7
Damian
EXTRAtainmentInvestigates!
Is Damian Marshall’s Career In Trouble?
Following recent run-ins with director Anderson Lind, Damian Marshall has left Hollywood. He was spotted early yesterday morning at a private airfield boarding a jet. His representatives could not be reached for comment about his destination. Given his recent behavior, unnamed sources close to the actor believe he may be seeking treatment for an undisclosed mental health condition. Will this impact his ability to continue with production of the nextShadow Leaguefilm?Shadow League: Through Darknesshas been generally panned by critics andcontinues to struggle at the box office as international receipts come in. Asked about the future of the franchise, executive producer Cedric Oberman said, “We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished withShadow Leagueand its sequels. We want these movies to continue to be a success and are considering all our options before we move into production.” Oberman refused to comment on whether one of these options would be moving ahead without the film’s star as they explore new stories in the same universe. More details to follow as they become available.
* * *
I’m astonished.It’s not a word I use often, but in this case, it’s the right one. I spend an hour sitting next to Jack as he confidently navigates the boat along the coast, and in that time, I tell increasingly elaborate stories about “Mr. Morgan” and his antics, and never once does Jack look at me with anything other than utter trust. I watch. I wait for the moment. The double take where he finally catches the right light or the right angle and his eyes widen and his mouth drops open before he collects himself and tries to be cool. But it never comes.
He literally has no idea who I am.
How is that even possible?
Since I first arrived in California, I’ve done my best to keep my feet glued to the ground. The first few years, when I heard more nos than yeses, when Vin and I took turns month by month sleeping in our shitty apartment’s one bed while the other one slept on a leaky air mattress on the floor, it was easy to stay humble. But even when I hit my break, when the paychecks started rolling in and the media and the public clamored for my attention, I tried to stay grounded and remember what real life was like.
But it’s been years since I’ve been able to go anywhere—anywhere—without being recognized. I was nearly crushed in a mob of fans at a bazaar in Morocco. I had the scare of my life when a woman climbed through my hotel room window in Bangkok, not to attack me or seduce me, but to steal a piece of my clothing to sell on the internet.
There’s nowhere in the world where someone doesn’t know who I am.
Except, it seems, right here on this boat with Jack the fisherman.
“Do you like movies, Jack?” I finally ask when I can’t take it any longer.
Once, a few years ago, I was at a charity gala talking to an elderly woman who, for a moment, also seemed to not recognize me. She even blandly asked if I’d been in anything she’d seen when I told her I was an actor. But then her eyes went huge in her carefully Botoxed face when I listed a few of my more recent roles.
“That was you?” she asked. “My granddaughter has a picture of your naked bottom on her cellphone!”
As do many people. One of the hazards of taking your pants off in a blockbuster.
But the point is, even though the woman didn’t recognize my face, it appeared that she’d recognized my ass from a single grainy screenshot.
Would Jack recognize my ass?
I look him up and down, from the coppery red hair on his chin to the width of his chest in his Wild Eagle jacket and on down to the heavy thighs that perch on the edge of his seat. I really wouldn’t mind much if Jack got to know my ass. Not at all.
“I don’t watch many movies,” Jack says, bringing me back to my question.
“No?” I can’t squash the excitement that’s beating inside me. “What was the last movie you saw in the theater?”
Jack’s face scrunches up, highlighting the lines and creases on his skin that happen when a man works outdoors for years. I like them a lot. “I took my nephew to see that fish movie a few years ago when I went to visit my sister.”
“The fish movie?”
“Yeah. You know the one. The fish gets lost, and they have to get it home.”
“Finding Nemo?”
“I think so.”
“That was like twenty years ago.”
“No. It wasn’t that one then.”
There was a sequel, or at least I’m pretty sure there was, though I couldn’t say how long ago it was. My schedule doesn’t allow for a lot of movie viewing apart from appearances at premieres, and my presence isn’t often requested at family-friendly films. But still, if that was the last movie Jack remembered seeing...
