Post by Sam Kidsgrove on Feb 6, 2022 8:37:40 GMT -5
“What do you mean you’re passing me over?” Kidsgrove asks to the phone as he’s genuinely annoyed by the person on the other side. “It’s not even been a month since you personally sponsored my star on the walk of fame.”
“I know,” comes the response from the speaker - Kidsgrove has his hands free kit working in his car as he navigates through lunch time Los Angeles traffic. “But things have changed somewhat since the…..decision by Action.”
Kidsgrove scowls to no one in particular, he’s on his own in the car, Zooey is at home.
“Whatever Action has decided has zero to do with my pictures, I have taken great care to always keep them separate and…”
“They stopped being separate the minute you signed that deal to promote the Die Hard franchise on the Action shows and you know it. Now the investors are jittery, they feel if you’re being squeezed out of Action because you’re not worth the money they pay you,, they feel you’re probably too past it to carry their films. I think the exact words were, “If he’s not bang for a buck then we find someone younger. It’s the business.”
Kidsgrove silently fumes, he’s clearly trying to keep it together but the twitch in his eye betrays him.
“Who are they looking at?”
“So many people. Taron, Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston, hell they’re even interested in seeing what they can do with Gerard.”
“Gerard Butler? He’s older than me for Christ sake!”
“No, Angelo. They figure he’s taking your place in Action so he might be a good guy to look at for projects you were lined up for.”
A vein pops now, Kidsgrove clenches his jaw and counts to as many as he could to get to his happy place, which is currently on fire. This sort of thing is the last you ever want to hear.
“Look, Al, you’re my agent right? You need to get on top of this, I’m still in my prime damnit and I won’t be lectured to by a bunch of suits who don’t know a dolly from a fuckin’ mop. You gotta play hardball with them”
“But their minds are made up and.”
Kidsgrove finally loses his temper.
“Just get it fucking sorted Al or I’ll find a new up and coming hot agent to do it for you for fuck sake.”
Kidsgrove punches the button to disconnect on his steering wheel.
“Fucking hell” He mutters to himself. He throws on a playlist called “The guided journey to a zen-like state.” He starts following the instructions from the lady telling him to breathe deeply to try and focus his chi to a calm, reflective state and to quell the torrent of the oceans to become the peaceful glass of a pond.
It’s punctured by the scream of his phone ringing again. This time it’s his business manager.
“Clive, hi!” He says with the cheeriness of someone who isn’t just about to deliberately crash into a wall. “What can I do for ya?”
“Gonna cut to the chase Kid.” Clive isn’t one to cut to the chase unless it’s serious. Kidsgrove immediately feels a throbbing in his temple. “Fight Smart have served us notice, if you’re not a big enough name for AW, then you’re not big enough for them. Heard they’re looking at Gera….” We don’t hear the rest of the conversation as silently, Kidsgrove yanks the phone out of the cradle in his car and throws it out of the window. It’s immediately crushed by a truck.
“For fuck sake.” Kidsgrove stresses. He curses again as he remembers his mindfulness app is on his phone, so drives the rest of the way in silence.
1 hour later.
Zooey is worried. She’s been trying to call Sam on his cell for half an hour. Thoughts of panic run through her mind, what if he’s in an accident or worse? The relief that courses through her when he trudges through the door is palpable. He’s smiling at least, that’s a start, and he has flowers.
“Hi sweetness” he says, obviously faking his happiness. Zooey can tell that from a mile away, he gets away with it with other people but she’s far to astute for that.
“What’s up?” She says immediately, concerned. “Clive said you were in trouble.”
“Clive?”
“Yeah, he heard a scuffle and the phone went dead, he thought you might have been have been carjacked or something”
“Nah.” He chuckles a little bit. “Phone troubles.”
“Where is it? I can take it to the shop later, I’m heading over that way tonight.”
“Somewhere on the 101.” He replies, Zooey realises what he means almost immediately.
“Ah…..” She springs to action, immediately going to the kettle. She knows making a cup of tea right now would be the best thing to do. “Wanna talk about it?” She fishes out a packet of British biscuits from a cupboard. “I even managed to get some Hobnobs from the UK, perfect for such an occasion right?”
Kidsgrove genuinely smiles. The ritual of a tea and biscuits fuelled heart to heart is the cornerstone of UK family life. He’s glad he can still appreciate this even though he’s now American with an American wife. He sits down as Zooey expertly brews the tea.
“Ever since Action decided I wasn’t worth the money they pay me I’ve been fielding calls - mostly negative. Al and Clive today told me we’re losing sponsors and projects. The vultures are circling and honestly it’s annoying the fuck out of me.”
“Tell me something I don’t know” she says as she places the teapot and cups on the table, she’s already nibbling a biscuit.
“You know?”
“Clive told me about your conversation when he thought you’d been hijacked and Al texted me to warn me you’re not in a great mood.”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t worry though, we’ll be fine. Sponsors come and go and Hollywood will come back to you, they always do. Look at RDJ and if not, well fuck ‘em.”
“Fuck ‘em?”
“Yeah, fuck ‘em. If you’re not good enough for a fake assed town then fuck ‘em. You’re much better than 90% of the guys that carry franchises and you’re 100% a better man than any of the suits that care about the money shit. Fuck ‘em and do what makes you happy, build something. I know you love taking broken things and building them up - do that.”
“What can I build though? We already tried to change the world and it’s more fucked than ever.”
“You.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, build you. You’re broken Sam. You’ve not acted like yourself for years, you’re spending most of the time pandering and trying to be someone you’re not. If you want to be happy, fix yourself, build Sam Kidsgrove from the bottom up. You have a year, I’ve seen miracles done in less time. So why not use the time you have to find yourself again?”
“How? I wouldn’t even know where to start, I mean we have to pay for all this.” He gestures vaguely at his surroundings.
“Who needs a private jet and three houses? You need to just get back to basics. The reason why some of the guys in AW are ahead of you despite having less talent is because they’re hungry, they are doing the hard work, they’re doing the basics.You stopped that a long time ago. So this Monday, let’s get back to basics. We’ll do the hard miles, we’ll sell the plane and the condo in NY and rent out the family home in England. We’ll start again, Monday against Keeton can be day 1 of your comeback story, or whatever you want it to be.”
Kidsgrove nods in agreement.
“Yeah…. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea! Back to basics. Day 1 starts Monday. Today is day 0! I love it, we’ll start afresh and show every mother fucker who thinks I’m done just how done I am. As for Keeton? I guess you’ve not been on Twitter this week? He responds, with a wry smile. “Dude has been all over it saying he’s not even turning up because he’s got bigger things to do. It’s all nonsense really, he’ll be there. He’s just trying to make excuses for when I eviscerate him in front of 20 thousand people in Milwaukee and millions of people watching at home. He’s not going to miss being there, I mean he’s all about records, all about putting his name down in history. So he’s not going to miss the opportunity to write his name in the history books as the man who Sam Kidsgrove defeated on day 1, after all that will be the most significant thing he’ll be known for, when in 20 years from now we’ll have the Sam Kidsgrove career retrospective documentary cataloguing this as THE match where everything started to turn around. The match where the new era began. That’s his place in history.”
“I know,” comes the response from the speaker - Kidsgrove has his hands free kit working in his car as he navigates through lunch time Los Angeles traffic. “But things have changed somewhat since the…..decision by Action.”
Kidsgrove scowls to no one in particular, he’s on his own in the car, Zooey is at home.
“Whatever Action has decided has zero to do with my pictures, I have taken great care to always keep them separate and…”
“They stopped being separate the minute you signed that deal to promote the Die Hard franchise on the Action shows and you know it. Now the investors are jittery, they feel if you’re being squeezed out of Action because you’re not worth the money they pay you,, they feel you’re probably too past it to carry their films. I think the exact words were, “If he’s not bang for a buck then we find someone younger. It’s the business.”
Kidsgrove silently fumes, he’s clearly trying to keep it together but the twitch in his eye betrays him.
“Who are they looking at?”
“So many people. Taron, Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston, hell they’re even interested in seeing what they can do with Gerard.”
“Gerard Butler? He’s older than me for Christ sake!”
“No, Angelo. They figure he’s taking your place in Action so he might be a good guy to look at for projects you were lined up for.”
A vein pops now, Kidsgrove clenches his jaw and counts to as many as he could to get to his happy place, which is currently on fire. This sort of thing is the last you ever want to hear.
“Look, Al, you’re my agent right? You need to get on top of this, I’m still in my prime damnit and I won’t be lectured to by a bunch of suits who don’t know a dolly from a fuckin’ mop. You gotta play hardball with them”
“But their minds are made up and.”
Kidsgrove finally loses his temper.
“Just get it fucking sorted Al or I’ll find a new up and coming hot agent to do it for you for fuck sake.”
Kidsgrove punches the button to disconnect on his steering wheel.
“Fucking hell” He mutters to himself. He throws on a playlist called “The guided journey to a zen-like state.” He starts following the instructions from the lady telling him to breathe deeply to try and focus his chi to a calm, reflective state and to quell the torrent of the oceans to become the peaceful glass of a pond.
It’s punctured by the scream of his phone ringing again. This time it’s his business manager.
“Clive, hi!” He says with the cheeriness of someone who isn’t just about to deliberately crash into a wall. “What can I do for ya?”
“Gonna cut to the chase Kid.” Clive isn’t one to cut to the chase unless it’s serious. Kidsgrove immediately feels a throbbing in his temple. “Fight Smart have served us notice, if you’re not a big enough name for AW, then you’re not big enough for them. Heard they’re looking at Gera….” We don’t hear the rest of the conversation as silently, Kidsgrove yanks the phone out of the cradle in his car and throws it out of the window. It’s immediately crushed by a truck.
“For fuck sake.” Kidsgrove stresses. He curses again as he remembers his mindfulness app is on his phone, so drives the rest of the way in silence.
1 hour later.
Zooey is worried. She’s been trying to call Sam on his cell for half an hour. Thoughts of panic run through her mind, what if he’s in an accident or worse? The relief that courses through her when he trudges through the door is palpable. He’s smiling at least, that’s a start, and he has flowers.
“Hi sweetness” he says, obviously faking his happiness. Zooey can tell that from a mile away, he gets away with it with other people but she’s far to astute for that.
“What’s up?” She says immediately, concerned. “Clive said you were in trouble.”
“Clive?”
“Yeah, he heard a scuffle and the phone went dead, he thought you might have been have been carjacked or something”
“Nah.” He chuckles a little bit. “Phone troubles.”
“Where is it? I can take it to the shop later, I’m heading over that way tonight.”
“Somewhere on the 101.” He replies, Zooey realises what he means almost immediately.
“Ah…..” She springs to action, immediately going to the kettle. She knows making a cup of tea right now would be the best thing to do. “Wanna talk about it?” She fishes out a packet of British biscuits from a cupboard. “I even managed to get some Hobnobs from the UK, perfect for such an occasion right?”
Kidsgrove genuinely smiles. The ritual of a tea and biscuits fuelled heart to heart is the cornerstone of UK family life. He’s glad he can still appreciate this even though he’s now American with an American wife. He sits down as Zooey expertly brews the tea.
“Ever since Action decided I wasn’t worth the money they pay me I’ve been fielding calls - mostly negative. Al and Clive today told me we’re losing sponsors and projects. The vultures are circling and honestly it’s annoying the fuck out of me.”
“Tell me something I don’t know” she says as she places the teapot and cups on the table, she’s already nibbling a biscuit.
“You know?”
“Clive told me about your conversation when he thought you’d been hijacked and Al texted me to warn me you’re not in a great mood.”
“Yeah.”
“Don’t worry though, we’ll be fine. Sponsors come and go and Hollywood will come back to you, they always do. Look at RDJ and if not, well fuck ‘em.”
“Fuck ‘em?”
“Yeah, fuck ‘em. If you’re not good enough for a fake assed town then fuck ‘em. You’re much better than 90% of the guys that carry franchises and you’re 100% a better man than any of the suits that care about the money shit. Fuck ‘em and do what makes you happy, build something. I know you love taking broken things and building them up - do that.”
“What can I build though? We already tried to change the world and it’s more fucked than ever.”
“You.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, build you. You’re broken Sam. You’ve not acted like yourself for years, you’re spending most of the time pandering and trying to be someone you’re not. If you want to be happy, fix yourself, build Sam Kidsgrove from the bottom up. You have a year, I’ve seen miracles done in less time. So why not use the time you have to find yourself again?”
“How? I wouldn’t even know where to start, I mean we have to pay for all this.” He gestures vaguely at his surroundings.
“Who needs a private jet and three houses? You need to just get back to basics. The reason why some of the guys in AW are ahead of you despite having less talent is because they’re hungry, they are doing the hard work, they’re doing the basics.You stopped that a long time ago. So this Monday, let’s get back to basics. We’ll do the hard miles, we’ll sell the plane and the condo in NY and rent out the family home in England. We’ll start again, Monday against Keeton can be day 1 of your comeback story, or whatever you want it to be.”
Kidsgrove nods in agreement.
“Yeah…. Yeah, that sounds like a great idea! Back to basics. Day 1 starts Monday. Today is day 0! I love it, we’ll start afresh and show every mother fucker who thinks I’m done just how done I am. As for Keeton? I guess you’ve not been on Twitter this week? He responds, with a wry smile. “Dude has been all over it saying he’s not even turning up because he’s got bigger things to do. It’s all nonsense really, he’ll be there. He’s just trying to make excuses for when I eviscerate him in front of 20 thousand people in Milwaukee and millions of people watching at home. He’s not going to miss being there, I mean he’s all about records, all about putting his name down in history. So he’s not going to miss the opportunity to write his name in the history books as the man who Sam Kidsgrove defeated on day 1, after all that will be the most significant thing he’ll be known for, when in 20 years from now we’ll have the Sam Kidsgrove career retrospective documentary cataloguing this as THE match where everything started to turn around. The match where the new era began. That’s his place in history.”
