Allegrita here, reporting with Lunalux from the red carpet premiere of The Back-Up Plan at the Village Westwood theater.
First of all, I am squeeing like a fangirl because Alex signed the cover page of my Fated to Pretend sonnet cycle (already signed by Jason at the Chicago Gala in November 2008)! But I'm getting way ahead of myself.
Luna and I arrived around 3:30 to find that the wonderful SoCal Freshies and LLOL fan contingent had staked out a perfect spot right opposite where the limos stop to let the celebrities out. They had put up two large signs on the barricades, identifying us as fans of Alex. These signs were an absolute stroke of brilliance. Friends, let me reiterate: Alex used the barricade signs as the demarcation lines for where he began and ended his autograph-signing at the red carpet. My deep thanks to the wonderful SoCal Freshies for taking the time to make and put up those signs. They were a godsend.
Back to the story. We waited, chatting and catching up with old friends, until the arrivals began around 6pm. As mentioned earlier in this thread, the arrivals included everything from the Bachelor to the dog-in-a-cart. One I was happy to see arrive was Jensen Ackles of Supernatural fame. He came across and signed a few autographs (unfortunately, not near me), and then walked the carpet. Dignitaries such as the director, Alan Poul, and some CBS bigwigs arrived, followed by a whole bunch of people I didn't know, and a few I did, such as Linda Lavin and Tom Bosley.
Alex arrived around 6:25 in a Hummer limo, accompanied by his lovely assistant and a kinda nasty handler, who Luna perfectly described as a "beefy, white-haired, mean ex-cop type."
As soon as he alighted from the limo, Alex immediately saw the Freshie-made signs on the barricades, and came to one end, where he began chatting and signing autographs. (The nasty handler held up one finger--one autograph only--and moved Alex along so quickly that there was no chance for him to take pictures with fans--but Alex did take the time to exchange a few words with everyone and to smile and sign autographs. He was amazingly accommodating of his fans on this, his big night. He certainly didn't have to do it--many people didn't--but that's just the kind of guy he is. He really does appreciate the love of his fans. In fact, he was kind enough to backtrack about 3 feet in order to sign my poems, after I explained to him what they were and showed him Jason's signature. He was just lovely. I told him that we've all been following his career for some time now, and that I wanted him to know how happy we are for him, and how very much we feel he deserves this big day. He seemed genuinely touched, and dazzled me with a big smile and said thank you very much. (I am pleased to report that, although my hands were shaking like leaves in a windstorm, I did NOT faint, lose the power of speech, or drop my camera.)
Alex was wearing a gorgeous dark (either charcoal gray or dark navy) Jil Sander suit, white shirt, and a beautiful club tie in narrow stripes of blue, gray, teal, and burgundy. He looked, in a word, perfect.
He seemed joyous and remarkably un-nervous while he was moving along our line. After he reached the end of the Freshie signs, he was whisked across the street to the plastic-enclosed red carpet, where he was soon lost to our view. (The carpet was enclosed in a tent-like awning with plastic sides, because rain was threatening all day. However, I'm happy to report that the rain held off, and everyone was able to get into the theater dry and un-spotted.)
Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony arrived right around 7pm. Jennifer also came to the Alex fan signs and signed a few autographs, including one for me, yay!
(I and the others standing along the barricades were nearly toppled into the street by the surge of JLo fans pushing toward her, begging for signatures, but I'm happy to report that, aside from me kicking someone HARD in the shins, no serious damage was done.) Jennifer noticed the signs and asked if we're all Alex fans. When everyone cheered, she said something really positive (like, "Great!" or that sort of thing) and seemed really pleased for him. She was wearing a stunning silver minidress that made her look incredibly beautiful and sexy. She is the epitome of a gracious star, and my opinion of her has gone from pretty much uncaring when Alex and she began this adventure, to that of a staunch supporter and fan. I like her. I think she is smart, remarkably unspoiled by success, and very, very good to Alex. (And for that alone I will always be grateful to her!)
Here's some video I took of Alex signing autographs for us. It's in two parts (I paused it so that I could ask him to sign my poems):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbx3Fz2iFE8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-am-CbmsXw
I'm going to give it to DEb (Purpldy from LLOL), who will put the higher quality video up on her site soon. I'm sorry that I don't have many pics; I had to choose between video and photos. I'm hoping to get some good screencaps from my video, and when I do, I'll share them with you all.
(Edited to fix the spelling of Jil Sander's name... soooo not a fashionista...)
