4 July 2001
How do I know? Well, leaving work early and heading to the pub for a quick game of pool and a refreshing iced drink I'm suddenly buzzed by my phone. Hello? Yes, oh, the Tomb Raider Premiere is in Leicester Square tonight? Yeah, I might pop down there, see who I can see... thanks. Love you...
And so I set off walked down to Leicester Square reasoning that the best thing that can happen is that my detour takes me past a media/celebrity blitz. And the worst thing is that I take an extra ten minutes to get to the tube and head home without getting the green beans I'm carrying bashed to bits.
Green beans aren't the important detail there.
I reckon that Premieres are timed down to the minute. You wouldn't make a bunch of celebrities sit around waiting for the star, so there would be a pre-arranged time for the major stars to turn up, I figure it'd be on the hour, so speed up my pace to arrive there just before seven.
Once there, arriving from the direction of Regent's Street, I discover there are so many people there its unbelievable. And they're all hot and sweaty and pushy. I pick a side and muscle my way forwards still thinking that the Premiere is down at the Odean rather than the Empire before hearing wild screams to my left. And there's Jon Voight.
Like...
Right there. Beside me.
My initial thought was to say "Squeal boy, squeal!", my brain just works like that.
There are cries of "Old fart? Who are you? Excuse me... who are you?" from a guy beside me who ducks down when Jon looks round to see who said it. I try and mimic my larynx missing from a horrible hunting accident... which involves looking at him and trying to smile politely as the guy beside me sniggers.
He heads over to the opposite side of the crowd and I nudge my way in beside the girls in Lara outfits but themed to a certain energy soft drink Lara advertises on TV. Not going to say what the drink is, but damn were those girlies fit.
Anyway, Caprice pulls up in a car, gets out and gives the tabloids a few poses. Yawn. Go away. I'm straining my calves trying to see back down the way I came. The cinema entrance is directly across from me and a bunch of guys have taken the Lara-girls onto their shoulders beside me.
A black executive car (could have been a Merc, could have been a BMW, could have been silver, didn't care) pulls up and out get Angelina and Billy-Bob. I realise that all the press are lining the sides of the door and that I'm positioned perfectly for the "star talking with fans without photographer in sight" photo. Cool.
She makes her way along the crowds and is signing this and that, copies of Total Film are dangled over the heads of the crowd and probably not returned to the right people afterwards, someone behind me asks someone beside me to take some pictures with an expensive digital camera... hey, I did Digital Media in college, ask me!
The Lara girls are getting more and more excited and bouncing on the guys' shoulders, who are getting more and more excited. My calves are screaming for me to stop standing on tiptoes, I stand flat on the soles of my shoes and become almost instantly glued to the spot by spilled product endorsement soft drink. Ew.
Angelina makes her way along the line, the Met officers scream at everyone to stop pushing against the barriers. She looks gorgeous in a simple black suit. How she can wear black in this weather I have no idea. Billy-Bob has hung back but they move together for a kiss for all the papers then she moves back towards my part of the crowd.
It gets mixed up after that. I remember her coming over to the Lara-girls and being in front of me as I said "You were fantastic in Girl, Interrupted" (yes, I realise that that's a dumb thing to say, she won an Academy Award for it!) she might have said thanks, I might have imagined it, and then she moved further down the crowd signing stuff as she went.
That was it. No sudden moment of silence with rose-petals falling towards me, no wink or coy smile... in retrospect why was it such a great feeling? I don't know, but I went home, had steak and green beans for dinner, watched some Farscape and thought about how much I'm currently enjoying myself here. Despite the heat.
No comments yet.
... the online home and (not very) alter(ed)-ego of Ann McMeekin, a recently freelance Web Accessibility Consultant.
... passionate about many things, most of which will turn up on this site at some time or other.
... contactable via email.
Design and content copyright 2000-2007 pixeldiva, except where noted.
Copyright of comments remains with the individual author.
All rights reserved.
Left comments