Aug 23, 2006

Conversations with the B-List: A Mother's Joy

In my time working at The Cookie Bin and various other jobs, I have met my fair share of celebrities, both BIG and not-so-big. I've discussed my Bill Pullman experience on this blog before, but I thought it would be fun to talk about my encounters with those who are not-as-big as they perhaps should be:

I was managing a movie theater at the time. It was later in the afternoon, and I was waiting for the last theater to clear out. There were still two people in the last theater, watching the credits, and I was getting impatient, for the length of my break depended on how long these people wanted to dawdle in the theater. Finally, they emerged. They were a well-dressed, middle-age couple and the woman smiled at me apologetically:

Woman: Sorry. We love to watch the credits.
The BLS: Don't worry. That's okay.
Woman: Well, you see, our son is in the business, so we like to keep up on who's involved in the industry.
The BLS (thinking said son was a stuntman or extra): That's really neat. Would your son have been in something I've seen?
Woman (pausing): Well, he's been in quite a few independent movies, but he was just in Erin Brockovich. He played Julia Roberts's boyfriend.
The BLS: Oh! Your son is Aaron Eckhart?
Woman (grabbing her husband's arm): You know his name!? Oh, honey! She knows his name!

The proud parent then went on to tell me all the movies her son had been in. She specifically recommended an indie called In the Company of Men, where he was the principal actor. I put it on my "to-watch" list, but kept bumping it in favor of other movies. I did follow Aaron Eckhart's career, though. I was pumped to see him cast alongside some of Hollywood's biggest players (Hilary Swank, Gwenyth Paltrow, Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman, and Cate Blanchett are some of the folks he's shared screen time with), but I was always disappointed to see that the movies didn't do as well as they should have. I finally got around to watching In the Company of Men last week. All I have to say is this: What in the HELL is wrong with our industry today? There's this incredible talent that has yet to be fully discovered. This guy doesn't deserve a small role in movies alongside Hollywood's biggest players. Aaron Eckhart SHOULD BE one of Hollywood's biggest players.

Oh, well. I hear there's an opening at Paramount now. We can always dream, I guess.

5 Comments:

At August 23, 2006 5:53 PM, Blogger LawStudentGuyPerson said...

Have you ever seen him interviewed? About as exciting as a junior mint laying on the floor of the theater you used to work at.

I'm not saying that's a good reason for him not getting a-list work, but perhaps the studio doesn't think he can promote his own work well enough.

 
At August 24, 2006 6:43 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

he was excellent in "thank you for smoking." good book too.

 
At August 24, 2006 7:39 AM, Blogger First Year said...

At least his parents were normal about it :) When I was waitressing the attitude I usually got was "entitled to extra".

Ahh, some sanity left :)

 
At August 24, 2006 5:31 PM, Blogger David Tellez said...

Did you see Thank You For Smoking? He's in that, and I'm telling you it's on my Top 10 list of greatest movies. Aaron Eckhart totally holds the picture together with a witty, charismatic performance as the tobacco lobbyist...it's so good! He's also starring in the upcoming The Black Dahlia and from what I've seen in the previews, I think Hollywood is taking a second look at that amazing actor. What I cant understand is, how the hell did you not ask his mother (who so happens to be a children's author) for his number and a date?!

 
At August 26, 2006 3:33 PM, Blogger LawNut said...

I see on IMDB that he has several movies coming out this year/next year, so hopefully his career is finally getting the credit that it deserves! Also looks like he's going to be in The Black Dahlia which looks really interesting and well-shot.

 

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