SQUEEEEEEE

[serai]

OK, that was much better.




First up was John Noble. What an interesting guy! He's done quite a lot as an actor, and has a great sense of humor about the fact that these days he mostly plays evil guys. (The irony of that contrasted with his name is something I find highly amusing.) He spoke about Denethor at length, and very movingly (for me, anyway) about his relationship to Faramir. Noble is a very poised man, and if I hadn't known he was a stage actor, I could've deduced it by how easily he worked the space, and how comfortable he was with all that room to move around in. (Of the four hobbits, Billy is the only one who does the same, moving back and forth and upstage and downstage, and of the four he is the only one who has acted onstage as well.) It was wonderful to hear his thoughts on the Gondor family, and to get to see him.

After that, westmoon and I went to the vendors' room, and looked at pretties. We bought a few tchotchkes - magnets, buttons, etc. and generally hung out. Wheee, what fun to finally meet her! She's such a sweet person. *hugs*

Then The Boys were onstage for their talk. They both looked very fine. Elijah's growing his hair out, probably for Iggy. BE STILL MY HEART. How long have I longed for him in long hair? Practically forever. He prettyyyy... But TINY. He said he was preparing for the part by working out and losing weight, which is appropriate since Iggy has always been a beanpole. 95 pounds he says he weighs at the moment. *sigh* Honestly, that scares me. I mean, I know he's short, but that's insane. If he loses anymore he might do himself damage, young and elastic or not. *sigh* *sends Elijah spiritual ice cream* Sean also looked very fine. He's a bit more on the teddy bear side now, which I like. Huggable. Mmmmm.

As to their talk, it wasn't all that different from last year. They kidded around, talked about this and that. Answered questions in their long, rambling way. Unfortunately all the really good questions happened later, when they had to hurry up and give short answers - they actually turned down a few questions on the grounds that they were too good, and couldn't be answered quickly. Early on they noticed the big screen behind them, and turned their chairs around to watch themselves, which was very cute. "I don't often get a chance to look at my own back!" Elijah said. At Sean's instigation, we all sang Happy Birthday to Elijah. It was fun, a nice talk.



Then came my SQUEEEEE moment.


Elijah's photo op. I had a hard time justifying that, since I already had a pic from last year, and money isn't particularly abundant this year. But since blackbird_song had been so generous, I didn't have to buy any autograph tix, so I figured GO AHEAD. And did. And boy, am I glad! Because I got to FLUMMOX Our Boy!! Heeheehee!

OK, first let me say that the Creation handler problem is no more. This year, they have all been very nice - relaxed, smiling, allowing everyone to take his time and enjoy all the interactions. Heh, methinks Creation got quite a bitchslapping last year, both from TORn, and from the fans. So, the situation has improved vastly. At the photo op, Elijah not only looked lovely, but was taking time to talk to anyone who wanted to say a few words to him. Smiling, shaking hands, cooing over babies, etc. *sigh*

So this was very good news for me. See, I brought him a prezzie. Here it is:



I found it on eBay some months ago, and knew I HAD to give it to him. It's the deed to a piece of property in Maine, written in 1848, and signed by Elijah Wood. I was all on pins and needles to see his reaction to it, and I was not disappointed.

He loved it. I handed it to him, told him how old it was. It was encased in a plastic photo holder for protection, and he looked at it carefully, very interested. Then I said, "Look at the signature." He did, and his eyes went wide, and he said, "Oh my God!" He immediately began asking me questions - "What is this? Where did you get it?" etc. He was fascinated by the piece. "Look, he wrote the way I used to write!" He really loved it.

And then he looked at me with those lovely eyes and said rather plaintively, "I don't get to keep this, do I?" I was kinda shocked, and answered, "Dude, YEAH. Of course! That's why I brought it, for you!" He got all happy, and thanked me, and then HUGGED ME. Eeee! I made Elijah happy!!! SQUEEE!!!

So, then he puts his arm around me for the picture, and I got brave and said, "For the picture..." He looks at me again and said, "Yeah?" And I asked him if he would kiss my forehead the way he kissed Sam's. He smiled and answered, "Sure! It's the least I can do, sweetheart!" So I bowed my head, and he kissed my forehead. Warm soft flower-touch on my brow, a little shiver in my heart and a moment's faraway echoes of waves on the shore. I was just barely aware of the camera flash, and then he pulled me in and hugged me again. One more look into those star-blossom eyes, and then it was thank you and have a great time today and such. I just floated out of the room, charged with silly love-vibes. And then spent the next hour squeeing at people, heehee!

*sighsighsighsigh* What a perfectly sweet guy. *more sigh*

(And yeah, he is definitely very thin. My arms practically doubled around him, and I had to bite my tongue not to blurt out that he ought to eat more!)

So, after that it was autograph time. Very long line (time-wise, I mean.) I waited well over an hour, but it was totally cool, because they were all taking their time to talk to each of us, and that was well worth the wait.

I spoke to Mr. Noble (just can't help thinking of him that way), and told him he'd made me cry during his presentation. He got a serious look and asked why, and I told him about my personal connection the whole Faramir-Denethor dynamic, and how I had been concerned about how the films would play it. And how moved I was by it, and so his comments about how Denethor "just tolerated him" made me break down in tears. (I was actually getting very teary just telling him about it.) His voice got very soft, and he took my hand and squeezed it. When I thanked him for his portrayal and the work he did with David Wenham, he said, "I hope it was good for you to see that." I told him it was, and still is, and thanked him again. What a gracious man. Wow.

Then Elijah. I chatted with him for a little (the line was moving at a very leisurely pace). Asked him if he'd enjoyed the film I gave him last year, and he said, "What film?" Heehee. I described it to him, and he got all apologetic about not having watched it. He says that often the stuff he gets at cons sits in his house in boxes and he doesn't get around to unpacking for months, sometimes never! (But at least it was great to hear that he keeps all this stuff!) He said that he remembered my giving him the movie, but had never gotten around to watching it. But he wrote the title down on his huge Starbucks cup, asking me to spell it, and said he would definitely dig it out. He also said he'd ask Eugene about it (the film is about gypsies). Heh, I'd love to know what Eugene thinks of that film. We talked a tad more as he signed for me, and then I moved on to Sean.

I had brought an Oscar ad for them to sign, one for ROTK which has the "Glad you're with me" pic on Mount Doom, with the quote beneath them. As Sean was signing it, I asked him about Laddie. He sighed and said that the producers hadn't been able to raise the money for the film (hardly surprising in this political climate). I told him I'd heard a rumor that it was back on, and he said, "Yeah, I've heard that rumor too!" Apparently there had been some schedule conflict as well, but he really wants to do the film, should it ever get back on track. Oh, well.

Daniel Reeve, the calligrapher, was also signing. He'd given a very nice talk on Friday which I greatly enjoyed. I spoke with him, telling him that I loved the work he'd done for the films. I told him I'm a calligrapher too, and that I'd developed my own alphabet. He got a happy smile and said, "Oh yes? Show me!" He pulled out a small sheet of cardstock and his own pen and ink, so I had to deliver! I wrote The Lord of the Rings in my script (my hands were shaking as I wrote, but I think it came out OK), and he praised it! Said it was elegant lettering! *squee* He signed my 50-year LOTR mini-poster, then said I should sign the card I'd written on for him. He was serious, so I did. I asked him if he had a website, he said yeah, so we agreed that I should email him and keep in touch. Yay!

It was well over 9:30 when I finally got out of line, and I hear they were still signing for a couple of hours after! It must have been much easier this year, what with things being so much more relaxed and pleasant. I went back to the Sheraton up to blackbird_song's room, and had squee and great convo with her and thuri (who is also way lovely!) late into the night, on many subjects. This was also wonderful!

So, a Very Satisfactory Day! So happy. *triple sigh*


Off to ORC again. Today, Billy and Miranda! I'll be going to the lunch event that got set up at the last minute. Yayayayayay!! Later in the afternoon, I'll be buying a Tim Kirk print that I've had my eye on all weekend, and then seeing the blooper reel.


*is happy, very very happy*

Comments

[serai1.livejournal.com]

:) I'm glad you enjoyed the report, dear.

Yeah, he's TOO skinny! I don't like seeing people that thin, honestly. I mean, I know he did it for a film role, and I can appreciate that rationale, but still... After the filming, I hope some good woman cooks him up a mess of sausages and 'taters!