Famous Actor
By Jess Walter, first published in Tin House
A depressed barista meets a famous actor at a party. They go back to her place, where he asks personal questions she's not willing to answer.
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Plot Summary
The woman meets "Famous Actor" at a party one night. When he turns to her and whispers a statement about the universe and then asks if she wants to leave with him, she obliges. They go back to her place and Famous Actor is amazed by all the "normalcy." They have pretty average, normal sex. The Famous Actor talks non-stop about himself, about the pressure of being famous. When the girl doesn't respond, Famous Actor asks her what she thinks of him, honestly, but instead she repeats a line from one of his movies. Famous Actor picks up a framed picture of the woman and her sister. The sister ran away years ago and no one knows what happened. Rather than tell him that, the woman stays quiet. He starts yelling, begging her to talk with him, but instead she asks him what her name is. He doesn't know. He calls someone to pick him up, showers, kisses her goodbye, and leaves. Once she's alone, the woman starts crying and can't stop. She goes to her medicine cabinet in the bathroom but it's completely empty. Famous Actor took all her meds, the antidepressants, even the Gas-X. A few days later, a woman shows up at her door with an NDA and $6000 for her trouble. She signs, promising to never mention his name again.