I looked up from my desk to the television screen above me. It was the evening news and at the end of the bulletin was the entertainment section. The camera was panning to and fro across the actors and actresses who were making their way into the hotel. The event was a coming together of the cast and production crew of Madmen. It was being held to remind the public of that long running television drama and hopefully to re-boost the sale of boxsets and downloads. I had not realized that it was taking place but was not surprised that the owners of the franchise were exploiting every opportunity. The stars of the show were walking in couples from their taxis to the entrance, dressed as far as was possible as their Madmen characters. I could see Jon Hamm with his partner, Jennifer Westfeld, then John Slattery with his wife, Talia Balsam, George Clooney's ex. Then the woman I was waiting to see, Christina Hendricks.
She was not walking in with her husband, Geoffrey Arend, which I knew was because he had been filming for the last four months in Hungary, due back in New York in a few days. She was accompanied by Elisabeth Moss, who played Peggy Olson in Madmen, Elisabeth being recently divorced from her husband. I understood why Christina had not got a male to accompany her. It would have hit the gossip columns immediately. It must have been difficult for her, I reflected, not having a man to go to bed with for four months.
Christina was looking radiant. She had on a green dress that displayed her amazing cleavage. This seemed comical to me as she had been quoted as saying in September 2010 that the media was too focused on women's bodies and not their actual talents. She was supposed to be looking like her Madmen character, Joan Harris, and, apart from her low cut dress which was never a part of Joan's apparel, she had made a good attempt. Her red hair was pinned up, reflecting her matriarchal Office Manager position. The sixties dress was tight all over. Her figure had changed a little in that her breasts were even bigger but her waist was just as wasp-like and her ass was the same big round shape that had made men's cocks hard as they watched her in the show. The legs were clad in black nylon and I wondered if she was wearing the stockings and black garter straps that had been exposed so deliciously in the Madmen episode when she was forced to have sex on the floor of the office by her fiancé. Disappointingly, there had not been much of her to see at the time but her skirt kept rucking up displaying that lovely thigh flesh above her stocking tops.
Topping her gorgeous body was that red hair and lovely face, voted Best Looking American Woman by Esquire magazine and 'The sexiest woman in the world' by a poll of its female readers. It was said that Christina was actually blonde, but had colored her hair red when she realized how it suited her complexion. It was always a pleasure to me to see that sweet eye candy that was Christina Hendricks, but now I had a particular interest as I'd just sent a signed contract to be delivered to her address the following morning. The contract was for her to be in my next picture.
The office I was now working in had been my father's up to two months before, when he had died of a heart attack. The heart attack had not been unexpected as he'd already had three previous attacks which he had survived, but this last attack had been one too many. My father had been one of the top producers in Hollywood and I had now taken over his mantle.
At twenty one, I was the youngest producer in the business. I was regarded as a brainy guy because I had graduated at age twenty by my own grit and determination, coupled with a UC program that let high school students earn college and high school credits at the same time. Even before I had graduated I was helping dad, analyzing profitable opportunities, proposing new ventures and being a sounding board for difficult business decisions.
I had always been captivated by films and fascinated by actors and actresses, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses both artistically and commercially. Dad had become heavily reliant on me months before his death and when he was gone the business community accepted me immediately as his heir apparent.
The film dad had been working on for the last year was Oedipus. It was the classic Greek mythological story in which a son, who has been separated from his King and Queen parents, ends up returning and killing his father and marrying his mother; the son being unaware they were his parents. Dad's take on the tale was to transfer the story to New York in the sixties, where a mafia don of the time would be the equivalent of the King. The son's name was being updated from Oedipus to Eddy. The pluses of the film, as dad saw them, was that there would be no royalties to pay as the story was a classic and that the incest, sex and violence were sure to make it a winner. Dad exclaimed, "What can be a surer box office hit than a son who shoots his dad and then fucks his mom."
Dad was keen that the woman playing the mother should be every American boy's dream of the mom he wanted to fuck. Dad and I both favored big tits as this would convey the motherly aspect, but it was difficult to know which women to approach who would be interested in the role. We wanted someone who would be known by film fans, but also someone willing to appear nude and take part in simulated sex scenes. We were helped in our search as dad had decided that the paycheck for the actress would be near record breaking, with a generous percentage of the box office takings. There were two good reasons for this. The first was that we wanted to have the pick of the talent on offer and the second was that the size of the paycheck itself would repay in publicity what it cost in dollars.
The first actress we talked to was Kate Winslet, whose interest was caught by the idea of a Greek classic being updated to modern times. The sex scenes didn't bother her at all and the fact that they would be with a man young enough to be her son amused her. Dad and I only wished her tits were a bit bigger.
We had been in negotiations for a few weeks with Kate when the agent of Christina Hendricks contacted us. Dad and I couldn't believe it, although we had heard that Christina and her husband Geoffrey had got into financial difficulties, having become involved in a disastrous oil company business venture. Apparently they had lost all of their hard earned savings and in addition owed substantial sums to the banks.
Initially we were skeptical that Christina would be willing to take part in the sex scenes, but her agent told us that she'd given it serious consideration and as the film could be regarded as an artistic updating of a classic story, she felt that on this one occasion, in the interest of a professional portrayal, she would be willing to do what was necessary for the integrity of the part. Dad and I interpreted that as meaning she was desperate for the cash.
My immediate reaction was that Christina was not right for the part. Although she had worn low cut dresses, showing off a great deal of cleavage for theatrical publicity events, she had never stripped on screen and certainly never exposed the whole of her breasts, neither frontal nor side on. I was very unsure on how she would behave naked on camera. I felt she could freeze up when she was being filmed having simulated sex. To me she was a television actress and would struggle with the big screen. However, to dad, all that was irrelevant.
"American males have been waiting for years to see Christina Hendricks' tits," he said to me in whispered excitement.
"Who cares if she freezes up? With some smart photography and a bit a body-doubling, she'll appear to perform like a nymphomaniac. Of course," he added with a chuckle, "if her pubic hair is blonde, she'll have to dye it."
Dad was completely right of course. When the papers got hold of the story they went berserk.
"Christina Hendricks to play Mommy!" screamed the headlines of the New York Times.
There were long discussion papers in the magazines about incest, particularly between mothers and sons. The question about censorship and the difficulties dad faced with the Motion Picture Association of America's film-rating system was also widely discussed. The rating of NC-17 was almost certain.
But all these issues just gave greater and greater publicity to the movie. In our media briefings we concentrated on the role of the mother and the various actresses we were considering. But it was Christina Hendricks who the media was mainly writing about in the role and the word always used was 'Mommy'. In the end it was assumed that she would be awarded the part and dad and I heard that Christina appeared to assume the role was hers and was spending a lot of money on that basis.
However, dad had tried to keep the choice of the actress to play the mother as open a question as possible, just to keep the papers writing about it. I had therefore continued this strategy even up to the current point. Although I had just arranged that the generous contract I had signed would be delivered by hand to Christina Hendricks the following morning, I had also started a new rumor that the part had been awarded to Kate Winslet.
I was feeling pretty good with myself therefore as I watched Christina Hendricks, my new leading lady, looking gorgeous and strolling on the red carpet, her arms entwined with Elisabeth Moss. I had an evening of fun planned for myself. Dad had installed a large bed in the corner of his office, which he said he needed for when he worked overnight. The reality was that he used it for bedding various actresses who would do anything for stardom. I had not yet started on potential actresses, but would soon be phoning Madame Fifi's for some hookers to join me, as I had already done a few times since dad's death. I would need at least two hookers as I hadn't had sex for a few days. I already had a bottle of expensive Hawaiian oil on the bedside table. The hookers always brought their own bottles of lubrication, but I only liked the best.
I was planning to phone Madame Fifi's about an hour later, after doing some more paperwork, when there was a shout on the television from a reporter holding up a newspaper headline. The reporter was holding it up for Christina to see and it said, 'Kate Winslet to be Mommy.'
The reporter was shouting at Christina, "Miss Hendricks, how does it feel not getting the part of Mommy?"
Christina Hendricks did not hesitate, but did look ashen faced as she hurried on.
