The Star Man
0 Comment / May 20, 2014

Sunlounger Stories 2
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Story Synopsis:

Heading to Hollywood to persue his acting dreams was always part of Luke’s plan. But the dream never included sneaking up on the rich and famous guiding a celebrity tour bus through the city. Will he find success – and maybe love too – in the City of Angels?

Sneak peek of story:

This hasn’t gone quite as well as it should have. On the one hand, here I am, Luke Saunders from glamorous downtown Watford, smack bang in the middle of Hollywood, at the gates of the world famous Paramount Studios on Melrose Avenue.

This is the place that gave us Footloose and Top Gun and Titanic and Star Trek and, er… Dinner For Schmucks. OK, well we all have an off day.
So I’m staring at the giant cream-coloured arches that have welcomed Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington and Robert Downey Jr and that woman whose name I can’t remember that played the creepy lady in Paranormal Activity. On paper, this is an excellent turn of events: in reality, however, not so much.

SL Q&A Logo

Tell us about the location you chose for your SUNLOUNGER 2 story. I chose Los Angeles. Been living here for 15 years and finally know my way around – pretty much took this long!

During your 15 years working as a journalist in Los Angeles you have interviewed many celebs – give us a bit of a namedrop and then tell us your 3 favourite stars: Bradley, Halle, Harrison, Leo, Bruce, Pink, Beyonce, Tom, Cameron, Charlize, Ashton, Cat, Taylor…. I figure anyone you know from just one name is the biggest, right? As for favourites, had a great time with Isla Fisher – I had her juggling condiments in the dining room of the Chateau Marmont. Both Bradley Cooper and Luke Wilson were very amusing – they’ve both got a pretty dry sense of humour – and I do enjoy Kate Beckinsale. Obviously.  And despite the palpable air of grumpy hostility, meeting Harrison Ford was very satisfying.

If you could live anywhere in the world… I suppose it must be Los Angeles. Despite the NRA, no-one’s holding a gun to my head to be here, and I seem to want to stay. I love the weather, the hiking and motorcycling, the ocean, the mountains, the space, the food and the generally positive, can-do, attitude here. There are a lot of creative types just giving it a go, and that energy spills into everything.

Destination you’ve returned to the most time? When I was a kid, it was Greece – loved the simplicity of it. Then it was Mexico for the same, though these days I don’t travel quite so much. There’s always the slight air of ‘holiday’ to just living in LA, and when I get time off I tend to go back to London to visit my people. Do still love London…. such a great city.

Ticket, passport, money and… My 11″ MacBook Air, iPhone and Kindle Paperwhite. And ear plugs.

Favourite cuisine from around the world? Impossible! Mainly because of the ‘When in Rome’ principle. Always go local.

Favourite holiday cocktail? Old Fashioned.

What was your best and worst holiday romance? Best AND worst was when I met a German barmaid when I was a teenager visiting Frankfurt (best) that I attempted to turn into a relationship (worst).



Horkins, Tony

Sunlounger Contributing Author

Author Bio

Tony Horkins is a London-born, Los Angeles-based journalist, whose work has appeared in GQ, Elle, Marie Claire, InStyle, The Sunday Times, Observer, The Guardian and Empire.

When he’s not staring into a computer screen, he’s riding his Triumph motorcycle through the Malibu canyons and playing drums for the country band, Grant Langston & The Supermodels.