Above: Me (left) and Oliver Stone
Before the interview, we chit-chatted about various things. He wanted to know about Idaho and who famous came from here. He was also interested in our senators, and we discussed former Idaho Governor Dirk Kempthorne's recent nomination to Interior Secretary.
He is a very warm and pleasant man, who I was very impressed with.
Yep, that's Oliver Stone, Academy Award winning director of the excellent new movie, "World Trade Center" starring Nicolas Cage, Michael Pena, Maria Bello and Maggie Gyllenhaal. I had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Stone! (but I'm getting ahead of myself.)
The Interviews would all be done in various suites in the hotel. First I would interview Michael Pena and the person he plays in the movie, Will Jimeno, then Oliver Stone, and finally Maggie Gyllenhaal and the person she played in the movie, Allison Jimeno (Will's wife)
Before the trip, I was told I would be interviewing Oliver Stone, and that was it. But after I arrived in Seattle, I was told that Paramount shuffled things around and combined two press junkets into one, so I would also be able to interview two of the stars of the movie, Michael Pena, (who was so exceptional in "Crash") and Maggie Gyllenhaal (who I loved in "Secretary")
I was told to be at least 30 minutes early and that there would be lunch waiting for me. So, I ate, and waited.
Things were running a little late and another critic there with me had later interview times, but had a plane that would be taking off in an hour and a half! So, I told him to jump in ahead of me because my plane didn't leave until late.
I was sitting in the lobby area between some conference rooms and out came a very pregnant Maggie Gyllenhaal looking for some watermelon.
Finally I was told to go to the sixth floor for makeup. (a necessary evil in TV)
I entered the "Hospitality Suite" and was told that the interviews were about an hour behind. Another critic was getting her make up done, and I was next in line. But the make up artist was called up to the 14th floor to do the make up for Michael and Will. So, I was told to go up to the 14th floor and get my make up done there.
I arrived to find Michael Pena getting his make up done, with Will Jimeno, and they were chatting about the next leg of the publicity tour.
I was next in the makeup chair. Michael sat next to me, clipping his fingernails, which I suppose is an important part of any makeup session. I was suprised at how little makeup the makeup artist used on me. I'm used to having to apply lots of garbage on my face "so I don't look dead" as someone once told me!
Well, after my first professional makeup job, I was ready for my first interview.
Above: Michael Pena (left) and the man he plays in the movie, Will Jimeno.
I was a bit nervous, but the two men were down to earth and made me feel very comfortable. Michael is very talented and a heck of a nice guy. Will is the kind of man that you meet him and he is instantly your best friend. I can't imagine the ordeal he went through on 9-11. There were only 20 people rescued from the rubble, and he was the 18th.
After the first interview, I was instructed to go to the fourth floor, where my next interviews would happen.
I was told that Oliver Stone would arrive shortly and I would be the first to interview him. He had been in interviews all morning long with print press and internet critics along with radio critics, but they all had to interview him in a "round table" format which is a fancy way of saying they'd get to share the interview with everybody else.
But, I was incredibly lucky. I got to interview Oliver Stone one on one.
Above: Allison Jimeno (left) and Maggie Gyllenhaal
Finally, I was escorted into the room with Maggie Gyllenhaal and the person she plays in the movie, Allison Jimeno.
Again, both were very nice. During the interview, Maggie kept looking at me, so I wondered if I had something sticking out of my nose, and when I left they'd all joke about that critic from Idaho who had this thing sticking out of his nose. But no, when I watched the tape of the interview, my nose was clear and Maggie was just being polite and attentive.
After the interviews were all complete, I was handed a stack of tapes from the interviews, and went back to my room to pack my bags, grab some dinner and head to the airport.
What a great day.
