#february2026

He hated interviews.

He always hated the promotional part of the film industry. Not that he felt the film unworthy of discussion, quite the contrary. 

What he disliked was the cheap, shallow, performative spectacle of it. 

Interviewers may have some questions about the film, but they were never creative nor ones that mattered. And they were quickly followed by leading questions about on-set conflicts, drama, rumors, and ultimately gossip. The public didn't care about the skill, time, and talent behind the craft. They wanted tawdry tidbits that they could twist into scandal. They wanted access to their private lives to analyze and pick apart.

He hated the reductive spectacle that promotion turned art into.

He hated what it did to their privacy. 

He hated the machine the industry turned creation into.

He hated interviews.  

And then there were photoshoots, an entirely separate derivative outlet to commodify actors and creators.

With filmmaking, he negotiated for full creative control. 

Press and promotion were something else. 

For many years, he refused it. Let the work speak for itself. 

But now, he tolerated it. Not always, not even often, but on rare occasions. 

At least, when they included her. 

Ever since their engagement, everyone had been clamoring to get an interview, to document their private moments, to see who they were when they thought no one was watching. Finally, they decided on one interview, one photoshoot, one small look into the life of "Hollywood’s Most Private Couple". Timed for a February release, just in time for Valentine’s Day. A holiday he found a commercialized excuse for selling love. At least this version would be honest. Their connection was genuine and went beyond the lights.

When Alex had suggested it. He hesitantly agreed. It was possible that granting limited access to their life would provide them with some increased privacy as they demystified their life (and relationship) beyond the public eye. 

Throughout the interview, he kept his focus on her, the warmth of her hand on his, the press of her fingers against his arm, and the way her eyes lit up as she spoke of their life. His answers were short and deliberate, carefully constructed to rise above questions crafted to stir gossip. During the photoshoot, her presence beside him grounded him. He ignored the pull of the lights and camera flashes. His attention was on her, the only one to make any of this bearable. Between takes, her reassuring gaze kept him there, promising a quiet night at home. Just the two of them, just as they liked it. Their life was quite normal, despite the spotlight that followed their careers.

Beyond the lights and lenses, they were simply two people coming home to each other. No spectacle. No performance. Nothing flashy. Just a life that was theirs, and a love that was everything.

I really loved the reference photo, for Valentine's art for these two, but I didn't have a story to go with it, but at last minute, I wrote this. It's not really focused on the photo, but more on Thomas reflecting between the public life (the photoshoot/photo) and the life they have beyond that, something real, genuine, and just theirs.