Los Angeles Overnight (2018) Movie Script
1
(skate board rolling)
(whooshing)
(soft digital music)
[Vedor Ph.D.] 27.
Deeper.
Deeper still.
Deep.
With every breath.
Drifting.
Your mind, body, they
manifest success every moment.
You are cut from
immaculate cloth.
You subside deeper.
You become abundance,
confidence.
The Universe flows to you.
You immerse yourself
in divine mission.
Now stub it.
And you're through.
[Priscilla] I'm through.
(sizzling)
[Vedor Ph.D.] Addiction
no longer defines you.
So what will define you now?
Subside into the cushions.
Even now Holy Houses
have eyes for windows.
Open those eyes for you.
Even now forces you know
nothing of bring you the tools
to make your way.
(dramatic music)
[Priscilla] What if
I die before I live?
Never fear darkness.
Its closest cousin
is serendipity.
[Ralph] The World's
Greatest Fisherman.
Wait.
That's it?
That was it?
That was all?
[Vedor Ph.D.] Ask instead
if you'll live before you die.
For even now doors open.
Nine.
Eight.
Even now mice work
mazes for you.
Seven.
Six.
Even now your star ascends.
Even now you align with
other bodies of heaven.
Even now your familiars dig.
Even now the hour pushes in.
Even now destiny taps its foot.
(bleeping)
(panting)
(chuckling)
(panting)
It's too much.
No, put...
Put half back.
This is way more.
This is too much.
Put half back.
Smalls?
[Vedor Ph.D.] Even now fate
leans against the brick wall
on the corner.
Awaits you.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Eyes open.
But not awake.
Not yet.
(chiming music)
- (boy laughs)
- Strange dream you're having.
Without waking...
Without motion...
Without lifting a limb,
without lifting a foot,
you will now run.
And as you run you
will become legion,
you will become numerous,
you will become all the
many yous there are.
First you are one,
then you are two,
you are three, you are four,
you are five, six, seven...
(Latin music)
[Seller] Want
a piata for $20?
It's full of
candy, though, right?
You would put candy in it.
But for $20 it would
already have the candy.
What kind of
piata would it be
if you didn't choose the candy?
Could I pay half now and
maybe half in a couple of...
40 is 40, unless
you want the piata.
(baby chuckles)
No, I can't eat sugar.
[Seller and little girl] One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six...
[Vedor Ph.D.] Even in
these teeming masses,
even with deliberation,
you crest ahead
of all those who are still.
Go.
Divide now.
Divide and conquer.
Just so you know they're going
to be pissed this
is your headshot.
[Vedor Ph.D.] Look
to the celestial.
You are many shards
of all you can see.
Plus I'm SAG now!
SAG-AFTRA!
[Vedor Ph.D.] Without you,
the stars would not operate.
You're going to have
to leave it, sweetie,
he's in an emergency.
That's terrible, I've...
Is everything okay?
Give me the fucking headshot.
You're like butter, but
not what I'm looking for.
You're like honey, but
not what I'm looking for.
It's just not the deal here.
That's fine.
[Casting director] You.
We don't have time for you.
(dramatic music)
[Vedor Ph.D.] Even in
suffocation the landscape...
- Fuck!
- Stretches forever.
[Priscilla] Fuck,
fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
You smell of fear, Pris.
You go into an audition
smelling like anything
besides perfume and my
very best machinations
won't save you.
But they call me in
and they don't see me.
(bell rings)
I'm a phantom in the system.
The key word there is Phantom.
But this has happened
four times now,
where they call me in,
they take one look at me,
and they don't see me.
They cancel me.
Maybe I'm not the
guy to be telling that.
What I mean is I love you.
I'll work the thriller
angle with a ratchet.
For that you can bring fear.
You know what a
ratchet is, right?
Yeah, a ratchet, I can
ratchet, I'll ratchet.
All right, you gotta
stop sweating desperation
and start sweating Come hither.
Except for the
thriller audition,
for that you can
sweat desperation.
Oh, and next time
make an appointment.
Silence of self-assurance.
Like space you expand.
Feel the ocean inside.
Every ounce of you hungry,
not for food,
but for sustenance.
And there is no plateau.
There is no evenness.
There is no exactitude.
And five,
four,
three,
two,
one...
Awake.
(snaps fingers)
[Priscilla's father]
What are you chopping?
Onion.
[Priscilla's father]
How big is the knife?
Be careful, I don't
want you hurt.
Mm-hm.
[Priscilla's father] Your
mother and I have been talking.
She isn't up for much in
terms of talking but...
I'd love to say hello.
[Priscilla's father] She
thinks I'll burn down the yard
if she doesn't watch the leaves.
I rake them, she
watches them burn.
She can't even pay much
attention at the shop, Pris.
She gave wrong change at
least a dozen times yesterday.
You're still thinking hard
about coming home, yeah?
Mm?
(siren blaring)
I...
I wasn't sure.
[Priscilla's father] You
said just five years of this.
What's it been now?
I had a great meeting, um...
That's what I wanted
to talk to you about.
I met with this agent who
represents all-these A-listers,
and he said I was Shiny.
He said that, about
me, I'm Shiny.
[Priscilla's father] Uh-huh.
No, we're not shiny
here, I'm afraid.
We're all getting old and dying.
That's a little bit too
much existentialism, Daddy.
So, uh...
Would you be able to put
that 500 in my account...
By like the 27th?
[Guest from podcast] What
you don't want in The Industry
is an almost-but-not-quite job
because you're siphoning energy.
Restaurants are the
greatest invention ever made
for out-of-work actors.
Remote from acting with
the bare essentials
of acting inherent, okay?
But you work, for example, as
a receptionist for an agency?
You're fucked!
Can I say Fucked on here?
[Interviewer from
podcast] Just this once.
[Guest from podcast]
You're fucked!
(folk music)
He's got no compunction.
Got no conscience.
No guilt.
He just does things.
He just does them.
Look at how he eats eggs.
It's glorious.
Kiss the sun.
(laughs)
Go on, go on, go on,
they're not watching.
(slurping)
Good boy.
Good boy.
See, he does what I tell him.
Yeah, but he's right.
We're not partial to
your secret codes.
What are you talking about?
You know what?
I don't care.
Your job is to poach the eggs.
My job is to protect the
eggs from the poacher,
so that we have enough eggs to
use when we get to the thing
that we poached the
eggs for to be...
I'm so sorry
that this is late.
I...
Sunshine!
Good morning!
[Priscilla] Good morning.
We didn't even see you
when we came in.
I was in back probably.
You know, you are
a diamond amongst us.
(chuckles)
Thank you.
Otherwise why would we come
to this damn place every day?
(chuckles)
Got banana syrup yet?
[Priscilla] Uh, just
regular syrup, we always have.
Well, for future reference.
I'm going to tell her.
Come here.
We are opening an All-American
Supper Club in New York.
You ever think about
moving to New York?
Oh, uh...
Sometimes, I...
[Cousins] You're
an actress, right?
[Priscilla] Bingo!
(chuckles)
This All-American Supper
Club is going to sit
on top of its skyscraper.
And it's going to
overlook Broadway.
Ah.
The Broadway.
Not just some other street with
the same name that stole it.
And if you come and work
for us, I will make sure
that you can go audition
downstairs whenever.
I mean, who wants Hollywood
when you can trod the boards?
And I know the guy
that runs this place,
he doesn't let you out
for auditions, I know.
No, no, no, no, no, he does.
But not like I would.
Oh, it sounds lovely.
Will you come?
Yeah, yeah.
Oh!
That sounds...
That sounds really nice.
Okay.
Okay.
This woman is a Hope
Diamond all of you,
so get your faces out of
your eggs and pay attention.
You'll learn something from her.
She's going to come.
Tell the customer I can
fit five bananas in a blender
if that's what he wants.
Otherwise tell him what he
thought was banana syrup,
that one time he had it,
was nothing but yellow dye
with a flavor
constructed in a lab.
I could just leave it alone.
You could just do that.
There's the puppy.
[Priscilla] What?
The husband that I deserve.
At least you can look
at him without laughing.
And there's worse.
Yeah, like mortgage brokers.
He doesn't watch
football, he said.
He smokes.
I just quit.
[Rosie] That's
just him humphreying.
If only this place
was called Bacall's.
[Priscilla] I
need a power broker.
[Rosie] You just
said "No brokers."
I said "No mortgage brokers."
So a bun in the
oven by a producer?
A power producer.
The pregnancy
part is the wash.
That'd be that, no
matter who the dick is.
[Priscilla] He's
just a mechanic.
[Rosie] A mechanic
could pay your rent.
He's not even a writer.
I went out with a writer.
That was as exciting as
living in a world of fiction
by the person doing
the fictionalizing.
I'm marrying an A-list agent,
or an A-list exec, or at the
very least a decent publicist.
Mm-hm.
Well, for now go fill his cup.
Go on.
(sighing)
[Vedor Ph.D.] Your love story
is written by the Universe,
not by Hollywood.
Not by committee.
The Universe delivers success
to those who trust it.
Be sure your ears are pricked.
[Casting assistant] Priscilla?
[Vedor Ph.D.] The
knock will come.
Listen.
Listen.
Listening always for that knock.
Bad things do occur.
This is Los Angeles.
In all corners, shadows persist.
Sooner or later, you're
going to receive a beatdown.
(clanking)
As our name spiels, we won't
sugarcoat your insurance needs.
Bad things do occur.
This is Los Angeles.
In all corners, shadows persist.
Sooner or later, you're
going to receive a beatdown.
(clanking)
(clock ticking)
(birds chirping)
Were you out of
bed last night?
Talk to Daddy before
Mommy gets to the bottom
of her glass.
I just want to know if you
were out of bed last night
when Mommy and Daddy were gone.
When Nanna was here.
Was anybody here
besides Nanna?
He's keeping his corner, huh?
All right, Bobby,
you're not in trouble
if you were out of your
bed and you saw someone
besides Nanna in the
house, all right?
You're not in trouble.
Not for now.
Okay.
Come here.
I'm going to eat these cookies.
One at a time I'm
going to eat them.
If you tell me if
you saw someone,
I'll stop eating
and give the rest
of the cookies to
you, all right?
Were you out of
bed last night?
(munching)
Mm, these are good.
Want some milk?
No, they're too delicious.
Probably they're so good
you don't want to
ruin them with milk.
God, they're that good.
Hm?
Who was in the house last night?
Uncaraff!
Uncle Ralph?
Uncaraff.
Uncle Ralph.
[Bobby] Uncaraff.
[Wooks] Are you sure?
Yeah!
Uncaraff!
Never be a rat, Bobby.
(dramatic music)
(phone bleeping)
[Priscilla] Hello?
[O'Dell] Ready to steam?
Uh, sure.
[O'Dell] Got a
one o'clock for you.
Minor role.
Has potential.
You can do fear, right?
Fear?
Yeah!
Fear.
[O'Dell] And also steam, Pris.
Steam.
Yeah!
Fear and steam.
[Ralph] You want the
supper club or not?
Of course I want
the supper club.
Why are you talking
about this here?
I need to know.
I gotta get the money, I
gotta tell them these things.
They're on my ass.
What do you think's gonna...
[Priscilla] Hello.
(rock and roll music)
No.
Makes me nervous.
How about you?
Okay.
(rock and roll music)
It's about time
you fucking tell.
Don't you go fascist on me.
(snorts)
All right.
Apple jacks are down
The Rabbit Hole...
Out back of The Neon.
Okay, Tango Foxtrot Niner.
(laughing)
Now you be quiet,
the walls have ears.
[Ralph] This woman
of women we have here.
[Cousins] Apple jacks
are down the Rabbit Hole
out back of The Neon.
[Priscilla] You just going
to leave that sitting there?
It was bugging
me, sitting on it.
[Priscilla] Well,
don't chip the counter.
I won't.
Don't mistake it for your
fork, it can stick in your eggs.
Don't you have to
go to work today?
They don't have anything
for me until noon.
[Priscilla] So what?
You're just going to sit
around here all morning?
Oh, I got to absorb that
lovely breakfast you made
into my cells.
Cook makes it.
I'm just a waitress.
Not just.
You're an actress, right?
You act, you...
What's your real hair color?
Peach.
See, I can't imagine that.
Then keep dreaming.
Can you cover today?
[Rosie] That leaves
me with half of lunch.
Yeah, but only that.
I gotta be out of here by two.
How about three?
Please.
[Rosie] 2:30.
Okay.
(sighing)
I don't know about
this project, I mean,
am I right for this part?
Am I the thriller type?
What else you got?
Right.
Opportunity.
[Rosie] Opportunities
of your difficulties.
Opportunities of
my difficulties.
All right.
Take them or stay afraid.
(rock and roll music)
(smacking)
Did you do it perfect?
Yes.
(car engine clanks)
Rosie!
Thank you!
Where's she going?
(dramatic music)
You fucked me!
You fucked me!
Apple jacks behind The
Neon down the Rabbit...
The Rabbit Hole.
We saw him at the carnival
beside The Ferris Wheel!
We saw him at the fish market!
It's the same man.
It's the same man.
(dramatic music)
(door clicks open)
(door creaks)
It's all bullshit.
They put the door
way across to there.
And we all entered from there,
so they already have us
walking in a fucking triangle.
Do I know you from that bar?
"Stacks"?
Legs in a bundle of hosiery,
like we're chopping firewood
instead of being human women.
Do you know a bar
called The Neon, Neon?
(cell phone buzzing)
(speaks in French)
I think you're
supposed to sign this.
Perth.
Me.
Junebug.
Priscilla, um, Anders.
I'm new here.
No friends.
Well, welcome to the part
where you have no friends,
and no parents,
and no movie roles,
and no commercial
roles, and no nothing.
It's nice and sunny, but...
Um...
In Australia do you have slang
for something
called Apple jacks?
Isn't that a kid's cereal?
How about...
Apple jacks down the Rabbit
Hole in the back of Neon?
Is that like...
Slide down my rainbow
(clapping hands)
Into my cellar door?
(door clicks open)
Who has stolen my clipboard?
(soft piano music)
You know in your many hearts
that fortune sides
with she who dares.
Neon.
Well, that's right
around the corner.
Stop talking to yourself.
Hey!
Huh, the Rams'
next wide receiver.
Did you just call me Wide?
No, I meant like in football.
Oh, I look like
a football player?
No, sorry, Rosie.
No, that was a great catch.
Sorry.
[Rosie] You're
seriously tardy.
I was playing detective.
What's wrong with your eyes?
Oh, get off me!
Seriously, did you take
advantage of my generosity
and stop for a session?
No, I was out
solving a mystery.
[Len] Life's mysteries.
You!
You know things.
What're Apple jacks?
It's a kid's cereal.
No, no, no, I mean the slang?
Money.
[Priscilla] As in Money?
Apples, like Golden Delicious,
like Granny Smith's, like
a stack of $100 bills.
And Jacks, like
To the nth power,
like dropping and
picking up lots of money.
Apple jacks.
And I'm from the street,
so I know these things.
Huh!
Yeah, He's street.
Come on, Bus Girl, help
me clear these tables.
[Priscilla] What's
a Rabbit Hole?
A place for bunnies?
No, no, no, the slang?
I don't know.
Sounds iffy to me.
And I'm not into
that kind of stuff.
I am a married man.
[Priscilla] You mean
you're married to a man.
What the fuck
you say that for?
[Priscilla] You are.
What difference
does that make?
Better get some fucking
sensitivity training in here.
I don't know any
fucking Rabbit Holes!
Priscilla, sorry,
could I see you?
[Priscilla] I got tables.
I'm sorry.
Two minutes.
I'm sorry.
(Priscilla snorts)
[Priscilla] I wanna...
Come in.
Sit.
Sit, please.
Take a chair.
Okay.
How are you?
How you doing?
I'm okay.
Are you okay?
No.
God, no.
No, Cilla, nothing's
okay, how could it be?
Are you still spending all your
money getting brainwashed?!
Hypnotherapy.
Hypnotherapy.
Ever notice that
people don't eat here?
We are locked in this dead zone
between Magnolia and Olive,
where people can't
get lunch here
but they can go down two
blocks, to Russell's.
Have you ever seen Russell's
Diner during lunch?
No.
It's packed.
And who the fuck is Russell?!
A Hollywood legend?
Like Marilyn?
No.
Just some asshole
who's killing me.
And I have to cut your hours.
Wait...
What?
I'm sorry, but
between you and Rosie,
you're the one who goes
out the most on auditions
even though it's so weird
because she's so talented,
so beautiful, like Marilyn,
but that's why I have
to cut your hours,
and I hope that's okay
because there's so many
more restaurants better
than this one.
What kind of cut?
You can still work
that one Saturday shift
and then you'll have all
the weekdays for auditions.
Oh, you know what?
You can just drive
your car, you know,
that thing where you go
pick up drunks in bars?
(murmuring)
(dramatic music)
(grunting)
(train rumbling)
(train honking)
(dramatic music)
Rosie said that
you towed my car.
Yeah, yeah, I did.
I'm sort of in
charge over there,
or they think I'm in charge
because I'm the
most responsible.
What's the damage?
Um...
I think it's 700 bucks.
$700.
[Benny] Uh...
That's a month's rent.
That's the worst
case scenario.
What the fuck part
of a car costs $700?!
I'm not going to let
them charge you labor.
So, maybe we do
a trade, for a...
For a date?
You fix my car,
I go out with you?
No, I don't mean it
like that, I mean like...
What, you blackmail
me for car repairs?
I swear, I didn't
mean it like that.
I meant, like, as a funny
way to ask someone out.
You know, like...
(dramatic music)
(people murmuring)
[Cousins] Apple jacks...
Are down the Rabbit Hole...
Out back of The Neon.
As long as you promise that
you're not trying to seduce me
for automotive motives.
No.
Because I hate cars.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, screw cars.
Except when you open them up,
you know, you get
to see the inside.
And then...
Kind of nice.
But, on the street, no.
You go clubbing?
I dance like a mechanic.
Pick me up at three.
Uh...
Actually...
My car's on the block, too.
A mechanic without a car.
[Benny] I know, I know.
Okay.
Okay.
Hey, Rosie!
(recording in Spanish)
(Karl repeats the phrase)
(recording in Spanish)
(Karl repeats the phrase)
(recording speaks in Spanish)
(Karl repeats the phrase)
Ah, yeah, okay,
it's spoons on top.
Forks, they're on the left.
And the knives at some...
No, wait, that's not it.
Spoons are stupid.
Forks on the left,
spoons on the right.
And the knife should be
right in front of you
because you got to
get to it quicker.
What're you doing?
Down here.
But it's over there.
This is my shortcut.
(siren blaring)
But it's right there!
This way's quickest.
(car engine roaring)
(traffic humming)
(car engine roaring)
Come here!
(thudding)
(groaning)
[Karl] Nice job, baby.
Thanks.
[Karl] Here you go.
(laughs)
Come on.
[Karl] Okay.
All right.
A little early for
clubbing, don't you think?
Down here?
Am I ever going to see
your real hair color?
You're auditioning, right?
What?
For what?
Parts in film, TV.
No, the only parts I'm after
are half decent air filters.
Yeah, but everyone's
auditioning.
I thought everyone
had a script.
You wrote a script?
No, no, I can barely
write a birthday card.
Just because I live in L.A.
doesn't mean, you know...
Anyways, who's going to put
the asphalt under your feet
so you can drive
to your auditions?
Yeah, but, I mean,
you're all right looking,
like you could do all right.
I'll take it.
(soft piano music)
(traffic humming)
Shouldn't we be behind a
velvet rope or something?
You okay?
(dramatic music)
[Vedor Ph.D.] Feel
the ocean inside.
Every ounce of you hungry.
You become abundance,
confidence.
The Universe flows to you.
Overcome every moment.
Mind, body, soul victorious.
You know in your many
hearts that fortune sides
with she who dares.
Benny...
I'm going to ask you a favor.
(dramatic music)
(door clicks open)
(door creaks)
- (alarm blares)
- Shit!
Hi, yeah, we're at Neon.
Oh, sorry, yeah,
we're renovating.
No, I can definitely
get you the club code,
just hang on one sec for me.
Uh, okay, it's 2,
6, 4, 3, 7, 5, 2.
(alarm blaring)
Okay.
Okay, yeah.
Thank you, sorry about that.
Okay, bye.
(alarm blaring)
(snorts)
[Priscilla] You
could come in handy.
(chuckling)
So...
What do we do after the felony?
(screeching)
(panting)
Oh, God.
(murmuring)
Rabbit hole.
(suspense music)
(rustling)
(suspense music)
Wait, wait, wait, wait, go back.
No.
[Benny] What?
You see something?
[Priscilla] Yeah.
(dramatic music)
Oh, my gosh!
[Priscilla] Apple jack.
(dramatic music)
Here, you do it.
(dramatic music)
(screaming)
(dramatic music)
(coughing)
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Come on, come on, come on.
Right, yeah.
[Vedor Ph.D.] Passion
flares when you live edgeways.
Live beyond your means.
Live like you don't care.
Live a disaster
impossible to salvage.
And let this be The Moment.
The Moment Fear Departs.
Where is Ralphie?
He's never on time.
(snorting)
Ah, ah, ah, there
goes another one.
That one looked like
my sister's daughter.
We have got to get these
girls working for us.
Or at least the
New York versions.
And you know what?
After New York, we are
going to save the waitresses
in Los Angeles.
Because there's going to be
an All-American Supper Club.
It's going to be
on every corner.
It's gonna be like Starbucks,
it's gonna be like McDonald's,
except we are going to
have plush furniture,
a seven-course exotic meal
served by rescued waitresses.
Are you gonna eat
that whole thing?
(folk music)
(knocking on window)
Who the hell hangs
a plant in a bar?
[Abelie] Maybe she
takes it out for walks.
[Wooks] Maybe she's an even
bigger fool than I thought.
(door clicks open)
[Karl] Come on!
Don't push a lady.
Jesus!
[Karl] Apparently it's
gone, as in fucking gone!
(snorting)
Apple jacks, like
down the Rabbit Hole
out back of The Neon.
Smalls, that's right, right?
(mumbles)
(dramatic music)
(repetitive thudding)
(groaning)
(thudding)
(groaning)
(thudding)
(snorting)
That was too bad.
I liked her, all right,
she was all right.
Yeah, I liked her, too.
I thought she was nice.
Not as nice as Ralph, but nice.
You.
You go and find my liquid asset.
(dramatic music)
Come here.
(repetitive thudding)
You get it back!
It's mine!
It's for my sanctuary.
Piece of shit!
(panting)
It's not hers, not
for her restaurant!
(thudding)
Not yours or whatever
the fuck you think!
You will think
about it every day!
(dramatic music)
(repetitive thudding)
My Sanctuary.
My Peace On Earth.
(thudding)
(panting)
Breathe.
Breathe.
Yeah, yeah, just breathe.
I hate being like that.
I know.
Look away, Karl.
(snorts)
It's okay, Karl.
(panting)
You're the one who
likes to do this stuff.
You're the psychopath.
(panting)
I'm building my
forest sanctuary.
I'm going to have my plants.
Where people can belong.
(moaning)
(dramatic music)
Now is the time.
You're holistic.
Empowered.
Connected to The Source.
The embodiment of Harmony.
Abundance.
Drive.
Drive.
Drive.
Reason is in Success.
Success doesn't
come to just anyone.
You deserve.
Float.
Float.
Floating above them all, not
looking down, not looking back.
No apologies.
(dramatic music)
Here's those two
months rent I'm behind on
and six months rent in advance.
Oh, my Springer
Spaniel In Heaven!
Gorgeous!
Someday to have coconut
cake, won't you?
I want to tell you,
Priscilla Anders,
all about my premonitions of
how famous you're gonna be.
And my dreams of how you're
going to take my place
on the red carpet.
You know what I was in?
Cleopatra.
And you can't pass up
having coconut cake
with one of Cleopatra's
fictitious handmaidens.
[Priscilla] I
wouldn't dream of it.
Oh.
Someday!
The caterpillar
thought the world ended,
but then became a butterfly.
(snorts)
(dramatic music)
[Photographer]
Good girl, good girl.
Good girl.
Good.
This is the place.
I'll bet.
This is the place.
There is no famous actor
that has not made it here,
that has not then gone up above.
Not without taking our
series of acting classes
that act as balloons,
balloons that we provide
toward floating toward
spheres of mega-technique.
You have a twin:
boy-boy, girl-girl,
girl-boy, boy-girl, any
of the combinations.
Trust your twin more than
you to find the truth
in the tapestry of stories,
the human universe.
Now move, people, move!
Find space for your twin!
Give your doppelgnger
a place in the sun!
Don't let the
darkness trouble you.
(dramatic music)
(cell phone bleeping)
Hello?
[O'Dell] Nothing
to get excited about,
so don't get excited, but
they do want to see you again.
[Priscilla] Who?
[O'Dell] A goddamn callback.
But don't get excited.
(she gasps)
But get this: they're
considering you for the lead.
Oh!
(laughs)
[Benny] What?!
What?!
(laughing)
(dramatic music)
(rock and roll music)
(snorts)
What's the matter?
Didn't anybody give you
a haircut for Christmas?
(rock and roll music)
Disneyland.
(rock and roll music)
(dramatic music)
(train rumbling)
(train honking)
All those other girls
aren't here this time.
Did you notice that?
Nope.
They're not.
I want you to know that
if you get this part instead
of me, you go with it,
because I got time
stretched out ahead of me
for this acting stuff
and I'm not sure I want
to be famous just yet, and
this part might be that
from what they say.
I want to be just
me for a while.
So, if you want this
part more than me,
I pray that you get it.
Because I got all this
time and I'm young.
I am going to
destroy this audition.
Good.
I have time.
I have plenty of time.
Yesterday, I watched
the goddamn sunset.
Did you?
Yeah.
Cool.
How was it?
(door clicks open)
Ladies.
There should be three more
of you, shouldn't there?
What the fuck?!
And then they complain.
And they say, and they
say, and they bitterly say
that "It's tough to
make it in Hollywood."
Yet one of you, ladies, might
get cast simply by showing up.
Am I right?
(traffic humming)
(Latin music)
Hope you'll enjoy.
[Priscilla's father] We
need to retire this year.
You guys are pretending
you don't love the shop
when really you love the shop.
[Priscilla's father] It
was a surprise we were saving
for when you came home.
Daddy, things are
going well out here.
I can actually send
you money this month.
Would you like that?
I repeat: you do not have
to put money in my account.
(cell phone chiming)
See, Dad?
I'm in demand, I
got another call.
[Priscilla's father] Your
mother wants to talk to you...
[Priscilla] This is Priscilla.
[O'Dell]
Un-fucking-believable!
Pris, the execs want to see you.
Second callback, my dear.
Second callback.
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
Hey.
Hey.
Hey, I got that second callback.
Of course you did.
Congratulations.
Hey, um...
I'd give...
I'd give all that
money back just to know
that you're with me
for me and not...
We can't give any
of the money back.
I know.
(train rumbling)
Look, without the money
I'd have to leave L.A..
Then you'd probably
never see me again.
Is that what you want?
No.
(traffic humming)
I really...
I really have to go.
Okay.
Wish me luck, okay, handsome?
(car engine roaring)
(snorting)
(dramatic music)
(panting)
(rock music)
(traffic humming)
(dramatic music)
[Male policeman] Who's
this fucking asshole?!
This was supposed to be a
lunch without any talking.
Tell me he's not
coming this way.
Tell me he's not waving
that fucking hand.
Tell me this isn't going to
involve any fucking paperwork.
Sorry, officers.
I think there's a
guy following me.
That why you jaywalked?
That's a $300 ticket, FYI.
So, who's doing
what to you now?
This man is following me.
Which man is that?
(traffic humming)
He's got a really
messed up face.
That could be anybody.
[Benny] No, you would
know him if you saw him.
Oh, you mean like religion?
It's just, um...
He's gone now, but he
was there a second ago.
So, he's not
following you now?
You don't mind if I hang
around here for a second?
Just to make sure he's gone.
You do whatever
makes you feel good
about whatever
makes you feel okay.
Okay?
Thanks.
Sorry.
Just us.
They told me.
You and me!
Exciting.
Don't be nervous.
(chuckling)
My grandma always told me, "Little
girls mustn't get nervous
"because then their
upper lips will sweat
"and later they'll
grow a mustache."
(door clicks open)
The closer we
get to the light,
the more we want to scream.
Junebug?
Are you here?
I'm here.
Good luck!
Thank you.
Oh, my God.
I meant to say that to you.
Good luck, Priscilla.
Let me get your number after.
That's what I want most of all.
A friend.
(dramatic music)
(traffic humming)
(dramatic music)
Hey!
Hey, I...
(coughing)
(gun firing)
(dramatic music)
(panting)
Get away from me!
Go inside!
Go inside!
(dramatic music)
(phone bleeping)
[Operator] 911, what is
the nature of your emergency?
I'm being chased.
I'm uh...
I'm on LeMoyne!
I'm going upstairs.
We're going to be
on Rialto, okay?
Rialto.
(dramatic music)
(panting)
(coughing)
(dramatic music)
(panting)
Priscilla.
(retching)
(dramatic music)
(cell phone bleeping)
[Benny's recorded
voice] Hi, this is Benny.
Sorry I missed you.
We're gonna get you.
Hi.
Hi, it went really well.
It went really, really well.
I mean, the producer
was a total dick.
But...
But it went well.
It went really well.
Anyway, it...
It just made me
really appreciate you.
And I want to talk with you.
(dramatic music)
(panting)
(dramatic music)
(panting)
(heart beating)
(moaning)
(heart beating)
(moaning)
(traffic humming)
(clanging)
(cat meowing)
(door creaking)
(door slamming shut)
(cell phone ringing)
(dramatic music)
(soft instrumental music)
It's time to get rid of Bobby.
You think so?
My sister can take him.
Yeah, well, how
old's Bobby now?
He's like two?
Three.
Well, that's time
enough to try out a kid,
don't you think?
We're not a
suitable environment.
Well, you try to build a
calm, relaxing forest sanctuary
in a pinewood setting.
Then someone comes along and
steals the greenery right out
from under it.
(cell phone buzzing)
It's Smalls.
Do we know a Priscilla Anders?
He says: "She has it."
Bobby!
Bobby!
He's been listening
this entire time.
Bobby, pack your bag.
You're going to
visit Aunt Martha.
Oh, God!
Goes out for cigarettes,
doesn't come back.
Just like my Dad.
Well, I called
him about 10 times.
I called him 20.
Now, let me tell you something:
you need to learn
to hate people.
Look, if he comes
by, can you, please,
let him know that
I'm looking for him?
If he comes by, I'm gonna
club him with this ratchet.
(rock music)
(dramatic music)
World's Greatest Fisherman!
World's Greatest Fisherman!
What the fuck?!
Deaf?
(dramatic music)
(thudding)
(groaning)
(soft instrumental music)
(dramatic music)
(panting)
(car engine humming)
(clanging)
(panting)
(siren blaring)
(panting)
(door creaking)
(dog barking)
(dramatic music)
[Vedor Ph.D.] What, then,
is your spiritual color?
I need to know that you
know the final step.
There are many more
shadows than lights.
But you know your way through
every bit of the dark.
(gasping)
I hope I didn't scare you.
You seem like a nice girl.
So I'm sorry.
I usually let my brother
do this sort of thing.
I...
I hate doing it.
I didn't...
I didn't know it was your money.
These things happen.
Uh...
Do you want me to count it?
(traffic humming)
You know what?
Forget it.
(thudding)
(groaning)
(dramatic music)
What the hell's wrong with you?!
Come here!
(groaning)
Come here!
Shite!
Goddam it!
It's not yours.
It's mine.
Belongs to me.
I'm building a forest sanctuary.
For the good of all humankind.
(rustling)
(dramatic music)
(panting)
(dramatic music)
(panting)
(thudding)
(groaning)
(dramatic music)
(melodic music)
Look what you
can do to a candle!
I wish I could do that.
Hey.
Aw!
You okay?
You look a bit pale.
I kicked a body into
the Los Angeles river.
(giggles)
You are a Victorian-era-style
porcelain doll
for inviting me out.
Have you heard from them yet?
No.
Me neither.
Makes me feel sick.
(snorts)
Why are you nervous?
You don't...
You don't want the part.
(melodic music)
Do you want to get out of
here, go somewhere, go dancing?
Okay.
Just as long as you acknowledge
my perfect parking spot.
Mm, that's fine,
we'll take my car.
Cool!
Girls on the town!
Woo!
(soft instrumental music)
(bleeping)
(bleeping)
(bleeping)
And it is rare to see
one so completely healed
of all breaks and scrapes.
You, my dear, you must go.
You no longer need me.
I release you.
You are seven,
you are six, you are
five, you are four,
you are three, you are two,
you are one.
(dramatic music)
All right, now,
we get in there,
don't let anybody
stand behind you.
[Priscilla] O'Dell...
And there's going
to be refreshments.
Don't get involved in those.
And the contracts in order,
so just sign it
when they slide it.
O'Dell...
I'm going to need you to
stay here and wait for me.
Honestly, we wanted
the younger one.
That koala from Perth.
But she's not
answering our calls.
We need to move on with the
Romanians we're into this with.
They are, after
all, from Romania.
Hm.
You didn't kill her, did you?
I buried her
body in the desert.
(chuckling)
Kudos to you if you did
dump a body in the desert.
That would be
marvelous if you had,
because we need
to see that breed
of glimmer in your
eyes for this role.
And we're not sure
we saw that on tape.
We're not positive.
I myself saw a petty
criminal in you.
Not a murderess.
My mind, in your auditions,
you came off more like someone
who doesn't turn down a
snort of cocaine at a party
if pressured, someone
who tries to overspend
on her credit card
once in a while,
someone who doesn't
hesitate to stick her hands
in any old cookie jar.
But at the end of
the day someone
who can't pull the
lever to hang the man.
I sincerely hope you
can put that weakness
and hesitation behind you now.
We need you to be
able to draw blood.
I beg to differ.
I'm in fact in love with you.
I mean, your pure fear in the
last audition was palpable.
And then some
shit-dipped expendable
has to use the L Word.
Time to rise, Priscilla.
Rise from your
seat and approach.
(dramatic music)
You gotta understand
that was tough love.
I needed you to emerge.
And how could I know?
(chuckling)
Nobody knows until it happens.
If you take care of me now,
I will live and die for you.
My company is boutique.
You go to one of
these bigger managers,
they'll lose track of you
amongst all the A-listers.
If you stick with me,
I will nurture you
from here on every
step of the way.
You have my solemn vow.
That's what I've
always wanted to hear.
Oh, thank fuck!
Okay.
Woo!
All right, now let's get shit-faced
and take over the world.
(chuckling)
With what we were
into, my husband and I,
I can't go to the police.
What?
Big famous actress in
the big famous movie?
Who are you?
Your friend to the
end, Priscilla Anders.
Don't let my husband's
death come between us.
I loved him.
But, what's love?
Now you listen to me.
I have a dozen men
with your picture,
all of them good with
guns, knives, poisons.
Something happens to me,
you don't do as I say,
your life is over,
and much more sadly,
your career is over, cut
short, in its Hollywood prime.
Yet, what do we want?
We want your career
to flourish, don't we?
We want you to be so
gloriously rich and famous,
and acting in so many
movies, shows on television,
plays on the stage, that
you have enough money
to deposit $25,000 a month
into a special bank account.
But careful, because this
money will be your rent.
Due on the first of the month.
You can never, ever
forget to make your rent.
Did I say we'd be old friends?
That's not true.
You'll never see me again.
But there are those
people out there,
they will be watching.
They'll be there if
ever you miss a payment.
Now, don't frown.
Because you know what I'd
call this if I were you?
I'd call it inspiration.
You're going to have an amazing
career, Priscilla Anders.
You're going to be
one of those actresses
who's an actress until
the day she dies.
"She's so inspired,"
they'll say.
They'll ask: "Priscilla, how
do you stay so very inspired
"with inspiration that
never flags nor falters?"
They'll ask: "How
does she do it?
"How
"does
"she
"do
"it?"
Is that your drink?
That doesn't have any alcohol.
What's wrong with you?
Even trade.
(dramatic music)
[Vedor Ph.D.] The
Universe delivers Success
to those who trust it.
Be sure your ears are pricked.
Listen.
Listen.
Listening always for that knock.
(dramatic music)
(soft indie music)
(skate board rolling)
(whooshing)
(soft digital music)
[Vedor Ph.D.] 27.
Deeper.
Deeper still.
Deep.
With every breath.
Drifting.
Your mind, body, they
manifest success every moment.
You are cut from
immaculate cloth.
You subside deeper.
You become abundance,
confidence.
The Universe flows to you.
You immerse yourself
in divine mission.
Now stub it.
And you're through.
[Priscilla] I'm through.
(sizzling)
[Vedor Ph.D.] Addiction
no longer defines you.
So what will define you now?
Subside into the cushions.
Even now Holy Houses
have eyes for windows.
Open those eyes for you.
Even now forces you know
nothing of bring you the tools
to make your way.
(dramatic music)
[Priscilla] What if
I die before I live?
Never fear darkness.
Its closest cousin
is serendipity.
[Ralph] The World's
Greatest Fisherman.
Wait.
That's it?
That was it?
That was all?
[Vedor Ph.D.] Ask instead
if you'll live before you die.
For even now doors open.
Nine.
Eight.
Even now mice work
mazes for you.
Seven.
Six.
Even now your star ascends.
Even now you align with
other bodies of heaven.
Even now your familiars dig.
Even now the hour pushes in.
Even now destiny taps its foot.
(bleeping)
(panting)
(chuckling)
(panting)
It's too much.
No, put...
Put half back.
This is way more.
This is too much.
Put half back.
Smalls?
[Vedor Ph.D.] Even now fate
leans against the brick wall
on the corner.
Awaits you.
Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.
Eyes open.
But not awake.
Not yet.
(chiming music)
- (boy laughs)
- Strange dream you're having.
Without waking...
Without motion...
Without lifting a limb,
without lifting a foot,
you will now run.
And as you run you
will become legion,
you will become numerous,
you will become all the
many yous there are.
First you are one,
then you are two,
you are three, you are four,
you are five, six, seven...
(Latin music)
[Seller] Want
a piata for $20?
It's full of
candy, though, right?
You would put candy in it.
But for $20 it would
already have the candy.
What kind of
piata would it be
if you didn't choose the candy?
Could I pay half now and
maybe half in a couple of...
40 is 40, unless
you want the piata.
(baby chuckles)
No, I can't eat sugar.
[Seller and little girl] One.
Two.
Three.
Four.
Five.
Six...
[Vedor Ph.D.] Even in
these teeming masses,
even with deliberation,
you crest ahead
of all those who are still.
Go.
Divide now.
Divide and conquer.
Just so you know they're going
to be pissed this
is your headshot.
[Vedor Ph.D.] Look
to the celestial.
You are many shards
of all you can see.
Plus I'm SAG now!
SAG-AFTRA!
[Vedor Ph.D.] Without you,
the stars would not operate.
You're going to have
to leave it, sweetie,
he's in an emergency.
That's terrible, I've...
Is everything okay?
Give me the fucking headshot.
You're like butter, but
not what I'm looking for.
You're like honey, but
not what I'm looking for.
It's just not the deal here.
That's fine.
[Casting director] You.
We don't have time for you.
(dramatic music)
[Vedor Ph.D.] Even in
suffocation the landscape...
- Fuck!
- Stretches forever.
[Priscilla] Fuck,
fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
You smell of fear, Pris.
You go into an audition
smelling like anything
besides perfume and my
very best machinations
won't save you.
But they call me in
and they don't see me.
(bell rings)
I'm a phantom in the system.
The key word there is Phantom.
But this has happened
four times now,
where they call me in,
they take one look at me,
and they don't see me.
They cancel me.
Maybe I'm not the
guy to be telling that.
What I mean is I love you.
I'll work the thriller
angle with a ratchet.
For that you can bring fear.
You know what a
ratchet is, right?
Yeah, a ratchet, I can
ratchet, I'll ratchet.
All right, you gotta
stop sweating desperation
and start sweating Come hither.
Except for the
thriller audition,
for that you can
sweat desperation.
Oh, and next time
make an appointment.
Silence of self-assurance.
Like space you expand.
Feel the ocean inside.
Every ounce of you hungry,
not for food,
but for sustenance.
And there is no plateau.
There is no evenness.
There is no exactitude.
And five,
four,
three,
two,
one...
Awake.
(snaps fingers)
[Priscilla's father]
What are you chopping?
Onion.
[Priscilla's father]
How big is the knife?
Be careful, I don't
want you hurt.
Mm-hm.
[Priscilla's father] Your
mother and I have been talking.
She isn't up for much in
terms of talking but...
I'd love to say hello.
[Priscilla's father] She
thinks I'll burn down the yard
if she doesn't watch the leaves.
I rake them, she
watches them burn.
She can't even pay much
attention at the shop, Pris.
She gave wrong change at
least a dozen times yesterday.
You're still thinking hard
about coming home, yeah?
Mm?
(siren blaring)
I...
I wasn't sure.
[Priscilla's father] You
said just five years of this.
What's it been now?
I had a great meeting, um...
That's what I wanted
to talk to you about.
I met with this agent who
represents all-these A-listers,
and he said I was Shiny.
He said that, about
me, I'm Shiny.
[Priscilla's father] Uh-huh.
No, we're not shiny
here, I'm afraid.
We're all getting old and dying.
That's a little bit too
much existentialism, Daddy.
So, uh...
Would you be able to put
that 500 in my account...
By like the 27th?
[Guest from podcast] What
you don't want in The Industry
is an almost-but-not-quite job
because you're siphoning energy.
Restaurants are the
greatest invention ever made
for out-of-work actors.
Remote from acting with
the bare essentials
of acting inherent, okay?
But you work, for example, as
a receptionist for an agency?
You're fucked!
Can I say Fucked on here?
[Interviewer from
podcast] Just this once.
[Guest from podcast]
You're fucked!
(folk music)
He's got no compunction.
Got no conscience.
No guilt.
He just does things.
He just does them.
Look at how he eats eggs.
It's glorious.
Kiss the sun.
(laughs)
Go on, go on, go on,
they're not watching.
(slurping)
Good boy.
Good boy.
See, he does what I tell him.
Yeah, but he's right.
We're not partial to
your secret codes.
What are you talking about?
You know what?
I don't care.
Your job is to poach the eggs.
My job is to protect the
eggs from the poacher,
so that we have enough eggs to
use when we get to the thing
that we poached the
eggs for to be...
I'm so sorry
that this is late.
I...
Sunshine!
Good morning!
[Priscilla] Good morning.
We didn't even see you
when we came in.
I was in back probably.
You know, you are
a diamond amongst us.
(chuckles)
Thank you.
Otherwise why would we come
to this damn place every day?
(chuckles)
Got banana syrup yet?
[Priscilla] Uh, just
regular syrup, we always have.
Well, for future reference.
I'm going to tell her.
Come here.
We are opening an All-American
Supper Club in New York.
You ever think about
moving to New York?
Oh, uh...
Sometimes, I...
[Cousins] You're
an actress, right?
[Priscilla] Bingo!
(chuckles)
This All-American Supper
Club is going to sit
on top of its skyscraper.
And it's going to
overlook Broadway.
Ah.
The Broadway.
Not just some other street with
the same name that stole it.
And if you come and work
for us, I will make sure
that you can go audition
downstairs whenever.
I mean, who wants Hollywood
when you can trod the boards?
And I know the guy
that runs this place,
he doesn't let you out
for auditions, I know.
No, no, no, no, no, he does.
But not like I would.
Oh, it sounds lovely.
Will you come?
Yeah, yeah.
Oh!
That sounds...
That sounds really nice.
Okay.
Okay.
This woman is a Hope
Diamond all of you,
so get your faces out of
your eggs and pay attention.
You'll learn something from her.
She's going to come.
Tell the customer I can
fit five bananas in a blender
if that's what he wants.
Otherwise tell him what he
thought was banana syrup,
that one time he had it,
was nothing but yellow dye
with a flavor
constructed in a lab.
I could just leave it alone.
You could just do that.
There's the puppy.
[Priscilla] What?
The husband that I deserve.
At least you can look
at him without laughing.
And there's worse.
Yeah, like mortgage brokers.
He doesn't watch
football, he said.
He smokes.
I just quit.
[Rosie] That's
just him humphreying.
If only this place
was called Bacall's.
[Priscilla] I
need a power broker.
[Rosie] You just
said "No brokers."
I said "No mortgage brokers."
So a bun in the
oven by a producer?
A power producer.
The pregnancy
part is the wash.
That'd be that, no
matter who the dick is.
[Priscilla] He's
just a mechanic.
[Rosie] A mechanic
could pay your rent.
He's not even a writer.
I went out with a writer.
That was as exciting as
living in a world of fiction
by the person doing
the fictionalizing.
I'm marrying an A-list agent,
or an A-list exec, or at the
very least a decent publicist.
Mm-hm.
Well, for now go fill his cup.
Go on.
(sighing)
[Vedor Ph.D.] Your love story
is written by the Universe,
not by Hollywood.
Not by committee.
The Universe delivers success
to those who trust it.
Be sure your ears are pricked.
[Casting assistant] Priscilla?
[Vedor Ph.D.] The
knock will come.
Listen.
Listen.
Listening always for that knock.
Bad things do occur.
This is Los Angeles.
In all corners, shadows persist.
Sooner or later, you're
going to receive a beatdown.
(clanking)
As our name spiels, we won't
sugarcoat your insurance needs.
Bad things do occur.
This is Los Angeles.
In all corners, shadows persist.
Sooner or later, you're
going to receive a beatdown.
(clanking)
(clock ticking)
(birds chirping)
Were you out of
bed last night?
Talk to Daddy before
Mommy gets to the bottom
of her glass.
I just want to know if you
were out of bed last night
when Mommy and Daddy were gone.
When Nanna was here.
Was anybody here
besides Nanna?
He's keeping his corner, huh?
All right, Bobby,
you're not in trouble
if you were out of your
bed and you saw someone
besides Nanna in the
house, all right?
You're not in trouble.
Not for now.
Okay.
Come here.
I'm going to eat these cookies.
One at a time I'm
going to eat them.
If you tell me if
you saw someone,
I'll stop eating
and give the rest
of the cookies to
you, all right?
Were you out of
bed last night?
(munching)
Mm, these are good.
Want some milk?
No, they're too delicious.
Probably they're so good
you don't want to
ruin them with milk.
God, they're that good.
Hm?
Who was in the house last night?
Uncaraff!
Uncle Ralph?
Uncaraff.
Uncle Ralph.
[Bobby] Uncaraff.
[Wooks] Are you sure?
Yeah!
Uncaraff!
Never be a rat, Bobby.
(dramatic music)
(phone bleeping)
[Priscilla] Hello?
[O'Dell] Ready to steam?
Uh, sure.
[O'Dell] Got a
one o'clock for you.
Minor role.
Has potential.
You can do fear, right?
Fear?
Yeah!
Fear.
[O'Dell] And also steam, Pris.
Steam.
Yeah!
Fear and steam.
[Ralph] You want the
supper club or not?
Of course I want
the supper club.
Why are you talking
about this here?
I need to know.
I gotta get the money, I
gotta tell them these things.
They're on my ass.
What do you think's gonna...
[Priscilla] Hello.
(rock and roll music)
No.
Makes me nervous.
How about you?
Okay.
(rock and roll music)
It's about time
you fucking tell.
Don't you go fascist on me.
(snorts)
All right.
Apple jacks are down
The Rabbit Hole...
Out back of The Neon.
Okay, Tango Foxtrot Niner.
(laughing)
Now you be quiet,
the walls have ears.
[Ralph] This woman
of women we have here.
[Cousins] Apple jacks
are down the Rabbit Hole
out back of The Neon.
[Priscilla] You just going
to leave that sitting there?
It was bugging
me, sitting on it.
[Priscilla] Well,
don't chip the counter.
I won't.
Don't mistake it for your
fork, it can stick in your eggs.
Don't you have to
go to work today?
They don't have anything
for me until noon.
[Priscilla] So what?
You're just going to sit
around here all morning?
Oh, I got to absorb that
lovely breakfast you made
into my cells.
Cook makes it.
I'm just a waitress.
Not just.
You're an actress, right?
You act, you...
What's your real hair color?
Peach.
See, I can't imagine that.
Then keep dreaming.
Can you cover today?
[Rosie] That leaves
me with half of lunch.
Yeah, but only that.
I gotta be out of here by two.
How about three?
Please.
[Rosie] 2:30.
Okay.
(sighing)
I don't know about
this project, I mean,
am I right for this part?
Am I the thriller type?
What else you got?
Right.
Opportunity.
[Rosie] Opportunities
of your difficulties.
Opportunities of
my difficulties.
All right.
Take them or stay afraid.
(rock and roll music)
(smacking)
Did you do it perfect?
Yes.
(car engine clanks)
Rosie!
Thank you!
Where's she going?
(dramatic music)
You fucked me!
You fucked me!
Apple jacks behind The
Neon down the Rabbit...
The Rabbit Hole.
We saw him at the carnival
beside The Ferris Wheel!
We saw him at the fish market!
It's the same man.
It's the same man.
(dramatic music)
(door clicks open)
(door creaks)
It's all bullshit.
They put the door
way across to there.
And we all entered from there,
so they already have us
walking in a fucking triangle.
Do I know you from that bar?
"Stacks"?
Legs in a bundle of hosiery,
like we're chopping firewood
instead of being human women.
Do you know a bar
called The Neon, Neon?
(cell phone buzzing)
(speaks in French)
I think you're
supposed to sign this.
Perth.
Me.
Junebug.
Priscilla, um, Anders.
I'm new here.
No friends.
Well, welcome to the part
where you have no friends,
and no parents,
and no movie roles,
and no commercial
roles, and no nothing.
It's nice and sunny, but...
Um...
In Australia do you have slang
for something
called Apple jacks?
Isn't that a kid's cereal?
How about...
Apple jacks down the Rabbit
Hole in the back of Neon?
Is that like...
Slide down my rainbow
(clapping hands)
Into my cellar door?
(door clicks open)
Who has stolen my clipboard?
(soft piano music)
You know in your many hearts
that fortune sides
with she who dares.
Neon.
Well, that's right
around the corner.
Stop talking to yourself.
Hey!
Huh, the Rams'
next wide receiver.
Did you just call me Wide?
No, I meant like in football.
Oh, I look like
a football player?
No, sorry, Rosie.
No, that was a great catch.
Sorry.
[Rosie] You're
seriously tardy.
I was playing detective.
What's wrong with your eyes?
Oh, get off me!
Seriously, did you take
advantage of my generosity
and stop for a session?
No, I was out
solving a mystery.
[Len] Life's mysteries.
You!
You know things.
What're Apple jacks?
It's a kid's cereal.
No, no, no, I mean the slang?
Money.
[Priscilla] As in Money?
Apples, like Golden Delicious,
like Granny Smith's, like
a stack of $100 bills.
And Jacks, like
To the nth power,
like dropping and
picking up lots of money.
Apple jacks.
And I'm from the street,
so I know these things.
Huh!
Yeah, He's street.
Come on, Bus Girl, help
me clear these tables.
[Priscilla] What's
a Rabbit Hole?
A place for bunnies?
No, no, no, the slang?
I don't know.
Sounds iffy to me.
And I'm not into
that kind of stuff.
I am a married man.
[Priscilla] You mean
you're married to a man.
What the fuck
you say that for?
[Priscilla] You are.
What difference
does that make?
Better get some fucking
sensitivity training in here.
I don't know any
fucking Rabbit Holes!
Priscilla, sorry,
could I see you?
[Priscilla] I got tables.
I'm sorry.
Two minutes.
I'm sorry.
(Priscilla snorts)
[Priscilla] I wanna...
Come in.
Sit.
Sit, please.
Take a chair.
Okay.
How are you?
How you doing?
I'm okay.
Are you okay?
No.
God, no.
No, Cilla, nothing's
okay, how could it be?
Are you still spending all your
money getting brainwashed?!
Hypnotherapy.
Hypnotherapy.
Ever notice that
people don't eat here?
We are locked in this dead zone
between Magnolia and Olive,
where people can't
get lunch here
but they can go down two
blocks, to Russell's.
Have you ever seen Russell's
Diner during lunch?
No.
It's packed.
And who the fuck is Russell?!
A Hollywood legend?
Like Marilyn?
No.
Just some asshole
who's killing me.
And I have to cut your hours.
Wait...
What?
I'm sorry, but
between you and Rosie,
you're the one who goes
out the most on auditions
even though it's so weird
because she's so talented,
so beautiful, like Marilyn,
but that's why I have
to cut your hours,
and I hope that's okay
because there's so many
more restaurants better
than this one.
What kind of cut?
You can still work
that one Saturday shift
and then you'll have all
the weekdays for auditions.
Oh, you know what?
You can just drive
your car, you know,
that thing where you go
pick up drunks in bars?
(murmuring)
(dramatic music)
(grunting)
(train rumbling)
(train honking)
(dramatic music)
Rosie said that
you towed my car.
Yeah, yeah, I did.
I'm sort of in
charge over there,
or they think I'm in charge
because I'm the
most responsible.
What's the damage?
Um...
I think it's 700 bucks.
$700.
[Benny] Uh...
That's a month's rent.
That's the worst
case scenario.
What the fuck part
of a car costs $700?!
I'm not going to let
them charge you labor.
So, maybe we do
a trade, for a...
For a date?
You fix my car,
I go out with you?
No, I don't mean it
like that, I mean like...
What, you blackmail
me for car repairs?
I swear, I didn't
mean it like that.
I meant, like, as a funny
way to ask someone out.
You know, like...
(dramatic music)
(people murmuring)
[Cousins] Apple jacks...
Are down the Rabbit Hole...
Out back of The Neon.
As long as you promise that
you're not trying to seduce me
for automotive motives.
No.
Because I hate cars.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, screw cars.
Except when you open them up,
you know, you get
to see the inside.
And then...
Kind of nice.
But, on the street, no.
You go clubbing?
I dance like a mechanic.
Pick me up at three.
Uh...
Actually...
My car's on the block, too.
A mechanic without a car.
[Benny] I know, I know.
Okay.
Okay.
Hey, Rosie!
(recording in Spanish)
(Karl repeats the phrase)
(recording in Spanish)
(Karl repeats the phrase)
(recording speaks in Spanish)
(Karl repeats the phrase)
Ah, yeah, okay,
it's spoons on top.
Forks, they're on the left.
And the knives at some...
No, wait, that's not it.
Spoons are stupid.
Forks on the left,
spoons on the right.
And the knife should be
right in front of you
because you got to
get to it quicker.
What're you doing?
Down here.
But it's over there.
This is my shortcut.
(siren blaring)
But it's right there!
This way's quickest.
(car engine roaring)
(traffic humming)
(car engine roaring)
Come here!
(thudding)
(groaning)
[Karl] Nice job, baby.
Thanks.
[Karl] Here you go.
(laughs)
Come on.
[Karl] Okay.
All right.
A little early for
clubbing, don't you think?
Down here?
Am I ever going to see
your real hair color?
You're auditioning, right?
What?
For what?
Parts in film, TV.
No, the only parts I'm after
are half decent air filters.
Yeah, but everyone's
auditioning.
I thought everyone
had a script.
You wrote a script?
No, no, I can barely
write a birthday card.
Just because I live in L.A.
doesn't mean, you know...
Anyways, who's going to put
the asphalt under your feet
so you can drive
to your auditions?
Yeah, but, I mean,
you're all right looking,
like you could do all right.
I'll take it.
(soft piano music)
(traffic humming)
Shouldn't we be behind a
velvet rope or something?
You okay?
(dramatic music)
[Vedor Ph.D.] Feel
the ocean inside.
Every ounce of you hungry.
You become abundance,
confidence.
The Universe flows to you.
Overcome every moment.
Mind, body, soul victorious.
You know in your many
hearts that fortune sides
with she who dares.
Benny...
I'm going to ask you a favor.
(dramatic music)
(door clicks open)
(door creaks)
- (alarm blares)
- Shit!
Hi, yeah, we're at Neon.
Oh, sorry, yeah,
we're renovating.
No, I can definitely
get you the club code,
just hang on one sec for me.
Uh, okay, it's 2,
6, 4, 3, 7, 5, 2.
(alarm blaring)
Okay.
Okay, yeah.
Thank you, sorry about that.
Okay, bye.
(alarm blaring)
(snorts)
[Priscilla] You
could come in handy.
(chuckling)
So...
What do we do after the felony?
(screeching)
(panting)
Oh, God.
(murmuring)
Rabbit hole.
(suspense music)
(rustling)
(suspense music)
Wait, wait, wait, wait, go back.
No.
[Benny] What?
You see something?
[Priscilla] Yeah.
(dramatic music)
Oh, my gosh!
[Priscilla] Apple jack.
(dramatic music)
Here, you do it.
(dramatic music)
(screaming)
(dramatic music)
(coughing)
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Come on, come on, come on.
Right, yeah.
[Vedor Ph.D.] Passion
flares when you live edgeways.
Live beyond your means.
Live like you don't care.
Live a disaster
impossible to salvage.
And let this be The Moment.
The Moment Fear Departs.
Where is Ralphie?
He's never on time.
(snorting)
Ah, ah, ah, there
goes another one.
That one looked like
my sister's daughter.
We have got to get these
girls working for us.
Or at least the
New York versions.
And you know what?
After New York, we are
going to save the waitresses
in Los Angeles.
Because there's going to be
an All-American Supper Club.
It's going to be
on every corner.
It's gonna be like Starbucks,
it's gonna be like McDonald's,
except we are going to
have plush furniture,
a seven-course exotic meal
served by rescued waitresses.
Are you gonna eat
that whole thing?
(folk music)
(knocking on window)
Who the hell hangs
a plant in a bar?
[Abelie] Maybe she
takes it out for walks.
[Wooks] Maybe she's an even
bigger fool than I thought.
(door clicks open)
[Karl] Come on!
Don't push a lady.
Jesus!
[Karl] Apparently it's
gone, as in fucking gone!
(snorting)
Apple jacks, like
down the Rabbit Hole
out back of The Neon.
Smalls, that's right, right?
(mumbles)
(dramatic music)
(repetitive thudding)
(groaning)
(thudding)
(groaning)
(thudding)
(snorting)
That was too bad.
I liked her, all right,
she was all right.
Yeah, I liked her, too.
I thought she was nice.
Not as nice as Ralph, but nice.
You.
You go and find my liquid asset.
(dramatic music)
Come here.
(repetitive thudding)
You get it back!
It's mine!
It's for my sanctuary.
Piece of shit!
(panting)
It's not hers, not
for her restaurant!
(thudding)
Not yours or whatever
the fuck you think!
You will think
about it every day!
(dramatic music)
(repetitive thudding)
My Sanctuary.
My Peace On Earth.
(thudding)
(panting)
Breathe.
Breathe.
Yeah, yeah, just breathe.
I hate being like that.
I know.
Look away, Karl.
(snorts)
It's okay, Karl.
(panting)
You're the one who
likes to do this stuff.
You're the psychopath.
(panting)
I'm building my
forest sanctuary.
I'm going to have my plants.
Where people can belong.
(moaning)
(dramatic music)
Now is the time.
You're holistic.
Empowered.
Connected to The Source.
The embodiment of Harmony.
Abundance.
Drive.
Drive.
Drive.
Reason is in Success.
Success doesn't
come to just anyone.
You deserve.
Float.
Float.
Floating above them all, not
looking down, not looking back.
No apologies.
(dramatic music)
Here's those two
months rent I'm behind on
and six months rent in advance.
Oh, my Springer
Spaniel In Heaven!
Gorgeous!
Someday to have coconut
cake, won't you?
I want to tell you,
Priscilla Anders,
all about my premonitions of
how famous you're gonna be.
And my dreams of how you're
going to take my place
on the red carpet.
You know what I was in?
Cleopatra.
And you can't pass up
having coconut cake
with one of Cleopatra's
fictitious handmaidens.
[Priscilla] I
wouldn't dream of it.
Oh.
Someday!
The caterpillar
thought the world ended,
but then became a butterfly.
(snorts)
(dramatic music)
[Photographer]
Good girl, good girl.
Good girl.
Good.
This is the place.
I'll bet.
This is the place.
There is no famous actor
that has not made it here,
that has not then gone up above.
Not without taking our
series of acting classes
that act as balloons,
balloons that we provide
toward floating toward
spheres of mega-technique.
You have a twin:
boy-boy, girl-girl,
girl-boy, boy-girl, any
of the combinations.
Trust your twin more than
you to find the truth
in the tapestry of stories,
the human universe.
Now move, people, move!
Find space for your twin!
Give your doppelgnger
a place in the sun!
Don't let the
darkness trouble you.
(dramatic music)
(cell phone bleeping)
Hello?
[O'Dell] Nothing
to get excited about,
so don't get excited, but
they do want to see you again.
[Priscilla] Who?
[O'Dell] A goddamn callback.
But don't get excited.
(she gasps)
But get this: they're
considering you for the lead.
Oh!
(laughs)
[Benny] What?!
What?!
(laughing)
(dramatic music)
(rock and roll music)
(snorts)
What's the matter?
Didn't anybody give you
a haircut for Christmas?
(rock and roll music)
Disneyland.
(rock and roll music)
(dramatic music)
(train rumbling)
(train honking)
All those other girls
aren't here this time.
Did you notice that?
Nope.
They're not.
I want you to know that
if you get this part instead
of me, you go with it,
because I got time
stretched out ahead of me
for this acting stuff
and I'm not sure I want
to be famous just yet, and
this part might be that
from what they say.
I want to be just
me for a while.
So, if you want this
part more than me,
I pray that you get it.
Because I got all this
time and I'm young.
I am going to
destroy this audition.
Good.
I have time.
I have plenty of time.
Yesterday, I watched
the goddamn sunset.
Did you?
Yeah.
Cool.
How was it?
(door clicks open)
Ladies.
There should be three more
of you, shouldn't there?
What the fuck?!
And then they complain.
And they say, and they
say, and they bitterly say
that "It's tough to
make it in Hollywood."
Yet one of you, ladies, might
get cast simply by showing up.
Am I right?
(traffic humming)
(Latin music)
Hope you'll enjoy.
[Priscilla's father] We
need to retire this year.
You guys are pretending
you don't love the shop
when really you love the shop.
[Priscilla's father] It
was a surprise we were saving
for when you came home.
Daddy, things are
going well out here.
I can actually send
you money this month.
Would you like that?
I repeat: you do not have
to put money in my account.
(cell phone chiming)
See, Dad?
I'm in demand, I
got another call.
[Priscilla's father] Your
mother wants to talk to you...
[Priscilla] This is Priscilla.
[O'Dell]
Un-fucking-believable!
Pris, the execs want to see you.
Second callback, my dear.
Second callback.
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
(dramatic music)
Hey.
Hey.
Hey, I got that second callback.
Of course you did.
Congratulations.
Hey, um...
I'd give...
I'd give all that
money back just to know
that you're with me
for me and not...
We can't give any
of the money back.
I know.
(train rumbling)
Look, without the money
I'd have to leave L.A..
Then you'd probably
never see me again.
Is that what you want?
No.
(traffic humming)
I really...
I really have to go.
Okay.
Wish me luck, okay, handsome?
(car engine roaring)
(snorting)
(dramatic music)
(panting)
(rock music)
(traffic humming)
(dramatic music)
[Male policeman] Who's
this fucking asshole?!
This was supposed to be a
lunch without any talking.
Tell me he's not
coming this way.
Tell me he's not waving
that fucking hand.
Tell me this isn't going to
involve any fucking paperwork.
Sorry, officers.
I think there's a
guy following me.
That why you jaywalked?
That's a $300 ticket, FYI.
So, who's doing
what to you now?
This man is following me.
Which man is that?
(traffic humming)
He's got a really
messed up face.
That could be anybody.
[Benny] No, you would
know him if you saw him.
Oh, you mean like religion?
It's just, um...
He's gone now, but he
was there a second ago.
So, he's not
following you now?
You don't mind if I hang
around here for a second?
Just to make sure he's gone.
You do whatever
makes you feel good
about whatever
makes you feel okay.
Okay?
Thanks.
Sorry.
Just us.
They told me.
You and me!
Exciting.
Don't be nervous.
(chuckling)
My grandma always told me, "Little
girls mustn't get nervous
"because then their
upper lips will sweat
"and later they'll
grow a mustache."
(door clicks open)
The closer we
get to the light,
the more we want to scream.
Junebug?
Are you here?
I'm here.
Good luck!
Thank you.
Oh, my God.
I meant to say that to you.
Good luck, Priscilla.
Let me get your number after.
That's what I want most of all.
A friend.
(dramatic music)
(traffic humming)
(dramatic music)
Hey!
Hey, I...
(coughing)
(gun firing)
(dramatic music)
(panting)
Get away from me!
Go inside!
Go inside!
(dramatic music)
(phone bleeping)
[Operator] 911, what is
the nature of your emergency?
I'm being chased.
I'm uh...
I'm on LeMoyne!
I'm going upstairs.
We're going to be
on Rialto, okay?
Rialto.
(dramatic music)
(panting)
(coughing)
(dramatic music)
(panting)
Priscilla.
(retching)
(dramatic music)
(cell phone bleeping)
[Benny's recorded
voice] Hi, this is Benny.
Sorry I missed you.
We're gonna get you.
Hi.
Hi, it went really well.
It went really, really well.
I mean, the producer
was a total dick.
But...
But it went well.
It went really well.
Anyway, it...
It just made me
really appreciate you.
And I want to talk with you.
(dramatic music)
(panting)
(dramatic music)
(panting)
(heart beating)
(moaning)
(heart beating)
(moaning)
(traffic humming)
(clanging)
(cat meowing)
(door creaking)
(door slamming shut)
(cell phone ringing)
(dramatic music)
(soft instrumental music)
It's time to get rid of Bobby.
You think so?
My sister can take him.
Yeah, well, how
old's Bobby now?
He's like two?
Three.
Well, that's time
enough to try out a kid,
don't you think?
We're not a
suitable environment.
Well, you try to build a
calm, relaxing forest sanctuary
in a pinewood setting.
Then someone comes along and
steals the greenery right out
from under it.
(cell phone buzzing)
It's Smalls.
Do we know a Priscilla Anders?
He says: "She has it."
Bobby!
Bobby!
He's been listening
this entire time.
Bobby, pack your bag.
You're going to
visit Aunt Martha.
Oh, God!
Goes out for cigarettes,
doesn't come back.
Just like my Dad.
Well, I called
him about 10 times.
I called him 20.
Now, let me tell you something:
you need to learn
to hate people.
Look, if he comes
by, can you, please,
let him know that
I'm looking for him?
If he comes by, I'm gonna
club him with this ratchet.
(rock music)
(dramatic music)
World's Greatest Fisherman!
World's Greatest Fisherman!
What the fuck?!
Deaf?
(dramatic music)
(thudding)
(groaning)
(soft instrumental music)
(dramatic music)
(panting)
(car engine humming)
(clanging)
(panting)
(siren blaring)
(panting)
(door creaking)
(dog barking)
(dramatic music)
[Vedor Ph.D.] What, then,
is your spiritual color?
I need to know that you
know the final step.
There are many more
shadows than lights.
But you know your way through
every bit of the dark.
(gasping)
I hope I didn't scare you.
You seem like a nice girl.
So I'm sorry.
I usually let my brother
do this sort of thing.
I...
I hate doing it.
I didn't...
I didn't know it was your money.
These things happen.
Uh...
Do you want me to count it?
(traffic humming)
You know what?
Forget it.
(thudding)
(groaning)
(dramatic music)
What the hell's wrong with you?!
Come here!
(groaning)
Come here!
Shite!
Goddam it!
It's not yours.
It's mine.
Belongs to me.
I'm building a forest sanctuary.
For the good of all humankind.
(rustling)
(dramatic music)
(panting)
(dramatic music)
(panting)
(thudding)
(groaning)
(dramatic music)
(melodic music)
Look what you
can do to a candle!
I wish I could do that.
Hey.
Aw!
You okay?
You look a bit pale.
I kicked a body into
the Los Angeles river.
(giggles)
You are a Victorian-era-style
porcelain doll
for inviting me out.
Have you heard from them yet?
No.
Me neither.
Makes me feel sick.
(snorts)
Why are you nervous?
You don't...
You don't want the part.
(melodic music)
Do you want to get out of
here, go somewhere, go dancing?
Okay.
Just as long as you acknowledge
my perfect parking spot.
Mm, that's fine,
we'll take my car.
Cool!
Girls on the town!
Woo!
(soft instrumental music)
(bleeping)
(bleeping)
(bleeping)
And it is rare to see
one so completely healed
of all breaks and scrapes.
You, my dear, you must go.
You no longer need me.
I release you.
You are seven,
you are six, you are
five, you are four,
you are three, you are two,
you are one.
(dramatic music)
All right, now,
we get in there,
don't let anybody
stand behind you.
[Priscilla] O'Dell...
And there's going
to be refreshments.
Don't get involved in those.
And the contracts in order,
so just sign it
when they slide it.
O'Dell...
I'm going to need you to
stay here and wait for me.
Honestly, we wanted
the younger one.
That koala from Perth.
But she's not
answering our calls.
We need to move on with the
Romanians we're into this with.
They are, after
all, from Romania.
Hm.
You didn't kill her, did you?
I buried her
body in the desert.
(chuckling)
Kudos to you if you did
dump a body in the desert.
That would be
marvelous if you had,
because we need
to see that breed
of glimmer in your
eyes for this role.
And we're not sure
we saw that on tape.
We're not positive.
I myself saw a petty
criminal in you.
Not a murderess.
My mind, in your auditions,
you came off more like someone
who doesn't turn down a
snort of cocaine at a party
if pressured, someone
who tries to overspend
on her credit card
once in a while,
someone who doesn't
hesitate to stick her hands
in any old cookie jar.
But at the end of
the day someone
who can't pull the
lever to hang the man.
I sincerely hope you
can put that weakness
and hesitation behind you now.
We need you to be
able to draw blood.
I beg to differ.
I'm in fact in love with you.
I mean, your pure fear in the
last audition was palpable.
And then some
shit-dipped expendable
has to use the L Word.
Time to rise, Priscilla.
Rise from your
seat and approach.
(dramatic music)
You gotta understand
that was tough love.
I needed you to emerge.
And how could I know?
(chuckling)
Nobody knows until it happens.
If you take care of me now,
I will live and die for you.
My company is boutique.
You go to one of
these bigger managers,
they'll lose track of you
amongst all the A-listers.
If you stick with me,
I will nurture you
from here on every
step of the way.
You have my solemn vow.
That's what I've
always wanted to hear.
Oh, thank fuck!
Okay.
Woo!
All right, now let's get shit-faced
and take over the world.
(chuckling)
With what we were
into, my husband and I,
I can't go to the police.
What?
Big famous actress in
the big famous movie?
Who are you?
Your friend to the
end, Priscilla Anders.
Don't let my husband's
death come between us.
I loved him.
But, what's love?
Now you listen to me.
I have a dozen men
with your picture,
all of them good with
guns, knives, poisons.
Something happens to me,
you don't do as I say,
your life is over,
and much more sadly,
your career is over, cut
short, in its Hollywood prime.
Yet, what do we want?
We want your career
to flourish, don't we?
We want you to be so
gloriously rich and famous,
and acting in so many
movies, shows on television,
plays on the stage, that
you have enough money
to deposit $25,000 a month
into a special bank account.
But careful, because this
money will be your rent.
Due on the first of the month.
You can never, ever
forget to make your rent.
Did I say we'd be old friends?
That's not true.
You'll never see me again.
But there are those
people out there,
they will be watching.
They'll be there if
ever you miss a payment.
Now, don't frown.
Because you know what I'd
call this if I were you?
I'd call it inspiration.
You're going to have an amazing
career, Priscilla Anders.
You're going to be
one of those actresses
who's an actress until
the day she dies.
"She's so inspired,"
they'll say.
They'll ask: "Priscilla, how
do you stay so very inspired
"with inspiration that
never flags nor falters?"
They'll ask: "How
does she do it?
"How
"does
"she
"do
"it?"
Is that your drink?
That doesn't have any alcohol.
What's wrong with you?
Even trade.
(dramatic music)
[Vedor Ph.D.] The
Universe delivers Success
to those who trust it.
Be sure your ears are pricked.
Listen.
Listen.
Listening always for that knock.
(dramatic music)
(soft indie music)