Age: 49
male
Mark David Duplass (born December 7, 1976) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician. With his brother Jay Duplass, he started the film production company Duplass Brothers Productions in 1996, for which they wrote and directed The Puffy Chair (2005), Baghead (2008), Cyrus (2010), Jeff, Who Lives at Home (2011), and The Do-Deca-Pentathlon (2012). Duplass co-wrote and starred in the horror film Creep (2014) and its sequel Creep 2 (2017), as well as the television spin-off The Creep Tapes (2024). He co-wrote and co-produced the television anthology series Room 104 (2017–2020). His other acting credits include Humpday (2009), The League (2009–2015), Greenberg (2010), Safety Not Guaranteed (2012), The One I Love (2014), The Lazarus Effect (2015), Togetherness (2015–2016), Blue Jay (2016), Tully (2018), Goliath (2018–2019), Paddleton (2019), and Language Lessons (2021). For his portrayal of Charlie "Chip" Black in The Morning Show (2019–present), Duplass received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. He was also the lead singer of the indie rock band Volcano, I'm Still Excited!! Description above from the Wikipedia article Mark Duplass, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
When the American Fantasy cruise ship sets sail for a four-day themed voyage, aboard are all five members of a famous 1990s boyband, and three thousand screaming women who have worshipped them for thirty years. Newly divorced and with an empty nest, Annie is on board as a lark to appease her sister. Once a diehard fan of the band as a teen, her tastes have matured, and she feels out of place amid the sea of bedazzled, air-brushed t-shirts bearing the singers’ faces. Yet when the lights come up and the idols of her youth begin to sing before her, something is unlocked. “Maybe that was nostalgia after all, the music a direct vein to her childhood, the least complicated part of her life. A short cut to happiness.” Between the slushy alcoholic drinks, the music of her youth, and the thousands of middle-aged women acting like lovesick teenagers, Annie finally reconnects to a long-submerged part of herself. By the time she befriends one of the band members -- not just a celebrity but someone also in need of a friend -- she feels like anything is possible. But a lot can go wrong on a ship ruled by hormones and hope, frustration and fantasy. Packed with wisdom, heart, and laugh-out-loud reflections on fame, youth, nostalgia, marriage, and middle age, Emma Straub delivers a richly textured, uplifting story about the magic of revisiting youthful feelings, and the even greater magic of starting anew.
