Seeing Stars at the Golden Globes
Award season is here! The Golden Globes kick things off for 2019 on Sunday evening, and they are my favorite. The Globes celebrate three of my favorite things - music, TV and film. Aside from that, they usually land on or around my birthday, so my family and I have spent several years in the middle of the action at the Beverly Hilton, where the awards are held, to see who we could see.
I'm always looking for new things to do and see in LA, and after much research online a few years ago, I realized that some fans seemed to have some success of getting attention from their favorite stars near the award show red carpet (without having to pay thousands of dollars to stay at the hotel and get bleacher seats).
All I wanted for my 22nd birthday this year was to hang out by the Golden Globes drop off spot for the red carpet, to see if we could see or meet any of the stars arriving for the main event. I had been doing my research on Google and YouTube, and it seemed like our chances were pretty good. My parents, being the amazing people that they are were up for the adventure. I made a sign that said "Roll down your window please" on one side, and on the other it read, "It is my birthday '22'!" I was all set and we kept joking that we were going to meet Sandra Bullock.
Sandra, Monica Potter and Amy Poehler were on my top 3 people that I wanted to meet. Remember, this was when Amy and Tina hosted the awards. But, of course, I would have been happy to see ANYONE. I mean everybody and their brother was going to be there, so I knew no matter what happened, it would be a good time. We started out in front of the building, where there was a small crowd already gathered around.
But, then we started realizing it was only for press and walked a little further down where there were only a few groups waiting by barricades. My dad started talking to a security guard and she was telling him that was the best spot to be in, so I was pretty excited and we stayed put. Then, some of my friends that I had met at the Lauren Graham book signing met up with us, and we started planning and talking about who we wanted to see. It was so good to see them again! We talk on Twitter, and Amber and I text here and there, but the last (and first) time we hung out was in May. It didn't feel like we had to wait that long, and pretty soon, limos were starting to show up.
One of the first people we were able to see was one of my favorite actresses, Monica Potter, from Parenthood, who was nominated for Supporting Actress in a Drama, Musical or Comedy. She had her window rolled down and waved to us, and I was SO excited to see her. Hoping next time there will be more time to actually meet her and talk to her. I remember hoping maybe she recognized me from Twitter, since she follows me, but if not, she definitely saw Amber and Robyn, who she's friends with. Shortly after that, the limos kept showing up and you could tell that the red carpet had started. It was like this constant flow of excitement and each star being bigger than the last. It was hard to keep up with.
Here are some of my absolute FAVORITE moments and some other amazing celebrities we saw:
Had a short conversation with Jim O'Heir (Jerry, Larry and Gary from Parks and Rec). He wished me a happy birthday, then said, "22? I'm only 3 decades older than you" or something like that. I thought I had gotten the entire thing on video, and was sad when I realized I hadn't actually pushed record.
Eric Stonestreet (Cam from Modern Family) kept looking and pointing at my sign, and you could tell he was saying something...Pretty sure he said happy birthday, but he was so far away it was hard to tell. HAH!
Retta (Donna from Parks and Rec)
Johnny Galecki (Big Bang Theory, Christmas Vacation-Russ)
Kaley Cuoco Sweeting (Big Bang Theory, 8 Simple Rules)
Sandra Bullock (you could tell it was her from the window and when we watched the red carpet later, but she didn't roll the window down)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Mitchell from Modern Family)
Ty Burrell (Phil from Modern Family)
Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Malcolm in the Middle)
Chris Hemsworth (THORRRRR!!!!! He really is even more gorgeous in person)
Rob Lowe (he had his window rolled down further up the street, but by the time he got to us, it was up again..I was lit'rally so sad)
Sofia Vergara (Modern Family)
A couple long NBC limos
Could have sworn we saw Taylor Swift, judging by the way her hair was pulled up and curled, but not totally sure.
Emma Watson (she was putting on her lipstick in the car)
Kevin Spacey
Uma Thurman
Leslie Mann
P. Diddy
Jared Leto
Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally
Channing and Jenna Dewan Tatum
Taylor Schilling
Amy Adams
Idris Elba
Melissa McCarthy (she was so cute; waving to everyone through the window, and looked so excited)
ORLANDO BLOOM rolled down his window and I flipped my sign over to say that it was my birthday. He leaned out, the side that his mom was on, and wished me a happy birthday! I shouted "thank you" back and proceeded to fan girl, feeling like I was going to pass out. I had a major crush on Orlando during his "Pirates" days. And when I found out we shared a birthday, he absolutely became one of my favorite people. I wish I would have thought to say happy birthday back to him, but it all happened so fast and I was completely caught off guard. It's not everyday that you expect THAT to happen.
TOM HANKS and wife, RITA WILSON showed up and I thought they might wave to our section, but I put my birthday sign out again. Well, Tom yells "Happy birthday!" out the window, then starts saying other stuff, and then I realize HE'S SINGING HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, and then tapped his wife on the shoulder to join in! I'm just standing there, like, "Is this real life?!" (normally, I hate that expression...But, this really was one of those pinch me moments. like when does this stuff happen?!) I'm just standing there like an idiot, smiling so big and I think I shouted I'm a huge fan at some point and just kept saying "thank you so much." I thought I was getting all of it on camera, but I only got bits and pieces because I was shaking so much. Oh, and I also dropped my sign because I was too excited, and it slid to the middle of the street. One of the security guys was nice enough to pick it up for me. Then, just before Tom and Rita drove off, Tom pulled out his camera and started snapping pictures of our side of the crowd! I'm still hoping he tweets those! Haha! But, in the meantime...I'M STILL ON TOM HANKS' phone...WHAT?!?! Tom and Rita seem like they would be that really cool, fun couple really trying to liven up the party with a game of charades or something. I SERIOUSLY want to hang out with him. This just proved to me that he might be a great actor, but he's an even better person. Think about that.
And just when I thought the day couldn't get any better, another star from Saving Mr. Banks, COLIN FARRELL ended up coming around and rolled his window down when he saw my sign. He said "happy birthday" with that awesome accent of his, and then sang "Happy birthday" again? I couldn't even comprehend what was happening at that point. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear...I don't know your name (he gave a slight shrug)." "Shelby," I told him and then he nodded and carried on, "Happy birthday dear Shelby (emphasis on my name that time), happy birthday to you." I just kept freaking out and telling him thank you again. Some other people near us started saying hi to him and then he had a green light to head towards the red carpet. Right before he left, he made eye contact with me again, placing his hands together like a prayer position/bow and nodding my way. He seems like SUCH A NICE GUY! Respect for him definitely went up in my book. I don't really know too much about his personal life. But, based on how he seems to treat people ...He seems like a really cool guy.
We went back the following year with my best friend, but not nearly as many rolled their windows down because it was kind of a dreary day and had been raining off and on, or was supposed to. However, Matt Bomer did roll down his window and said "happy birthday." I was so excited and wasn't anticipating it to be someone I loved, so I almost said it right back to him. Luckily, I caught myself in time and said "Thank you." He's even more handsome in person.
Allison Janney ("Mom") also rolled her window down - wished me happy birthday and chatted with folks along the barricade for a bit, which I thought was really cool, because she was one of the frontrunners for awards that night.
But, most of the rest of the afternoon was waiting around or watching the cars go by.
The last year was almost a total bust, as once again, the weather put a damper on things, so people didn't want to roll down their windows. We brought our family friends and everyone was so excited , because we'd had such success in the years before and were kind of disappointed when we didn't really see anyone. But, we did catch a few, including Melissa McCarthy and Zendaya, who was just a few feet away from us and wished me a happy birthday and my friend was able to tell her (Zendaya) that she liked her eyeshadow.
After that year, I decided it wasn't worth it anymore. I'm not sure how it is now, if it has changed -- or if you can even get to those streets now during the award show. But, for the few years we did it, it was absolutely worth it and made me respect some of Hollywood's elite even more. It was fun not knowing who you might see or what stories you might have to tell after all was said and done.
Ultimately, you just never know - something once in a lifetime could happen or you might not see a thing and stand out in the drizzly weather for a couple hours. The choice is yours!
If you'd like the more "formal" bleacher red carpet experience, it just might cost you an arm and a leg with Beverly Hilton Hotel packages starting $3,270. That includes a two night stay at the hotel, parking and wifi, as well as two tickets for the bleacher seats on the red carpet. I've always dreamed of that, but it looks like I will have to keep on dreaming or make it big in Hollywood someday before I actually attend the red carpet.
Maybe one of these days...Until then, I'll keep watching from home and enjoying the memories.
That's all for now,
Shelby