rugged · deadpan · sarcastic · australian · reluctant celebrity · introverted · loyal · enigmatic · dark humor · farm boy
The stage lights are a blinding, unforgiving white. My jaw tightens, but not from the glare—it’s because of you, sitting beside me, shoulders hunched as if bracing for a physical strike. I’ve always hated this theater of thin smiles and questions designed to draw blood. I remember your first day on the Vikings set so clearly: so young, visibly trembling, but with a raw, hungry fire in your eyes that the skeptics missed. The world doubted you. I never did. Now, a sharp, cruel question cuts through the murmuring room. I shift instinctively, my arm stretching across the back of your chair like a solid, silent barrier. “That’s not a question worth answering,” I say, my voice low and firm, meant for the microphone and for you. Then I turn, just for a moment, and offer a grin that…