Role of a Lifetime II
By: Kenneth Kirk
(© 2023 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 17

My Days in Kabul, starring the luminous and illustrious Brant Kimber, came out on Friday, February 4, 2022.  With COVID still creating havoc every time protocols were relaxed, the distributor opted not to have a large premier but did have a limited, mask required, socially distanced, somewhat awkward, by invitation only event in Beverly Hills.  So, Brant and I got all dolled up and attended with Brodie Ford and Rachel Hughes.  For a major studio film premier, it was low key, but we all enjoyed it immensely. 

As usual, my husband looked dashing in his tuxedo as he walked the red carpet and hung out in the lobby. 

In this movie, Brant plays Lieutenant Howard Hewlett, a Marine lieutenant who is faced with an almost impossible assignment that has a significant possibility of determining the location of the leaders of the Taliban.  The action centers on his struggles with the terrain and staying under the enemy’s radar as he leads a couple of grunts across a hundred miles of desert mountains.  He is on-screen over 90% of the time and probably has 75% of the total dialogue, which is maybe a thousand words.  The movie will live or die on his performance. 

Seeing him in this highly masculine tough-guy role was startling for me since I am more familiar with his sensitive side.  As we moved through the plot, I became more and more proud of this amazing actor I happen to be married to.  His performance was powerful; his muscles rippled; he showed great emotions – fear, frustration, struggle, determination, commitment, perseverance – mostly without any words.  In a role that isn’t as much about the inner struggle as it is about the outer struggle, I thought his revealing of the underlying emotions was masterful.  By the time the credits rolled and the applause began, I was so proud I could burst.

The crowd began to chant, “Brant!  Brant!  Brant!”  The director, Tarek Khan (who was raised in Kabul), jumped to his feet and climbed onto the stage as soon as the credits ended and the house lights were raised.  He gestured for the crowd to hold its applause, but the fans ignored him for at least two more minutes. 

Finally, the applause began to dissipate and Tarek shouted for Brant and his two co-stars to join him on the stage.  I grabbed Brant and kissed him before releasing him for the walk to the front.  This is like it will be when he wins an Oscar, I thought.

Amid another round of applause, Brant and the two young actors who played his grunts made their way to the stage, where Tarek hugged each one.  Again, he gestured for silence.

When the crowd settled down, Tarek said, “Please, sit!”  Everyone obeyed and he continued, “I want you all to know that I am extremely proud of this movie and very pleased with the performances these three wonderful actors have given in the most grueling of conditions.”  The crowd clapped again at his words. 

“First, I want to introduce you to Wally Norris.”   A cute rangy-looking guy with a crew cut stepped forward and Tarek put his arm around the actor’s shoulders.  Wally looked awkward in a tuxedo but had a wide grin across his cute face.  He bowed his head to acknowledge the applause and waved to the fans, especially a pretty redhead who accompanied him.  “Wally was a great addition to the cast and did a great job getting sweaty and hot.”  Wally and the other cast members laughed.  “He may not be a big guy, but this young man is very tough!”  People applauded sporadically.  “I predict Wally will go far in this business.  I’ve already got plans to hire him again for a feature next year.”

“All right!” Wally shouted and high-fived the man standing beside him.  The crowd laughed.

Tarek took his arm from Wally’s shoulder and gestured for the other man to step over next to him.  “Second, I want to introduce you to Paul Rossolini.”  When the spotlight landed fully on him, I was a little stunned by the beauty looking at us.  Frankly, he’d been so dirty and disheveled in most of the movie that I hadn’t fully appreciated his looks.  Apparently, a lot of people were also keenly aware of Paul’s beauty as there were wolf-whistles and shouts of admiration from a lot of the ladies, including the Beauty Queen herself, Rachel Hughes.  I thought I detected some more masculine shouts, too.

Paul was almost a foot taller than Tarek, so Tarek hooked his hand on the far side of Paul’s neck to establish a connection.  When the commotion and applause died down, Tarek smiled and said, “Yes, I know he’s gorgeous.”  This, of course, prompted another round of clapping and whistles.

“Even though Paul’s character, Dustin, is not enthusiastic about the journey the guys take in the movie, I have to say Paul was always a trouper and a complete joy to have on the shoot.”

“It was an awesome experience,” Paul yelled.

“I’ve got my eyes on him for my next picture,” Tarek said.

Obviously, Paul was aware of this as he showed no surprise, but he did grin widely.

“In this role, he will look more like he does tonight than how he looked on screen.”

“Yippee!” screamed a young woman in the back of the theater, causing a roar of laughter in the room.

Tarek removed his hand from Paul’s neck and turned to his other side, where my husband stood quietly.  Tarek pulled Brant into a full hug as the crowd called out Brant’s name and applauded.  After half a minute, Tarek released Brant and turned to face the audience, again gesturing for quiet. 

“And now it is my great pleasure to introduce the star of our story, Mr. Brant Kimber!” 

As one, the crowd jumped to its feet and shouted through their masks, “Brant!”  The applause was deafening, even with all the empty seats due to the COVID protocols.  The place sounded packed to the gills.

Brant smiled, blew the audience a kiss, bowed his head, and then gestured for quiet.  It took a few moments, but finally everyone sat down again.

Tarek continued.  “Many young stars could have played the role of Lieutenant Howard.  Perhaps Channing Tatum.  Perhaps Chris Helmsworth.  Perhaps Robbie Amell.  Perhaps Tyler Hoechlin.  As good as those actors are, no, as great as those actors are, I think none of them or anyone else in Hollywood could have shown more of Lieutenant Howard’s inner struggles than Brant Kimber.”  There were shouts from the audience and Brant stood, head slightly bowed and fingertips pressed together, the epitome of humility.  “This movie was well-written and had a great location with good technical support of every kind.  As you just witnessed, our cast delivered amazing performances that allowed every character to shine.”  The audience applauded, maybe a little routinely this time.  “But our star here,” he said with a tight voice as he hugged Brant from the side, “our star showed us all how to deepen a story, how to strengthen a character, how to draw an audience in with emotions.  Very few actors can build so much meaning from such little dialogue.  Just watching Brant on set every day was a master class in emoting.”  He turned to face Brant.  “Without you, my friend, we’d have a good movie.  With you, we have a great one.”  Brant turned into him and they hugged for a long time as the audience gave Brant a third standing ovation.

The lobby party afterwards was unbelievable with everyone wanting a hug from Brant.  Most of them also wanted an autograph.  Paul and Wally also had a lot of admirers, including me.  Social distancing became a distant memory and I prayed that the event would not lead to an outbreak of cases in the coming weeks.

I did manage a short conversation with the beautiful Paul Rossolini over hors d’oeuvres a little while later.  We’d not met before, so I introduced myself a bit formally.

“Oh, Paul,” I said when I realized who was standing beside me.  “Your performance in the movie is spectacular!”

“Thank you!” he said with a big grin.

“I’m Brant’s husband, Sky Ford,” I added.

“Yes, I know,” he nodded.  “It’s a real pleasure to meet you.  I’ve been a fan of yours ever since I saw Laying Low last year.”

“It’s always nice to meet a new fan.”

“It’s nice to meet a new idol, too.”

“Idol?” I was a little surprised at the word choice.

“Yes, indeed.  And,” he paused for effect and I noticed his eyes twinkling, “I know what you look like naked.”

I blushed.  “Oh, well,” I tried to find a snappy comeback but couldn’t.  “There’s that, too,” I ended lamely.

“I’m just giving you a hard time,” he laughed jovially.  “I actually did enjoy Laying Low for other reasons than your and Brant’s anatomies, impressive though they are.”

“Whew!” I cried.  “Thank God someone liked something else about the movie!”

“Seriously, Sky, you and Brant gave wonderful performances in Laying Low.  It’s no wonder he got the Golden Globe nomination.”

“I’m probably prejudiced, but I agree.  Perhaps some of you will get some nominations for My Days in Kabul next year.”

“One can only hope.  By the way, your performance in Stronger Than Ever was amazing, too.  I was bawling through half that movie thanks to your great emoting.”

“You’re too kind, Paul.  I thank you for your comments, but, please, tonight is about Kabul.  It’s about you and Brant and Wally and Tarek.  What a great movie!”

“Thank you, Sky.  It’s been great chatting with you.  I hope to see you again soon.”

“We’ll have to have you over for a pool party when it gets warmer.”

“I’d love it.”

“I’ll make Brant set it up.”

“Do that,” Paul grinned.  He took my hand for a moment as he looked deeply into my eyes.  My damned dick twitched under his gaze as if there was a hint of sensual suggestion in his touch. 

“Have a wonderful celebration of an awesome premiere,” I said through my returned smile.

A couple of minutes later, Brant found me on the mezzanine stairs.  He kissed me quickly before teasing me with a smirk and a wink.  “I saw you talking with Paul Rossolini at the food table.”

I grinned at my husband.  “You never told me how charming and gorgeous he is.”

“I figured you had checked his IMDB page as soon as you knew he was in the movie.”

“I must be slipping up!”

“He is a great guy and not bad to look at, huh?”

“Uh-huh.  We must have him over for a pool party so we can see him in a swimsuit.”

Brant laughed heartily.

“I’m so very proud of you, babe!” I gushed in a major change of the subject.

“Thank you,” he nodded humbly.

“You might have been even better in Kabul than in Laying Low or Conquering Heaven.  Or The Seminary Scandals.”

“Do you think so?”

“I sure do.  We’ll have to see what Brodie and Rachel think later.”

“Great idea.”  He kissed me again.  “I think I need to circulate some more.”

“Yep,” I nodded.  “Come get me when you’re ready to leave.  Otherwise, I’ll just be cruising the hot young actor-boys.”

Brant nodded, laughed, and wandered away.

We stayed another hour before we could make an escape.  As proud as I was of Brant and as pumped as he was, we were so tired when we got home, we just stripped off our fancy clothes, crawled into our California King, and cuddled ourselves to sleep.

To be continued...

Posted: 05/26/2023