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There is only one actor I have sorta obsessed over - Russell Crowe. I think he is a fabulous actor.
I knew when I saw him in his first American movie, The Quick and the Dead, that he was gonna be a star. He just had that on-screen presence and acting ability. Over the years he's done some great work. And sure, Gladiator is great, but he didn't deserve the Oscar for that role. He deserved the Best Supporting for The Insider and Best Actor for A Beautiful Mind.
In my cubicle at work I have pictures of him, including a signed one from when I wrote him a letter (to Australia). People often asked if I had met him.
Then I found out he was getting his star on the Walk of Fame. I have tons of vacation time and my boss retired. So I have nothing to do at work. Why not add another item to my Things To Do Before I Die list? I decided this was my best opportunity to get to see him in person. My friend, Michelle, decided to come too, even though she's not really a Russell fan (she is now!).
We arrived the night before to scout out the area. His star was already placed in front of the Kodak Theater, but covered up. We got up at 5 a.m. to get there at 6 to snag positions for the 11:30 a.m. ceremony. We were admittedly over early. But there were about a half dozen other early birds as well. We made friends and lucky for us, they had extra tickets for the Tonight Show because Russell was gonna be on there in the afternoon.
First an installer showed up to finish prepping the star. He uncovered it and proceeded to polish it and then seal it. Then the rest of the crew came to erect tents because it was drizzling. Next came the guys to add the barriers, sound equipment, and staging area.
We were up against the barriers at curbside in perfect position until the press came. Then we had some press people in front of us which blocked our views a lot. But I still got some great pictures.
We saw Sam Worthington who is in Avatar and Clash of the Titans. The speakers for Russell were Jay Leno, Ron Howard, and Brian Grazer. Also there was Jeffrey Katzenberg and some of his costars from Robin Hood. And, of course, his beautiful wife, Danielle Spencer, and sons, Charlie and Tennyson.
After his speeches he worked the press corps on the other side. We called to him to come see us and that's when he came right over to us! I shook his hand and told him we had come from Sacramento to see him. He started to sign autographs and I got one. Then Michelle asked for a picture and he posed with us! I had my arm around his shoulders! He was so nice. Michelle and I were jumping up and down screaming afterwards, we were so happy!
Later we found out that we were on E! television! When we got to the hotel later, we saw ourselves!
Backtracking, we zoomed over to the Tonight Show and spent another couple of hours waiting for that. We ended up in 2nd row floor seats and got to run up to try and greet Jay Leno at the start of the show. Then Russell was the main guest, followed by Jenna Elfman and Sade.
What a great, awesome, fantastic day we had. We have been grinning all day long.
