Name: Oku Hirokuni

Most actors star in films that are much bigger and more important than they are. Though a few superstars are so bright on their own that the films become mere vessels for their personal brand. Oku Hirokuni was one of those actors. It didn’t matter what the film was; crowds would flock to cinemas across the galaxy just to see his face and listen to him say literally anything. He never disappointed. Holographic posters adorned bedrooms of young and old alike. Brands paid millions of credits just for him to be seen with their product. He was very famous, wealthy, and very happy. Or so he thought.

It turned out he was just very high.

The problem with flying high is you have so much farther to fall, and fall far he did. His riches ensured he had the best, but no matter the quality of the high, there’s always a comedown. He started using more and more to avoid that come down, which was only getting worse with his excessive use. He could hardly work anymore, as he now bounced between multi-day mind-melting binges and brief nightmares of sobriety. A courageous director decided to cast him anyway. He’d been out of the public spotlight for a few minutes, and none of his fans were going to miss his comeback. They expected to see the handsome, smooth talker they knew and loved but were surprised to see a twitchy-eyed tweaker with shaky hands.

Disgust replaced adoration, posters were torn down in teary-eyed heartbreak, and brands replaced him with literally anything. That personal brand of gold turned toxic. He fell into the abyss.

Years later, to the surprise of most, Oku Hirokuni was still alive, and even more surprising, almost sober. He wanted to act again, though the industry still tried to forget he ever existed. He searched the galaxy for any chance and finally found it. One of the collective representatives was in charge of propaganda for a new recruitment drive for the galactic army. There were rumors of war, and they were trying to boost their military might.

This representative was filming a cheesy action film staring at the galactic army in an attempt to increase the appeal of the military to galactic youths. He was ecstatic when he heard the excellent film star Oku Hirokuni was interested in starring in his film. He had seen the film that traumatized the public, though it hadn’t fazed him, as he was often surrounded by creatures in even worse states of substance abuse. For a “high” society member, a breakdown like that was a regular course for a weekend well spent.

Oku Hirokuni would have never taken a role in a film like this in his prime. Not only was it a terrible script with an even worse production team, but it was also pure politics which he’d always avoided. That was then, but now, he accepted the offer in his anti-prime without a second thought.