Brush With Greatness

The day began as any other Monday morning would. The alarm went off and I was in no mood to move. The consideration to play hooky from work did cross my mind, I'll admit, but alas, I had no telephone. I'd forgotten my cell at work on Friday and had been without all weekend long, so phoning in was never an option.

Thankfully, I drug my ass into work, and I'm glad I did, because the kind woman with whom I share the front office with, sprung a pleasant surprise on me.

Her daughter is a film producer and her company is currently shooting a movie in Toontown. It is some kind of sci-fi flick. I'm not clear on the premise of the story, but it's still a pretty big deal.

So V__, the afore mentioned woman I work with, asked if I'd like to come with her to visit the set. They [the film company] was shooting nearby. I hummed and hawed at the idea, feeling almost unworthy. I'd always fantasized about being a film maker, and I'd actually attended some university on the subject when I was younger. Unfortunately, the school was in Regina, and I lost my funding to attend school, and that dream was soon dashed. Another reason to hate the Queen City, I suppose.

Alas, I decided I would go with her. This opportunity may never bear it weary head again, so I jumped at the chance. Besides which, there was a chance I could meet the star of the movie. Mr. John Diehl (pictured above).
I knew who he was right from the get go, having starred in Miami Vice as Det. Larry Zito. He was also Asst. Chief Ben Gilroy on The Shield, opposite Michael Chiklis. He's been in countless movies and other roles, including A Time To Kill, Stargate, and Stripes with Bill Murray. In fact, the more that I learned about him after looking him up on IMDB.com, the more I admired the actor. He's what one might call, "a working actor". A true artist. Expanding his horizons with every roles he assumes.
So knowing that going into this "chance" meeting, I'll admit I was a little nervous, but when the time came, he was pretty cool.

When the time came, we arrived at the location and was greeted by C___, V__'s daughter, and one of the producer's of the film. We got our visitor passes and was immediately jetted to the set. There were people setting up the lighting and other technicalities, but just around the corner, were a bunch of folks collected on a big leather sofa running over lines. The fellow in the corner, I did a double-take with. "Holy..." I thought to myself, "That's him! Okay, be cool."
Mr. Diehl (pronounced Deal), got up and came over and said hello to V__, whom he'd met the day before, then he turned to me, and shook my hand. "I'm Jeff." I said. "Hi Jeff, I'm John."

The whole deal was pretty cool. He took a moment to chat, asking what I did, and even commented on how I was dressed for summer when it was so cool outside. There were some other people gathered 'round too and soon everyone was engaged in small talk.
Not long after, John excused himself, as he had to get prepped for the scene they were going to shoot. Then that was it. C___ took us on a brief tour of the location, the C.L.S. (Canadian Light Source) here in Saskatoon, Sk.

Shortly thereafter, I was back at work, commenting on one of my co-workers that I got to meet John Diehl and shake his hand. He didn't care, but I was so stoked about the process that I egged him some, beakin' off "Oh yeah. You're jealous! I can tell."

"No I'm not. I don't care." he said, sourly.
"Yeah you are." I said.

Chances are he doesn't care, but the reason I was so persistant was, a few weeks ago he got to meet Dan Aykroyd and everyday, he's telling me how his friends all hate 'im because he got to meet Dan Aykroyd, even lumping me in there with them. Frankly, I don't give no shits about him meeting the chubby Ghostbuster. Don't get me wrong, I like Aykroyd, I just don't give a shit about this guy meeting him. Long story short, that is.

So now I can chalk up one more REAL celebrity that I've gotten to meet. Albeit, most of the others are pro wrestlers, but that's cool.

They're all just people, like you and me.