Thursday, October 10, 2013

Off Topic: I NEARLY MET STANA KATIC AND IT WAS GLORIOUS

When a friend calls you and blurts out that your absolute favorite actress in the world is going to be in NYC for a movie premiere that she has two tickets to on Tuesday evening, what do you do?

Duh. Drop everything and go to New York City!

If you've been around these parts for awhile, you know what happens when someone brings up the ABC dramaedy Castle, or the lead female actress, Stana Katic. I apologize in advance if you haven't been around long enough to see what happens when a fangirl has a little fangirl mental breakdown. 

Here's a bit of backstory: My friend K and I met about a year ago in a bit of a strange manner (that seems to be a running theme in my life...hmm!). The lovely crew that runs Stana Katic's Facebook page had posted a picture of Image and I, and while I was busy freaking out, K was busy friend requesting me from her side of New England. It's not often that two horse loving Stana Katic fans find one another, so we took it upon ourselves to become friends. I accepted K's request after recognizing her name from Stana's fanpage, and we began chitchatting shortly thereafter. Come to find out, we are both aspiring photographers, avid horsewomen, live in the New England area, and would sell our soul for an hour in Stana's presence. In a lot of ways, we are the same person...so much so, it's a little scary. 

K called me on Friday, and for a moment, I had to hold the phone away from my ear. It took a little bit of coercing to get the full story out of her: Stana Katic was in NYC for the premiere of her most recent movie, and she had scored tickets. Did I want to go?

...

What kind of question is THAT?!

Come Monday morning, I gave my supervisor the puppy face and she waved me off, knowing just how important this could be for me. From work, I bolted down to CT to meet up with K. We squee'd with each other for a few minutes, piled back into my car, and booked it to the train.

Arriving in NYC was magical, even though I was in immense pain from a back injury over the weekend and could only hobble my way around. Grand Central Station made my mouth fall open, and it was 100% obvious that I was an out of towner. You can't take a country mouse into the city and not expect a little bit of culture shock! Sure, I've been to Boston, but New York City is NOT Boston...and that was something that was reiterated the entire time I was there. The energy in NYC is so thick that it's nearly a tangible object you can reach out and poke.

K's parents have an apartment in Manhattan, so we crashed there for the evening. We spent the next day running around in a semi-panic grabbing makeup (as we both had forgotten our makeup), getting haircuts, and having minor mental breakdowns over the coming evening.

When we finally got our act together and arrived at the theater, we were a little dismayed to see we had shown up just a bit too late. There weren't a lot of people in front of us, but just enough to where we were worried we weren't even going to get to lay eyes on Stana. Boo!

We were still busy while we hung out in line -- I had been tapped by Stana Katic News to play reporter for the day, which was super cool. I spent all the time we were standing in line live tweeting for people across the country who wanted to keep up with the NYC premiere. On top of that, K and I were positively SURROUNDED by people who were there for Stana, which was awesome. We made some new friends, -- in the real world, on Tumblr and on Twitter!

However, because the venue was so small, we were allowed into the lobby and were able to say hello to some big name stars. K and I had absolutely zero interest in anyone else but Stana...and thankfully, SHE WAS THERE.

The crowd stood, phones out and ready, for when she stepped into the room...and I'm pretty sure we blew her away with the outpouring of support and decibel strength of our cheering! She is just as beautiful in person as she is on screen...and she was sweet enough to stop and sign autographs, snap selfies, and chat with us. Her big smile the entire time was adorable -- she is so grateful for her fans, and we love her all the more for it! Unfortunately, K and I were about three people rows back from her and didn't get the meeting either of us were hoping for, but honestly? I got to be in the same room as her for a whole five minutes and it was freakin' awesome. I know how incredibly vapid it is to be this involved with a celebrity, but there is something about this woman that is inexplicably fascinating. I love the nuances that Katic brings to her characters, which is something that only sheer talent can produce. She has kept her head through all of the fame she's been plunged into. She's probably one of the most passionate actresses I've ever had the pleasure of watching on my screen, and she is extremely well spoken. I think she's awesome (obviously) and have a pretty major crush on her (also obviously). I never, ever expected to ever even see her in person, never mind like this, so it was an incredible treat. Some day, I hope to shake her hand and tell her in person just how much she's inspired so many people in this world.

RIGHT. THERE. OMFG.
Once we were separated into theaters, it was even more evident that the majority of people there were Castle and/or Stana fans. It was like meeting up with family, especially with so many of us in one room! K and I ended up sitting with two wonderful ladies who were equally as thrilled with the experience. We had an excellent time!

The movie itself was excellent and worth a watch if you have any interest in the history of punk rock music (or like Alan Rickman. Or want to see Rupert Grint's bare ass. Or want to see Stana Katic say "fuck" a lot) and how some of the biggest names in that genre came to be, thanks to club owner Hilly Crystal.

We scampered back to CT after the premiere ended and arrived around 2:30 AM. I spent most of yesterday in a haze and am still buzzing today! It was such a blast going to NYC for the first time and getting to experience a (small) movie premiere.

I have much more to say that's actually on topic (you know, not totally creepy celebrity stalking related). Another post for another day...but for right now, I'm just going to squee like the good little fangirl I am and pray that the next time she and I are in the same room, I'll actually get to meet her!

1 comment:

  1. It really was incredible. Both my parents really enjoyed having you, and as did I. Again, hopefully my dreams of doing the NYFA in LA will work out and you can come and stalk anytime eheh. But really, some weekend, you need to come up here and we can hit all the Castle landmarks in the city.

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