she's walking?.  don't tell me she's walking. she is not walking.  she can't walk.
-- nicola! how was your massage?
-- is this about the new pages? -- i made the changes you wanted, you're in virtually every scene --
it's the biggest on earth! i swear! it's a 50-foot airstream -- they don't make them any longer than that.
taller? what?
nicola, it's just the tires -- they're over-inflated! i can fix it!
see, it's lower already.
i beg you. you can't do this to me.
then show some. they'll shut me down!
you know what, nicola, you're right. here, let me help you with that. you ought to go. the truth is i don't deserve you. this film doesn't deserve you. frankly, it deserves much, much better. the reason it's not working is because you're not about the work.
to hell, please.
what are you looking at? get back to work.
i've analyzed the footage. we've got almost everything we need in the can. if we rework the script, we can finish the film without her.
so we'll re-cast.
it's a re-make, hal. anders is not bigger than this picture.
we don't need a name. we'll cast an unknown.
no! you will not give in to that blackmailing bitch!
difficult. i'm difficult.
-- do you know what these are, elaine?
not just any mike & ike's -- cherry mike & ike's. do you know why i, viktor taransky, two-time academy award nominated director --
-- overseeing the most cherished movie project of my career, am walking around with a pocketful of cherry mike & ike's?
-- i'll tell you why. it is because miss nicola anders, supermodel with a sag card god's gift to cinema, has it written into her contract that all cherry mike & ike's be removed from her candy dish along with strict instructions that any room she walks into should have seven packs of cigarettes waiting for her three of them opened, that there be a personal jacuzzi within eighty paces of her dressing room, and that any time she travels, her nanny must fly with her first class.
elaine, she doesn't have any children! don't you see? we're being held hostage by 12 men and 5 women who someone somewhere has decreed are the a-list.
please.
we can hardly make a profit with them. up-front salary, back-end deal, perks, per diem, percentages -- they're mocking us, elaine. we're at their mercy. we always had movie stars but they used to be our stars. we used to decide who would play what role. we told them what to wear, what to say, who to date. when they were under contract, we could change their names if we wanted to -- more than once!
well, i do remember why i started out in this business -- you seem to have forgotten -- working in new york with cassevetes -- we were trying to do something important, shine a light in that darkened cinema --
-- illuminate hearts and minds with a ray of truth.
spare me.
you're not renewing my contract.
-- well, it's not every day you're fired by the mother of your own child.
you can have everything -- office, car, assistants -- all i want is the picture.
so there's no problem -- i can have the rights, the negative too?
i don't need a star. all i need is an actor -- i'll reshoot the part, cut out nicola and replace her with a real actor. a real leading lady.
hello, sweetheart.
it's really.  not anything, lainey. it's just --
you look very grown up. what are you doing? you meeting your mom for dinner?
i'm going to finish the picture, sweetheart. it's important.
that's right. i'm viktor taransky.
-- please, get away from me.
you want me to call security?
i was misquoted.
that's right. you were booed off the stage. that's got to be -- ?
good for you, hank.
i'm sorry.
i've seen them all before.
come on, hank. a synthespian, virtual actor -- ?
i need flesh and --
-- a living, breathing actor -- i can't work with a fake.
that's the point, hank. no matter how good they are, they're still mickey mouse. everyone's tried. everyone's failed. it can't be done.
i don't know anything about computers.
what's that?
you do?
you saw that?
listen, hank, it's been a rough day. i'll call you about his next week.
i'm already dead.
-- what do you mean she won't work with me? she's done nothing. she doesn't have a single credit --
-- art, you don't understand. i've mortgaged everything to finish this film -- creditors calling, coming to the house, for god's sake, i need this --
-- damn.
i'm not him.
what is it?
want to see a free movie?
hello, lainey.
your mother couldn't make it?
she still with kent?
not quite how i imagined it --
there was no other way.
me too.
you know, i.  don't know.
she can't watch herself.
ladies and gentlemen of the jury, i may be guilty of a crime, but it was committed with the purest of intentions, to send a message to the acting community who put themselves above the work and above --
she wasn't too.  cartoony?
"not of this earth". a good way of putting it. and the film as a whole -- ?
i saw her picture on the, er.  internet. you really didn't notice anything -- unusual?
taransky.
good to see you too, elaine.
why? because she would never show up at something like this. she's intensely private.
don't thank me. it was entirely simone's decision. do you have simone's check?
almost right.
i don't know if that's going to happen.
as i say, she's.  something of a recluse. that's how she's able to stay so pure -- by isolating herself in her art.
out of the question. a circus like that?
she's my actor. there are other studios, elaine. there's only one simone. leave the press conference to me.
is this on?
taransky, viktor. t-a-r-a-n-s-k-y, v-i-k-t-o-r.
i am a two-time academy award nominated director with over eighteen films to my credit thus far including my latest release, "sunrise, sunset". who are you?
i will not be taking any questions. however i do have a statement to read on behalf of my leading lady, simone. "to whom it may concern. i'm deeply grateful for the extraordinary public response to mr. taransky's film. at this time i will be conducting no interviews or making publicity appearances since i am really nothing without the beautiful worlds and characters mr. taransky creates for me. i politely request that the press respect my privacy and let the work speak for itself. all questions and inquiries should be directed to mr. taransky to whom i entrust all aspects of my career. yours very truly, simone".
i thought i made it clear -- no questions regarding simone. now, i would like to close by announcing that miss simone begins production today on her next film, "eternity forever". this project has been near and dear to my heart since i wrote it nine years ago. i thank you.
do i know you?
don't you have a real story to write? why aren't you in latin america?
i remember when the echo had class -- the paper that could bring down governments.
they are alive, sayer.
maybe the reason she's with me is a little thing called integrity, sayer. look it up.
good.
she's already here. she arrived before you and she'll leave long after you've gone. remember, under no circumstances are you or any other person to enter the set without my express permission.
let it burn. simone would rather go up in flames than give up her privacy.
pay no attention to the man behind the computer.
good morning, simone.
a star is.
buy it? they're paying for it. and around here that's how you really know they buy it.
i'm only sorry hank isn't here to see this.
do you have any idea what this means, simone? our ability to manufacture fraud now exceeds our ability to detect it.
you are birth of.  what? a phenomenon. a miracle. a new era in show business. all i wanted to do was finish the film.
hmm.  a little less streep, a little more bacall.
yes. yes, it is.
while i think of it, i'd like you to add something to your repertoire -- remember that thing hepburn does in "breakfast at tiffany's".
let's hear you say "hi" like audrey.
perfect. god, i'm so relaxed around you.
no. i.  just helped bring someone else's dream to life.
you're right. you're right. of course, one doesn't want to boast. it's a classic case of technology in search of an artist. that's all you've been waiting for, an artist with integrity, with a vision, who can see.
see beyond that irrational allegiance to flesh and blood. -- see that with the rise in price of a real actor and the fall in price of a fake, the scales have tipped in favor of the fake. -- see that if the performance is genuine, it doesn't matter if the actor is real. once a performance is committed to film, the blood and bones are gone anyway. only the spirit, the illusion remains. besides, what's real anymore? these days most actors have digital work done to them so it's a gray area.
the only real truth is in the work.
yes. yes, i'm going to tell the truth about you, why wouldn't i? of course, with hank's tragic passing, the secret died with him. i am going to tell the truth.  after your next picture.
speaking of which -- this is the project i'd like you to do next.
i was hoping you'd say that.
i'm sorry, i didn't catch that. what did you say?
you're so beautiful. too beautiful.
sure, i'll.  "call you".
hello, hal.
you never were together, hal.
clyde.
really? she didn't mention it.
hello?.  simone! how are you, sweetheart?
you'll never guess who i'm with.  you ran into him on the lot.
you're so far off! hal.  hal sinclair.  your co- star. remember now?.  no, i don't think he's put on weight. anyway, you think he's right for "eternity forever"?.  not the right type?.  a different direction.  i'll try to talk her into it.
 listen this is a bad place to talk.  what?.  sweetheart, i know you have charity work you want to do, i know you want to give back -- but remember, your greatest gift is your talent.  we'll talk about it at the beach house this weekend.  i'm looking forward to it too.
can't you stop that?
those things can be dangerous. staring at a screen all day -- you miss what's going on outside in the real world. you can lose yourself. you should get out more. how are you going to meet boys?
really? who? where do you meet them? in a chat room? how do you know he's not some middle-aged freak?
okay. but you have to find a way to escape that thing.
how?
you do? still? i can't tell you how happy i am to hear that.
you understood them. that's what was amazing. it's a nice day. let's eat outside.
stay here, i'll deal with this.
you'll never find her. simone only appears when i want her to appear.
who's the hostage, sayer, her or you? you look kind of "captive" yourself. while you're spending every waking hour obsessing over simone, guess what, i guarantee she doesn't even know you exist. get off my property or i'll call the cops.
i'm just trying to help you, sayer. i don't want you to be disappointed. it gets cold out here at night.
i'd like to see that, sayer. invite me.
honey, i'm really sorry about all this. i don't know if it's safe for you to stay the weekends.  just until things settle down.
if anyone asks about simone --
exactly. don't you wonder where i'm really hiding simone?
sorry i didn't get her back in time.
why not?
hello -- kent.
"forever".
there aren't any. if the filmmakers are happy, simone's happy. she considers herself an.  "instrument".
if it's on the page.
she'll drive herself.
she'll do her own. theater training.
i'll send you her resume.
-- i guarantee she won't gain an once. she's very disciplined.
what about it?
no need. she does all her own stunts.
even the fall from the plane.
as i've tried to explain to you, elaine. simone isn't like any other actress you've ever known. she's about the work and only the work -- lives for the work. she wants all the money up there.  .  on the screen where it belongs. she'd work for scale except i know you only respect people you pay a fortune.
not today. she's learning her lines. you can also take cue cards and teleprompter out of the budget.
elaine, talking to you now, not as viktor, director, but viktor, ex husband.  what the hell happened to you?
simone does not control my destiny.
don't worry. i understand.
i can't tell you how delighted i am to have this wonderful cast assembled for "eternity forever". thank you all. now, a reminder -- as a condition for working on this film, you will not be rehearsing with simone, shooting with simone and you are forbidden from contacting simone in any way at any time, whatsoever.
body double.
for you. i want you to know, simone appreciates you all working for scale. but why am i thanking you? simone can thank you herself. she insisted on speaking with you before filming begins. she's on the line now.
simone, are you there?
of course. i'll be back in a minute.
no one goes in there.
of course.
she'll be happy to sign it.
cut! cut!.  cut!
hal, what are you doing?
absolutely not!
you can't.
there's.  a wall between you --
-- no. no. a real wall. you ran right through it.
i can't explain it to you now -- you'll see when it's all put together. anyway, we got it a couple of takes ago. let's move on.
let's take it down a notch.
i like it. but still too big. smaller teardrops next time.
it's not working. it's not alive. let's try it again.
perfect, simone.
i'm only sorry you still have to work with flesh and blood for the time being -- as user friendly as you are, even i can't manufacture an entire cast.
we are going to have to change our plans, simone -- you have no idea what an affect your performance is having on people. we can't stop now. there's too much to say -- these films they speak, they speak to the human condition. we're changing lives. no, revealing the truth now would be too cruel. anyway, when you're seeking a greater truth -- in the work -- you are not so concerned with the lesser truths along the way.
why do you have to bring that up? there's always risk -- life's a risk. it's worth it. besides, how could something so lovely be a crime? well, i think we've done enough for today. you've been cooped up in there too long. how about you and me go out on the town? they're expecting us.
i'm checking in a special guest.  .  miss enomis.
miss enomis demands her privacy. you will switch off all surveillance cameras. i will escort miss enomis to her room alone via the rear exit. she will require no help with her luggage. she does not wish to be disturbed at any time for any reason. she will be departing for a function tonight at eight sharp. i'm sure i can rely on your discretion. do you understand?
who is it?
not yet. where's "matinee"? there they are. okay, i think everyone's here. now!
thank god for you, faith. i know this is above and beyond the call of duty for a stand-in. you don't know what a service you're performing for simone -- shielding her from those animals.
you understand you'll have to come back to my place to keep them off the, er.  .  scent.
you look so, so.
yes, of course, but very beautiful in your own right.
viktor.
what?.  what did you say?
what i do to simone?
simone?
you're with me to be close to her?
please put your clothes on
thank you. what did you think, lainey?
i know, hal is as stiff as always.
i wondered if you'd spot that. you've got a good eye, lainey. i'm proud of you.
i got them to remove the reflection. the mirror's metaphor -- to show how her character's inwardly dead.
who else? it's always simone's idea.
precisely.
night, lainey.
elaine, i don't know if it's a good idea for lainey to come to the screenings -- mature content and all that.
better late than never.
you really think so?
thank you. i'll tell simone you liked it.
soon. soon.
everyone you know is lying.
damnit!
you know simone.
well, i'm sure they're going to love the movie. i got the inspiration --
i'm fine, hal. how are you?
she's around.
i know what you mean.
no. in fact, between us, she doesn't really exist.
-- you can't go in there!
-- why? what's all this about?
-- what do you want her to do, go door-to-door -- ?
-- it's precisely because she doesn't crave the limelight that people love her. i told you, she's only about the work.
not now. she's emotional. her mother dies today. scene forty-two of "good for nothing". it's not a good time.
no! please, don't go in there!
elaine.  i.
-- i can explain.
it's worse than you think. she's extremely agoraphobic -- has a morbid fear of people and germs. in a way i'm relieved you.  found out.
the premiere was the first time i've convinced her to venture out and it just confirmed her worst nightmares.
she doesn't want pity.
i'll tell you what. i know how much this means to you. i'll try to get her to plug the film. i'm not promising anything but maybe she'll do a talk show -- taped.
i'll try. maybe live but remote. she'll never go to them.
i'm sorry i didn't get a chance to introduce you to simone at the premiere. there wasn't time with the riot and everything. but she wanted you to have this.
she said you were very beautiful.
elaine, what are you doing tonight? would you like to go somewhere -- dinner?
oh, yes. of course. don't i always?
hello.
no.
no, of course not! why? would you care if we were?
thank you.
do what?
i do?
excuse me? start?
will you cover yourself up!?
-- we don't do the photo shoot, you don't get the cover.  written answers to written questions, that's right.  website interviews, no problem.
you want exposure, elaine? i'll give you over-exposure.
forgive me, simone.
it's a yacht.
i don't have time for this, sayer.
the background is.
-- i bet you have.
i'm keeping it in trust.
abduction?
what is it exactly you want, sayer?
alright, sayer, you've got a deal.
that's the way she likes it.
excellent.
simone wanted you to have these.
oh, i will. remember, no cameras, no binoculars.
let's get you into hair and make up.
wardrobe.
easier to make one hundred thousand believe than just one.
i don't know about you, simone, but i've never felt more alive.
damn!
i said i didn't want to be interrupt --
my two favorite girls.
she's lying down. she's exhausted.
where are you.  going?
hey, lainey. how's your love life?
you know me -- married to my work.
really? too bad.
lainey, you know simone and i don't have a real relationship.
dinner? dinner's difficult. a phone call?
i'll see what i can do. you know, lainey. i don't believe you've ever once asked to meet simone. don't you like her?
i love you, lainey.
she did.  didn't she?
it's written right there.  why didn't i say it?.  how could i forget to say it?
damn it!
what now, sayer?
she looks a lot like you.
that won't be necessary. sooner or later i knew you'd crack this thing, max. you got me.
i wouldn't want you to compromise your ethics.
you love her, don't you, max?
this should take care of mother.
happy birthday, lainey. do you like it?
it's the car she drove in "eternity forever".
it's from both of us. of course you'll have to drive it around the lot until you get your permit --
why not? i can get you something else. what do you want?
no, that was me.
lainey.
yes.
thank you. it's not important.
yes, i'd like that.
you know you're really very good. i take back what i said. i mean, you're really good.
you could play the lead.
yes, of course it is. you know you have a line here. not a wrinkle. actually, more of a dimple. i've been thinking of incorporating something like that in simone.
no, of course not, you're right. that would be crazy.
jane --
i'm leaving early tonight. if you need me i'll be at the beach house having dinner with a.  certain someone.
elaine, it's wednesday.
as a matter-of-fact i am.
about now. would you like a drink?
not quite.
impossible.
i know. i know. they'll say anything.
-- she already is. simone's not coming over, elaine. not tonight, not ever. i want you back, elaine.
i would rather have you than simone. believe me.
no, there isn't. there's nothing to her.
no, i will end my relationship with her -- totally.
no. she'll never work again -- retire, never make a movie or a record, or appear ever again.
not if i don't let her.
i'm going to tell you a secret now, elaine. simone is not a real person. i invented her.
-- no, no, i didn't trip over her. you don't understand --
who says that -- ? -- never mind. you have to listen to me, elaine. simone is thin air, pixels, molded by me from a mathematical equation. i inherited it from a madman -- i can show you --
-- she's a figment of my own imagination. i, viktor taransky, have perpetrated the greatest hoax, the greatest sleight-of-hand, sleight-of-mouth, sleight-of- sleight in entertainment history! and still no one appreciates me, recognizes what i've done -- even you.
no! whatever talent simone has comes from me -- me! me! i swear, as god is my judge. you don't know what i've been through. tens of thousands of mind-numbing hours in front of that screen, nights without end, and look what it's cost me. why do you think i've been wearing these? i may have done irreparable harm to my eyesight, and why? to extract and refine the infinite nuances of a human being -- a human soul. don't you see? i made simone!
you bitch! i'll destroy you!
she's trying to kill me.
they're plastic, hank. i know that's the way you'd want it. she killed you, hank. now she's killing me. she's a serial killer. but i don't know how to stop her. she's taken on a life of her own. i can't just come clean -- make some confession. i've defrauded millions -- they'd turn on me. and i can't put the genie back in the bottle. if she stopped working -- dropped out of sight, they'd never let it rest. i've tried to kill her career but they like her even more. what am i going to do, hank?
don't say another word, hank. you are truly a genius.
it's the only way, simone. if it's any consolation, you're going to live on in the public's heart like all the other tragic figures that went before their time. there's no love like posthumous love.
i know what you're thinking. it's a phoney-baloney world. the women are surgically enhanced, the athletes are on steroids, the singers are lip-syncing if they're even singing at all, the news is entertainment, the politicians are bought and paid for -- we're living one big lie. so why shouldn't you live too? you're more authentic than the people who adore you. and that's the problem. you're looking at the real fraud. i told myself this was all about the work but if that was the truth, it wouldn't matter to me -- and it does. it wasn't that the artists had no respect for the art. they had no respect for me. someone like you, you have so much love showered on you -- i just wanted to feel one tiny drop on my face. i'm sorry, simone. here i've been trying to convince the world that you exist, but i was really trying to convince them that i exist. it's not that you aren't human, simone, it's that i am.
it is my sad and solemn duty to announce the tragic passing of simone.
a rare virus. on her goodwill tour of the third world.
mercifully, it was quick.
can i see you later -- go away for the weekend?
that's right. you understand perfectly. i will confess to fraud, not murder.
oh, no. the fan club is real. but they were worshipping computer code -- ones and zeros.
of course.
who?
she's insane! this whole thing is insane! there is no simone. look! even her name is fake. it's not simone. it's sim.  one! simulation one!
it wasn't her body. it was her body of work.
i am telling the truth.
no!! i can prove it to you. i'll take you to her.
did you find anything else -- drivers, discs.  disc-drives?
i could get the death penalty.
i didn't kill anyone, bernard, there was no one to kill!
-- no! i can't go along with this horseshit! just tell them they can fry me!
it was premeditated -- i knew exactly what i was doing! i strangled her! i bludgeoned her! i set her on fire! i did it! i killed her!
you're indestructible.
thank you! i don't know how you did it but thank you.
why stop at one character when you can have a whole cast?
that sounds wonderful. how do you feel about all this, lainey?
me and simone. what i did.
no.  it's life.
yes.