"Fan" Moments...

Okay, you know the feeling...you're standing there--somewhere--just mnding your own business, and then, out of the corner of your eye, you spot someone. OMG... is it?! Nah, it can't be...Wait, maybe it is!! Your heart starts racing, and you finally realize that it IS a celebrity, there in the flesh, standing mere feet away. Next follows that "should I/shouldn't I?" moment, that, if you are a New Yorker like me, usually ends with, "Nah, I shouldn't. Be cool." I mean, in New York City, you see a LOT of celebrities, and the usual New York reaction is, "Yeah, whatever." But what if it's not just any celebrity, but one of your favorites? I admit, I've broken the code of NYC coolness a few times, though I'm always left feeling slightly foolish. Anyway, I'll share my favorite 'fan' moments if you share yours!

Fan Moment #1--I was in grad school at the time, putting the final touches on a HUGE research paper that I needed to turn in by the end of the day. I was also fighting a bad migraine, and had just taken some strong meds, and so was feeling a little woozy. My husband called and said we'd been invited to a restaurant opening that night--a client of his was a 'special events' person running the opening, and the restaurant was our favorite chef's (Daniel Boulud) newest place. Very swanky! Well, like I said, I was feeling crummy, exhausted from the research paper, and headachy to boot. I said nah, I didn't feel like it. But a couple hours later, once the paper was done and the meds had kicked in, I figured, what the heck, I had to go turn in the paper anyway, and once I was out, we might as well go. It was nice--a red carpet opening, and we saw Paul Garfunkel going in ahead of us. Not bad! A little later, we're standing in a buffet line, and my husband says, "Hey, there's your boyfriend!". Okay, rewind a couple of weeks. I was on a Bill Paxton kick--don't ask me why. He's a perfectly good actor but not a *great* actor, but something about him really does it for me. So I'd rented a ton of his movies--Aliens, Weird Science, this small indie he'd directed and starred in called Traveller, and forced dear hubby to go see the awful Mighty Joe Young in the theater. And who was walking by, there at the restaurant opening?! Yep. Bill Paxton. With his dad (who I recognized from his bit part in Traveller!). The New York "coolness" kicked in, and I resolved to say nothing. But when he walked by us, my HUSBAND said something like, "Oh, Mr. Paxton, I'd really like you to meet my wife. She's a HUGE fan of yours." My face went scarlet; I wished the floor had opened up and swallowed me whole. He kissed my hand. I introduced msyelf. My husband volunteered the information about me making him watch all those movies. We talked about his movies; he was really surprised we had seen Traveller (like I said, a very small indie movie!). We joked about the ape movie. I don't remember what else. Eventually he moved on (maybe 15 min. later). Apparently he didn't really know anyone there, because several times that night, he was back at our side, just chatting like a long-lost friend, having dessert with us, etc. After he'd gotten his coat to leave, he came over to tell us good-bye. I don't remember much, except he kissed my cheek, shook my husband's hand. A hundred points for the hubby--because it turns out Bill Paxton is an incredibly nice man, and I never would have known that if my husband hadn't embarrassed me like he did.

Fan Moment #2--Like so many Regency-set romance authors, I worship Pride & Prejudice. I've watched the BBC movie version with Colin Firth a zillion times. Literally. I simply *adore* Colin Firth, and there's not a movie he's made--even obscure, made for British TV stuff--that I haven't seen. So I was excited to go to an advance screening of Girl With a Pearl earring, where he was doing a Q&A along with Scarlett Johannsen after the movie. Got there early to get third row seats (I wouldn't dare be so obvious as to get front-row seats!). After the Q&A ended, I went to the ladies' room while my friends waited near the escalator, and when I came out, there was Colin himself, chatting with a couple people. They walked away just as I walked by, and....okay, I couldn't help myself. I don't even remember what I said, but somehow I ended up standing there chatting with him, mostly about kids (my daughters and his sons). I told him that even my daughters loved Mr. Darcy. I think he said something like, "Well, shall I autograph something for them?" DUH. So I rummaged around in my purse, but couldn't come up with anything for him to sign save the email confirmation for the screening. So, I folded up that rumpled sheet of paper and had him sign it to my daughters (at least I had a pen!)--the best part is the two little x's he added.
When I walked off and found my friends, they pointed out that I had a blotchy red rash covering my neck and decolletage. Talk about embarrassing--I always get what I call my 'nerve rash' when I'm really upset/excited. Colin had given me a nerve rash! Think he noticed?! The autograph is now framed and hangs in my older daugther's room.

Fan Moment #3--This is an interesting fan moment, because I wasn't particularly a fan of the celebrity at the time, but now I am. Anyway, this one involves yet another advance movie screening, for Alexander (which I found diverting enough, mostly because it was so beautifully filmed, but yeah, it's a pretty bad movie). All I knew about Colin Farrell at the time was that he had a 'bad boy' reputation. Supposedly a womanizer and partier. I hadn't seen him in anything, except bits and pieces of Phone Booth, which my husband always seemed to be watching on cable, and I was always yelling at him to turn down the volume before the kids heard the *colorful* language that Colin's character uses throughout. So I was taken by surprise when he spoke a bit before the movie...and had an IRISH accent! I hadn't even realized he wasn't American. Anyway, so after he and Oliver Stone spoke but before the movie began, I ran out to the restroom (hmmmm, there's a theme here). Hurrying back to the theater, I bumped into someone, who reached for my shoulder and said, "Oh, sorry, love." Okay, call me weak, but I'm fairly certain that NO woman can resist Colin with his Irish accent, calling them "love." Seriously. A short chat ensued, most of which is a blur. I do remember he kept smoothing his (long!) hair back out of his eyes, and my gaze was drawn to the weird bracelets and rings he was wearing (very sexy!). At one point he shoved his hands into his pockets and said something like "I really hope you like the movie" and he, too, kissed my hand before leaving me standing there speechless. What really surprised me was how totally humble and polite he was--and how different he seemed from the 'bad boy' image I had in my head. He actually came across as quite boyish--like a little boy hoping to be 'liked.' Needless to say, I spent the next week watching EVERY movie he had been in, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that he isn't just a good actor--he's a *great* actor. Phone Booth, A Home at the End of the World, Tigerland, even The Recruit--some terrific movies with some terrific acting. I'm sold!

Okay...your turn! I love to hear about celebrity 'moments'! Oh, and the picture at the top, that's me and Paul Leyden from As The World Turns! But I'll save that for another post!