard to play Brant’s lover in the movie?

Me (laughing): Hell, no!  Whenever I delivered a line about loving him, it wasn’t acting.  When my character Aaron would kiss his character Marty, it wasn’t acting.  I simply allowed my feelings for Brant to drive my expressions and actions.

Juanita: So, that scene we saw earlier wasn’t you acting?

Me: I probably shouldn’t admit this, but, no, it wasn’t.  I started pulling his shirt off because I was ready to get it on with him.

Juanita: And did you, uhm, “get it on”?

Under the table, Brant grasped my leg just above the knee in a warning.

Me: To a degree, yes.  It got a little weird actually because I was acting exactly what I wanted to be doing with him.  That’s why I am hoping the relationship between our characters comes out real to the viewers, because in many, many ways it is real.  It was real to me during filming.

Juanita: Was it real to you, Brant?

Brant: Very.  But complicated, too.

Juanita: We need to hear from our sponsors now, but don’t go away.  We want to know why Brant says it was complicated.

The studio lights dimmed and Juanita said, “This is so awesome guys.  Will you come to my house for dinner soon?”

“We’d love to, Juanita,” Brant said as I nodded.

We talked about some options and had just decided on the coming Thursday evening when the assistant yelled, “Live in 3, 2, 1.”

Juanita: Before we went on break, Brant Kimber was telling us that filming Laying Low with his co-star Sky Ford was “complicated.”  So, Brant, why do you say it was complicated?

Brant: You have to realize that I thought of myself as heterosexual for 23 years.  When I read the script and began considering the role of Marty, I thought a lot about how I would feel kissing a guy and, frankly, being in such intimate contact.  It didn’t turn me off and I eventually wanted the experience because I thought it would make me a more well-rounded individual.  Maybe I’d be able to understand better why some people are gay.  By the time I saw the tape of Sky’s first audition, I noticed him as a sexual being, something I’d never really seen in a man before.  I decided if I was going to love a man, it could be Sky, so I wanted him for the role.  I thought it would be convincing.  But very quickly as we became better acquainted in our COVID bubble, my feelings for him grew much deeper.  At first I thought it was just friendship because we were trusting each other so deeply, but eventually I began to understand my feelings were actually romantic in nature.  So, during most of the filming I was caught in this interesting juxtaposition of seeking a new experience and loving one special person.  Truthfully, it was the only scenario that could possibly end with me in love with a man.

Juanita (after dabbing her eyes a couple of times with a tissue): Sky, so what’s in the future for you two?

Me: We’re both working a lot on several really cool projects.  For us, for our relationship, I think it is a time to just let it develop as it does naturally.  But, I do know this: I’m not afraid to love him as deeply as I could ever love another person.  I can’t imagine life without him.

Juanita: Brant?

Brant: I can’t imagine life without Sky either.  I just have one more thing to say, Juanita, if I may.

Juanita: Of course, Brant.  We’re all ears.

Brant (turning toward me and taking both my hands in his): Sky, my love, will you marry me?

I couldn’t believe my ears and just stared at his hopeful, vulnerable, absolutely divine face for a few seconds while I heard Juanita screaming in the speakers.  Then, I screamed, too.  I leaned in to kiss him until he pushed me back and said, “Is that a yes?” 

I nodded.  “YES!” I screamed.

He hugged me and we both started crying like crazy.

Finally, Juanita quieted down and turned to speak quietly to her audience.

Juanita: Oh, dear fans, we have just seen history in the making.  This is a moment I will never forget. 

She looked back at us, but we were ignoring her so she turned back to the fans.

Juanita: We have just witnessed one of the most intimate moments in anyone’s life.  We’ve been welcomed into the hearts of these two great men.  Please treat their trust of us with the highest honor as we all congratulate them.

Juanita (looking back at us): Guys!  I’m so excited for you!

Brant: Thanks, Juanita.

I just nodded and sobbed.

Juanita: You have my personal support and love along with the love of all our fans.  Congratulations, you two!  Now, go be together for a while.  We’ll talk again another time.

She turned off her computer and faced her audience as she dabbed her eyes.

Juanita: Brant Kimber and Sky Ford.  Together in a beautiful film, uhm, Laying Low.  Don’t miss it.  And also together in a most beautiful love story.  This was a perfect Valentine’s Day show, don’t you think?  Good night, my friends.  See you next week!

To be continued...

Posted: 11/26/2021