An Evening with “The Closer” at The Paley Center for Media

While perusing my Picasa photo account yesterday, I realized that I have been seriously lagging on my Celebrity Sightings posts, as there are numerous events that I have yet to blog about, most notably one that I attended well over a month ago – The Paley Center for Media’s An Evening with The Closer in Beverly Hills.  As I have mentioned several times before, this stalker absolutely loves herself The Closer, so when I got an email from The Paley Center in July announcing that they would be hosting a screening and question and answer session with the cast and crew of the series on August 10th, I promptly bought tickets for me and the Grim Cheaper.  For those who have never heard of the place, the Paley Center for Media is a library/museum/cultural center that houses a collection of over 120,000 television and radio recordings which can be viewed in various screening rooms on the premises.  The center also hosts numerous celebrity events throughout the year, one of which I attended back in September of 2008 for fave show 90210.

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And while the 90210 event was an absolute BLAST with the celebrities in attendance mingling amongst the fans in order to sign autographs and take pictures both before and after the screening, sadly that was not the case with An Evening with The Closer.  The first actor to arrive at the Center was Anthony John Denison, who plays Lieutenant Andy Flynn on the series, and when he walked into the lobby I, of course, went up to him and asked for a photo.  Anthony could NOT have been nicer, gave me a HUGE smile, said, “Absolutely!  You’re so pretty, by the way!” and then proceeded to put his arm around me to pose for the pic.  Well, security took one look at us together and immediately came over and told John that he was not allowed to pose for any photographs.  Um, a security guard telling a celebrity what he can and cannot do?!?!  That was definitely a first for me!  Anyway, John gave the guy a look, said, “I am going to take this picture!”, and smiled once again at the camera.  After the GC snapped away, John introduced himself to both of us and shook my hand.  SUCH an incredibly nice guy!

I was especially excited to get a photo with him being that the picture we took together at Kyra Sedgwick’s Walk of Fame Star Ceremony back in June of 2009 had been a major, major fail, as you can see above!  Anyway, after John walked away, the Paley security guard told me that I was not allowed to ask any of the other stars for pictures, even though I was a ticketholder for the event.  I asked if I would be able to take photos after the Q & A session was over and he told me that it would be very unlikely, which was shocking being that pictures have been allowed at every single screening I have ever been to.  I mean, what other reason is there to attend?  Ha! 

At that point, the GC and I decided to head outside to the public sidewalk in front of the venue where security would not be able to tell us what we could and could not do – although, believe me, they tried!  Anyway, shortly after we walked out who should arrive but Miss Brenda Leigh Johnson herself, Kyra Sedgwick!  I could NOT have been more excited to see Kyra in person and I am very happy to report that she was a complete and total sweetheart!  As soon as she got out of her car, she headed right on over to the few fans who were waiting outside and signed a bunch of autographs.  I was the only person who asked for a photo and she happily obliged.  Besides being super friendly, Kyra is also BEAUTIFUL in person.  Much prettier even than she appears to be onscreen.

Shortly after Kyra arrived, Robert Gossett, who plays Commander Russell Taylor on the show and is the real life cousin of Louis Gossett Jr., showed up.  Robert also happily posed for a picture with me.

Due to the fact that security was being so incredibly anal, the GC and I decided to skip both the screening and Q & A as we figured we would have a better chance of catching the rest of the cast on their way out of the venue after the event was over than we would inside the theatre.  And we were right!   After grabbing a quick dinner at the Farm in Beverly Hills, which was FABULOUS by the way, we headed back over to the Paley Center and caught all of the other actors who were in attendance as they made their way outside, including Raymond Cruz, who plays Detective Julio Sanchez;

Michael Paul Chan, who plays Lieutenant Mike Tao;

Jon Tenney who plays Agent Fritz Howard;

Phillip P. Keene who plays videographer Buzz Watson;

Jonathan Del Arco, who plays Major Crimes Division coroner Dr. Morales;

and Mary McDonnell, who plays Brenda Leigh Johnson’s nemesis Captain Sharon Raydor.  All of the cast members were extremely nice and I could not have been more floored to meet them!  But I was a bit disappointed that we were not able to attend the screening and Q & A session as I had really been looking forward to hearing what the actors had to say about the series and it’s forthcoming spin-off, Major Crimes, which is set to debut sometime next year.  The GC, of course, was extremely pleased to have avoided the Q & A, though, so I guess all was not lost. 

Until next time, Happy Stalking and Happy Voting – don’t forget to vote for me to be the new face of About Me!  There are only seven voting days left – you can vote once every 24 hours now through September 20th. 

Stalk It: The Paley Center is located at 465 North Beverly Drive in Beverly Hills.  You can visit the Center’s official website here.