chateau

“I would film 15, 18 hours sometimes, and the rest of those hours I was in transit,” says Ballesteros, now 26, seated at a corner table at the Chateau Marmont.

At the Chateau Marmont, Ballesteros blends into a corner table in a leather jacket, nursing an iced Americano, looking younger than his age and more reserved than one might expect from someone who spent six years shadowing Ye’s every move.

We chopped it up one afternoon at Chateau Marmont, the location at his request.

Berman’s novel centers on two, rather than one, woman: A pair of frenemies — reminiscent of Joan Didion and Babitz — circle each other in the Laurel Canyon creative scene during the mid-’60s to early-’70s, navigating relationships with rock stars and visits to the Troubadour and Chateau Marmont as the free love vibe begins to sour.

“I don’t think I’ve ever tried to be seen that way,” he says with a laugh over coffee at the Chateau Marmont during a recent swing through Los Angeles.