THE NIGHT SWIMMER
It's not important who I am. I live here in LA. I've been very fortunate, and worked hard, to establish my career in some amazing films--stuff you only imagine about when you're getting into this thing. Nobody can prepare you for what happens when ONE DAY you're struggling, eating Ramon for dinner, scraping by in a 10' x 12' studio apartment----and THE NEXT DAY you're everywhere, thanks to the marketing strategy of a studio looking to make a LOT of money. You go through this stage--it lasts a while--where you just feel ironclad. You feel chosen. As if you graduated from the struggling life we all lead, to something so fucking supreme and beautiful.
The kicker is that you lose what came before--simplicity and the feeling of the raw struggle to get somewhere--you are no longer the underdog--you have risen, and now you can only fall. You have something to lose now. Something gets taken away from you. And the other kicker is that it's all bullshit, an illusion, and you easily start to feel worthless.
There are these days... when I would trade this absurd house, these... things, some of the all-too public, messed-up relationships--trade it all--to be able to walk down the street and drink a beer in solitude. Or go out for Chinese food with a few friends. I'm not saying you can't do that when all of this happens, but I'm saying you're never really prepared for the eyes on you. At all times. I've met some amazing human beings by being in this position I'm in. I'm blessed. But tonight, I'm venting, because it's anonymous. Because half the people here are doing the same thing, I think. There are so many nights I sit in b/c it's just easier to. And I just split up with this truly amazing woman, she's so talented, god, she's going to change this world, I know she is, and it just didn't work with us. We tried. And if she's reading this, I am truly sorry. We had some amazing times, and it's just life. I know she's going to be alright. Unlike a lot of us in this bright light, she has a truly wonderful family that supports her. That's trust.
I'm out on the porch right now and tonight, I stare down at this city. You know, when you see yourself on TV, or on the side of a fucking bus, YOU get sick of you, YOU start to feel like a fraud, and it seems pathetic that people have pictures of you on their walls or swarm to read about you in US Weekly (that trashy heap of a rag).
I've slipped away from it for a while. I've been listening to a lot of Leonard Cohen. Taking photos off my porch. Drinking beers and making white rice again in my kitchen. It's good in a way.
I called my agent, I said no more bullshit, man. I love the guy, he's helped me so much, but I had to level. I'm at this stage where I'm getting sent scripts for big-budget garbage. I've done some of that, and I've done some work that felt REAL. I think this breakup is a turning point. I'm just going to find something I care about. Maybe it's a film, maybe it's a girl that just has a normal life, and some *time to spare* as opposed to us always being in different places, different countries, different states of mind. I don't know what it is. I'll let you know in a day or two if I figure that out.
Right now I've got a frozen pizza in the oven and I just opened my second beer. (I eat the same junk you do.) Tonight is going to be "Godfather" night. My favorite film--one of them. They went through hell to make that thing.
And maybe that made it the towering, ferocious achievement it was. Man, sometimes I feel like you got to go straight through red-doored hell to get to your life.
Thank you for reading, and good night.
Sincerely,
The Night Swimmer