beers. Then I’d have to get home and start learning lines for the next day.
Dating a man I’d had a crush on for so long was exciting in itself. Dating the director of photography when you’re the female lead comes with certain perks. After all, the director of photography is the one who makes you look good, and a man in love is certain to take care of his lady. John was a complete professional to all of the actors on the set, but looking back at old episodes I do notice that I’m particularly well lit.
Despite the occasional near-death experience, like the aforementioned earthquake incident,
Every day it was fun to go to work, because everybody was always in a good mood. I think it had a lot to do with John and his crew. The director of photography and the director set the tone of the set and we had very nice, very competent directors the majority of the time. Except for this one Italian guy who didn’t have a clue what
“Have you ever watched the show? Ivanova doesn’t do sexxxy.”
Years later, at conventions, I’d hear from actors on other sci-fi shows about personality differences between cast members. That didn’t happen on
Every actress hopes to be famous one day. If nothing else, you land better roles, and you don’t have to worry about where your next paycheck is coming from. When
We all knew we were onto something good, but no one had any idea that
When the show went on hiatus for a few months at the end of season two the producers flew me to London to do some television ads for
We’d kept in touch over the years. At one point I heard his mother had died suddenly of a heart attack, and I remembered how he used to call her every day. I found an antique silver cigar case with his initials on it and had it delivered with a note of condolence; even while he was in mourning he wrote back expressing his gratitude. He said that very few people had reached out to him after her passing, and that it meant a lot to him. He would later say to me, “If it meant giving up everything I have—cars, wealth, and women—I would do it to bring my mother back.”
Dodi was glad to hear from me and invited me to stay with him in his Kensington apartment. Things were going well with John, but he was my on-set lover, a part of the show, and after two years of hard work I needed to get away from it all and let off some steam. As I flew into London I thought back to the pleasant times I’d had with Dodi when we last traveled around Europe and breathed a sigh of relief. This was just the thing I needed, a well- deserved break.
I had no idea he was going to ask me to have his baby.
8. DEATH BY IRONY
Dodi and I laughed and loved our way across London. He’d just finished working as executive producer on
Despite starring in a sci-fi series and having worked on two sci-fi movies I was woefully ignorant of the genre. Dodi set out to educate me and ran screening nights with movies like
We had such a good time that he invited me to stay for a few months until
When Dodi and I first started dating years before, he gave me a big gold ring with an amethyst set in it. The inner band was engraved with his name.
“They gave this to me after I completed my service in the Egyptian paratroopers.”
It was a heartfelt gift, one that I’d cherished for more than a decade, but now it was time to return it. I was going through a period of returning keepsakes to old lovers. I’d sent one guy back his high school football ring and another his grandfather’s wedding ring. It seemed like the right thing to do.
So one night while we were drinking champagne after making love I fished the ring out of my purse and pressed it into his palm.
“You should hang on to this. One day, when you settle down, you can give it to someone you really love.”
He looked at the ring with a slightly confused expression. Then he looked back at me, then back to the ring, and then he burst out laughing. In that same instant I got the joke.
“You made these rings up, didn’t you? There’s a whole host of women out there with these things!”
He looked embarrassed for a moment and then it was my turn to laugh.
“And I schlepped it all the way back here so that you could give it to someone else!”
I have to admit, in that environment even the air seemed better, more luxurious. When I remember Dodi, I always think of wonderful smells: the deep, musky tendrils of smoke from his Cuban cigars; the crisp, clean fragrance of his cologne; the sensual undertones from the exquisite leather seats in his private jets and cars. I loved the ambiance.
But there were downsides. An entourage of staff and armed security formed a protective perimeter around us 24/7. It always used to amaze me that Dodi could live like that. He told me that he’d been kidnapped as a child and that as a result he had grown up used to having a serious security presence. Having a battery of armed guards clear the way for him was second nature.
The idea of hiring men to lay their lives on the line for my safety made me a little uneasy. Even when I have security at sci-fi conventions I always go out of my way to make friends with them. Some of Dodi’s guards were treated okay, but others would be swapped out and replaced like his girlfriends. For Dodi, they were so completely integrated into his life that they were invisible.
A billionaire lives in a rarefied world. Everywhere he goes the red carpet is (often literally) rolled out before him. Elegant cars with courteous, uniformed drivers picked us up at the door. When we ate out it was at the best tables in Michelin-starred restaurants. The chefs would come out to greet Dodi as an old friend, inquiring whether the food was satisfactory.
