The New York Advertising Awards are a huge deal in North America, like the Oscars for ad people.
Their magazine, New York Adman, is one of the top-selling trade pubs in the business. It caters to high-end creatives, agency hotshots, and big-shot clients, which is exactly why landing the cover of New York Adman is the kind of thing supermodels will literally claw each other's eyes out for.
Getting that cover is basically the ultimate "I've arrived" moment in the North American ad world.
So these days, when you walk past a newsstand, anyone who keeps up with the ad scene does a double-take at the latest issue. There's a face on the cover that most people don't recognize at first.
It's a face that somehow manages to be arrogant, drop-dead gorgeous, razor-sharp, and perfectly refined all at once.
The sharp-eyed ones gasp, "Wait… isn't that the girl from H&M's new campaign?!"
"She actually scored the cover of New York Adman? That's supermodel territory!"
"Girl's about to blow up!"
On the cover, Joey's wearing that same purple "Enchanted Kingdom" look from the commercial: full-on gothic glamour, blood-red lips, thick black liner, smoky shadow. Who would've thought the director everyone knows for her sweet, no-nonsense, girl-next-door vibe could transform into something this lethal and breathtaking with the right makeup team?
The headline splashed next to her reads: "Stealing the Spotlight with Killer Beauty – H&M"
That exotic, gothic vibe pops so hard the issue sold out everywhere.
Asian faces already carry that "rare minority" mystique in Western eyes, but it's super rare for an Asian woman to stop people dead in their tracks with pure beauty. Joey just did.
Flip inside and the magazine devotes pages and pages to H&M's new campaign.
"Recently, a virtual unknown in the modeling world has been blowing up. The H&M spot she starred in just landed a spot among the New York Adman's picks for Campaign of the Year."
"How did a model with zero big experience, no conventional 'supermodel' look, and basically no name recognition beat out a sea of top supermodels to create a hall-of-fame ad?"
"The answer: she took total control."
"That's right, the model, the director, the script, even the set design, everything came from one genius woman: Joey Grant."
"You might not know the name if you only follow Hollywood, but mention Juno, Source Code, Broadway's La La Land, or the global phenomenon Twilight, and you're talking about projects this same woman masterminded behind the camera."
"And yeah, that's also the same woman who gave that viral equal-rights speech for Asian Americans from the White House podium. Heavy makeup might make her look like a different person, but nothing hides her insane talent and rock-solid character."
"Even when she's just dipping her toe into advertising for fun, she creates absolute chaos (the good kind)."
"She's now the hottest Asian model in years and directed one of the most unforgettable ads we've ever seen."
"She's incredible. We can't wait to see what she does next!"
Joey-mania kept spreading. Suddenly every luxury brand on the planet wanted her.
Labels that usually only book supermodels (Dior perfume, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada, the ones A-list actresses fight tooth and nail over) all quietly reached out, begging her to be the face of their next campaign.
Joey, though? She wasn't exactly jumping up and down. She's a director first. She'd rather people stayed focused on her films.
Fans were losing their minds online:
"Why didn't Joey just play Bella herself? She would've been perfect!"
"She should totally star as the lead in her own movies from now on. Saves money and we get to look at her more!"
"Dead serious, after that H&M spot I went out and bought both outfits she wore: Million Dollar Sweetheart and Enchanted Kingdom."
"H&M is eating right now. Their stuff is way hotter at my school than Zara or Gap ever was."
No denying it: this campaign introduced the whole country to just how stunning the "miracle director" really is.
Tom Cruise was one of the people completely blindsided.
He honestly never saw it coming. Joey kept shattering every assumption he had about her. He already knew she was a genius, a once-in-a-generation talent with a sharp mind and rock-solid morals.
But looks? He'd always filed her under "cute but ordinary," definitely not in the same league as the Hollywood bombshells, supermodels, and pop stars he'd dated.
Reality just slapped him across the face.
She could be heart-stoppingly beautiful when she wanted to be.
Most people couldn't imagine it: Tom Cruise, alone in his massive ten-bedroom Beverly Hills mansion on a weekend, doing nothing but rewatching Joey's H&M spot on loop for two straight days.
Those eyes, those thin lips, the sharp arch of her brows, the elegant line of her neck, her perfect shoulder blades, the flawless skin of her back; he literally couldn't look away.
He'd dated some of the most famous beauties in the world: icy regal types, fiery Latin roses. Joey wasn't classically "hotter" than any of them.
But something about her locked his soul in place. He couldn't peel his eyes off her.
He'd warned himself to stay away; she was dangerous. Her pride, her independence, her talent, her drive; everything about her was so different from anyone else that being around her made him feel… off-balance.
Then he realized he was completely screwed. He couldn't stay away if he tried.
Her light drowned out everything else, even the loneliness he'd carried for years. For the first time in forever he felt the insane urge to dive head-first into a real relationship.
He wanted her. Wanted to own her completely. The feeling was so strong it scared him.
Maybe for the first time in decades, he actually wanted to spend the rest of his life with someone.
Being with her would never get old because she was always revealing some brand-new side of herself you'd never seen before.
He gripped his glass so hard his knuckles went white. He was 44, but suddenly felt like a teenager crushing hard on the girl of his dreams all over again.
It felt amazing, like proof his heart hadn't actually turned to stone yet.
He grabbed his phone and called his assistant at United Artists.
"Mr. Cruise?"
Cold, flat voice: "Is Joey in the office today?"
The assistant glanced over. "Yeah, she's here."
"Good."
He hung up, changed clothes, and headed straight out.
Meanwhile, Joey was chilling in her office flipping through a comic book.
She heard the slow, deliberate sound of dress shoes in the hallway; confident, elegant, borderline cocky.
Didn't even have to look up.
She scratched her head. "What brings you here today?"
Tom shrugged, eyes landing on the book in her hands. "Just checking in. Wanted to see what you're up to and hear about your next moves."
Joey grinned. "Funny you ask; someone's actually coming by later to talk future projects."
"So?" Tom flipped open the comic she was holding.
Iron Man.
One eyebrow went up. "Don't tell me you're actually interested in Marvel's little passion project."
Joey knew Tom Cruise was probably the person on Earth most familiar with that project.
In her previous life, after Iron Man blew the doors off Hollywood, all the dirt came out: Marvel had offered the role to Tom back in 2005. He was their first choice, and at first he was into it; even willing to co-produce. But Marvel was drowning in debt, the movie needed bank loans, everything kept getting delayed, and after years of waiting Tom finally read the script, hated it, lost faith in Marvel's ability to pull it off, and walked.
He famously told them, "This thing's never gonna work."
So Marvel went to their Plan B: Robert Downey Jr. for a measly half-million bucks.
And the rest is history. Best superhero casting ever. Turned Marvel into a cash machine and made RDJ the highest-paid actor in Hollywood for years.
Point is, Joey didn't need to explain the Iron Man situation to Tom. He lived it.
Tom frowned at her. "Marvel's about to go bankrupt."
Joey turned another page, staring at the hero who basically redefined the genre. "I'm aware. Actually, their people reached out saying they want to talk collaboration, so I told them to come here. That's who I'm waiting for… and yeah, I'm pretty sure it's the Iron Man gig."
Tom gently closed the comic. Dead serious now. "Listen. I know this project better than anyone. I was attached for two years. Trust me, it's not happening. And Iron Man's a second-tier hero at best; nowhere near Batman or Superman popularity, not even top dog in Marvel's own lineup."
He pulled the book away. "If they offer you the director's chair, just say no. I know they're desperate for a miracle director to save their asses and they'll throw crazy money at you, but it's a trap."
Joey threw her hands up. "Relax, Tom. I already thought about it. If they offer me Iron Man, I'm turning it down. I'm not interested in directing a movie where the symbol is bigger than my own voice. Same reason you walked; you didn't want to play a character that would overshadow you."
A cool little smirk tugged at Tom's lips. "You really do get me. Cool. Then I don't need to say anything else. Marvel's about to leave here very disappointed."
Right on cue, the assistant knocked. "Marvel's here."
Tom and Joey met with them together. Sure enough, they wanted Joey to direct Iron Man.
They barely got two sentences into their sales pitch before Tom cut them off.
"Let me stop you right there. I know this project inside and out. Your boss Kevin personally pitched me years ago. I followed it for two years. Trust me, nothing you say is gonna change what's already been decided."
The Marvel guys could tell Joey wasn't interested, and Tom had clearly already filled her in on how anemic the whole thing was; basically Marvel's last-ditch gamble before bankruptcy.
Joey laid it out kindly but firmly. "I'm sorry. I genuinely believe Iron Man is going to dominate Hollywood one day and kick off a whole new era of superhero movies. It'll go down in history. But I can't direct it. I don't want to make a movie where the icon is bigger than my own directorial style. I have to pass."
She knew exactly what turning it down meant: missing out on the one film that could cement her name forever, missing a billion-dollar monster hit.
But she still said no. Simple as that.
The Marvel guys didn't push. But they also didn't leave.
Joey raised an eyebrow. "Is there… something else?"
They shifted awkwardly. "Actually… yeah. There's one other collaboration we wanted to float by you…"
"Shoot."
"You've read the full Iron Man script and budget, right?"
"Cover to cover."
"Besides directing… any interest in playing Pepper Potts?"
Joey: "…"
Tom: "…"