Never Washing My Hand Again!

Let me dig out what I wrote in my journal earlier today while sitting down between movie takes:

"I am probably 30-40 feet (if that) from Orlando Bloom... who is positively charming and sweet in person. He's incredibly good looking, as I expected, but what radiates from him and overshadows his looks is his sincerity, his humility and his down-to-earth niceness. It makes him THAT MUCH MORE attractive. OMG, I think I might faint!"

Clearly, I did not faint, but I did get to spend over four hours in the same space as Orlando Bloom. Seriously, it was one of the best experiences of my life!

I know, I haven't posted about my Orlando "thing" lately, but those of you who know me or have read this blog for a while know that I have a Legolas doll that I've never taken out of the box.

I also used to have a life-size cardboard image of Legolas... behind my office door at one of my old jobs! A colleague got it for me as a joke because she knew how nuts I was about Orlando. When it was an absolutely crappy day I'd go over and put my arm around, uh, Orlando and say stuff like, "How's your day going, darling? What do you feel like having for dinner? This place feels like Mordor...what's a girl gotta do to get you to put an arrow in Saruman?"

Yeah, despite whatever impression you may have of me, I never said I was sane...

So how did meeting Orlando happen? Well... I found out at an Orlando fan site a couple of weeks ago that Orlando was cast in Mark Ruffalo's new film, "Sympathy For Delicious" and it was going to be shooting in LA. It's a different role for Orlando than what he's famous for. He doesn't wield a sword or a bow and arrow! Instead he plays a rock star who connects up with a paralyzed LA DJ...who happens to have the ability to heal others! Pretty interesting stuff!

Then, two days ago, I "happened" to be over at Perez Hilton's site, checking out the celebrity dirt and I saw a little thing about a casting for extras for a concert scene. I immediately emailed the contact to RSVP and got a response that I should be at the Palace Theater by 1:00 pm.

The whole adventure almost fell through for a variety of reasons, namely that I needed to be there at 1:00 and my kids didn't get out of school till after 2:00. And just when I was bemoaning the whole situation, one of my friends suggested I take the kids with me! It was the BEST idea ever and I left immediately to pick them up from school!

My boys were so excited to get out of school and then when they found out they were gonna be movie extras and get to see "Will Turner", I mean, Orlando Bloom, they both lost it!

Some more observations about Orlando? 1) He is sooo hot in person and 2) He is unbelievably genuine and nice. After every take he thanked everybody PROFUSELY for how hard WE were working and for giving him so much positive energy. There were no Christian Bale-type blow ups at all. He was genuine in his interactions with all of us extras, even asking us how he was doing in his performance!

I'm in L-O-V-E!

Indeed, my sister shared with me earlier tonight that she's very proud I did not throw any undergarments at the man, leap on stage OR try to slip him my number while shaking his hand!

Yes, I shook his hand!

When filming was finished, I decided to try and see if I could say hello to him and he was SO nice and friendly. He shook my hand, thanked me for coming out and told me I'm gorgeous! Yes he did! Whoo hoo! When I'm an old, shriveled up granny, I hope I can still remember this day!

He also shook my eldest son's hand as well and said, "Hey, brother! You're the man!" Yeah, my son is sooo psyched! You should have heard him during his prayers thanking God for letting him meet Orlando Bloom. It was too cute!

And so now I can cross "Meet Orlando Bloom" off my list of things I want to accomplish in life. I'm not kidding, that really was on my list. He's such a wonderfully nice guy though that I wouldn't mind meeting him again!

Comments

Toni Campbell said…
I'm so jealous! Although my crush on him is pretty minor, I definitely understand his appeal. Please tell me he was tall!
Anonymous said…
what a fun day out! I didn't think you were serious about picking the kids up early but hey, everyone's a winner here.
sippinwineman said…
OMG. . .(eyes wide and blinking like Liza M.). . .Your nuts. . . blink. . .okay, you're gorgeous and you yourself you admitted you weren't sane, but. . . .you're nuts.
Anonymous said…
I knew you were going to blog about this!!!LOL Your so crazy!! When you finally meet Depeche Mode you'll probably blog about it for a month!!!!LOL
Liz Dwyer said…
Toni,
He's tall. He's like 5'11" or so. Not too bad! :)

Sharifa,
Desperate times come for desperate measures and I was absolutely desperate! And you know, it worked out just fine. They had so much fun, got to see how a movie gets filmed in real time, and got a little fun in doing some acting.

Sippinwineman,
Yes, when it comes to some things, I am absolutely nuts. I'm now convinced that it's good to be a little crazy sometimes!

Cyndee,
I had to wait a couple of hours before writing so that the whole post didn't sound absolutely fangirl! And you know if I ever meet Depeche Mode I'll... gosh, I can't even picture it! AAGH!
haha. this is great. Please let us know when you met DM. It can happen, look you've already met Orlando.
Shiona said…
How exciting. That is something that would only happen in LA. I wish I could have been taken out of school to shake hands with a HOT celebrity when I was younger. How cool!
Ms Angela said…
I LOVE it! I have my fangirl geek-out sessions, too. I'm real impressed that he thanked everyone and made a point to talk to all of you. That makes him VERY attractive in my eyes! I wasn't really into him before, but I'm DEFINITELY keeping an eye on him now.

Christian Bale needs to get a clue--you never know who has an active blog, a camera phone and a Twitter account these days! :)

And the premise of this movie is extremely fascinating--I hope the suits don't mess it up in post-production!

I can relate to never wanting to the-never-washing-my-hands-again feeling. I did the same thing when I met Bret "The Hitman" Hart in person a few years back. (WWF/WWE professional wrestler, for those who don't know about and/or disdain wrestling. I don't blame you; I only liked Bret.) He took a picture with me and put his arm around my waist, and I thought I would melt into the floor. Too bad the lighting was too dark, and the picture didn't turn out!

I was also serenaded by Smokey Robinson when I was in my twenties. I was sitting in the front row at one of his concerts in Sacramento, and screamed REAL LOUD when he started singing "Baby Come Close". He got on his knees near the edge of the stage, held my hand and sang the entire song to me. Then he kissed me on the cheek. I don't remember when I actually started washing that cheek again, but it was probably a week later!
Anonymous said…
Been lurking for a bit, but just couldn't resist posting how absolutely jealous I am of you. I'm so not into celebrities, but Orlando Bloom...sigh. [insert mock fanning of self with hand]
Florinda said…
My 14-year-old will turn green when I tell her about this :-). And I'm glad you mentioned that he's on the tall side of average, since her dad keeps teasing her that Orlando's too short for her (she's at least 5'10" herself).

And to be honest, I'm a little green myself. Great story, and I'm glad he turned out to be such a nice guy!
DJ Black Adam said…
Does your husband know about this?

:-)
Anonymous said…
Nice to know that a celeb is so charming in the flesh, when so many are nothing like their carefully manufactured public image. Sounds like it was a fabulous day for all of you.
Liz Dwyer said…
NYC/CR,
Yes, it can CLEARLY happen! I will probably beam from ear to ear for weeks afterwards!

Shiona,
It was definitely an LA moment, but with movies shooting all over the world these days, you really never know! And goodness, I think my kids will definitely remember this...they were so excited to tell everybody at school about it!

Angela,
Smokey Robinson serenade! That is too cool! Yeah, you never know who's filming or taping what you're saying these days. I don't think he's alone in flipping out on film sets but goodness, he clearly has not yet let go of that American Psycho role!

Nina,
So glad you de-lurked! :) I'm generally not gaga over a bunch of celebs either. Most of the time I hardly notice when they're around. Orlando was the first moviestar I have had a thing for! I'm so glad I went. Can't imagine what I would've missed out on otherwise.

Florinda,
I'm glad he turned out to be such a great guy, too! And tell your 14 year-old that not only is he tall, he also looks fab shirtless and has a pretty decent singing voice!

DJBA,
Uh huh! I sent him a text telling him all about it! LOL!

Nick
Yeah, it is nice, isn't it? He is definitely what I'd call a nice young man!
It's refreshing to see that someone had a positive interaction with a celebrity. All too often we little people are just left with a sour taste in our mouths.
Liz Dwyer said…
Steve,
It is very nice to see such an unaffected celeb. I can't help but wonder (and hope) that Mode will be so nice if I happen to meet them one day.

Commoncents,
Ach? Please elaborate!
What a delightful experience! I agree that he is one of the most charming and handsome young men in the business who seems to realize that he is extraordinarily blessed. Such humility and openness is rare and wonderful when so many stars are spoiled brats.

Taking the boys out of school was a brilliant stroke, too. I'm glad you all had such a fine time.
Anonymous said…
Never saw your blog til now, but had to tell you I'm so jealous of you!!! I have the worst crush on Orlando, even though I'm way older than he is and probably too old to be having crushes on anybody - except my husband!!! But he has always had a strong effect on me since pre-LOTR days, when the first pics came out. Great to know that those who have met him in person say the same as you do - that he is charming, sweet, humble and well-mannered, not to say even better looking in person than on film!!! Very happy to have found your blog. I shall bookmark for further reading!!! Lucky devil!!!
Liz Dwyer said…
Heart,
His humility really comes through and that IS nice! More celebs could be that way. I'm so glad I took my kids. I always like to give them different, cool experiences and they loved getting to see a little inside the film industry!

Casey,
Glad you came across my blog! I feel the same way about my Orlando crush! :) I just can't imagine how sad it would have been if he'd been a jerk. That would've been heartbreaking.
Anonymous said…
First time reading your blog, got the link through a message board. Thanks for sharing your experience, Lucky girl! Nice to hear that he really is a sweetheart in person.
Anonymous said…
Can I just say you are a great writer, insightful and soo funny. Your post about Orlando is fresh and fun, he really does seem a nice, laidback guy. Then again, Brits are known for our lack of bullsh*t! We however rescind all claims to Mr Bale...
Liz Dwyer said…
Kimmy,
So glad you came to visit! I do feel really lucky that I met him. He's such a sweetheart!

Lili,
You are SO incredibly nice to say so! Yes, you are known for lack of B.S. -- and as for Mr. Bale, he's a great actor but he needs anger management! Goodness!
Anonymous said…
OMG, that was so awesome! I am literally excited and almost in a frantic right now. I wish I could do things like that. Well actually, I live in St. Louis and there recently was a casting call for extras for a George Clooney movie. Unfortunately, I'm not a fan. Now if I could just figure out a way to get Johnnie Depp to shoot a movie here sometime soon...

You don't think you could ask your good buddy Orlando to hook me up, do you?

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