#And then the actor playing George’s dad said that was just because the costanzas are crypto-Jews lol

[doyouknowthisjewishcharacter]

Do you know this Jewish character?

[tcm]

In Memory of Brian, Fred and Jerry by Susan King

I mourn the loss of Hollywood legends, especially those I have interviewed over the years. I broke into tears when Debbie Reynolds died four years ago, recalling our last chat together in 2016 when we did a duet of “Moses Supposes.” And I still haven’t watched TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (’62) since Gregory Peck died in 2003. I had the opportunity to interview the handsome Oscar-winner at his now torn down home in 1997 and 1999. He was everything you’d hope he would be – sweet, intelligent and funny. He also loved Bob Dylan. His last words to me as he walked me to my car were: “You are a most interesting young lady.”

In 2020 alone, I lost over 20 former interviewees including Kirk Douglas, whom I interviewed eight times between 1986-2017, and my beloved Olivia de Havilland, who I found to be delightful and a bit ribald in the two interviews I did with her. I got more than a little misty when Brian Dennehy, Fred Willard and Jerry Stiller died this year. They were supremely talented and made our lives a little brighter with their performances. And, they all were great guys and fun interviews.

Brian Dennehy

I interviewed Brian Dennehy, who died in April at the age of 81, several times in the early 1990s when I was at the L.A. Times. The former U.S. Marine and football player was intimidating at first sight. He was tall, burly and barrel-chested. He had a no-nonsense quality about him, and he spoke his mind. But he also was funny.

In 1991, discussing how hard it was for some actors to land parts after starring in a TV series, he noted “coming off a TV series is a tough deal, and you go into limbo land for a while, if not forever. Most actors go immediately to the ‘Island of Lost Actors’ and stay there. Troy Donahue is the mayor.” Dennehy never went to that island. Not with the complex and often memorable performances he gave in such films as FIRST BLOOD (’82), SILVERADO (’85), COCOON (’85), PRESUMED INNOCENT (’90) and as Big Tom in the comedy TOMMY BOY (’95).

He was nominated for five Emmys, including one for his chilling turn as serial killer John Wayne Gacy in the miniseries To Catch a Killer (’92).

I had one of the most extraordinary evenings at the theater in 2000 when Dennehy reprised his Tony Award-winning role as the tragic Willy Loman at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles in the lauded revival of Arthur Miller’s masterpiece Death of a Salesman. It was a gut-wrenching performance that left me emotionally exhausted. He earned another Tony in 2003 as James Tyrone in the revival of Eugene O’Neill’s superb Long Day’s Journey into Night. And he never stopped working.

Shortly after his death, the drama DRIVEWAYS (2020) was released on streaming platforms. And it could be Dennehy’s greatest performance. He plays Del, an elderly widower and Korean War vet who sparks a warm friendship with Cody, the young boy next door. The reviews for the film (it’s at 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and Dennehy have been glowing. The L.A. Times’ Justin Chang wrote that Dennehy’s Del is as “forceful and tender a creation as any in this great actor’s body of work.” And Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times stated: “What we might remember most, perhaps appropriately, are Dennehy’s warm, weary features and rich line readings. In a lovely final monologue, Del advises Cody to avoid rushing past the experiences in life that matter, as they pass so quickly on their own. Much like the careers of beloved actors.”

Fred Willard

I first encountered Fred Willard as the clueless sidekick of sleazy talk show host Barth Gimble (Martin Mull) in the late 1970s on the syndicated comedy series Fernwood Tonight and its continuation America 2-Night. I quickly became a fan, and that admiration grew when he became a member of Christopher Guest’s stock company of zanies in such comedies as WAITING FOR GUFFMAN (’96) and BEST IN SHOW (2000). In the latter, he played the equally clueless dog show announcer Buck Laughlin who quipped in his color commentary, “And to think that in some counties these dogs are eaten.”

Willard told me in a 2012 L.A. Times interview that he didn’t think he was funny until he was an adult. “I always loved comedy growing up – Bob Hope, Red Skelton and Danny Kaye,” said Willard, who died in May at the age of 86.

Willard got a serious part in Tennessee Williams’ one-act in a summer theater group when he was in his 20s. “I was getting laughs on all the lines,” he noted. “The director got upset because the audiences were always laughing. I didn’t try to do it deliberately. Then I realized I would say things around people, and they would laugh. I didn’t mean to be funny. I have always been relaxed around comedy.”

Just as Dennehy, Willard kept working. In fact, he received an Emmy nomination posthumously for his hilarious turn as Ty Burrell’s goofball dad on ABC’s Modern Family. He told me he wished he could try to do more dramatic fare like in Clint Eastwood’s World War II drama Flags of Our Fathers (2006). Willard even called his agent to see if he could get a role in the movie. “Clint Eastwood’s people called back and said, ‘We love Fred, but we are afraid if he appeared on the screen, they might start to laugh.’’’

Jerry Stiller

Jerry Stiller was a real sweetie and also very thoughtful. He sent me a lovely thank you note when I interviewed him and his wife, Anne Meara, in the early 1990s. When I talked to him for his son Ben Stiller’s remake of THE HEARTBREAK KID (2007), Stiller sent me a lovely bouquet of flowers. Ditto in 2010 when I interviewed the couple for a Yahoo! Web series Stiller & Meara: A Show About Everything. I also received Christmas cards until Meara died in 2015.

Baby boomers remember Stiller, who died at 92 in May, and Meara for their smart and sophisticated comedy act, in which the majority of the humor came from the fact that he was Jewish and she was born Irish Catholic. They recorded albums, were popular on the nightclub circuit and did The Ed Sullivan Show three dozen times. They split up their act when musical variety series went away.

Both were terrific dramatic actors. In fact, I saw Stiller in the 1984 Broadway production of Hurlyburly, David Rabe’s scathing look at Hollywood, and he did a 1997 production of Chekhov’s The Three Sisters. Of course, Stiller garnered even more success in his Emmy-nominated role as Frank Costanza, the caustic father of George (Jason Alexander) on NBC’s Seinfeld (1993-98) and was the best reason to watch CBS’ sitcom The King of Queens (1998-2007) as Kevin James’ acerbic father-in-law

But I most remember that 2010 interview where Stiller and Meara bantered back and forth much to my enjoyment. Here they talk about Ed Sullivan:

Anne: I never liked him.

Jerry: You are out of your mind. You never liked him?

Anne: He scared stuff out of me. I am talking about Mr. Sullivan himself. I wasn’t the only one. There were international favorites throwing up in the wings—singers and tenors and guys who spin plates. It was live. We were scared.

Jerry: Ed Sullivan brought us up to the level that we knew we never could get to – him standing there on the right side of the wings laughing, tears coming out of his eyes and then calling us over and saying, ‘You know, we got a lot of mail on that last show you did.’ I said, ‘From Catholic or Jewish people?’ He said, ‘The Lutherans.’”

[popculturebuffet]

The Casagrandes Reviews: Croaked!

Halloween Havoc rolls on as we shine a light on the other beloved holiday on October 31st, Day of the Dead! Sid and Ronnie Anne’s well meaning plan to help Sid’s sister Adelaide move on from her frog’s death ends up convincincing the small child she has power over life and death. I’m sure all big sisters do that at some point. More about the whole being dead thing under the cut. 

I’ve hyped this one up in both previous Casgrandes reviews, so as you can tell i’m excited for this one. As i’ve mentioned before but will repeat for anyone new here, I absolutley love this episode and when I did a binge a month ago for labor day of this show, it was one of the standouts by a wide margin. I only held off so long because why should Halloween be the only holiday I cover during spooky season huh? I mean yes it’s in my halloween coverage’s title but  there’s always room for incusivlity. Like jello or Wolverine. 

As for if i’m covering this show’s paired episode, the show’s episode for halloween itself...

Yeah I have nothing against the episode ITSELF, it’s just.. eh. I mean we do get bobby as a dracula and sid as a lobster, a cute dance sequence and Stanley griping about not getting to wear his costume at work, which is valid, and then wearing said taco costume at the end... it’s just wrapped around your standard “character blows off a family engagment for something that turns out to suck” plot, the only diffrence being Bobby being the best brother ever is supportive of Ronnie Anne going to a 6th grade party and gladly helps salvage the night at the end. And it wasn’t a plot I liked to begin with, so it had that going against it. And I Know, I tend to zero in on i’ve seen it before a lot.. but that’s because .. it’s OKAY to do a tried and true plot tha’ts been done a million times as long as you can do something entertaining with it.  Both She Ra and Avatar the Last Airbender are about a world tha’ts long been conquered whose long lost savior comes to turn the tide of the war.. but that’s about as much as they share in direct comparison and both are fucking fantastic for diffrent reasons entirely.  But as rehashes go that episode wasn’t BAD , just eh, and i’d rather focus on things I can write more about frankly. 

Speaking of which, yeah I love this episode, and like “Mexican Makeover” it comes from Lalo Alcaraz of La Cucharacha fame, a comic strip writer whose also the show’s consultant for mexican culture, and is part of why the former episode disapointed me: because this one was REALLY fucking good. So enough hype , pitter patter let’s get at er.  The episode opens with Rosa setting up a day of the dead altar for her Father, with Sid and Ronnie Anne wondering what’s up, with Sid out and out wondering if Day of the Dead is mexican halloween something i’m ashamed to admit I thought of it as for years and years, because i’m as white as I am dumb, and most cartoons didn’t go much beyond “the dead come back for a day” and get into the more metaphorhical aspects we get to here. I assume Coco is the exception, as is the book of life I just still need to watch both. And yes you may boo me over this, I certainly deserve this.  I do however like this line as it’s a common misconception, and gives a  lot of kids likely thinking the same about the holiday in the audience a surrogate.

Ronnie Anne also wonders what the altar’s for. Rosa, while minorly annoyed at the two is happy to edcuate explaning it’s a day for honoring your loved ones and inviting them back, metaphorically though the metaphor was lost on young me since both Mucha Lucha and El Tigre had the dead literally come back, via an altar with offerings of their favorite things. It’s a nice bit that not only explains the holiday for those in the audience who either forgot a lot of that (raises hand) or didn’t know any of that, and also helps explain how the holiday is metaphoircal, something I didn’t think about before because as we’ve established i’m kinda dumb. The point is I like it.  Sid however gets an idea: Her sister Adelaide has been down in the dumps since her Frog, Froggy died, likely named after Big the Cat’s frog but this Froggy’s penchant for running off probably just got him ran over since Adelaide lives in the city and Frogger is sadly inaccurate, as George Costanza leanred the hard way. 

So our ambigiously gay duo visit Addy, who being a 6 year old who just lost her pet is bawling her eyes out. So our duo tells her about day of the dead and they set out to get froggy’s faviorite things: From shoelaces to the hoppit, a frog themed version of the hobbit I both wish is real and belives is probably better than the second two hobbit movies, flies (with help from a dirty diaper because this show and it’s sister can’t resist poop jokes.. go with your audience I guess), and a lilypad. The result is this. 

I”m.. not going to ask why a 6 year old’s frog has the frog equilvent of a naked burt renoylds on a bearskin rug photo, froggy’s sexy secrets died with him. But unfortuntely nuance is lost on a 6 year old, so Addy assumed Froggy was actually coming back and just grieves harder now. So Sid comes up with Plan B B: bring froggy back from the dead at the old pet semetary. Though since they don’t want to defile his body they try a dead ally cat first instead.  

One Zombie Test Cat later, they decide sometimes dead is better and just go with plan b: Sid once had a goldfish that died and her parents got her a replacement, and since it worked on her, and apparently still works on Bobby, they decide to pull that. They rent a frog from the pet store. And if your asking “wait pet stores , even fictional ones, do that” and suprisingly.. no they do not, but Pete, the guy at the pet shop which is also named after him, likes Sid’s mom’s tour. Okay two questions: one is that little pete from the adventures of pete and pete all grown up? I mean I know what happend to his actor... 

But in universe we have no idea. And Brendon Small, the character and the actor, showed up on Clarence so it’s plausable. And secondly where can I get the job as owner of my own pet store near melissa joan hart doing a gator show. I may have a career goal now. 

So they sneak in subsittue froggy, and we get an adorable montage of Addy hanging out with Froggy the Second: Getting some son, eating flies (though Addy spits her’s out. She’s not Lana.), and watching the Hoppit.. as I wish to one day. I mean we see a trippy bit of it but not the actual thing.. I guess I can add seeing a full version to my small list of things related to this franchise that I only I want along with my a diffrent world-esque spinoff show following Lori and Bobby. 

Addy happily sleeps after that giant ball of adorable, and Sid and Ronnie Anne take Froggy 2 back to Creepy Guy at the Pet Store.. I mean Pete.. I mean Future Me. So Sid pats herself on the back metaphoircally for the plan.. which this being a sitcom, naturally has kinda snowballed. Now Addy thinks she has power over life and death. Guess she has the same Christmas LIst as Crow

As not to break a small child’s heart for the second time in two days, our heroines decide they have to bring back her wish list: Great Aunt Milly, Old Mr Woodburn, and Abraham Lincoln. 

Since they don’t have a time traveling phone booth, they’ll have to go with the next best thing, my boy Tio Carlos. Seriously why they don’t use this adorable nerd more is beyond me. But Carols being an adorable history nerd gladly agrees to play LIncoln for what he thinks is a play.. I mean greanted they could just tell him the truth. He’s a dad, he gets this kinda thing. Meanwhile our girls dress up like said aunt milly and shenanigans insue. It’s a really funny scene.. until it falls apart with the mr. woodburn impersination, revealing it was all a hoax, and sending Addleaide crying to her room understandably not wanting to talk to either of them. Still we got Carolos as lincoln. That’s not nothing. 

But yeah having made things worse by accident, the girls go to Rosa for help who while understandably annoyed at the mess they made, is more than willing to come with and help. Because Rosa is fucking amazing ,that’s why. She sucessfully coaxes Addy out and then takes her down to the Casagrande’s place to show off her altar and explain the true meaning of day of the dead: Thinking about your loved ones.. keeps the memories alive. Thinking about who they were, what they loved, what they meant to you.. it’s not raising the dead.. but honring them. It  not only made the real value of the holiday sink in for me but i’ts a good message for kids, and a good way to teach them about a holiday most probably didn’ know how it worked if they even knew at all. It’s a really sweet powerful moment, and the combination of alcaraz’s writing and Sonia Manzano really brings it to this scene. It’s easily the show’s best. Good stuff. 

Froggy II interupts the scene.. turns out a trail of bacon bits, that we saw left earlier, lead him back, and Pete’s been following him the whole way and is winded because of course he is. We’re in the same blobby shape I get it man your fine. So with Addy already liking the second froggy, and having fully come to terms with the first’s death, Sid offers Pete tickets to her mom’s show in exchange for Froggy II, whose named that in this scene and who we saw in uptown funk. As long as it’s the splash zone he’s fine with it and Sid knows her mom enough well enough to know Becca would probably gladly trade a ticket for her daughter’s hapiness. Plus it’s easier to get someone to willingnly sign the wavers about getting gator blood on them when they already want that so win win.  We end on a Day of the Dead party with the whole cast in day of the dead makeup, eveyrone happy.. except Carl who’se subplot of spreading marigolds everywhere I missed and he ended up at the Loud House. Why this didn’t lead to a crossover I dunno. I mean if Steve Urkel can jetpack into the family from step by step’s yard,  why not? I know the 90′s were a diffrent time but this was a missed opportunity. Funny gag anyway. And scene. 

Final Thoughts: I was pretty transparent with this one: I think it’s a wonderful, heartfelt, and well done look at day of the dead tha’ts educational without cramming the education part down your throat, like any good cartoon that teachs you something should do, and it’s also really funny and endearing.Not much else to say, it’s just really good and I was glad to highlight it and if you haven’t seen it, please do it’s perfect viewing for the season. If you want more Casagrandes I have two reviews under the nick tab on my blog, and will be covering the second batch of Halloween/Day of the Dead episodes later this month, along with the new loud house halloween special Ghosted. And if you can’t wait for either of those, monday i’ll be covering the new ducktales halloween special. Until we meet again, viva la muretos. Play us out Nimoy...

[lamptracker]

FIC: Love Will Come To You

A request fulfillment. 42, 43, 44 and 45 from this list. They’d asked for angst but with a happy ending. I hope I did alright :)

FIC: Love Will Come To You (title from the Poets of the Fall song of the same name)

Pairing: Reader/Tom Holland. Supporting characters include Zendaya, Jacob Batalon, and Tony Revolori (how come he doesn’t show up in more fics, anyway?)

Word Count: 1,890

Summary: The reader is in the new Spider-Man movie and has a crush on her co-star, Tom Holland; convinced that they’ll never end up dating, she dates other guys instead and gets her heart broken often. Tom can’t stand to watch this.

Prompts: 42. “I gave you everything.”

43. “Don’t you dare pin this on me!”

44. “I’m not blind, I can see the way you look at them.” 

45. “Wait. I didn’t mean that. Please come back.”

IT IS SO HARD for me to write angst about Tom! Like I cannot physically write him being a jerk. I’ll get better at it. SO this is what you get.

(Y/n) could hardly believe her luck. Her first major film role - one where she had actual lines and played the lead character’s romantic interest, not some extra walking through the background - was in a Spider-Man movie. She would be acting opposite Tom Holland and Zendaya, and she was super-excited.

She and the cast grew close very quickly. She was worried that she’d be seen as trying to “replace” Laura but they soon adopted her as one of their own.

She had developed a crush on Tom, but she chalked it up to working together closely and playing his love interest. Plus, she had a strict “no dating costars” rule, because that never ends well (so she’s heard). So she chose to date other guys instead.

And boy, did she ever pick some losers.

Every couple of weeks, (y/n) would go out with a guy. One of them she met in a bar. One of them she met at the deli while she and Zendaya went on their Tuesday Girls Only Lunch. One of them was the nephew of one of the gaffers or something.

And every few weeks, she’d come to work sullen, because the guy would break her heart. Bar Guy? Aspiring actor who’d been in the biz for five years and was jealous of her success. Deli Boy? Decided, after three weeks, that she “wasn’t his type.” Gaffer’s Nephew gave her the old George Costanza - “It’s not you, it’s me.”

Her castmates had grown used to it. Jacob Batalon would always offer a hug and buy her a fountain diet Dr Pepper from the nearby convenience store (two of her favorite things - she loves Diet Dr Pepper, and Jacob gives what are possibly the world’s best hugs). Tony Revolori would make up a playlist on Spotify for her to brood to. Zendaya would help her grouse about how dumb boys are during their weekly lunch date. Marisa Tomei would reassure her that she’s still young and has plenty of time to find her soulmate. Harrison Osterfield would always offer to kick the guy’s ass, and Robert Downey Jr. would list off at least three people he knew willing to help him do it (and, since he was in perpetual Dad Mode, he was always one of them).

And Tom would always tell her the same thing: “You deserve so much better than that, darling. Any guy would be lucky to be with you. That div doesn’t know what he’s missing out on.”

But, secretly, it was killing him to watch her go through it again and again.

Because Tom had fallen hopelessly in love with her.

It was a Friday, on this day, about halfway into shooting. (y/n) had just gotten her heart broken, again. This time, it was a waiter from her favorite Italian place.

“He said he didn’t have time for a girlfriend,” (y/n) moaned to Zendaya, at the craft services table. “But this morning I saw him with a girl at the cafe.”

“That could’ve been anybody,” Zendaya pointed out. “Could’ve been his sister.”

(y/n) scoffed. “I highly doubt he makes out with his sister in public.”

“Ew.” Zendaya perused the selection before deciding on a veggie sandwich and some chips. “Wait, does this mean we’re going to have to find a new Italian place?”

“Unless he gets fired.” (Y/n) grabbed a bottled water and sat at one of the tables. “I just… I thought this one was going to work.”

Zendaya put her plate down and sat across the table from her. “I’m sorry, (y/n). Guys just suck sometimes.”

“Ahem,” Jacob said as he, Tony and Tom approached their table.

Zendaya smiled. “Present company excluded, of course.”

“That’s better.” Jacob sat down on one side of (y/n), Tom on the other, Tony next to Zendaya. “What’s with you today?”

(y/n) sighed. “I got dumped last night.”

“Again?” Jacob dropped his sandwich and immediately enveloped (y/n) in a hug. “Oh, man. I’m so sorry. What was this one’s excuse?”

“He didn’t have time for a girlfriend. And, unless that was his sister he was making out with at the cafe this morning, he was lying.”

“Okay, well, that guy sucks.” Jacob gave her one more gentle squeeze before he released her. “I don’t understand why this keeps happening to you.”

“Me either,” (y/n) sighed.

“I’ll send you a playlist as soon as I’m done making it,” Tony said.

“Thank you, Tony. Your playlists always help. You have such a great ear for new stuff, and you always know just what songs I need.”

Tom sat silently, eating his lunch.

“Oi, Holland.” (y/n) put on her best British accent. “You gonna give me the speech?”

Tom gave her a very small smile. “I’ve given it so many times, you should know it by heart by now.”

“Well, let’s say it together.”

So they did:

“You deserve so much better than that, darling. Any guy would be lucky to be with you. That div doesn’t know what he’s missing out on.”

“I hope,” Tom said, “that there comes a day when I don’t have to give that speech anymore.”

(y/n) looked at him longingly. “I hope so too.”

“Well, this has been fun.” Tom stood up, grabbing his plate. “I need to go look at the script, though. (y/n), you’re coming by my trailer to run lines with me later, yeah?”

“Yeah. Hopefully I’ll be done by 4.”

“Great, see you then.” And with that, Tom was gone.

The four remaining friends sat in silence, eating their lunch. Then, suddenly, Jacob said:

“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Zendaya said. “We’re just friends. You’re worse than the-”

“Not you, Z. (y/n).”

“Me?” (y/n) asked in surprise. “Um...no.”

“Come on. I’m not blind, I’ve seen the way you look at him.” Jacob smiled.

(y/n) shrugged. “Maybe a little. But I don’t date costars. It never ends well.”

“Could end a lot better than what’s happened recently,” Tony said.

“Could just...not end.” Jacob grinned.

“You could get married,” Tony continued.

“Can I be best man?” Jacob asked.

“Will you name your firstborn after me?”

“Why would they name it after you?”

“Because it can go either way. T-O-N-Y for a boy, T-O-N-I for a girl. They can’t name it after you if it’s a girl.”

“You guys are dingbats,” (y/n) grumbled.

“We’re hopeless romantics,” Tony replied.

Zendaya scoffed. “You’re idiots, is what you are.”

Tony gasped, raising a hand to his chest. “Jacob, darling, I’m feeling so attacked right now.”

Jacob grabbed Tony’s hand. “Let’s get out of here, baby, they don’t understand us.”

“I understand you're a couple of morons!” (y/n) called after them as the two walked off hand-in-hand in mock-offense and Zendaya burst into laughter.

“So, you ready?” (y/n) asked. It was 4:05, and she and Tom were getting ready to run lines.

“Yeah. Let’s go.” Tom shot her a smile, and (y/n) immediately got weak in the knees.

“Okay.” (y/n) cleared her throat. “Here goes. Peter, what do you mean you’re breaking up with me?”

“It’s for your own good, Abby.”

“My own good? What does that mean? I gave you everything! Wait, that’s not the….oh. Screwed that line up, sorry.”

“It’s okay, darling, try again,” Tom said soothingly, reaching over to pat her knee.

(y/n) felt her cheeks grow warm. “Okay. Uh...Oh. What does that mean? I gave up everything for you! I gave up cheerleading, Academic Decathlon, everything!”

“I didn’t ask you to do all that. You did that on your own. That was the bed you made. Ugh, what teenager actually says that?”

(y/n) laughed. “I know, some of this writing’s so weird. Anyway...Don’t you dare pin this on me, Peter Parker. I want an explanation and I want it now.”

“I… I can’t, Abby. I can’t tell you right now. But I need you to understand, it’s for your protection.”

“That’s what I don’t understand! What do I need protection from? You know, if you wanted to break up all you had to do was say so. You didn’t need to feed me this line about protecting me. You’re so selfish, Peter.”

“Whatever, Abby. I’m leaving.”

“Wait… I didn’t mean that. Please come back. Whatever the problem is, I’m sure we can work it out.”

“Oh, you want to know what the problem is? The problem is, you keep going out there and getting your heart broken and I can’t watch you go through that anymore.”

Confused, (Y/n) peered through her script. “Um, Tom? I can’t… that’s not...where are you? That’s not even in the script.”

“You keep saying you think you found The One. But then he breaks your heart. And I don’t know when or how it happened, but I fell in love with you.” Tom dropped the American accent and started speaking in his normal voice again. “And I want nothing more than to prove to you that I’m better than those guys. I am so in love with you, (y/n). You’re smart, you’re talented, you’re easy to work with and talk to. You’re a great girl, and I want nothing more than to try and give you the happiness you deserve. Please, give me a chance.”

(Y/n) stared at him, mouth agape.

Tom sighed as he ran his fingers through his wavy auburn hair. “Please, (y/n). Say something. Anything.”

She continued to stare at him, trying to piece together what had just happened.

This guy - this amazing, gorgeous, sweet, talented guy. He could have any girl in the world. ANY girl.

And he wanted her.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” Tom said sadly. “I ruined this, didn’t I? We were perfectly good friends, and I had to go and open my big fat gob. I’m such a-”

Suddenly, (y/n) stood up, threw her script to the ground, cupped Tom’s face in her hands and kissed him softly.

“Of course,” she said breathlessly when they finally parted.

Tom cocked his head to one side in confusion. “Of course what?”

(y/n) giggled. “I would love to give you a chance. I’ve been in love with you for so long. I don’t know what I was thinking, dating those other losers.”

“You just like it when Jacob buys you sodas,” Tom teased.

(y/n) scoffed. “I bet I could get him to buy me a soda any day.”

Tom wrapped his arms around her waist. “Well, let’s hope he buys the next one under better circumstances.” He kissed her again, more deeply than the last time.

“Tom,” (y/n) said. “Would you like to go get a coffee with me?”

“I’d love to.” They exited the trailer, hand-in-hand. As they headed for the coffee shop, they passed Tony, Jacob, and Zendaya hanging out at craft services.

“Dudes,” Jacob whispered. “Check it out!”

Zendaya squealed with excitement. “Finally!”

Tony smiled. “Looks like i’m making a new playlist.”

“A new playlist?” Jacob asked.

“Yeah. Instead of songs about falling out of love...songs about falling in love.”

Zendaya and Jacob nodded. “I like it,” Jacob said.

“Make sure you put that Ed Sheeran song on there!” Tom called over his shoulder.