One of my top 5 favorite movies is No Way Out, starring Kevin Costner and it's always an extra special treat when I paint and then try to get my portrait signed from one of my favorites.
On August 1, 1996, Tin Cup was set to have it's premiere at the Bruin Theatre in Westwood, one of my favorite theatres. It's one of my favorite because great things just seem to happen there for me.
I had made plans with a friend named Kenny to take him to the premiere with me. I met Kenny a few years earlier at The Tonight Show and I know he's a real autograph enthusiast like me. When someone says they want to go to a premiere with me, I let them know that it can be up to 12 hours, or more, and we may come home empty handed. That kind of long day is too much for most people to commit to and I completely understand that... but not Kenny. I didn't have to warn him of the long day and the fact that we may be leaving there without a thing at the end of the night, Kenny was up for it regardless.
This was an extra special day for me for another reason too. Not only was this the star of one of my favorite movies, but this was one of my favorite paintings. I had gone down to the head shot shops in Hollywood and found a Costner shot that I liked and I painted it. I wish they all came out as good as this Costner painting. Not being formally trained, I can't always produce portraits that I'm crazy about, but this one I just absolutely loved.
The only thing I had heard on the streets is Kevin Costner sometimes signs... IF... he doesn't have his kids with him. The story goes that if his kids are there, he's a very protective father and he doesn't waste their time on signing autographs. Of course I have no idea whether or not he plans on bringing his children to the premiere so I just have to paint it and hope that he doesn't bring them.
I picked up Kenny at 10am and we went down to Westwood and hung out the Starbuck's next to the Bruin. There were some others gathered around for the premiere and we were all just hanging out, talking, and getting to know the people that we are going to be squished together with later that evening. Everyone has their stories of star meetings and we had all day to pass them around. It was a hot summer day and Kenny was getting a bit restless and he told me he was going to take a walk. I told him that I was very happy with my spot and I was not leaving. Kenny was on a mission to try to sneak into the after party so he set out to see what he could do.
I was there sharing stories with some of the other people that I was sharing the Starbuck's patio with, when I heard someone from a distance calling my name. I knew that voice, it was Kenny. I looked around and he said, "Up here" I looked up and he was on the roof of the Bruin. Laughing, I asked him what he doing up there? He told me that he stuck up there, someone had locked the access door that led him onto the roof. He said he has to figure out a way down and he disappeared from sight. Kenny was a resourceful young 20 something year old and since there was nothing I could do anyway, I didn't worry too much about it.
As the day went on, the guys that set up for the premieres were busy at work. We watched them set up the barricades that were there to keep us fans away from the stars and we watched them lay down the GREEN carpet, after all, it was the premiere for Tin Cup, a movie about golfers. The green carpet was laid out in front of the theatre and it then rolled all the way down the the street, a block away.
While Kenny was out trying to snag a couple tickets to the after party, he saw where the green carpet led and followed it... oh yeah, after he pounded on that access door and was let back inside the theatre so he could get back outside.
Kenny would come back to where I was sitting on the patio and check back in with me every couple hours to let me know of his progress. He kept asking me if I wanted to join him but I told him I wasn't leaving.
Sometime in the late afternoon, I'm guessing it was about 4:00, Kenny came running back to the patio with a huge grin on his face like he was ready to burst with some big news. He told me that he followed the green carpet down the street and it leads to the after party where the caterers are setting up for the party. He had met this catering company at another premiere at Universal so they recognized him when he showed up at Tin Cup. He was able to get a wristband from the caterers, but they could only part with one. He begged and pleaded for a second wristband for me but they wouldn't give him one. But being resourceful, he still wasn't finished.
Back at the theatre, it was getting closer to arrival time and the crowd had grown a lot. We were all inside the barricade and I was at the very front of the rail. That's why I get there so early in the morning, to insure my best possible spot among the crowd of thousands that will eventually be there by the time of the premiere.
The afternoon sun had set and it was now early evening when the first of the limos started dropping off the movie execs. That's the normal order of things. First is the execs and the supporting cast, then as it gets closer to showtime, the big stars start arriving.
Rene Russo and Don Johnson had already arrived and now I was just waiting for my big moment when Costner pulls up. His limo pulls up and the chauffeur runs around to open up the curbside rear door. The door opens up and I see little shoes. Then another pair of little shoes. Then finally another pair of little shoes.. and my heart sank. The Costner kids were of course adorable as can be, all dressed up for their daddy's big premiere, but these kids were my toughest obstacle, so I had been warned.
Just as the talk on the streets had warned me, Kevin Costner did not stop to sign a single thing. Oh well, again, you win some, you lose some. It's what I keep having to say to myself to keep me going at this. I get enough signed, that it keeps me coming back for more. I had invested this entire day for this evening's chance to get Costner to sign my painting and he was now inside the theatre.. so what's another hour and a half, really? I know he's in there and I know he has to come out. Of course I don't know whether he'll be coming out of the same front door that he went in through, but it's all I can do to just relax and wait for the movie to end. That time goes by pretty quickly and the doors open up the crowd of execs, staff, their guests and the stars all start to emerge from the theatre. Costner and his 3 kids are among the last to leave the theatre and here's my last chance. Just as when he arrived. I was leaning out over the rail with my portrait in one hand and my paint pen in the other. I was trying to be like quarterback in the hand off. Here comes Costner, my receiver, smiling and waving and walking right toward me. I'm stretched out as far as I can and he knew that there was no way I could reach an inch further.. so he stayed just beyond my outstretched reach.. and smiled as he walked right on by without stopping. The crowds were all screaming "KEVIN!!!".... "MR. COSTNER!!!!" but he never stopped. He just walked past me and walked away. There was nothing I could do at this point because I'm squished up against the front end of the barricade corral that's there to keep us fenced in, with 1,000 behind me that I have to wait for them to leave before I can leave. I Couldn't see Costner anymore because he had turned the corner and was on his way to the after party.. but I could still hear all the fans, lined up down the block, screaming his name. Not only did I not get the autograph, but now I have to wait for Kenny to finish with the party. This night sure didn't turn out as I had hoped.
Of course I couldn't see anything because I had 1,000 people in the way but I could hear that Costner was making his way down the street because the roar from the crowd was growing more distant as he got further and further from my position. he was now about half a block away, from my best guess from the roaring fans.. when something began to change. As I listened, the crowds were still chanting, screaming and begging just as they had been... but they were getting louder again. It's not that they were getting louder but the yelling people were getting closer to me again. I wondered what was going on because I couldn't see anything, I could only hear the cheers that were now back up to a full pitch and I could see arms waving with their magazines and head shots again. I still had no idea what was happening but the crowd, amazingly deafening, with their cheers of "KEVIN"........ "PLEASE SIGN FOR ME!!! .......
"MR. COSTNER, OVER HERE!!!" and the yelling was very close to me. I looked over to the corner where he had turned down the street... and he once again emerged from that same street, stepped up on the sidewalk and was walking back toward the theatre that he just left a few minutes earlier. Hysteria was back on and everyone was screaming, yelling and waving their memorabilia at him, trying to get him to take it so he would sign it, just like had done earlier... it's really the only thing we can do..... just wave, cheer and hope. No one knows why he's returning, maybe he lost his wallet in the theatre, maybe he left his publicist in there.. who knows?? The only thing for certain is that this is definitely something unusual.. they never leave and then come back. Costner keeps just out of everyone's outstretched reach just as he had done earlier, as he was making his way toward me on the way back to the theatre. When he was directly in front of me, he stopped, turned toward me and took the painting from me.. and then he took my gold paint pen. He smiled and signed his name and handed it back to me... and then turned back around and made his way back to the party. He wasn't coming back to the theatre, he was coming back to me!!!! He didn't sign anything for anyone else. I was the only one in that crowd in front of that theatre that night out of several thousand people that had amassed on all four corners of the intersection. I was the only one that got a Costner signature and I felt that it nothing short of a miracle. I was glowing from my big moment and some of the regular autograph seekers that I know from other events were all hitting me and telling me how lucky I am. I know I'm lucky and I love it. What were the chances of him coming back to me, and only me.. and how in the world did this happen????
Again, the crowd has to leave the corral before I can, the only doorway is at the back end of this thing so everyone in front has to wait for everyone in back to leave first.
Just then, Kenny comes bounding in with great news, he has a way to sneak me into the party. I don't really care about the party much at all and I was showing off my new Costner autographed painting. While I was waiting for the crowd to empty out, a security guard came up to me and in a calm, quiet voice said, "If you ever get a chance, thank his son." I had no idea what this guy was talking about so he went on to explain. He knew about me and my painting because he had seen me there throughout the evening but when the premiere let out, he was assigned to a post somewhere down the block en route to the party. When Costner and kids left the premiere with all the fans screaming at him, they got to where this guard was standing and could hear the exchange. Costner's six year old son, Joey, stopped and said, "Dad, did you see that painting back there?" "Yes I did" Kevin responded. With that, little Joey reached up, grabbed his dad's jacket and began pulling him back down the street so his dad could sign my painting.
I told you I was lucky at this and I meant it.
To make an even longer story shorter, we snuck into the party and I saw Joey there and thanked him I told him how much I appreciated what he had done for me and I told him that I would send him a picture of it to his dad's office. I mailed it off to his office but I never heard if it was received. I hope that one day I'll be able to get Joey a copy of my painting.
Thanks a million Joey, I owe you!...... and thank you Kevin Costner.
No comments:
Post a Comment