Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: A Novel

In Almeria, Spain, in June 1969, Aldo Ray sits in his hotel room after a day of filming. Whenever Aldo does a movie, the cast and crew are on “Aldo watch,” which means that the producers sequester Aldo in his room to keep him away from alcohol, and they fire anyone on set who gives Aldo alcohol.

Cliff Booth wanders down the hall of the same hotel, seeking ice for the gin in his room. Rick and Cliff have finished filming an Italian movie, and Cliff, Rick, and Rick’s new wife, Francesca, are returning to Los Angeles. Cliff knows that since Rick has married, he won’t need Cliff to drive him around. This doesn’t upset Cliff, but he knows that Rick hasn’t even thought about it yet.

Cliff passes Aldo Ray’s room and sees Aldo sitting inside. Cliff introduces himself, and they talk about Rick. Aldo asks Cliff if he’ll get him a drink. Even though Cliff knows the rules, he goes back to his room for his bottle of gin and gives it to Aldo. Cliff knows that Aldo will drink the entire bottle before morning.

The next day, the producers fire Aldo because he’s hungover. The producers try to find out who gave Aldo alcohol but are unsuccessful. Several years pass before Cliff tells Rick what he did, because he was so nervous about someone finding out. Cliff knows that if he could go back and do it again, he’d still give Aldo the alcohol.

In February 1969, on the Lancer set, Trudi knocks on the door of Rick’s trailer and tells him that he was great in their scene together earlier. She adds that when she wins her first Oscar, Rick will think of how glad he was to work with her when she was younger. As she leaves, Trudi reminds Rick to know his lines for the next day. This insults Rick, but Trudi tells him it’s part of their jobs as actors. The text notes that in Trudi’s career, she never wins an Oscar, but she receives three nominations, and “Rick root[s] for her every time” (294).

After Trudi leaves, Jim invites Rick to get a drink. Rick and Cliff meet Jim at a bar later, and they talk about show business. Jim gets Rick to tell everyone the Steve McQueen story again even though he hates it. Before he leaves, he tells Jim that he dislikes telling McQueen story because it shows how far he was from getting the role. Jim tells him he’s being too hard on himself: After all, Rick made the list. However, Rick tells him that if, by some miracle, the other actors did turn the role down, by the time the executives got to his name, they would have started over with a new list. Jim realizes that Rick is right, and Rick leaves with Cliff to study his lines.

Cliff drops Rick off at his home, and he calls Marvin Schwarz. Marvin says he has good news for Rick because he got him a meeting with an Italian director who is considering Rick for the leading role in Nebraska Jim. Rick tells Marvin that he hates spaghetti Westerns and wants to try to do another pilot season before he goes to Italy. Marvin reminds Rick that Hollywood has changed, and it’s difficult for a television star to get leading roles in feature films now. Marvin tells him it’s Rick’s choice, but he can continue to be the villain on television pilots for the rest of his life or star in spaghetti Westerns in Italy.

Roman and Sharon speed down Sunset Boulevard in their convertible. Sharon is angry at Roman for planning events for the evening, because she wanted to stay home with her book. Sharon says she wants to have a pool party at their house that night, to which he reluctantly agrees.

Rick notices cars in the Polanski driveway and realizes that they’re having a party. When Rick sees Steve McQueen driving up to the Polanski house, he stops him. They reminisce about the time they played pool together, and McQueen says that he’d like to shoot pool with Rick again someday. Rick knows that it’ll never happen but appreciates McQueen saying it. He waves goodbye to McQueen and goes into his house. Trudi calls him, asking him if he’s working on his lines. Rick tells her that it’s inappropriate for her to call him so late at night, and she tells him that her mother is asleep in front of the television. Trudi offers to run the scene with him over the phone, and Rick hesitates. Trudi tells him that she’s an actor, like him, and she’ll be working with him tomorrow just like the other actors. This convinces Rick, so he runs the scene with her. In running their lines as Mirabella and Caleb, the two actors begin to morph into their characters. Trudi tells Rick that they’re going to kill it on set the next day. Rick agrees, and Trudi tells him that they’re lucky to have the jobs they do. Rick realizes, for the first time in a while, how right she is and thinks back on all the wonderful experiences he has had over the years. He realizes that his making a living “pretending to be a cowboy” (331) has paid for his home and everything about his life. He says goodbye to Trudi, and the next day on set the two of them have a terrific scene together.