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September 17, 2005
Random Celebrity Sightings
The past week has been a flurry of interviews, one big masochistic blur. Twelve interviews in 10 days. Three rejection letters already. (Hey Urs and Jen -- do you like how I wrote out any numbers below 10, as well as 12, which started a sentence? I think of you two every time I make a conscious grammar decision.)
BUT. Since it's totally boring (not to mention depressiing) to tell you about them all, instead I will regale you with tales of (semi-)celebrity sighting here in LA.
So on Wednesday night, Gloria and I headed to Theater of the New Ear, which rocked my socks off. Charlie Kaufman's play within a play within a play.... was exactly what I needed to forget about a day of 20-minute exercises in verbal and aural circumcision.
AND. There was the added bonus of seeing the über-HOTT Josh Charles. I loved him as Knox Overstreet in Dead Poets Society. I loved him more as Bryan in Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead. And I nearly lost it in every episode of Sports Night.
And there he was, standing nonchalantly outside Royce Hall with a buddy. Gloria hadn't arrived yet, and I was doing a lap around the hall to find her. And there He was. AND I'm pretty sure he checked me out. Really! I swear. We totally made eye contact. And then I had to pretend like I hadn't noticed that one of my high school, college and mid-twenties fantasy icons wasn't STANDING IN LIVING, BREATHING FLESH before me and keep walking. And he had been facing me, but right as I passed he moved perpendicular to me so, ipso facto, he could check out the rear view. I swear! What other explanation could there be for his movements? I mean, he definitely couldn't be making sure a crazed fan wasn't about to try to snap his photo, or wondering if I was really wearing flip-flips (oh. yes. i was.) to THE THEATER. No. The only reasonable explanation is that he was checking me out. Dude! Res ipsa loquitur!
After my Knox Overstreet sighting, it was hard to concentrate on anyone else, even though I am the worst stare-er and eavesdropper ever, except maybe for Gloria, which I think is why we get along so well. But I did manage to spot Helen Hunt's sister in Mad About You, Doogie Howser's girlfriend Wanda, the infamous Randall Batinkoff, and Billy Zane, who was wearing a sharp grey pinstripe suit and is much less grandiose than I imagined, though still much taller than me.
If all this elbow-rubbing with C-listers (except Josh and Billy of course, kisses!) wasn't enough, on Friday, there was Jason Biggs in the Sunset Strip Starbucks parking lot. He was leaving as I arrived, in a dark grey Audi A4, which surprised me. And impressed me if it means that he is more conservative with his money than say, Adrian Grenier, who I was in front of in line once at the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at the Beverly Center as he talked really loud to get attention.
So, phew! I know all you non-LA folks are totally blown away by all my sightings of people you vaguely remember! But people, after three rejection letters, my abiltiy to spot people listed 18th down in the credits all I've got to hold onto! A sad, sad, sad state of affairs.
Posted by jen at September 17, 2005 03:54 PM
Comments
josh charles IS hot. for a long time i thought he went to my undergrad. but it turned out it was the OTHER dude from sports night, peter krause. a sad day for me, that other guy was nowhere near as cute. billy zane kind of freaks me out ever since he played this goofball guy on charmed. (as if you didn't already know my whole life revolved around TV, that just shows even more how pathetic it is.) speaking of TV, dude did you watch "threshold"? it's the new LOST. except BETTER. :)
anyway, yes, I COMPLETELY and TOTALLY agree, the dude was checking our your ass and probably even more interested due to the aforementioned presence of flipflops. stars like normal, non frou frou girls, right? (come and get me, keanu. ready and waiting.) :)
Posted by: carolyn at September 18, 2005 06:39 AM
I love how you were able to work my fave Latin phrase -- Res ispa loquitur -- into a post. I was just mentioning the phrase on Thursday. It's some sort of synchronicity or something.
Nothing better than celeb spottings to take your mind off of interviews. I cannot believe that when you mentioned Adrian Grenier, you did not mention Drive Me Crazy.
Also, I'm with Carolyn. Josh was checking you out. What else could explain that behavior?
Posted by: Dagny at September 18, 2005 08:52 AM
Is that Randall guy the one who was sitting near us? Billy Zane is cute (says he's 6' tall, not a bad height), even if he is bald and has girly eyelashes. But he speaks Greek fluently. Mm.
There was a very good review of the show in Friday's LATimes, along with an interesting bit of info about the author of the first piece.
I saw Jason Biggs once at Tiki Ti. You know the best spot for guaranteed celebrity sightings? Dolce. When we went there once, we sat next to Tara Reid. I think we should go there.
Posted by: Gloria at September 18, 2005 09:09 AM
Ah, here's the link to the review since I can't use HTML in comments.
http://www.calendarlive.com/music/swed/cl-et-ear16sep16,2,3695239.story
Posted by: Gloria at September 18, 2005 09:10 AM
Omigosh. I love Josh Charles so much. Well not so much now as I did two years ago because he got kind of skeezy. Was he sporting the scary facial hair? Did he look cracked out? God, I love Josh Charles. When I saw S.W.A.T. I got so pissed that he wasn't in the movie more because really, who cares about Colin Farrell? Not me, that's for sure.
That is like, the coolest. I'm jealous.
Also, love SportsNight. Perhaps my favorite Josh Charles ever.
Posted by: Rhonda at September 18, 2005 11:49 AM
Nice job with the spotting. I probably would have recognized most of those people as some sort of celebrity, but definitely wouldn't have been able to place them with the correct TV show or movie.
I understand that the Ivy virtually guarantees celebrity spotting too, but the food is supposed to be quite poor. You pay to rub elbows with the stars. Might as well do Dolce then. Better food.
Posted by: ddj at September 18, 2005 12:02 PM
Ooh ooh ooh! I lurve him! Sports Night with him and Peter Kraus... and Josh Malina for a litle nerdy cuteness...
I was once in a restaurant with Juliana Marguiles, and I tried as hard as I could not to stare, but at one point I could tell I was actually making her uncomfortable. And I could not avert my eyes.
Posted by: Anne at September 18, 2005 01:27 PM
i'm so jealous. i was inlove w/ him when i was a little girl and the other day i saw this really bad movie w/ him and jay mohr and i was like "how old is he? can i hunt him down and date him?" but since he's 34 i'm thinkin' no!
Posted by: Penny at September 18, 2005 02:59 PM
And hey, if that Randall guy is the one that sat near us, he was cute even if he did disappear after intermission. And it's too bad that I didn't know he was going to be there (I don't know, through some sort of psychic ability) because I could've read about him on IMDB and then hit on him (or, scare him) by mentioning somehow that we had the same concentration undergrad. Obviously, it was meant to be.
Posted by: Gloria at September 18, 2005 05:51 PM
Hey! Thanks for the OCI tips! My first one is tomorrow. Fortunately things are a little mellower out here- I only applied with 6 firms, and the interviews are spread out over 2 or 3 weeks, so it shouldn't be TOO bad... (fingers crossed!) Let me know how your run ended up and I'll do the same!
OOH! Celebrity sightings! I once saw Willie Nelson in the greeting card isle of a Walgreens in Santa Fe, NM.... Talk about random!
Posted by: Jenny at September 18, 2005 09:15 PM
Who knew there were so many Josh Charles fans? He was sporting some facial hair, Rhonda, but not skeezy. Just a little scruff. I haven't seen SWAT, I didn't realize he was in it. Perhaps will have to rent. Nor did I realize he was in a movie with Jay Mohr. Do you see what law school has done to my movie watching? It's a travesty, really.
Gloria, Randall was the guy near us, although now I question whether that was him because he seemed a little too young. You never can tell, though, maybe I just thought he was young because of his dressing style. He was cute, though, either way!
Dolce sounds awesome. I wonder if it is the kind of place you have to make reservations forever in advance?
Posted by: jen at September 18, 2005 09:18 PM
Jenny, I will definitely let you know how mine go. Good luck! One more thing I wish I had done before mine -- right before the interview, repeat the name of the firm I was interviewing with several times out loud so I didn't forget it once I got in there. Perhaps not as high a risk with your interviews so spread out, but doesn't hurt!
Posted by: jen at September 18, 2005 09:27 PM
Dammit. Where DID that guy go after intermission? Really, if they want quasi-stalkers, they need to be more explicit with their actions.
Hrm. I think I've generally made reservations 3 weeks in advance for Dolce, for a weekend spot. I think we can swing that..
Posted by: Gloria at September 18, 2005 09:39 PM
I think he just moved seats, just like the freakin' rest of the theater.
Posted by: jen at September 18, 2005 09:49 PM
the reason you didn't know he was in a movie w/ jay mohr is because the only people who knew about that movie were the people that made it. it honestly had to be the worst movie ever, but when you live by yourself and all you do is go to summer school and read court cases all day, you will watch almost anything. it'd probably be a good movie for you since you've got the law school thing goin on and all:P
Posted by: Penny at September 19, 2005 12:29 AM
Yeah the closest thing I get to a celebrity sighting here in Montélimar is when I see the mailman.
Small towns, you gotta love 'em.
Posted by: Sammy at September 20, 2005 02:08 AM
OMG - I am SO jealous that you and Gloria went to see a play by Charlie Kaufman!! I HEART Charlie Kaufman. Was it total insanity or what?
(PS - Found your blog through DDJ. Can't wait to read more!)
Posted by: la.dauphine at September 20, 2005 07:56 AM
Wow, you are amazing! I barely recognize first cousins when I run into them.
Posted by: ~drew emborsky~ at September 20, 2005 11:07 AM
You saw my Billy? *Sigh*
Posted by: Jeff at September 20, 2005 11:15 AM
Definitely sounds like you have some star-findin' talent to me. Use it for good, my friend. Use it for good.
Posted by: Chris at September 21, 2005 07:24 AM
He was definitely checking you out. I wish I'd been there, and been drunk, so I could have tried to make a love connection for you. It's amazing who you'll recognize at C-list LA events. At a Showtime movie premiere I saw Kelly Lynch and Stephen Baldwin (they were in the movie, so hard to miss), and the dad from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. I never watched that show, but I knew it was him, without a doubt. There was really nice food (and he's one to appreciate the spread, if you know what I mean). I'm so glad you think of me when you think of grammar. It warms my heart.
Posted by: Urs at September 21, 2005 04:31 PM
Sammy! Hi! Welcome back!
Hi la.dauphine! I have been reading your blog, too, care of DDJ! Awesome!
Drew-- it is one of my few skills!
Ack! I cannot believe Rude Cactus has now posted on MY BLOG. I have been reading you and Beth forever but too shy to post a comment because you always have so many. Congrats on beautiful little Mia!
Urs-- I can't believe you saw Stephen Baldwin. Did he have the look of a man of G-d about him?
Posted by: jen at September 22, 2005 12:47 AM
Josh Charles fans; check out our fan group with lots of pretty pictures:
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/JoshCharlesChat/
:)
Posted by: Katy at December 14, 2006 08:23 AM