Man, one episode in of Famous In Love, and I’ve already found my favorite power tripper. Nina is a Hollywood producer extraordinaire, who has shown in the first 43 minutes of the show that she’s willing to do whatever it takes to get a movie made and to protect her family. But she's also involved in a very sketchy relationship. Nina is hooking up with Jordan on Famous In Love, and it's one of the most shocking twists in the premiere.
As I mentioned, she’s a big-time producer, but she’s also the mother of Rainier Devon, a Hollywood heartthrob with a recent reputation problem. Nina is definitely good at her job, but she’s also definitely terrifying. There’s that adage that you wouldn’t say certain things about a strong man that you would say about a strong woman, but in Nina’s case, I certainly would. Nina appears to be a bully and a schemer, and she is playing with people’s lives just to get movies made.
That being said, she is so fun to watch. In the pilot alone, Nina grabs an entertainment news reporter by the testicles, makes out with her son’s best friend, and starts a nasty rumor about her son’s on-again-off-again ex-girlfriend. Poor, sweet Paige — what is Nina going to do to her once she gets her claws in? Paige is too innocent for this depth of Hollywood depravity.
What’s interesting about Nina (who is played by Perrey Reeves, also known as Mr. Ari on Entourage) is that she is a big player but her pawns are essentially just kids. These actors are college-age, and Nina is screwing with their lives in a major way, taking advantage of them and getting all up in their business. She is also literally screwing one of them, and I can’t imagine that will end well when that business is leaked by the Hollywood gossip mill.
Nina’s presence on Famous In Love introduces the idea of the show business Svengali — the person who takes advantage of younger actors and stars for potential profit. Nina thrives by breaking the rules, but I can’t imagine she’ll take kindly when her young stars do it too.
