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Hollywood hot shots
Readers share memories, photos of famous folks
BY SHARLA BARDIN
sharla.bardin@timesnews.com [more details]
Published: August 12. 2007 6:00AM
Diane Sesler takes photos of the many stars that she photographs when
she is in New York. Sesler has photos of herself with stars such as
Antonio Banderas and Raven Symone. (Janet B. Campbell / Erie Times-News)
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Imet the man of my dreams in Las Vegas.
Picture this: tall, dark and incredibly handsome. Throw in kindness and
loads of talent, and maybe you can see why I was so smitten.
The "him" being George Clooney.
It
was 1995 on a family vacation in Las Vegas. We were walking when I
spotted an entourage of guys with Clooney in the middle. "ER" was in
its first season and fast becoming a hit, as was Clooney.
To
have him there, only a few feet away, was surreal. I worked up the
nerve to ask for an autograph. Here's an important tip: When asking for
an autograph, make sure you have a pen. I did not. Luckily, my mom
joined me and politely asked if we could snap a photo with him.
I still have the photo, and it's a fun story to share.
In
recent months, readers have shared their own memories of meeting the
rich and famous, from a run-in with "American Idol" winner Taylor Hicks
to a brush with a shirtless Tom Cruise.
They remember the
excitement of the moment, the awe of seeing someone from big and small
screens standing right beside them and, better yet, the fun of telling
friends and family all about it.
Locals can do their own stargazing in Erie on
Saturday, when actor Kevin Bacon performs with his band the Bacon
Brothers during CelebrateErie.
And bring a pen, just in case.
Big Apple, big talent
Diane Sesler has a collection of photos that
would make the paparazzi jealous, and she went about it by being polite
and not stalking.
"I always do ask," said Sesler, 48. "I don't just snap."
Her celebrity collage includes Antonio Banderas, Hugh Jackman, the Olsen twins, Raven Symone, Harry Connick Jr. and Usher.
The
Millcreek resident and dental hygienist displays the collection in her
office in Erie and said it makes a great conversation starter with
clients. "I just enjoy sharing it with everybody."
Her brushes
with the famous folk have happened during more than 10 years and mostly
from visits to New York City. Sesler loves to travel to New York, and
she and daughter, Sarah Sesler, 19, also enjoy attending Broadway shows.
They've spotted stars while attending daytime
TV shows such as "The View" and "Good Morning America," or while they
waited outside a theater stage door to glimpse a favorite performer.
Sarah
Sesler especially enjoys meeting the Broadway actors. The college
student wants to pursue a career in musical theater. "I will eventually
move to New York and just start auditioning and see where that will
bring me," said the student at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va.
Some
of the celebrities they have met stand out from the crowd because of
their captivating personalities. Kristin Chenoweth, a Tony winner and
TV and film actress, is one.
"She is the cutest little thing," Diane Sesler said.
"She was just really full of life," Sarah Sesler added.
Another standout for Diane Sesler was news anchor Charles Gibson. "He's very genuine, very warm-hearted, very caring," she said.
Sarah
Sesler said she appreciates the actors who take the time to interact
with admirers. If she ever makes it big, she will do the same.
"I would just make my way down the line," Sarah Sesler said. "I would definitely give them a picture or two."
Class acts
Nancy Bricker grew up as a fan of Hayley Mills, "The Parent Trap" star and Disney darling.
Bricker,
53, collected Mills posters, paper dolls and coloring books through the
years. About five years ago, the Fairview resident discovered the
actress was starring in a touring production of "The King and I" and
set out to see her.
"I was able to secure second-row seats for a
performance in Toronto, and don't think that I blinked throughout the
entire play," Bricker wrote in a letter.
Afterward, she got to meet the actress.
"Hayley Mills was every bit as sweet as I'd hoped she'd be," Bricker wrote.
After
speaking with fans, Mills got into a waiting car. "Once inside, Hayley
rolled down the window and leaned out to give us one final wave and
smile," she wrote. "It was a small gesture, but one that made us feel
as if she cared about her fans."
Judie Harrison-Means, of Erie, also got to meet actors who were gracious to fans.
In
1971, while on a family vacation in Hawaii, Harrison-Means saw the
filming of then-hit TV show "Hawaii Five-O." While on break, stars Jack
Lord and James MacArthur mingled with spectators, and Harrison-Means,
67, talked with both of them.
"They definitely added to the thrill and memories of this paradise vacation," she wrote in an e-mail.
Morgan Lesoski, 16, had a thrill of her own
in December 2006, during a trip to New York City with her mom and her
mother's two friends. They were walking when they spotted people
crowded around Taylor Hicks, the 2006 "American Idol" winner.
The singer was friendly and asked about their vacation, and then Morgan posed with Hicks for a picture.
Morgan, of Erie, said she knew her friends would be impressed with the story because they are big "American Idol" fans.
"It was cool, and I like telling everyone that I saw him, too."
Risky business
Mark Steensland has had an advantage when it comes to interacting with actors.
The
42-year-old has worked in the entertainment business for more than 20
years as, among other things, a freelance journalist, writer, script
reader, production intern and assistant to director Martin Brest, of
"Beverly Hills Cop" fame.
Steensland, a California native, is a
filmmaker who now lives in Erie and is a lecturer in media production
at Penn State Behrend.
His Hollywood heydays included visits to movie sets, interviews with actors, directors and crews.
Steensland
recalls seeing Goldie Hawn on the set of the movie "Big Trouble in
Little China," starring her longtime love, Kurt Russell. She brought
her kids to trick-or-treat on Halloween.
He also remembers an
amusing glimpse of Tom Cruise. The two were in the production office
for director Michael Mann, who was shooting "Collateral." Steensland
was there because he was working on a book project with Mann, and
Cruise, who starred in the movie, was in the office for a costume
fitting and wig testing.
The actor, who had his shirt off, was
on the phone with his children and told them, "I love you." Cruise did
that while standing in front of the office where Steensland was working.
Steensland also interviewed the actor in 2003, and they spoke on the phone minutes after Cruise presented an Academy Award.
"It's one of those surreal moments when
you're watching the Oscars live, and the guy walks offstage and calls
you," Steensland said.
While working in the business, Steensland said, you begin to see beyond the fame of a person.
"You learn pretty quickly, of course, that they are just people, after all."
So what explains the fascination and excitement that comes when people cross pass with celebrities?
"I
think there is a certain sense of both familiarity and distance. It's a
real curious mix," he said. "You feel you know them, and suddenly,
there they are.
"It is kind of a surprise to have those sorts of moments because it's so unexpected."
@ For more information about Mark Steensland, visit www.marksteensland.com.
SHARLA BARDIN can be reached at 870-1791 or by e-mail.
Bacon In Your Own Backyard
Actor Kevin Bacon will perform with his band
the Bacon Brothers on Saturday from 9 to 10:30 p.m. during
CelebrateErie. CelebrateErie takes place on State Street between Fourth
and 14th streets. For more information about the music, food and
fireworks during the festival, visit www.celebrateerie.com.
Bacon Bonanza
Kevin Bacon's bulging résumé of films
inspired a game called Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, in which players
have to link any given actor to Bacon by no more than six steps. Erie
Times-News writer Gerry Weiss was up to the task and used Antonio
Banderas, one of the actors spotted by a local reader, as the starting
point.
1. Banderas appeared with Tom Hanks in "Philadelphia."
2. Hanks appeared with Matt Damon in "Saving Private Ryan."
3. Damon appeared with George Clooney in "Ocean's Eleven."
4. Clooney appeared with Catherine Zeta-Jones in "Intolerable Cruelty."
5. Zeta-Jones appeared with Tim Robbins in "High Fidelity."
6. Robbins appeared with Bacon in "Mystic River."
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