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Dish Of Salt: Part Two, 'I LOVE COMIC-CON'!
OK, so, continuing with my first day at Comic-Con.... after hitting the convention floor, we went back upstairs to interview the cast of the movie "Push" with Dakota Fanning. Because of an accident on the 5 freeway from LA to San Diego, many of the celebrities were running late and Fanning told me it was a seven hour drive to get here. Ouch! It normally takes about two and a half hours. Little Dakota has certainly grown up since her breakout role seven years ago in "I Am Sam." Now 14, she has joined the teenage ranks alongside Miley Cyrus, wearing designer clothes and three-inch high heels. She's getting tall, too. I just hope she stays along the straight and narrow path! Then it was the moment I had been looking forward to all day... meeting the cast of "Twilight," the movie based on the best selling young adult book right now. If you haven't heard of "Twilight" (or its author, Stephanie Meyer) you are seriously behind on your pop culture. Meyer, a housewife from Arizona, has quickly become America's version of J.K. Rowling. Although, when I asked her about being compared to the "Harry Potter" author she coyly mused, "there is no one like J.K. Rowling.
"Twilight" is the story about Bella, a typical teenager who falls for Edward, who just happens to be a vampire. The casting of Edward was one of the most controversial maneuvers in film-dom this year. Fans of the book were extremely outspoken online about their hatred for Robert Pattinson, who played Cedric Diggory in the "Harry Potter" films. Of course, they had not seen a stitch of the movie. Last week, when the trailer came out online and in theaters, most fans completely changed their minds. It seems Robert is the perfect Edward. And yes, Robert told me today he was hurt by the initial fan reaction but said that he couldn't get caught up in all of the negativity. I'll talk more about this next week in my blog when I return. I'm sad to report that Kristen Stewart who plays Bella was stuck in traffic and I missed our interview.
The highlight of my day, however, was the surprise appearance of Hugh Jackman who flew in last minute to surprise fans with a first look at "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," a prequel and spin off of "X-Men." I'll admit right now that I have always had a huge crush on him so I shamelessly flirted with him during our interview. I introduced myself and the conversation went something like this:
DOS: "Hi, I'm Laura. Nice to meet you."
HJ: "Lora or Lara?"
DOS: "You can call me whatever you want!" (spoken in a 976 phone operator's voice)
HJ: "Well, hi ya Stephanie."
Then he put his arm around me and I just about melted. I wish I could tell you what we talked about but really I don't remember. It's rare when I get giddy over a male celebrity. Fanboys would have been flipping out for a different reason when comic book guru Stan Lee walked in the room and for the first time ever he got to meet the man who is "Wolverine." So far, no cameo has been filmed for Stan, like all the other Marvel Comic turned movies, but Jackman says they still have some scenes to shoot and they will make it happen.
I grabbed Stan for a quick interview. He is like a god at Comic-Con and he knows it. He loves the attention too! He told me about his cameo in "Iron Man" where he was supposed to be like Hugh Hefner in a scene outside the Disney Concert Hall. Apparently, Robert Downey Jr. was supposed to tap him on the shoulder and say, "I thought you were Hugh Hefner." Director Jon Favreau gave him the line, "It happens all the time," but it ended up on the cutting room floor!
After I came down from my Hugh high, I headed over to grab The Rock,
who now likes to go by his real name, Duane Johnson. He's another one
who is on my hottest man on the planet list. I was disappointed he was
doing his press interviews for a movie called "Race to Witch Mountain"
with co-star Carla Gugino and the film's director. No one-on-one time
with The Rock!!!! What did I drive all the way down here for then, I
ask?! (oh yeah, Hugh!) I still got to stand next to him though, and he
did touch me a few times on the shoulder. I'll take whatever I can
get.
Then the day took a sharp turn when we had an interview with Guy Ritchie for his new movie "RocknRolla." I've never met him. I'm sure he is a decent guy. However, he is going through some personal drama with this whole Madonna / A-Rod debacle now. This is his first public appearance since the scandal broke out and, of course, it's what everyone wanted to ask him about today. Would you want to talk about something like that in public? Neither would I. However, it's my job to ask despite being told by the movie's publicists to stick to questions about the film. So, I tried to at least keep it respectful by remarking to him about Comic-Con, "This must be a nice distraction for you from everything going on in your life right now?" He chucked and said, 'I don't know what stuff you are talking about." A perfect answer to an obnoxious question.
With that drama out of the way the day ended on a bright note with
Gerard Butler, the star of "300." That was a movie that most would say
Comic-Con made. When they took the film to the convention last year,
the buzz on early footage was so incredible it helped propel it to a
$70 million opening weekend (and $210 million to date). Butler has a
role in "RocknRolla" and was excited to be back at the Con for a second
year in a row.
OK, and here is the highlight -- we took a picture together for the Web site and after he saw he remarked, "We make a great couple. This looks like a wedding photo!"
I LOVE COMIC-CON!
I think I'll come back every year. OK, I know this is all sounding so selfish. But give a girl a break. I need a little flirtation in my life right now! More from the Con tomorrow...
HJ: "Lora or Lara?"
DOS: "You can call me whatever you want!" (spoken in a 976 phone operator's voice)
HJ: "Well, hi ya Stephanie."
Then he put his arm around me and I just about melted. I wish I could tell you what we talked about but really I don't remember. It's rare when I get giddy over a male celebrity. Fanboys would have been flipping out for a different reason when comic book guru Stan Lee walked in the room and for the first time ever he got to meet the man who is "Wolverine." So far, no cameo has been filmed for Stan, like all the other Marvel Comic turned movies, but Jackman says they still have some scenes to shoot and they will make it happen.
I grabbed Stan for a quick interview. He is like a god at Comic-Con and he knows it. He loves the attention too! He told me about his cameo in "Iron Man" where he was supposed to be like Hugh Hefner in a scene outside the Disney Concert Hall. Apparently, Robert Downey Jr. was supposed to tap him on the shoulder and say, "I thought you were Hugh Hefner." Director Jon Favreau gave him the line, "It happens all the time," but it ended up on the cutting room floor!
After I came down from my Hugh high, I headed over to grab The Rock,
who now likes to go by his real name, Duane Johnson. He's another one
who is on my hottest man on the planet list. I was disappointed he was
doing his press interviews for a movie called "Race to Witch Mountain"
with co-star Carla Gugino and the film's director. No one-on-one time
with The Rock!!!! What did I drive all the way down here for then, I
ask?! (oh yeah, Hugh!) I still got to stand next to him though, and he
did touch me a few times on the shoulder. I'll take whatever I can
get. Then the day took a sharp turn when we had an interview with Guy Ritchie for his new movie "RocknRolla." I've never met him. I'm sure he is a decent guy. However, he is going through some personal drama with this whole Madonna / A-Rod debacle now. This is his first public appearance since the scandal broke out and, of course, it's what everyone wanted to ask him about today. Would you want to talk about something like that in public? Neither would I. However, it's my job to ask despite being told by the movie's publicists to stick to questions about the film. So, I tried to at least keep it respectful by remarking to him about Comic-Con, "This must be a nice distraction for you from everything going on in your life right now?" He chucked and said, 'I don't know what stuff you are talking about." A perfect answer to an obnoxious question.
With that drama out of the way the day ended on a bright note with
Gerard Butler, the star of "300." That was a movie that most would say
Comic-Con made. When they took the film to the convention last year,
the buzz on early footage was so incredible it helped propel it to a
$70 million opening weekend (and $210 million to date). Butler has a
role in "RocknRolla" and was excited to be back at the Con for a second
year in a row.OK, and here is the highlight -- we took a picture together for the Web site and after he saw he remarked, "We make a great couple. This looks like a wedding photo!"
I LOVE COMIC-CON!
I think I'll come back every year. OK, I know this is all sounding so selfish. But give a girl a break. I need a little flirtation in my life right now! More from the Con tomorrow...
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