I'm surrounded by Oscars

February 10, 2007 - Saturday
So tonight, I found myself surrounded by Oscar nominees and Oscar winners. I know, tough job I have. Where was I? No, not Hollywood, but the Rye Town Hilton, for the annual Picture House Gala. I first met an older man named "Ed," who turned out to be Ed Sherin, the longtime executive producer of Law & Order and current EP and Director of Medium on NBC (he also told me about a pilot he recently directed called "The Black Donnelys" and when I got home tonight, I saw a promo for it on NBC.) He's the wife of actress Jane Alexander. She showed up just moments later in an oufit she called "wearable art." Turns out she was filming a movie in Portland, OR and she wanted to support some of the local merchants (the movie comes out this fall by the way.) When Jane arrived, I asked her for an interview and a pic and she informed me she "needed a drink first." She headed back to our table where Ed was chewing my ear off. I was enthralled by his resume and how down to earth he was. He seemed very interested in my career and asked why I had never been on camera (go ahead, Ed, cast me in one of your shows!! Pleeeeeeeeze!!) I finally got my interview and photo with Jane and I waited patiently for Glen Close to arrive.
Glen soon walked in the door without much fanfare (in fact, no one even noticed when she came in the room!!?) I introduced myself immediately and resisted any urge to make a "rabbit" comment (who could forget when she boiled the rabbit in Fatal Attraction??) I was able to grab a quick interview and photo with her as well and she was whisked away to do another interview. I was still standing there with my new friend "Ed," when a man named Andrew came over. He is an Oscar nominated editor and husband of Leslie Holleran, the Oscar nominated producer of the Cider House Rules. Both Andrew and Leslie were extremely nice and personable. I listened in as Andrew and Ed discussed projects (movies!!!!!!) they were working on and different actors they worked with. I felt like I was in some sort of a dream - these people talked about their jobs like I talk about mine - except they work with some of the most famous people in the WORLD and they get to go to the Oscars. Go figure. I told Ed how I was exhausted from my week at fashion week and he told me I was too young to be tired. He said he just turned 78 but feels like he's "12" on the inside. I told him he looks good for 78. I think I'm done hob-nobbing with Hollywood for a while. But at least I know that deep down on the inside, they're just like the rest of us (well maybe with a few more trophys on their mantels!)