Page 19 of Doc Hollywood

“That’s good if you hated it.”

“Yes. But then, when the rumours came out that I was in the running for Superman, the masses on the internet started a campaign against me.” He shrugged, trying to look unphased.

“That sounds awful,” Clara said sympathetically.

“It was pretty horrible. I used to read everything that people wrote about me; I spent way too much time going down rabbit holes I shouldn’t have. Reading every nasty thing people who had never met me had to say about me. I spiralled so badly while waiting to hear about Superman after all the auditions. Luckily, my friends realised and held an intervention.”

“What did they do?’

“I still lived with Mom as I had no money. So, one of the guys removed internet access from Mom’s house. He literally snipped the cable to stop me from reading everything written about me.” Taylor laughed.

“He cut the cable? Isn’t that a bit drastic? What about your mobile?”

“I couldn’t afford much data, so I had to stop the frantic internet searches if I wanted to stay in contact with my agent.”

“That’s genius!” Clara exclaimed.

“Those are not the words Mom used; they were wayyyyyy more colourful. Luckily, she forgot all about it when I got the role and let me invite all the boys over to celebrate.”

“And one part nearly ruined your career?”

“It can when you’re starting out. But now I’m more established, it’s much easier.”

“I’m sorry,” Clara said as she tapped the screen on her phone. “I need to see this. Surely it’s not so bad?”

“Wh—“ He trailed off when a familiar song rang out from the speakers in her living room. “Oh my god, no!”

His gaze was on the television screen where Clara had mirrored the YouTube clip of his role in Cats she had found on her phone. He winced as he watched himself prance and strut around the screen.

Clara giggled, then noticed his stricken expression. “Oh shit. Sorry. I, oh man. I’m sorry. I thought it would be funny, but you look super upset.”

“It’s okay.” He shook his head, then glanced at the screen again, which was frozen on a close-up of his fluffy cat bottom. “Although, if you could remove my giant cat ass from the screen, that would be great.”

Clara fumbled for her phone and, in her rush, clicked on the next video that appeared on YouTube, which was Taylor walking the red carpet at the Oscars.

Clara was silent as she gazed at a world that was so alien to hers, bringing home quite how bizarre the whole situation was.

She reached for her plate and took another forkful of the takeaway while she observed Taylor waving to the crowd, answering questions in a self-deprecating manner and oozing movie star charisma.

“Is there any chance we can stop watching videos of me?” Taylor requested. “It feels incredibly self-centred,”

“Sure.” She paused the YouTube video and managed to pick a moment with a close-up of his face. The screen was left full of Taylor smouldering down at them.

“While that is an improvement compared to my fluffy butt, having me staring at us is making me feel a little uncomfortable.”He grabbed the television remote off the table and pressed the Netflix button, which reopened and, unfortunately, restarted playing the movie they had just been watching.

Which meant Taylor, as Superman, filled the screen.

“Oh, for god’s sake.” He jabbed at the button on the remote, trying to get the movie to stop.

Clara watched him and giggled before covering her mouth with her hand to stop herself. She got some semblance of control back before she stated, “That’s an occupational hazard most of us don’t have to contend with.”

He glanced at her and raised an eyebrow in question; he was not really concentrating on her, more hunting through the movies, trying to find something to watch that didn’t have him in.

“Is it weird seeing yourself everywhere?” She gestured to the screen as his face scrolled past on the movie poster for another film.

He paused his search and turned to look at her.

“Yeah. It’s never not a shock. I mean, I’ve worked hard for this job and spent the last twenty years acting and working my way up through this business. But I didn’t ever think about what being famous would actually be like.”

---