‘You’re a character in their world’: the impossible job of the Hollywood personal assistant

Just as often, though, young men and women find themselves in a job with no set hours, few boundaries and little protection from the whims and eccentricities of their employers. They can be asked to perform impossible tasks, like producing a meal from a restaurant thousands of miles away, or they can be subject to verbal or sexual abuse. Sometimes, they are asked to break the law – to procure illicit drugs, for example – and feel unable to say no for fear of being fired if not also blackballed across the industry.