Krysten talks to her Agent

Krysten Ritter was one of the hottest TV actresses around. She wasn't A-list but she was an attractive ex model with a reputation for being easy to work with but also talented enough to be capable of stealing scenes. And thanks to roles in Breaking Bad and the MCU she was well known and liked by audiences. To an extent this meant she had her pick of new projects. And what she wanted more than anything was a lead role in another sitcom like in her break out role in 'Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23'.

Drama was all very well, but what she loved was physical comedy, the likes of Chaplin and Lucile Ball, people who could make you laugh with just their expression. Unfortunately, that wasn't how always executives saw her, especially after her previous passion project, the comedy film 'Life Happens', had been such a flop. They mostly wanted to give her another tragic detective to play like Jessica Jones. She was offered roles in sitcoms but largely as a friend or a sister to the lead, most sitcoms wanted a large supporting cast but felt the single star, need to be either truly A-list or a dab hand at comedy, and Ritter's background being in modelling rather than stand-up meant few people wanted to trust her with carrying a sitcom. She'd only got 'Apartment 23' cos it had been a last minute replacement and that failure meant she wasn't the first pick for another sitcom. More than that her comedic tastes put off a lot of writers, who felt slapstick was passé and preferred witty dialogue that showed off their cleverness rather than their actresses.

"Come on, Sharron, is there genuinely nothing out there like this?" Krysten whined to her Agent for what felt like the 50th time that year.

"Well, there was a script we got sent a while back that we never showed you. The writer didn't have much of a history in the business so we put it in the 'no-hopers' category, but he was interested in working with you and since then we've heard he's been in talks with HBO. Probably won't go anywhere but if you put your name behind it, that might sway some suits."

"Well, its worth a shot, I suppose. Is the script any good?"

"It's not my taste, but the main character he'd picked out for you is in pretty much every scene and gets a lot of slapstick. It fits almost exactly what you want."

"Fantastic," Krysten stopped and narrowed her eyes, "Wait, this is too good, what aren't you telling me Sharron?"

"It's HBO, so we'll be looking at more sexual content than the average sitcom."

"Oh, that's no problem. I may be in my 40s but I'm still a thirst trap, happy to flash some ass in skimpy knickers while I still can."

"Yes, but this requires rather more than that. You'll need to go topless, which you've always ruled out entirely before."

"Well, yeah Sharon, it's not exactly my best feature. Even as a model, I always wore clothes to emphasise my ass rather than my top. I might be the only actress this applies to but, trust me, getting my chest out will lose me male fans."

"In this script, that's kind of the point. It's called 'A Cup' and a lot of the slapstick involves your character stuffing her bra and trying not to show anyone her chest but getting outed."

"And you want me to take this? I'll be humiliated."

"No, honestly, Krysten, I want you to take one of the many drama roles you've been offered, but you're the one who still thinks she has something to prove in comedy. I'm saying that if you do want a main sitcom role, this is all you have offered to you. If you want to turn that down, fine. But if you do that, then please just lets just stick with Drama. Comedy requires a lack of ego. All your heroes were always happy to make themselves the butt of the joke, to make themselves the clown. And if you're not willing to do that, if you're happy to have people lust after your body, but you can't bear to make people laugh with it, then, fine, but don't waste my time asking me to find you a comedy role."

"Hey, I'm sorry if I've been awkward Sharron. I just .... Ok, you know what, HBO probably won't take it but I'd regret it if I didn't do everything I could to pursue this dream. Contact the writer, give him my word that if he gets anything green lit, I'll play the role, no matter what he needs me to do, and he can tell the suits that I'm in."

Krysten made her farewells and then hung up, suddenly feeling a deep nervousness. What had she actually agreed to? Oh, well, she told herself, it doesn't matter, it's not like a script from a complete newbie would ever get picked up by HBO anyway. Would it?