Chapter 6

Summary

• The narrator shares her backstory, which includes growing up with parents who emigrated from Cuba, her mother dying from pneumonia when she was eleven, and becoming a physically mature young woman by the age of thirteen, which resulted in unwanted attention from men.
• The narrator uses her physical attractiveness to get things she needs, first as a young teenager getting free candy in exchange for sexual favors from Billy, the cashier at the five-and-dime, then later by manipulating Billy Cameron, then a young producer at Sunset Studios into giving her a job at Sunset Studios.
• The narrator's new career gives her money which she uses to pay for acting degrees and fund her efforts to become a successful actress. When producers Ari and Harry tell her she cannot have a lead role because of her ethnicity, she decides to bleach her hair and undergo a physical transformation. Gwen, a stylist, helps her with the transformation and she also has to adopt a phony backstory for PR purposes.
• In addition to this, she has to change her name from Evelyn Diaz to Evelyn Hugo. Harry also tells her that it's important to be seen with men in public, so she agrees to go on dates with famous actors.
• In order to really break into Hollywood though, the narrator decides to annul her marriage to her husband, Ernie. She feels guilty for leaving and hurting him, but she also stands by her decision and feels as though it was something she had to do for her own future.