but her. All the behind-the-scenes Hollywood players she’d met—producer Miller Boatwright, agents Phil Reinhold and Jake Morant, and studio head Remy Haughton—wielded whatever power they had with impunity.
But for them, there was an extra dimension: sex. Boatwright had a reputation, deserved or not, of using his position to extract sexual favors from women. Both agents had used actresses to satisfy the urges of clients and then manipulate those very same clients. Haughton was at least aware of all it, even if he wasn’t technically complicit.
Jessie leaned back in her chair, trying to relax, trying to let it come to her. She felt like she was overlooking something that was right in front of her, something that would unlock the mystery of what happened to Corinne Weatherly.
Corinne. She was the key. And suddenly Jessie sensed an imaginary click in her head as a new door of possibility opened. Her eyes popped open. A second later she was dialing Trembley’s number. As soon as he picked up, even before saying hello, she dived in.
“We’ve been thinking about this wrong,” she said.
“Hi, Jessie,” Trembley replied. “Nice to hear from you. Thinking about what wrong?”
“We’ve been circling an obvious theory without really exploring it.”
“What possibility?” Trembley asked.
“That Corinne slept with Miller Boatwright to get her first big role in Petals and Petulance. I know that possibility has been out there, unspoken. But let’s speak it.”
Trembley was quiet for a moment before responding.
“Okay, but I don’t see what the theory gets us. That movie came out a decade ago. Even if it did happen, why would it blow back on her now?”
“That’s exactly the question we should be asking, Trembley. What has changed since then? Since you’re the cinephile, tell me if I’m getting all this right: the fairy tale story is that Corinne Weatherly beat out hundreds of actresses for the lead in that movie, right?”
“Right,” he confirmed.
“And supposedly Boatwright was the one who championed her when others weren’t sold on her, right? He was the white knight who rescued her from a previously unmemorable career, correct?”
“Correct.”
“And despite his reputation as a womanizer, no one questioned the glass slipper story because the movie was a commercial and critical hit, reinforcing the narrative that he’d discovered this remarkable talent among a sea of actresses. Is that fair?”
“All good so far,” Trembley said.
Jessie paused for a moment to let her words catch up with her brain.
“Then why,” she asked, “didn’t they ever work together again?”
“What do you mean?”
“They had massive success with this film. It’s seems like a no-brainer for them to team up again at some point. But according to Weatherly’s filmography, she and Boatwright never worked together on another movie, ever.”
“Maybe their schedules just didn’t align?” he offered.
“Maybe,” Jessie conceded. “Or maybe something happened with that movie that guaranteed she would never work with him again.”
“Like what, exactly?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he pressured her for sex to get the role. Maybe she offered. Maybe it was in both their interests to keep that quiet to maintain the fairy tale casting story.”
“I guess it’s possible,” Trembley said. “But it doesn’t really line up with how Reinhold described her. Remember, he said that Corinne only used the Bad Boys list to negotiate better contracts, not to get roles. It sounded like she had a real aversion to getting parts the wrong way.”
Jessie smiled to herself. She was glad Trembley couldn’t see her expression because she knew it would come off as condescending.
“He did say that,” she agreed. “But why would we believe him? This is the guy who came up with a concept that was essentially an aspiring actress prostitution ring. I’m not willing to take any of his assertions at face value. And even if I did, that doesn’t blow up the theory. What if she refused to use the list to get roles later in her career because she regretted doing it originally? What if she felt ashamed about how she achieved her initial fame and success and vowed never to do it again?”
“Okay,” Trembley said. “That seems plausible. But it still doesn’t explain why this would all blow up now.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Jessie agreed. “I could speculate. Maybe her casting in the Marauder reboot opened the old wounds of someone who thought she slept her way into this part just like the one that made her famous in the first place. Maybe it was a co-worker who got sick of taking abuse from someone they thought got famous by sleeping around. What if