Freddy Perkins comes to California hoping to become a movie star. Changing his name to Les Banister, he surrenders his principles as he gives into the demands of a casting director to secure his first role. He relinquishes control of his personal life so the studio can build an image of him as the next American heartthrob. This means giving up Russ, his loving and supportive boyfriend, to hide the truth from his fans. He’s gay.<br><br>These sacrifices pay off for the young actor and he becomes a star. But as Les continues to pay the price for fame, he realizes at the height of his success that it’s cost him too dearly. Will he have the courage to take the chance of losing it all to be true to himself?

The Price of Fame

“The picture of Les and Russ at the marina is Les pointing to a yacht he was trying to convince his financial manager he could afford to buy. It’s the only clear photo, so we have to have a plausible explanation for that one. Got that?” 


Les and Frederickson nodded. Hank was taking notes. Hillary was idly checking the condition of her nail polish. 


“The pictures of the two of you on the balcony are indistinct and blurry enough that we can claim Photoshop,” Sid went on. 


He brought out another set of the balcony pictures but this time Hillary’s head was on Russ’s shoulders.


“Technology—ain’t it great!” Sid said sarcastically. “We’ll release these as the real pictures if we need to. Then it will look like Starlight doctored the originals to make it look like it was Russ on the balcony. With their reputation, people will likely believe our pictures were the real ones, rather than theirs.”


“Why am I here?” Hillary asked. “I told you it was okay to use my pictures.”


Chapter 21