REGINAROADIE'S BLOG

reginaroadie

May Entry #2: My First Celebrity Encounter
Thursday, June 2, 2005

The next day, I just bum around, not doing much. I work a little more on YOU CAN'T GO HOME AGAIN (I've hit a serious bit of writer's block as of late, and with juggling a full time job and the videography business, I'm usually drained by the end of the day. I only have three paragraphs written for Chapter 4), and go for a walk. It's early evening, and I decide on a whim to go to the Cineplex Odeon at the Southland Mall. I decide to see THE UPSIDE OF ANGER for a third time (it's my first favorite movie of 2005 and one of the best) and I decide to kill time by movie hopping.
I go to SIN CITY, but it hasn't started yet. I decide to go, but as I'm standing in front of the entrace for it, this guy walks past me. It's only for a brief moment, but the face registers with me. I then quickly realize who it might be, but I'm still not sure. I go back onto the theatre and find the guy. I get his attention, and I ask him if he's Don McKellar. He says yes, I say he's bullshitting me, he says it really is him, and I go "Holy Shit". This is my first ever real celebrity encounter. For those of you who
don't know, Don McKellar is one of the bigger figures in Canadian cinema right now. He's an actor, writer and director. Some of the more notable films on his resume include 32 SHORT FILMS ABOUT GLENN GOULD, THE RED VIOLIN, EXOTICA, WAYDOWNTOWN, RUB AND TUG, he's dabbled in television acting in TRUDEAU and was in
Regina at the time filming THE TOMMY DOUGLAS STORY. But he's also the mastermind behind the cult tv show TWICH CITY and the real gem in his resume, the Canadian sci-fi/black comedy LAST NIGHT. This is one flick that all of you guys have to find. It has a pre-SIDEWAYS Sandra Oh in it, a pre-GO Sarah Polley, Canadian icon Callum Keith Rennie, as well as a cool cameo by David Cronenberg. And it's about all these people in Toronto as they wait for the end of the world to happen at midnight. Anyways, I chat with
him before and during the previews. He's a really
cool guy and takes my card graciously. I leave as his movies about to start. I go to the ticket place and find out that his movie gets out before mine. I decide to leave early during UPSIDE so that I can catch him as he's leaving the theatre. I flag him down and I ask that if he's not too busy at the moment, if I could just talk with him about being a filmmaker. He's OK with it and for half an hour, we just talk. I end up doing the majority of the talking, telling him about my ideas for different movies, the videography business, trying to get a job as a grip in the city but only ending up with regular labor jobs. But he does get some words in. He talked about the origin for LAST NIGHT, how he got started,
his influences, the various directors he's met (he
told me that Quentin Tarantino is exactly like me,
which I took as a huge compliment) and some other
stuff I can't remember. I tell him about the
Cronenberg class I'm taking next semester and he was amused. I asked him what it was like working with Cronenberg the director and Cronenberg the actor. Cronenberg the actor is totally serious and focused and determined. But Cronenberg the director is very loose and funny and energetic. I end up walking with him to the restaurant where he's meeting with some people and chat with him about living on the praries. I ask if theres any way I can keep in contact with him and he tells me about his website for Rhombus Media, his production company. I havn't e-mailed him yet,
but one day I will, just to see if he remembers me. I walk home, thinking this is going to be the beginning of a great summer.

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