Read as actor, producer, and personal friend Desiree Staples talks about her new movie My Divorce Party, Los Angeles, and her top 10 classic places to go out with your girlfriends!
Hello LA EXPLAINED! Desiree Staples here, and I am honored to be a special guest writer for this week’s blog.
I’ve been lucky enough to call Los Angeles my home since 2018. And this place we call Hollywood… is a special-kind-of-mystery to an artist, a filmmaker, and anyone with a dream.
Hollywood has a reputation for being a place where anyone can arrive, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, first time away from home, totally green and having no performance experience and be the lucky one to “Make It Big” right away. And the crazy part is, every so often, Hollywood delivers on this dream. Los Angeles really does live up to the hype as the place where stars are made.
While many of us arrive hoping to strike this immediate luck, most of us walk the other, more traveled path for Angelinos. We creators, artists, and filmmakers hit the pavement time and time again and pay our dues to this rollercoaster of an industry – and learn to enjoy the ride as we go. You never know what is around the corner…you could sell and shoot a pilot that never goes on air. You could make an incredible first season of a show, but due to budget cuts and the ever-evolving world of streaming (like one of my own favorite shows MINX, which was canceled, moved to a different streaming service, and ultimately only ran for 2 seasons). You could sell a killer script with your dream actor attached, but production gets pushed indefinitely due to a star’s availability or let’s say, a global pandemic that is far beyond our control. It could even be something as small as getting fired from an acting job because the director thinks you look too much like his mother-in-law and he does not want to deal with THAT every day… all things that I know HAVE happened in this industry. And thus, whenever a project does cross the finish line, it really feels like an alignment of the stars with a magical combination of tenacity, consistent hard work, drive, talent, and being at the right place at the right time, to finally give you that big break.
And that, I believe, is the special sauce of Los Angeles. There is no rule book with a step-by-step guide on how to make it. And in my six years here, I have learned that you’ve got to make the rules yourself!
For me, making my own rules has always meant creating space for the roles I want to see and play on screen. My own personal style is telling stories with women who are funny, messy, and complex. These are the roles I am drawn to not only as an actor, but as a viewer as well. The phenomenon of movies like BARBIE only further proves that audiences are craving original stories for women on screen. While we have made some incredible progress over the years, we still have a long way to go with seeing women misbehaving on screen. Our male comedic counterparts have more hit stoner, raunchy, radical comedies than I can count… but I can barely count a handful of wild female ensemble comedies within the last five years.
And in true Los Angeles fashion, my options were to wait by the phone for someone else to make the movie I wanted to see, or get a team together to make it ourselves…which is pretty much how “My Divorce Party,” a comedic female-led ensemble comedy was born! The film, brilliantly written and directed by Heidi Weitzer, is a love letter to female friendships. Recent divorcée XAN (played by myself) gathers her best group of girlfriends in Joshua Tree to celebrate her recent divorce, but the trip takes a turn when Xan reveals her plan to burn through her savings of $100K in one weekend. The film also stars Rumer Willis, Michelle Meredith, Kimia Behpoornia, Sarah Hollis, Laith Ashley, Cap Peterson, and Dionne Gipson. The film is Produced by the incredible duo Geenah Krisht and Adrienne Childress, and Executive Produced by myself, Heidi Weitzer, and Sam Fox.
And I would like you to cordially invite you (yes you!) to a special Hollywood screening of “My Divorce Party” at the historic Villa Carlotta this Friday at 7pm! And in the theme of women behaving badly, the Villa Carlotta has its very own history of naughty female residents including: gossip columnist and writer Louella Parsons (or the original Carrie Bradshaw if you will) and Greta Garbo, famous for her over-the-top personality, many love affairs, and well known for her love of skinny-dipping…perhaps in the Villa’s very own pool. And wildest of all, it was also home to Marion Davies, who was rumored to have cheated on her husband William Randolph Hearst with the one and only Charlie Chaplin. When Hearst got wind of the affair, he even tried to shoot Chaplin, but supposedly killed filmmaker Thomas Ince accidentally instead. And as a gift to Ince’s widow, Hearst gave her the building that is now the Villa Carlotta. And with this exciting history of women behaving badly, it only made sense to host our screening here! And if you can’t make it, don’t fret, My Divorce Party is also available on Amazon Prime, Itunes/Apple Store, VUDU, Youtube, GooglePlay, and more.
We hope you enjoy the film and that it inspires you to find joy and laughter even in the midst of life’s toughest obstacles. In playing divorcée and protagonist XAN, I found a special connection to her. Even in her darkest, messiest, most unhinged moments, XAN, with the support of her girlfriends and lots of inappropriate emojis and laughs, comes out on the other side a better version of herself. Making this film reminded me to always find the light and laughter, no matter what bumps we may hit in the road. And I hope it inspires you to break some rules, because as Laurel Thatcher Ulrich says,“well-behaved women seldom make history.”
And now for my LA EXPLAINED list, I’ve chosen my top 10 Los Angeles spots I’d recommend you take your girlfriends if you were one of the iconic misbehaving Old Hollywood age dames of the 1960’s. This Friday’s Villa Carlotta, the venue of our screening itself, of course goes to the top of my list! And here are recommendations for the remaining nine…
The Villa Carlotta ca. 1928. Photo from the CA State Library.
2. THE DRESDEN - What can I say… There's jazz, there’s martinis, and there’s dancing… also the restaurant is glorious to boot! Although, my hot tip is to head straight to the lounge to claim a good spot. It is always busy there, so if you can get in around 6/6:30pm on any night with jazz, that’s your best bet to get a great table. Otherwise, you will surely make friends at the bar (it’s literally too close and compact not to).
Vermont Avenue (with The Dresden on the right) back in the 1950s.
3. THE HOLLYWOOD ROOSEVELT - Built in 1927, the Hollywood Roosevelt absolutely screams Golden Era Hollywood glamor. The hotel hosted the baddest of them all, Ms. Marilyn Monroe and is still home to her famous haunted mirror. So if you need a pick me up night with the gals to indulge in Hollywood glam, this is sure to be the spot. And fun fact, after “My Divorce Party” won the Audience Award at the Beverly Hills Film Festival, our very own after party was hosted right here!
Marilyn Monroe at the Hollywood Roosevelt's pool back in 1953. Photo from the hotel's website.
4. MUSSO & FRANK - If you’re trying to move-on from a break-up in the 60’s, I feel like the best place to find an eligible suitor would be at a swanky establishment like Musso and Franks. The restaurant hasn’t changed much since it opened in 1919, so it really feels like you are transported back to the roaring 20’s, down to the red-jackets and bow ties!
The dining room and bar of Musso and Frank's - 1934. Photo from Marc Wanamaker's Bison Archives.
5. CHATEAU MARMONT - If you’re hosting a party at this iconic hotel, you are guaranteed to get into a little trouble…and have a hangover by morning. Not to mention there are always fabulous shows here with piano, singing, impromptu cabarets and more!
Bianca Jagger in her suite at the Chateau Marmont - 1979. Photo by Gary Lewis.
6. YAMASHIRO - Fun-Fact, this used to be an art museum, and then a private club for Hollywood's elite and “who’s who” of the scene before becoming an apartment and then a restaurant. This would be the perfect place to take your girlfriends to a very private venue to discuss very private plans and debauchery that shall ensue, all the while getting to overlook LA, and feel like the royalty and queens that you are!
Yamashiro ca. 1920. Photo from the CA State Library.
7. THE PRINCE - Established in 1927 and famed for its terrible service and giant old-timey red booths for parties of up to 20 people, this Koreatown bar is the perfect spot for a big group of girlfriends looking for delicious Korean bites and beer. They even have a button at the table to order beer with just a push of a button!
The Windsor Apartments in 1935. Today, The Prince is located in the bottom right corner of the building. Photo from the CA State Library.
8. TIKI TI - Ringing in the 60’s, Tiki Ti opened in 1961 and I feel like this would have been the go-to spot to spill the “ti”… Especially with its intimate setting and dark ambiance throughout.
Tiki Ti in 1973. Photo by Ed Ruscha.
9. PINK’S HOT DOGS - Girls just want to have fun… and hot dogs, obviously. A staple since 1939, I have two words for you: Comfort. Food. And no divorce party, or debauchery is complete without some good ole’ fashion hot dogs and phallic food. There, I said it. Tastes good and involves distasteful jokes and innuendos.
Gloria Pink at Pink's - 1989. Photo by Michael Haering.
10. THE MAGIC CASTLE - Getting into this historic Victorian mansion, which was built in 1909 as a private residence for one of Hollywood’s first real estate tycoons, takes knowing the right people (or hot tip, you can access it by booking a room at the Magic hotel)... but once you’re in, it’s totally worth it. You can stay all night long bopping between different shows and enjoying a fabulous dinner. My personal favorite spot to haunt is the basement though- with the dry delivery and performance of “El Ropo,” there is no doubt you and your girlfriends will be forever changed.
The Lane Residence (now the Magic Castle) under construction ca. 1909-1910. Photo from the Huntington Archives.
Written by: Desiree Staples & Apoorva Gundeti
Comments