A red-eye flight from Toronto touched down in LAX.
Tom Cruise stepped off the private charter the production had booked for him, rocking big sunglasses, a baseball cap pulled low, a sharp jacket, and jeans. Casual, but you could still tell it was him if you knew what to look for.
After weeks of shooting up north, he was finally back in Los Angeles.
While he waited in the nearly deserted terminal for his assistant to grab the bags, Tom just stood there alone at 3 a.m. The few people rushing by were too bleary-eyed and in a hurry to notice that the guy leaning against the pillar was actually Tom freakin' Cruise.
Bored, he started scanning the giant ads lining the hall.
And then he froze.
What the hell had happened while he was gone?
There, twenty feet tall, was Joey. She was wearing H&M's new pink fuzzy cardigan over a pale-blue collared shirt, khaki wide-leg pants, the whole look screaming effortless, youthful, all-American cool. She looked like she'd been born in those clothes.
Tom wasn't shocked that Joey had landed an H&M campaign; he was shocked at how insanely natural she looked. Like the camera was in love with her.
A soft, involuntary smile crept across his face.
His new agent (who also happened to be his big sister Jennifer) caught it immediately.
She sidled up, grinning like she'd just won the lottery. "Hey, Tom, why are you smiling like an idiot at a billboard?"
He wiped the smile off fast and went stone-faced. "That's a friend of mine."
Jennifer's grin got even wider and way more evil. "Oh, I know exactly who that is. Joey. The whole town's talking about her right now. Didn't realize you two were that close."
"Yeah, well." His eyes drifted back to the giant photo, lingering on Joey's mouth; those lips curved just enough to make a guy wonder what it'd be like to close the distance.
He didn't even realize he was staring until he caught himself thinking, Yeah… I bet kissing her would be pretty damn amazing.
And honestly? He didn't feel bad about the thought. He was a grown man; he'd kept himself in check just fine so far.
Jennifer shoulder-bumped him. "You really like her, huh?"
Tom shot her a look, then smoothly pivoted into businesslike tone. "She's charming. Everybody likes her." He pulled out his phone. "Give me a sec, I gotta make a call."
He walked off to a quiet corner and dialed.
Joey picked up, way too chipper for three in the morning. "Hey, Tom! You back in LA?"
He glanced at his watch, twisting it in his hand. "Just landed. And you just gave me the welcome-home surprise of the year. Those H&M billboards are everywhere. You look incredible."
She laughed on the other end. "Trust me, I was just as shocked as you are. But… it's kinda fun."
"You look like you belong in front of the camera," he teased. "Sure you don't want to act in something next?"
Joey snorted. "Hard pass. My acting's probably limited to 'pretty girl holding a prop,' and even then I'm not sure I'd sell it. So no thanks~"
Tom got serious for a second. "Who says you couldn't pull off eye-candy? I'd cast you in a heartbeat."
She cackled. "Wow, sick burn, Cruise! If you like my look so much, why don't you just write me into the next Mission: Impossible?"
He actually paused, wheels turning. "If you were actually interested—"
"STOP. I was kidding!" She was cracking up now. "I've got zero time anyway. Go hit up one of your usual Hollywood bombshells."
Then she yawned dramatically. "Okay, gotta crash. Early call tomorrow. Night!"
"Night."
Click.
Next morning, Joey was back on the Twilight set in Oregon.
Henry Cavill rolled in first; as the vampire, he had to sit in the makeup chair for a solid 45 minutes so they could paint him ghostly pale. Joey gave him an approving nod. "You've been avoiding the sun like a champ, huh?"
Henry grinned. "Gotta commit to the bit. I'm a vampire, remember?"
She laughed. Truth was, in another life, Henry had been Stephenie Meyer's personal dream-cast for Edward Cullen. Robert Pattinson only got it because the original director wanted someone younger. Joey didn't care about age; she could tweak the story a little. Plus, when every other guy had strutted into the audition trying to look hot, Henry had walked in head slightly down, quiet, brooding; total vampire energy.
Throughout the shoot she kept having to rein him in. "Henry, chill with the faces. You've got three pounds of pale makeup caked on. The second you start doing all these micro-expressions, it cracks and you look like a clown. Just… deadpan it. Trust me."
She knew the internet would drag Edward for being wooden later. Didn't matter; it was the makeup's fault.
Between takes, the vampire actors trained with a choreographer, studying big cats so they could move with that eerie, feline grace.
First scene of the day: the beach walk.
Oregon weather was the absolute worst; rainiest place in the country. Joey had three different shooting schedules ready every single day depending on the forecast.
Today was brutal: freezing wind, melting snow, 40-mph gusts whipping knee-high waves. She looked at Emma apologetically. "If you're good to go barefoot, we'll shoot it. You two just hold hands and walk…"
Emma stared at the icy ocean, sighed like defeated, and muttered, "Fine…"
Second scene: Henry playing the piano in front of everyone.
Joey leaned over the lid, whispering, "You remember any of what the piano teacher drilled into you?"
He looked panicked. "I'm trying, but some parts keep slipping. I'll get it, though—"
She cut him off with a smile, running a finger across the keys. "Forget everything he taught you."
Henry blinked. "…Come again?"
"Improvise. You'll be way more relaxed if you just play whatever feels right. You got this."
She walked away. Henry let out a huge breath and actually smiled for the first time all morning.
Third scene: the vampires sprinting down the highway.
To fake super-speed, the stunt team built a platform out of fifteen plexiglass panels and towed it behind a truck going 25 mph while the actors "ran" full-out on it. On camera it looked like they were blurring along at 35-40 mph. Worked like a charm.
Fourth scene… fifth scene…
Everything ran like clockwork under Joey's watch.
Every single day the crew saw a new trick up her sleeve. Every day the actors discovered some new way she made the job easier and less stressful.
A few months flew by, and one day they were wrapping principal photography on Twilight.
Emma headed back to Brown University in the UK. Henry flew home to wait for the phone to ring.
Joey returned to LA and dove straight into post-production.
If everything stayed on schedule, they were still looking good for a holiday release. No major roadblocks in sight.
What Joey hadn't expected was how crazy-hot her name had become in Hollywood overnight. Suddenly every studio wanted a piece of her next project.
In one single week she took ten meetings; all set up by Kathryn, all ended the same way: either they were trying to low-ball her or just kicking the tires.
Finally, after she turned down an offer from a Warner Bros. exec, Kathryn lost her mind.
"You just told Warner no?! Are you insane?!"