“I was? Oh, I guess I was.”
“Drama major?”
“Performing Arts was the technical term. Then, drama, yes. I’ve always loved acting. My mom said I’ve been performing since I could walk. I don’t remember all of that, obviously, but my dad built me this little stage outside with some extra wood he had lying around, and we painted it pink and blue together. For the record, I wanted the blue.Hewanted the pink.”
Lacey laughed and took a bite.
“I always wanted to hit it big but never thought I would. I did well in school, but it’s a school made for people like me, so it was the best of the best, which can make you wonder where you fit in. They don’t just do one play a year; they have several going on because we all need a chance to perform and get evaluated or scouted. There’s a film department, so I took small roles in their student films, and that was when I really got into movies and realized that I wanted to move to LA.”
“How did you get your big break?”
“You haven’t read about that online?” Cameron asked before she took a bite.
“Even if I had, I’d ratheryoutell me.”
“I’d been out here for a while, or at least, it had felt like a while to me, and I hadn’t gotten much of anything beyond auditions and a few commercials when I sent in an audition forDark Wishes. I heard back from them a few weeks later that they wanted me to come in and read, so I did. Then, they called me back a few more times before I got a call from my first agent that I’d booked it. It was a supporting part, but it was meaty enough, and I was able to make it my own. I got nominated for the Globes, and I started getting more calls. Not some romantic rags-to-riches story or fairy tale at all, really. I put in the work.I paid my dues. I got an audition for something good that had studio backing, and I nailed the audition. I worked hard every day to nail that part, and more came my way.”
“Then, you met Kennedy?”
Cameron nodded and put her fork down.
“And you got her agent?”
“I did. It made sense. Zane is one of the best. He’d built her entire career, and I thought he could do the same for me. He did, and now, I’m here, sitting with you on our very first date, even though it doesn’t feel like that because we had a few dates that weekend, I think.”
“We can’t count those, Cam. We were with other people.”
“I know. And I know Ken and I are linked and always will be in one way or another, but, Lacey, tonight is about us. I don’t really want to talk about her or River. Is that okay?”
“Let’s talk about anything but them, then. What’s next for you?”
“Basically, getting a divorce without getting a divorce. I thought we weren’t talking about–”
“I meant work. I know you have to work out the agent thing or whatever, but what are you going to do about work? Do you have any parts coming up?”
“No.” Cameron shook her head. “I was really annoyed at first, because how is it that we have one fight in public in the whole five years of our–” She stopped herself. “And there I go again.”
Lacey set her fork down, too, and asked, “Cam, should we be here? Should we be doing this?”
“Lace, that fight is the reason I’m not on a set right now. It’s not really about her or us. It’s just that I’m still pissed off that it somehow changed the trajectory of my career when men whohaveactually been physically abusive to their partners get movies the next week. I’ll always be annoyed at that, but I’mnot craving a set right now. I feel like I have worked non-stop for years and, even though it wasn’t by choice, I’m glad that the break came. I might not have taken one otherwise, and I don’t want to burn out or have people get tired of seeing me on the screen. The problem is that I only have so long to get the kind of parts I like. Then, there’s this, like, ten-to-twenty-year period for an actress where it’s harder to get the best roles because of your age, before you can have what people call a comeback, but it’s really just studios letting you back in the door with the old-women roles. Old women.” She chuckled. “They mean women in their forties or fifties. It’s ridiculous.”
“Agreed,” Lacey said.
“Anyway, I’m not going to go out for anything at least for the summer, I think. I need the time to myself, and, well, maybe to have time with you. If you want that, too, obviously. Taking something would mean me working fourteen to sixteen hours a day, and not necessarily in LA, so I think it’s good not to for the time being. Now, can we talk about you?”
“Me? What about me? I’m boring.”
“No, you’re not,” she argued. “Your favorite restaurant is inside a theme park, you love to boogie board, you kick ass at pool but can’t play air hockey worth a damn, and your favorite book isRunning with Scissors.”
“You need to read it. It’s really good. I actually preferSellevisionas a book by him, butRunning with Scissorsis just so out there, but poignant at the same time, and–”
“I read it this week,” Cameron admitted.
“Read what?”
“Running with Scissors. What’s the other one you just mentioned? I’ll read it, too. I likedRunning with Scissors.”
“You read my favorite book this week?”
