Daryl

Daryl Dixon was getting noticed.

It was bullshit of course and Daryl didn't let it go to his head because he was 30 when it started, not a young kid swept away by the sudden attention and believing all the hype that went with it.

Still, it was flattering and the past four years had been quite a ride. But folks are fickle and fame can be fleeting so Daryl was prepared for it to be over as fast as it began. Especially because he was gay and not out. These things can't be kept quiet forever. Daryl hadn't had a partner since coming to Hollywood and he didn't court the media like some celebrities did but pretended they didn't. So the tabloids weren't very interested yet. If his next film hit really big that could change and he was considering whether to come out before someone delved into his history.

Being gay wasn't a big deal anymore but when you're a rising action star and a lot of guys wished they were you or the characters you played, the tide could turn against you. It wouldn't be a big outrage which might bring backlash to the haters. It was more likely to be a subtle shifting of focus to someone else in your line. There were always others waiting to be discovered and pretty soon studio heads would pass when your name came up where before they'd be throwing money at your agent to get you on board. And one day you wake up and the phone has stopped ringing and there's nowhere you need to be.

Fortune could be as fleeting as fame so Daryl lived modestly but was generous enough not to be thought of as cheap. He'd never been the flashy kind so no one expected a lavish lifestyle. He was saving for the day when his luck ran out.

His agent had been careful about marketing and exposure. Andrea said it was a fine line between keeping you visible and ruining your brand with oversaturation. She was an entertainment lawyer and Daryl trusted her to look out for him. Andrea had good instincts so when the offer came to create a Daryl Dixon action figure, Daryl went along with it even though he was a little embarrassed and didn't understand why the figure should be him instead of the characters he played. Apparently the recent economy made multiple figures sold separately too much for the traffic to bear so the compromise was celebrity figures sized like Ken and Barbie and sold with outfits of the characters the actors played. Daryl was grateful it was called an action figure instead of a doll. There would be Military Daryl, Cowboy Daryl, Outlaw Daryl and Spy Daryl. There had been supporting roles in the two years before his first lead but no one was interested in marketing those and Daryl knew he wasn't very good when he first started. But he appreciated the experience gained from those earlier movies.

Figures in the past hadn't been completely successful because they were tiny and didn't look enough like the actors they represented. So the manufacturer had lined up a hotshot computer wizard to design these new larger action figures. It had been so profitable for the top box office names that they went on to the up-and-coming second tier like Daryl. Got to keep feeding that consumer machine and giving people another reason to part with their dollars.