Devon Berk / Billy Side

Devon Berk (Justin Theroux) is an actor cast in the role of Billy Side in *On High in Blue Tomorrows*. His character, Billy, has an affair with Nikki's character, Sue.

## Things That Happened

### *Devon Berk*

Devon is playful and boyish, and has a reputation as a Lothario, even among his own staff. He enjoys dialect work, imitating Kingsley's British accent and often slipping into his Southern "Billy" voice in casual conversation. He has a playful sense of humor, and does not mince words. He tells Kingsley, regarding the film, "If you don't fuck it up, Kingsley, I'm sure we can," and tells Marilyn Levens that if she is looking for shock value, she should look in the mirror. Following his appearance on Marilyn Levens's show, he yells at his staff for putting him on "the biggest crock of shit" he has ever seen.

He and Nikki arrive early for their first rehearsal, and he makes her a cappuccino. Once Kingsley shows up, they run a scene. Freddie interrupts the read-through because he sees an intruder in the darkness of the soundstage. Devon goes to investigate, and hears running footsteps, but cannot find anyone. He returns to the table, concluding that the intruder "disappeared where it's real hard to disappear." Kingsley then confesses that Freddie has learned that the film is a remake; Devon angrily says he would not do a remake. Kingsley says the producers have kept them all in the dark, and explains the curse.

When Devon's manager warns him not to become involved with Nikki, he says she is so far from his style, "it's not even funny." Despite this, Piotrek is worried that Devon will seduce Nikki. Nikki and Piotrek host Devon for dinner, and afterwards, Piotrek takes Devon upstairs and says Devon has been guilty of not saying what he means all evening. He threatens Devon about the consequences of sleeping with Nikki. Devon, surprised, is silent.

Eventually, during down time on set, Devon does hit on Nikki. Using their "Sue" and "Billy" accents, they flirt. Devon invites her out to dinner. Seemingly repulsed, Nikki asks if it would be a "cute little Italian restaurant, tucked away, private." Devon says it would; Nikki does not answer, but suddenly seems interested. "See ya after the shoot," she says.

It is unclear if the affair materializes. Devon sees Nikki become increasingly erratic as she begins to get trapped in the role. During one take, she ruins the scene by yelling, "Damn! This sounds like dialogue from our script!" Later, Devon confronts the producer about the curse. The producer insists that there is "absolutely no proof that anything bad happened around this film" and that the curse is just a story, but Devon is afraid that the stories might be true. This is the last time that Devon appears in the film (aside from a revisiting of him chasing the intruder on the soundstage). It is unclear if he becomes trapped in the world of the film the way that Nikki does.

### *Billy Side*

Billy says he has been with his wife Doris since he was a little boy. They have two children together. They seem to be well-off. They live in a lavish house, and Billy tends to be impeccably dressed. He falls in love with Susan Blue, and they seem to have a lengthy flirtation/courtship before becoming sexually involved.

Their first time having sex, in Sue's bedroom, "Sue" is still Nikki. She calls him Devon, and talks about a scene they did yesterday, and a "story that happened yesterday, but I know that it's tomorrow." Billy says, "That doesn't make any sense. What is this, Sue?" Finally, he laughs at her as she becomes increasingly panicked.

By the time Nikki becomes fully trapped in Sue's world, Billy seems to have ended the affair.

When Sue shows up unexpectedly at Billy's house and professes her love for him in front of his wife and son, he tells her, "I don't understand what you're talkin' about," and says, "You go on, Sue."

## More Things That Happened (Deleted Scenes)

Interestingly, the deleted scenes seem to confirm that Nikki and Devon did have an affair. Nikki, seeming very out of it, lies on her bedroom floor wearing sunglasses talking to Devon on the phone, while the Phantom's voice torments her. Devon becomes increasingly disturbed and annoyed by Nikki's rambling, including saying that she didn't kill anyone. She mentions "last night," and he defensively asks, "What about it?" Nikki begs him to come over, saying that she doesn't want to be alone. Devon, clearly tired of the conversation and the relationship, responds, "I'm just saying, it's late," and then says that maybe they met at the wrong time. Nikki demands that Devon tell her the truth, then screams for him to stop fucking with her.

Devon (or Billy) is seen stabbed to death.

## Trivia

* Devon's line, "It's all in the beans...and I'm just full of beans!" became the slogan for David Lynch's line of coffee beans.
* Justin Theroux also appeared in David Lynch's prior film, *Mulholland Drive*, as film director Adam Kesher.