ENTITLEMENT CHARACTER BREAKDOWNS: DANIEL EIMAN 32 years old, with meaningful eyes of unmistakable sincerity, Daniel is a man lying low inside his life as a high school English teacher in small-town Massachusetts who cannot stop himself from going to bat for anyone in need, particularly his students. He has a generous spirit and a strong sense of justice. And while other people are drawn to him, he holds them at arm’s length, keeping his emotional investment in others minimal due to a tragedy that befell him years before. That is until he is befriended by the remarkable and simultaneously tragic Keith Chambers. Helping Keith sort through the pressures of his all too high-profile life, their relationship gradually unfolds and Daniel soon discovers that there will be no more running away from his past: he must face the demons he has so desperately fought to keep at bay. KEITH CHAMBERS 31 years old, handsome with dark features, and charming although reserved by nature. With a family entrenched in state and local politics, he has lived a life of reluctant celebrity, ducking the press at every turn. Keith is a lawyer with his own ideals about how to better the world, but he is constantly undermined by his family and a public who dismiss him as merely a pretty face. He is also under pressure from his parents to marry the alluring Ashley Cox, which he circumvents in his escapades with other women. But when he comes to know Daniel, he finds his whole concept of reality undermined as things buried deep within him blast their way to the surface. MARTY CHAMBERS A died-in-the-wool Republican who exudes femininity in spite of a certain Lauren Bacall brashness. Despite her staunch conservatism, she is immensely fond of her dear friend and former Columbia classmate, Daniel Eiman. She is an up-and-coming political player, following in the footsteps of her immensely popular and successful mother, and can talk her way into, out of, over, around, or through any situation. Underneath everything, however, she has a heart of gold and worries terribly about her twin brother Keith, finding herself thrown into the maelstrom as events steer Keith into more and more conflict with the family. MRS. EIMAN In her early-60s, a svelte, stunning woman who looks much younger than her years. She is Daniel’s widowed mother, whose generosity and capacity for caregiving know no boundaries. She not only readily accepts Keith into Daniel’s life, but welcomes him literally with open arms, while gently nudging Daniel—about whom she worries constantly—to do the same. ASHLEY COX 28 years old, stunningly beautiful and refined in manners. She is an artist, a natural member of elite Massachusetts society, and any mother’s model daughter-in-law. She loves Keith dearly. In fact, all her life she’s been saving herself for a man like him, and she tries her utmost to make things work. However, she gradually becomes aware of a resistance coming from Keith that she is simply not equipped to handle. Coming to terms with the fact that she cannot wait for him forever, she begins to second-guess her instincts, struggling to ascertain exactly what is most important to her. GOVERNOR CHAMBERS The Republican governor of Massachusetts and a woman, Governor Chambers is a political legacy now beginning to direct her attention toward the next step of her celebrated career: taking over Washington. She is a woman of pride, success and tradition and the utmost poise, as well as the mighty matriarch of the modern day Chambers clan. She will accept no less than the same from each member of her family, including Keith. When she detects that Keith’s escapades with Daniel may be leading her prodigious son from the path deliberately laid out for him, the governor initiates acts of uncharacteristic errors but she does not budge in her resolve to keep her family together and Keith and Daniel apart. BRENT EVANS Handsome and fit, yet confined to a wheelchair, Brent is a close and lifelong friend of Daniel’s, as well as his attorney. He is loyal, patient and extraordinarily understanding despite the fact that Daniel has not returned a call from him in the past three years. He was present the night of the tragedy, which was responsible for his paraplegia. CHARLIE ATWOOD A sparkplug of a man as well as a member of the “tribe.” Because of his comfort level around his friends with his sexuality, they fondly refer to him as “the gayest straight man” they know. He was also part of the activist team, and close at hand the night of the tragedy. ANDREW STEADMAN 26 years old, blonde haired and strapping. He was paired by the college swim coach with Daniel as roommates. As they came to know each other, they discovered a love that made them inseparable until that tragic night when, while leaving the community meeting of a small rural town, fate separated them forever. MR. CHAMBERS Mid-60s, the patriarch and provider of the Chambers family, Mr. Chambers is the bread winner of the household and revels in the power and support he so willingly and lovingly gives to his powerful wife. He is strong, quiet and even tempered but has no problem standing up for his values when challenged to do so. SOPHIE BIELKUS 36 years old, buxom, brunette, with sun-streaked hair and a very natural beauty. She is an artist and the other woman in Keith’s life—the one who takes him in when other pressures become too great. She is an adventure in bed—sexually available both to men and women—but she has her limits when it comes to being used. BENJAMIN MCCRAY 15 years old, gawky, pimpled, and awkward. He is a quiet, guarded student who one day approaches Daniel with questions concerning his own adolescent developments. Daniel does his best to listen and support Benjamin, until Benjamin becomes an unwitting pawn in a scandal devised to destroy Daniel’s reputation and career.