Good morning!
Sean Astin... Let me say this.... Sean Astin is a really nice person. Didn't get to meet him personally, he didn't make a real opportunity, and there were so many 14-17 year old girls there, I wouldn't have stood a chance. But he talked to this audience as if it were a chat, not an ounce of pretension, and a lot of embarrassed discomfort when little girls made gushing swooning comments... No pictures were allowed. Y'all will have to just imagine it!
Let's see, what happened... The important parts:
My stars! the man was buff! Tight black t-shirt... Pects... biceps! and a tan.
He came in prior to the showing and spoke for about an hour and half! - or more.... Talked longer than he intended to in introduction, finally got around to showing his short film, and then did a good hour of Q & A with the audience... Random things I can remember:
He was asked who he was closest to from LoTR, and he said Elijah Wood... He said "Elijah Wood is about a thousand years old". ...Second time someone has described him that way... Remember when Deb said he was an "old soul"?
When asked about the 'importance' of acting, he recalled a time he was talking with Kathleen Turner about the importance of acting, and she had said, "We aren't making wheat." [pause].
But he talked about how much he enjoys acting and enjoys movies. Hard to describe this... talked about how an early acting coach had said "Tell the truth, make it real". And how is own young daughter had come home and said her acting teacher had said "It's all just make-believe" and he slapped his hand on his forehead. HA!
Politics... He talked a lot about liking politics, but was subtle about expressing any real views. He said that he and his size double "BK"(?), in addition to playing lots of chess, talked politics all the time. BK called him "Mr. President". HA! Perhaps he was hinting at aspirations. He said that he wished he had spent more time with John Rys Davies at the time, but that JRD had been so reclusive... He said JRD loved politics too, and was "just to the right of Atilla the Hun". HA!
Said he liked the concept of Treebeard, he said he liked the idea of the environment itself rising up to defend itself. "not out of radical environmentalism, but out of self-defense, trees that had been here long before us, and would remain long after us, the environment itself being strong." Something like that.
Said was most surprised to meet and become so fond of Christopher Lee, because Lee is so nice.
Said he most looked forward to RoTK, but that he had not seen it yet. a tiny little voice in the front asked him if the 'Choices of Samwise' would be heartbreaking, and he said "yes... but the scene at the end would be even more heartbreaking. Then he looked at her for a long time, and said, "how old are you?" she said '8'. He said, "come here", and gave her a hug. She must have looked very sad. It was sweet.
Then he looked like he wanted to say something about the end of RoTK, and asked if everyone had read the books. Almost everyone raised their hands. He asked who had not, and about 6 people raised their hands. He said he couldn't say then, because he didn't want to ruin the end if there were people who didn't know.... Loud groans.
When asked about how he seems so different than others in Hollywood with a nice stable family, he said that his marriage lasts because his wife is so patient (I think it is also because he is a nice husband) He said that when someone in show business marries someone in show business, their egos butt heads, and they are both on competing trajectories. He said if his wife ever wanted a trajectory of her own, that only then would he find out if he was as patient as she is.
When asked about his comments at the oscars (reminder here
http://www.theonering.net/perl/newsview/2/1048505775 ) He said that it was hard to go to those things, when the world is in such hard time, and the stars are trying to do something important by deciding which 'pin' to wear. That he had debated with himself which pin to wear. He said he had an Army pin he almost wore, but in the end had decided it would cause too much comment to come out that far, and wore his US Flag pin instead. He said, "I am proud of my country, and so many people want their voices to be heard right now, a lot was said that night [frown] and even on the way here I saw anti-war protestors" [shook head] "I want my voice to be heard too... which brings me to why I am here. (I think he was not sure what to expect in this audience and he stammered around a bit, so I am paraphrasing of course) On 9-11-2002, I was on a plane headed for the memorial service at the Pentagon, and I decided I wanted to do something good. And at the event a White House staffer approached me and asked me to serve on this White House volunteerism council to encourage civic participation... A grey haired man in the audience yelled out "You are doing something good Sean!" And he got much *standing* applause.
He talked about wanted most to direct films... and about his film he will be making about the Texas storm.
OH! - Almost forgot! - He was asked if PJ would do the Hobbit. He said it was complicated with the licensing, but that he hoped it would be done, because it was his favorite... he said "If PJ won't do it, I might."
Well, this is a long post and I need to rest! I will probably remember more later!
HOD: Thanks so much for the review; sounds like a great time was had by all. Sean seems to be a level headed young man who would be an asset to any profession that he decided to do; luckily he chose acting. Hope to see him in other films but I'm afraid he'll be Samwise Gamgee to me.
Wonderful report. Wish I could have gone too. The more I learn about Astin the more I like him. We need more like him in our modern politics. How like Sam he is.
Great report Hair! Sounds like an enjoyable evening. When did you get back home?
Wow, sounds like an awesome event. Thanks for the superb reportin'.
Thanks for the report, Hair! I wanna read it a few more times when I get the chance!
Okay, the visit with Sean was awesome! You did a great report. Definitely not too long of a post. You can do a longer one the next time.
Thanks for the post Hair! So glad you got to go! :-D I'm liking him more and more and more!