Me: Understood.
TW: Besides, it was great training for my first official appearance on the big screen.
Me: Which was?
TW: A little movie no one ever saw called Failing to Fly. I played a waiter for about ten seconds onscreen.
Me: (pause) I saw it.
TW: (pause) So, you were the one. (laugh) Me: It would seem so.
TW: (something unintelligible) Me: Let’s just get back to your resume, Trip.
TM: (laugh) Sure. Oh! Here’s a good one. After I was fired from the waiter gig-Me: Wait, hold on. Fired?
TW: I dumped a plate of carbonara in Harvey Weinstein’s lap. Anyway-Me: Trip, hold on. Harvey Weinstein, the producer? Please tell me it wasn’t on purpose.
TW: It wasn’t on purpose.
Me: (pause)
TW: What? You told me to say that! But I did manage to get his attention. Next thing I know, I’m auditioning for Bonded, so you do the math.
Me: Your breakout role.
TW: Yes.
Me: Acquired by accosting the biggest producer in the world with a plate of pasta.
TW: I plead the fifth.
Me: (pause) So, after your waiter job, you started landing regular acting roles?
TW: No. I’d already filmed Bonded, but it hadn’t hit the screens yet and no one knew who I was. I still had to make rent, so I took a job with the city.
Me: Care to elaborate?
TW: I had a few responsibilities, but my main job was to scrape dead animals off the road with a spatula truck.
Me: Eww.
TW: Yeah. Eww.
Me: So, after Bonded came out...
TW: After Bonded, Quentin called me in to do The Bank Vault. It was an amazing experience. We all knew it was going to be big.
Me: Nominated for eight different academy awards, including Trip Wiley for best supporting actor... It would seem you were right.
TW: Yes.
Me: (something unintelligible) TW: Aw, Lay. I don’t want to talk about awards and crap.
Me: Okay... Tell me what life was like once The Bank Vault was released.
TW: Oh, you can’t even believe it. Suddenly, my phone was ringing off the hook, producers and directors alike calling my listed number because I didn’t even have a new agent yet. I scrambled around until I got hooked up with David at C.A.A., and well, you and I kind of already covered the rest from there.
Me: Overnight stardom?
TW: Hardly. I spent four years in Hollywood before I even got my first speaking role in The Fairways. My part in Bonded, I was only onscreen for about ten minutes total. But it was a huge film and I happened to be a part of it. It led to The Bank Vault, which, let’s face it, opened a lot of doors. I know I got lucky, but trust me, it wasn’t overnight.
Me: Speaking of “getting lucky”, is the word around town true that you’re quite the ladies’ man?
TW: (laugh) Layla, did you seriously just ask me that?
Me: (laugh)
TW: Oh, Jesus. Fine. Okay. Yes, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet a few lovely, beautiful women out on the west coast. They’re not Jersey girls, of course, but then again, few women are.
Me: Yes, few of us can be so blessed.
TW: (pause) (something unintelligible) (laugh) Me: Well, I’m glad you’re proud of your Catholic upbringing. Let’s get back to your dating history. I’m sure the female readers of Now! are interested to know if there’s a special someone in Trip Wiley’s life.
TW: (pause) Actually, uh, I just recently became engaged.
Me: (huge pause) You’re engaged?
TW: Jenna Barnes.
Me: (pause)
TW: Victoria’s Secret.
Me: Ah. Yes. I remember now.
TW: But she’s been doing a little acting these days, too.
Me: (pause)
TW: Our relationship’s going on almost a year now. God, she’d probably kill me for not remembering the exact date we started seeing each other. You’ll edit this part out, right?
Chapter 11
WHAT WOMEN WANT
I turned off the tape recorder and stared at Trip, flabbergasted. “You’re engaged.”
Trip confirmed, again. “Yes.”
I was stunned to the core and doing a damned awful job of concealing it. “Wow. That’s... That’s some big news. Congratulations!”
He nodded his head in acknowledgment. “Thank you.”
I knew who his fiancée was. I’d seen her pictures in my monthly Victoria’s Secret catalogs along with the occasional movie magazine. She was a leggy blonde bombshell with those razor-sharp hip bones that defined an inevitable career in modeling. I hadn’t been witness to any of her acting however, so I assumed her films weren’t quite yet breaking any box office records. She was not only sickeningly beautiful, but apparently brilliant as well. I’d seen her on Letterman one night talking about her days at Yale University. Yale!