stoney321 | Tales of a Wannabe Super Star

I am *still* tired today. And if I ever say that I'm going to wear 4 inch heels again, you all have permission to smack me in the face. I do have to say, I have the SADDEST NEWS in SADVILLE about Friday's events, though. And loads of pics under the cut, for those on dial-up.

So. The sad thing first. I did not get to the Red Carpet in time. I did not have the full experience. I cannot express my WOE about this enough. Lemme 'splain... Boys are in charge of our group. They don't care about this stuff. The producer thought everyone was notified that the Red Carpet event was going to be condensed for ALL the movies showing that day (not right before each show.) Rain had been predicted in the forecast here, so they moved everything inside, too. Now, let me tell you of my day prior to this.

I went to the Cooper Spa for a facial (as my sister asked, was his dick huge? Hahaha. Ahem. Sorry. Working blue already!) and a massage, came back all quiet and relaxed after sending the kids to the in laws'. My thinking was, I'm going to be up until 4 am, I'll nap. The festivities don't start until 9pm, I've been told, so my plan is to nap, check in at our hotel in the heart of AFI goings on, and get ready there.
It's a few minutes until 5 pm, and I get a call from my sis (the dick joke was here) and she asks if I'm doing any red carpet tonight. I say yeah, it's before the movie, so... She calls the director and her fiance Chris (the screenwriter and "Roy" in the movie.)
Chris calls me and says for me to come downstairs at 6, and they'll meet me in the hotel lobby and we can all walk over to the red carpet together.
I'm in confusion. Come downstairs? "Aren't you in the hotel here?" Um, no, we aren't checking in until 7-ish. "The red carpet starts in less than an hour!!" Guys, I live 45 minutes from downtown. Also, I'm in sweats on my bed, haven't showered, washed my hair, etc. Also? The Mr. isn't back from work yet. He's not answering his cell.
I tell Chris that I'm jumping in the shower, maybe I can put my makeup on in the car, I don't know. He's audibly upset on my behalf. This isn't helping.
I'm telling myself not to cry, not to freak out, I can shower, dry my hair and style it in ten minutes, sure. (Don't cry don't cry don't cry)
Out of the shower, shaved, and starting to dry my hair in EIGHT MINUTES. Maybe I can pull this off? The Mr. is still not answering his cell phone.
5:30, I've got my dress on, half of my hair styled, and I'm trying to throw makeup in a bag to bring in the car. I look around, and start bawling. The Mr. pulls in. I haven't even been able to pack for the hotel stay.
I call the director, trying to keep it cool, and he tries to make me feel better, "Oh, it's not a big deal. I don't even know who all is going to be there, etc. etc., it's okay." FREAKING BOYS.

Here's a partial list of who was there in ONE ROOM ALL TOGETHER for the red carpet:

Colin Firth
Simon Pegg
Lauren Bacall
Bill Paxton (don't even think I wouldn't have struck up a polygamy convo)
Josh Brolin

*Cries* BUT. There is balm for this gaping wound. There's another red carpet on Wednesday Night (I'm sure no one that exciting will be there, however) so I'll have my "day in the sun." I probably jinxed myself with my fake interview, huh? *sad face*

But now for something positive! We swing into downtown, and since my sister wasn't returning my calls (she needed us to bring her up there, or send her a cab) I got the whim to run by her house (on the way there) to see if everything was okay. Turns out, NO! Her dress was ruined, she had to improvise, her dog was freaking out, and her phone died. We commiserated together, and I was glad we stopped by, because how would we have gotten her to the event? \o/ We check in at the W and the staff was really sweet and commented on me being in one of the movies for the festival. :)

We find out there's a pre-pre-party going on at the Ghostbar upstairs (where Pairs Hilton hangs when she comes to town, aka: filled with douchebags.) But! It's supposed to be for the directors and producers only, but I work my mojo with the doorman, and he lets me and the Mr. and my sister in. \o/ The other actors work theirs, too, and show up. Nice. Here are some pictures of that shindig, keep in mind it was black as pitch where we were. The bar sticks out of the hotel on the 34th floor, and is surrounded in glass. The floor, too. Wheee!

This is Chris on the left, my husband in the way back, and David Lowery, the director for St. Nick. (He had his own short showing at the festival. OH! Side note: for those of you who are long time readers at Ain't It Cool News, he's "Ghostboy." How random is that?)

Here's Robin. What ever, she could be Sarah Michelle Gellar's sister.

This is Robert (a producer and Iraq war vet - he's on a two week leave, then he goes back to Baghdad), Deva who plays "Bone" - he's also a graphic design artist and did the FX post production, and me

From here we went to a bar called "The Barley House" where a band was playing. (Side note: my secret boyfriend - haha - was here, and he's so damn funny. I'll point him out in a bit. He's shorter than me, he's an actor, but whatever. I love flirting with him. There wasn't a lot of that since I had ol' Ball-n-Chain along for the ride... HEEE.) Incidentally, the band that played was kick ass. Calhoun, and that's a link to their MySpace page.

Tom Towles shows up and he and I talk about... knee surgeries. Wow, I know how to impress the Talent! He was very nice - he was outside because he doesn't like being around smoke and loud noise. After an hour or so, it's time to head to the theater for the showing. We all grab some waiting shuttles and head over.

The entire theater is sold out. In fact, it's standing room only! People are paying to STAND to watch our movie. (We're all beside ourselves at this point.) The audience is queuing up and we're in the "VIP" lane taking pictures.

This is Tom Towles and me. I didn't want to bug him for a picture, but my husband insisted. (They got on like a house on fire, incidentally. They talked finances, the current administration, etc. What did I talk to him about? Knees. *head desk*) He really is just a lovely person. Very sweet, very gracious. Anyone ever see Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer? That's him. O_O

David Lowery looking at the sold out crowd (Robin and Tom getting a pic in the background) and my sister Beth being a goof.

The sold out crowd. It snaked down the escalators on the left, too. \o/

A cute pic (if I may say so) of Robin and me

Awww. Me and the Mr. <3

We get in, and drama strikes. Okay, you know how theaters are divded in two sections: the large portion that goes up to the back, a walkway, and the three or four rows waaaaaaay up front? We (the cast, etc.) are sitting on the bottom row of the big section, so we have that "safety rail" in front of us. Just fine by me. Some drunk douche walks past us (Chris, Beth, Me, Mr. in that order) and drops his beer. A little splashes on our feet, he picks up the beer (it didn't shatter) and said, "Oh, I dropped my beer," sticks his thumb IN THE BEER and SHAKES IT ONTO US. My husband leaps up and manhandles him out of the theater. <3

He came back in a few minutes later to applause. The crowd is still slowly filing in (the standing folks are coming in. STANDING. I'm still blown away by that.) and the drunk guy comes BACK IN and starts ripping the AFI posters off the wall and shouting drunkenly at everyone. Now, let me say this: our producer, Barak Epstein, brought his dad. I don't want to sound stereotypical, but the guy is nebbish. The guy is also AWESOME. He grabbed Drunken Tool and shoved him out the door followed by my husband, our Iraq soldier producer, Deva, and Chris. They walk him to police custody outside the theater to make sure he doesn't come back at all. Good hell!

Here are some shots of us in our seats. :D

That's Deva and his lady friend. (I cannot for the life of me remember her name... Um, she's the "flavor of the week," so I guess it doesn't matter =p)

Me, Beth, and Chris with a finger gun. I can NOT take a picture. I'm almost always with wonky eyes, or them closed. *shrug*

Tom and Robin wondering what the hell Robert is doing texting someone. Incidentally, Robert, a HUGE flirt, is drunk off his ass. Then again, he stares down sniper fire every day, so he can drink and hit on the ladies all he wants, in my book. And? He's totally cute. :D

The movie starts, and people are laughing! Oh, my god, you guys, I am so relieved at this point. And they're not just laughing, they're howling. My character gets the groans (not "oh my god, this sucks" groans, but "gaaaah, that's awful, haha!" groans. I'm totally good with that. *g*) Two people walked out, but they were in their 80s, and what were they thinking? The AFI Board of Directors are directly behind us, and they're a hodge podge of Symphony/Opera goers, people on various Arts Councils, and they are LAUGHING. They get it! They're not offended! Or, if they are, they're happy to be laughing at it. \o/

After the showing, there was a Q&A session. A lot of the questions were by other directors/film buffs, and they were things like "what was this shot on," "what was your budget," that sort of thing. I mentioned that the scene in the pool in the house (remember my blog about that?) was exactly how we found it on the location, that we didn't bring in the carousel horses. There was a collective gasp, which was great. I was personally asked, "How does it feel to have played the most offensive character in movie history?" I couldn't be more proud, was my response. Haha! I also mentioned that I'm a suburban haus frau and mother to three kids, and none of them will ever see this movie. Ever. That got a laugh. (Oh, I was thiiiiiis close to saying "Most offensive? Even more than Helen Hunt's character in Pay It Forward? And then I remembered that Helen Hunt was a recipient of the AFI Star Award and opened this festival, so I didn't say that. :D)

Here's the cast, some crew, and a few extras. Back row: "wrestler vamp," Barak Epstein (producer/co-director), Adam Doneghy (producer), Tony Medlin (my "husband"), some guy, Tom Towles, Deva George (Bone), another extra?, Moby - I mean, Blair Rowan (director), two guys I've never seen before (???)
Front row: on knees Richard (Old Zeke), Chris Gardener (Roy, screen writer, my future bro-in-law), Pringles Man (haha, Martin Fleetwood, editor), Robin (Carrie), Me (Lynette), Robert (producer), Casey (secret boyfriend), Clay (Director of Photography... ditto on St. Nick), Nate (Sam).

Notice someone checking me out? Aww yeah. incidentally, the Mr. took these pictures after I waved at him to get a shot. They aren't very good, but hopefully some will pop up on the official site.

Tom Towles gave me a big hug at the end and paid me a huge compliment. (My head was spinning.) In a nutshell, he thought I was one of the best actors in the movie and he expects to see me on the Big Screen again. Aww! Also: get my name out, dude! :D (Okay, this is petty, but dammit, come on. He didn't tell the others this. I checked. *preens*)

It's now about 3:30am, and I'm worn out. My feet are killing me. (I had to scrunch up some tissues and put them in the gap between my toes and the ball of my feet to make it through the night.) We head back to the hotel and get to our room. I find a bottle of champagne and a note waiting for me from the W staff. Awww!

The note:

The Mr. and I realize we haven't eaten dinner, and we are STARVING. I truly could not bear the thought of putting those shoes back on, so I changed into some comfy clothes to grab a bite. Because I like to humiliate myself publicly, here's a shot of my exhausted face. I swear I'm not drunk. :D

We got up at 9:30 for some breakfast, checked out, and headed home to see Sally Dog and let her go potty. So glamorous. I went to bed at 9pm, and didn't wake up until 8:30 the next day. I spent all day yesterday digging in the garden and hauling manure, and I'm still worn out today.

[ETA] I forgot! people asked me for my autograph! What? And to have their picture taken with me! Guys, that is beyond ridiculous. I'm a nobody! (I was completely flattered and kept telling everyone "thank you so much for coming!") Hahaha. I'm a nerd, through and through.

Wednesday night is the next Big Night and that's when Nicholas Brendon will be there. (His agent/manager is a ding dong, and screwed up Nb's travel schedule. There was a hotel room waiting for him, the manager just screwed up the flight info/relaying travel plans to Nick. Evidently, NB was pissed as hell. I'm looking forward to seeing him again. He was the NICEST guy. And THIS TIME, I WILL NOT MISS THE RED CARPET. (I'm going straight from the after party to the hospital for my knee surgery, so pictures/etc. will be late in coming. But they'll come!)