Residuals trickled down from all the hard-earned cash that purchased tickets for his last blockbuster, regardless of its quality. His feigned appreciation could win Best Actor considering how he was only half there during the shooting. He exerted the least amount of effort and graced the set late – if at all – blasted out of his mind by booze or the drug du jour.
The other actors and directors hated him with a passion as intimate as their latest love affair. Absolutely loathed him. He’d only been hired for his box office draw and was otherwise hidden in a trailer on the back lot so no one had to witness the debauchery within.
Looking down his nose at fans from that precarious perch above his adoring public, the megastar sat atop his ego at an angle quite difficult to balance. Until, at last, he toppled.
*The prompt precarious perch was first used by Joanne Roth via Studio 30+.
Wow! What an interesting story. I love this take on the prompt. So different. You captured this type of character so well. Wonderful, Katy!
Thanks, Jayne! I was thinking of how the singer Avril Lavigne charges for so-called meet & greets and more $ for pictures, but she won’t let fans touch her in the pic. Friendly, huh?
This type of star also made me reminisce on Charlie Sheen’s hey day in the ’80s. That woulda been a party!
How how the “mighty” fall and I am glad this one did. You capture the very essence of why he was loathed perfectly.
And, unfortunately, fans (including me) put them up on that perch in the first place. Thanks for reading and commenting, Laura!
I bet that was a hard fall! You did a great job of characterizing him with so few words.
Thanks! The hardest part of the S30+ prompts lately has been keeping it concise.
yeah I’m a little off my game. I haven’t written anything close to only a 150 words lately, though my last 2 stories fell at about 350.
A short story with a moral. Nicely done.
Thank you – glad you stopped by the blog!
Fantastic pen portrait of a shabby figure – a real idol with feet of clay. Brilliantly done.
So glad to hear from you, Thomas. I always enjoy getting your input!
Interesting concept, and very concisely conveyed. I can’t help but wish it upon all sorts of other deserving people – politicians, “news” people, athletes, billionaires, preachers etc.. 🙂
Me, too, on all of the above!
This was about Avril? No way! I’m shocked… loved it. I clipped “hard-earned cash” for a future prompt! 🙂
Thinking about her prompted it. What a self-appointed princess! Many actors likely fit the descriptors, too, and I smile inside a little when they fall from grace.
I don’t know if it’s a cynical media, or that celebrities really are more transient than when we were younger. Seems we hear about one of the movie royalty falling from grace every day.
It’s probably both, and we are bombarded with the minutia of infamous people’s lives. We (or should I say “I?”) sometimes use it to feel better about our own lives, being not so screwed up in comparison.
Brilliant take on the prompt! Well done!
Unfortunately, they fall pretty quickly sometimes. Thanks for reading and commenting!