Reach for the stars- the Hollywood stars, that is
As many of you probably already know from my incessant facebook status updates about It, on Thursday evening some friends and I ventured to London to go to the red carpet (dyed green for the occasion) premiere of the new Tim Burton movie, Alice in Wonderland. Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange), Alan Rickman (Severus Snape) and Timothy Spall (Peter Pettigrew) were all there. I didn't see them, but I know that Alan Rickman and Timothy Spall drove past me, because all of the stars drove past us- they had to. I saw Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter from a distance, and I got up close and personal with Mr. Johnny Depp.
It was so much fun! It was cold, raining, and crowded, but still very fun. We left right after our 11:30 classes got out on Thursday afternoon and caught a train from Grantham to King's Cross. We made a pit stop when we got to King's Cross at platform 9 3/4 (of course!). Then, we hopped on the tube to Leicester Square, where the premiere was.
Starting out at Platform 9 3/4
When we got to Leicester square, it was already packed. There wasn't an area directly behind any of the barriers that we could stand in- there were people everywhere. Some people, we learned, had camped out overnight to be right up in front of the theater (that's dedication!). We found a spot behind some pretty short girls and started waiting. At this point it was about 2:00, and Johnny was supposed to arrive at about 5:30.
Some hard-core fans- dressed up like Johnny's most famous characters. They were in a really good spot too- must have camped out.
Well, everything would have been fine and dandy if it hadn't started raining at about 3. It rained, and rained, and rained. We had heard from a security guard that if it wasn't raining, some of the stars would probably walk around and visit with the fans, but they couldn't guarantee anything if it was raining. So we hoped and prayed that the rain would stop. Meanwhile, the girls in front of us became obnoxious, because they kept hitting us in the faces with their stupid umbrella. It was really annoying, actually. Suddenly, the rain stopped (at about 5:00). We all (except the obnoxious girls in front of us) put our umbrellas down. They eventually did, after enough people told them to. We were all so hopeful. We were so close to the arrival of famous people, and it wasn't raining! Like I said, Johnny was supposed to arrive at 5:30. 5:30 came and went- no Johnny (still no rain though). 5:40 came and went (no Johnny, no rain). 5:50 came and went (no Johnny, but it started pouring down rain). Johnny was late, and if he had been there on time it wouldn't have been raining. Luckily, no one put their umbrellas back up this time. Randomly, people would start screaming, either pretending that someone great had arrived, or because a news crew had asked them to. Each time we got excited, then the screaming stopped and we realized it was a false alarm.
Huddled together under umbrellas trying to stay dry.
Suddenly, screams started to our left, and grew louder and louder. We knew that the moment had come: Johnny Depp was here. A slow moving black car got closer and closer to us, and through the open window, Johnny waved at us. My camera only saw his hands on his lap, but I saw his face.
Those are Johnny's hands!
We then proceeded to wait some more, as the heavens proceeded to rain even harder. We watched more famous people arrive from far away, judging how important the person was on how loud the screams were. Then, another mountain of screams came- this time starting on our right. Johnny Depp was walking back down towards us! He walked past, and started signing autographs and was moving our way. He was getting closer and closer to us! I stuck my arm out over everyone else, notebook opened to a blank page, and then… YES! I felt a pressure on the notebook! I had a Johnny Depp autograph! I was snapping pictures like crazy, not knowing if I actually had a picture of him or not, but when I pulled my camera back and looked at them, I realized I had several.
My best picture of Mr. Depp!
After Johnny passed us, we realized that no one else was probably going to walk down (it was getting close to the time of the screening), so we headed out. It was an amazing night. I still can't believe that I was a foot away from Johnny Depp, and that Anne Hathaway, Snape, Bellatrix, and Pettigrew all drove past me in a car. It's crazy.
I love my life.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comments:
Whit Whit, this is amazing! That is suuuuchhhh a close picture- haha. I love keeping up with all of your awesome travels! Miss you!
Post a Comment