Characters

(Character names are temporary placeholders.   I’d like to use character names that are references to pop culture, favorite athletes, friends or family.)

Name: Daniel “Danny” Chase
Role: Movie star

Description: The character is meant to be a sympathetic one.  He is flawed, but he is not a bad person, nor is he a complete fool.  The core issue is that he does not like himself.  And because he doesn’t like himself, he assumes that no one else will like his true self either.  Being an actor feeds into this, as most people’s first impressions of him are based on Danny Chase: The Action Movie Star, not Danny Chase: The Real Person.  Because most people are drawn to the person they think he is, he assumes they will be disappointed with the person that he really is, because even he doesn’t like that person.
His wealth and fame help him perpetuate his denial.  He assumes that anyone who does show interest in the real Danny Chase is really only interested in his money.  He keeps everyone he knows at arms length, he refuses to reveal personal information, or he relies on little white lies to keep the truth private.  The only person that he is willing to confide in is the only person that truly knows him, the one that has known him his whole life – his brother.  But with his brother living hundreds of miles away, with a wife and kids and a busy job, Danny is more isolated and alone than ever before.

Name: Blair Gabbert
Role: mid-20’s long lost daughter of Danny Chase born and raised in Australia
Description: I suppose the more conventional approach would be to give Danny a love interest that helps him open up and start to change who he is.  But I prefer the more unlikely scenario of a long lost daughter for two reasons.  First, she is family, not a stranger that he can run from, and she serves as a more realistic replacement for his last confidant, his brother.  Second, she reminds him that he is no longer a young man and helps him realize that it may be time to move on from that old life and on to a new one.
She is skeptical of her mother’s story that a Hollywood movie star is her real father.  Growing up, her feelings about her father varied greatly, but today she just wants to know who he is.  Her biggest fear was that she would meet him and he would assume she was only interested in his money.  So after reading a recent story about his financial troubles, she built up the courage to fly to Los Angeles to meet him.

Name: Tyler Chase
Role: Older brother of Danny Chase
Description: Tyler is married and has two teenage kids.  He lives and works in far away from Hollywood, but his job requires him to travel there occasionally.  He’s always been Danny’s closest friend, but the two have drifted apart.  Tyler has never relied on his brother financially and has never intended to.  He loves his job and would keep working even if his brother made him a multi-millionaire, giving the two an honest relationship where neither one owes the other anything.  In many ways, Tyler represents the life that Chase always wishes he could have.

Role: Paparazzi/TMZ reporter
Ideal actor: Either someone who is often in the tabloids, or someone who has had some confrontations with paparazzi in the past

Role: Danny Chase’s agent
Ideal actor: Perhaps an Ari Gold-type character?  Not sure where the irony can come from in this role.

Role: Chase’s accountant
Ideal actor: Someone who has had some financial troubles in the past

Role: Chase’s therapist
Ideal actor: An actor or actress that the public often sees as “crazy”.  Or someone who is outspoken against therapists

Roles: Tyler’s business associates
Ideal actors: These actors should probably be filled with fairly anonymous actors rather than big name cameos.  I don’t want their presence to take away from the Chase-Tyler interactions.

Other Potential Cameos:
Chase’s gardener – Providing an awkward exchange where Chase thinks his Spanish speaking gardener may be able to provide some valuable career advise
Waiter/Waitress or Maitre D in the restaurant meeting with the agent
Receptionists for Chase’s accountant or therapist
Homeless man – could be encountered at any point
Beer vendor at the basketball/baseball game
Heckler at the game – possibly played by a famous pro athlete
Police officer – someone who has been in trouble with the law before, pulls Chase over for expired tags