Dexter actors – IAMNOTASTALKER

November 18, 2011November 17, 2011

The SAG Conversations with “Southland” Event

I would like to start off today’s post by announcing that my good friend, fellow stalker Owen, who is a copy editor by trade, has just started his very own blog which chronicles the various spelling mistakes and grammatical errors that he comes across in printed material on a daily basis. The blog is called When Write Is Wrong and, let me tell you, it is absolutely HILARIOUS! I strongly urge you to check it out and get your LOL on. You can visit When Write Is Wrong here. And now, on with the post!

Last week, I received an email from the Screen Actors Guild inviting me and a guest to a screening of the TNT television series Southland, followed by a Q&A with executive producer Christopher Chulack and cast members Lucy Liu, Regina King, C. Thomas Howell, Ben McKenzie, Michael Cudlitz, and Shawn Hatosy. And even though I had never before actually seen an episode of the show, once I saw the name Ben McKenzie I just about died of excitement! As I have mentioned several times before on this blog, this stalker absolutely LOVES herself some The O.C., especially its cutie former star, and I have been absolutely dying to get a picture with him for what seems like forever now! So I immediately RSVP-ed to the event and invited fellow stalker Mike, from MovieShotsLA, to be my guest as Southland is one of his favorite shows.

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The evening started out with a screening of the Season 3 episode titled “Fixing a Hole” and while my mom, who watches Southland religiously, had warned me that the series might be a bit too gory and gritty for my taste, let me tell you, I absolutely LOVED it. It was laugh-out-loud funny, extremely well-written and sharply poignant. I cannot wait to rent Season 1 and start watching from the beginning. Immediately after the episode ended, the stars of the show entered the room and my stomach literally did a flip-flop when Ben McKenzie came into view. He is even cuter in person than he appears to be on TV. Swoon! Because I am anal and always arrive at these types of events about 3 hours early, I secured some FABULOUS seats for me and Mike and we literally could have reached out and touched the actors. Sadly though, this particular venue did not allow any photographs to be taken during the Q&A, so I was unable to get any pictures of the actors onstage. But, let me tell you, the interview session was FABULOUS! The Southland cast is easily one of the most down-to-earth casts I have ever seen in person and, for such a dark, heavy show, the atmosphere between them all was extremely light and fun. They seemed to genuinely like each other and had an easy rapport. And although the jokes were flying out of everyone’s mouth, Michael Cudlitz (who plays Officer John Cooper on the show) was by far the funniest of the bunch. He is absolutely HILARIOUS in person – like stand-up-comedian funny. My favorite part of the Q&A, though, had to be when the actors talked about the fact that executive producers Christopher Chulack and John Wells do not allow any sides on the Southland set. For those unfamiliar with the term, “sides” are small portions of a script that contain only those scenes being filmed on that particular day and actors usually have them on hand at all times. John and Christopher banned the mini-scripts from the set from the very beginning so that the actors would be forced to do their homework and come to work prepared each day. The Southland cast all said that it was a phenomenal way to work and that they were better performers because of it. This policy especially resonated with me as it used to drive me absolutely batty in acting class when my fellow students would show up unprepared. Memorizing lines is the easiest part of acting, in this stalker’s never-to-be-humble opinion, and if you cannot even come to class with that basic part of your homework completed, how can you expect to be present and focused onstage??? But I digress.

Immediately following the Q&A, Mike and I, of course, approached all of the actors to ask for pictures and I am very happy to report that they could NOT have been nicer!! We met Regina King first and she was a complete and total sweetheart – a total 180 from the tough, brazen character she plays on Southland. Sadly, while we were talking to Regina, Lucy Liu walked by and because no one stopped her for a photo (most actors consider themselves to be above the whole fandom thing), she left before we could talk to her. As Miss Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, would say, “FAIL!”

After Regina, we hit up Shawn Hatosy whom I was familiar with from both Alpha Dog and Dexter. It is funny, but even though I had never watched Southland, I knew and loved each of the actors in attendance from other productions. Shawn was extremely nice and happily posed for photos with both Mike and me.

After posing with Shawn, I spotted Ben McKenzie and just about had a heart attack. Pinky Lovejoy had told me prior to the event that Ben was a total sweetheart and I am happy to report that she could not have been more right! SUCH a nice guy and, as I mentioned above, ADORABLE in person! SWOON! SWOON! SWOON!

After Ben, Mike and I got a pic with Michael Cudlitz, which we were both EXTREMELY excited about as he had played jock Tony Miller on fave show Beverly Hills, 90210. When I first walked up to Michael, I said, “You were Brenda Walsh’s prom date!”, to which he smiled and said, “That I was!” LOVE IT!

Last up was Ponyboy himself, C. Thomas Howell, who was a complete and total sweetheart! I chatted with him a bit about Rob Lowe’s autobiography, Stories I Only Tell My Friends (which is honestly one of the BEST books I have ever read – like in my entire life!!!!), and he told me that his wife had just read it and had also said it was one of the best books she had ever read. Ironically enough, a few minutes later Mike and I ventured into a nearby Starbucks (I know, shocker!) and who should be in front of us in line, but C. Thomas! He recognized us and I quickly said, “We are not following you, I swear!” I mean, I’m a stalker, but I’m not that bad! C. Thomas chatted to us again for a few minutes and then I headed off to use the restroom, but Mike told me that when C. Thomas left, he called out to him, “Later, bro!” and waved good-bye. How incredibly cool is that?? All in all, it was an AMAZING night and I am still pinching myself over the whole thing! As Pinky Lovejoy would say, “Win!”

And don’t forget to check out fellow stalker Owen’s new blog, When Write Is Wrong!

Until next time, Happy Stalking!

Stalk It: Unfortunately, there is no stalking location for this one, but you can catch Southland every Tuesday night on TNT. Season 4 is set to begin on January 17th.

October 21, 2011September 29, 2017

Abbey San Encino from “Dexter”

As I have mentioned several times before on this blog, I absolutely cannot watch an episode of fave show Dexter without having my iPad next to me and a web-browser open to the Seeing Stars website’s extensive Dexter filming locations page. And this season has been no different. While watching the episode titled “Once Upon a Time . . . “ two Sundays ago, I became just a wee bit obsessed with the amazing abandoned church where serial killer Professor Gellar (aka Edward James Olmos) and his young protégé, Travis Marshall (aka Colin Hanks), conduct their various crimes. Gary, who runs Seeing Stars, of course, had the location listed on his site. As it turns out, it is a historic building named Abbey San Encino and it is located in the Highland Park area of Los Angeles, just west of South Pasadena. So, figuring it fit in perfectly with my Haunted Hollywood theme, I dragged the Grim Cheaper right on out there to stalk the place this past weekend.

Abbey San Encino, a private home which took over a decade to construct, was designed and built by a wealthy printer/typographer named Clyde Browne. Clyde, who originally hailed from Ohio, had moved onto the property, into what was then just a frame building, with his wife Grace Wassum in 1904. In the summer of 1915, he began construction on his dream home which, according to a fabulous Big Orange Landmarks article, he modeled after several different historic properties including the chapel at Holyrod Palace in Scotland, Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo in Carmel-by-the-Sea, and Mission San Francisco de Solano in Sonoma. For his building materials, Clyde used a myriad of artifacts, such as bells, crucifixes, hinges, and lanterns, that colleagues picked up for him from various abandoned edifices across Europe. Browne also salvaged numerous materials from several defunct buildings in the Los Angeles area, most notably the Van Nuys Hotel, which had closed shortly following Prohibition. The 2,627-square-foot Abbey San Encino was finally completed in 1921 and boasted a chapel, a massive cellar, with what looks to be an actual jail cell, a bell tower, and a central courtyard. For whatever reason, Browne and his family did not move into their new home until 1924, three full years after it was completed. When Clyde passed away in 1942, his son moved into the Abbey where he raised Clyde’s two grandsons, songwriter Edward Severin Browne and singer Jackson Browne – yes, that Jackson Browne.

In fact, Jackson actually used a photograph of the Abbey’s inner courtyard on the cover of his second album, “For Everyman”. And, amazingly enough, his brother Edward still lives on the property, along with his wife, to this day.

Abbey San Encino is a true architectural wonder and was declared Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #106 on November 15, 1972.

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Abbey San Encino first showed up in the Season 6 episode of Dexter titled “Once Upon a Time . . .”, in the scene in which Travis dropped off several bags of mannequins at Professor Gellar’s lair.

The door through which Travis tossed the bags of mannequins is pictured above.

The interior of Professor Gellar’s hideout appears later in that same episode, in the scene in which the Professor reprimands Travis for visiting his sister. And while the interior shown on Dexter does resemble the real life inside of the Abbey, which you can see photographs of here, filming did not actually take place there. I believe that for all of the interior scenes, producers most likely built a set based on the actual inside of the Abbey at Sunset-Gower Studios in Hollywood where the series is lensed.

The interior of the hideout showed up once again at the very end of the “Once Upon a Time . . . “ episode, in the scene in which Travis brought the Professor a jogger named Nathan (aka David Monahan) whom he had kidnapped.

The exterior of the Abbey was also featured in this past Sunday night’s episode of Dexter, which was titled “Smokey and the Bandit”, and I am guessing that it will also be appearing in all of the future episodes of Season 6, as well. And, according to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, the property is going to be used as the new home of Russell Edgington (aka Denis O’Hare) in the upcoming season of True Blood.

Abbey San Encino–Dexter Filming Location

You can check out a video which shows interior photographs of Abbey San Encino by clicking above.

Big THANK YOU to Gary, from the Seeing Stars website, for finding this location! Smile

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Abbey San Encino, aka Professor Gellar and Travis Marshall’s hideout from Season 6 of Dexter, is located at 6211 Arroyo Glen Street in Highland Park. You can visit the property’s official website here.

June 29, 2011March 11, 2018

The Envelope Emmy Week “Geek TV” Event

Another Envelope Emmy Week event that Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, told me about was the “Geek TV Roundtable”, which featured a panel discussion with actors Jayma Mays (aka Emma Pillsbury from Glee), Johnny Galecki (aka Leonard Hofstadter from The Big Bang Theory), Michael C. Hall (aka Dexter Morgan from fave show Dexter), Sam Trammell (aka Sam Merlotte from True Blood), and Joel McHale (aka Jeff Winger from Community and the host of fave show The Soup). Well, let me tell you, I absolutely LOVE me some Joel McHale, so when I saw his name on the list I just about had a heart attack right there on the spot and immediately signed up to attend. Because so many big-time celebs would be appearing at this particular event, I knew that getting a photograph with any of them would be extremely difficult, so I made the sign pictured above, which read “I

Almost all of my new stalking friends were in attendance for the event, including Pinky Lovejoy, from the Thinking Pink blog, Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, Anushika and Scotty, who both write for the Mike the Fanboy website, and Duggan. (Anushika, Pinky, and Scotty are pictured above). The only person missing from our little group was CB, who was attending the Super 8 premiere in Westwood that night. And I have to say that we all had an ABSOLUTE BLAST hanging out together. Yes, getting photographs taken with celebrities is extremely fun, but so is the hanging-out-and-waiting part, as long as you are doing so with a great group of fellow stalkers. And Pinky and Mikey have some AMAZING friends!!! I feel so incredibly lucky to have met them and that they have embraced me as they have and allowed me to tag along with them on so many of their celebrity adventures. Love you guys!

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Now I should mention here that this particular event took place at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live, directly next to the Staples Center in Downtown Los Angeles, on Wednesday, June 8th, which just so happened to be smack-dab in the middle of the weeklong E3 Expo, the LARGEST annual convention held in L.A. So to say that Downtown was swarming with people would be a gross understatement. Not only that, but at 4:15 p.m., just around the time that the GC and I were arriving in the area, there was an explosion in a trash can on Broadway and 4th Street, just a few blocks from the theatre, which resulted in the police SHUTTING DOWN a huge portion of the central part of Downtown FOR HOURS. Between the convention, the explosion, and the normal, everyday urban madness of L.A., Downtown on that particular evening was a complete and total sh*tstorm! The Grim Cheaper and I were stuck in our car in the same exact spot for over an hour and it was at that point that I just broke down in tears due to sheer frustration. I don’t think I have ever been that frustrated in my entire life! Sadly, the explosion and subsequent street closures also made it so that most of the actors were late in arriving to the theatre, which greatly lessened our chances of getting pictures and autographs as they were all immediately rushed inside as soon as they got there. UGH! Actor Sam Trammell was the first to arrive (he miraculously showed up about an hour before the event was due to begin) and he was absolutely SWARMED by people as soon as he stepped out of his car.

I had the GC take the above photograph so that my fellow stalkers could get a sense of what trying to get an autograph or picture at one of these events is like. Sam Trammell is buried somewhere in the middle of that huge, chaotic mess of thirty-some-odd people pictured above. Needless to say, getting an autograph or photo requires quite a bit of effort, determination, and maneuvering!

Now Pinky is easily Sam Trammell’s biggest fan and not only has she met him on several occasions, but the actor even knows her by name! So incredibly cool! Sam immediately walked right up to Pinky to say hello and to pose for a picture with her, and Pinky also gave him two blue blankets she had knitted for Sam and his girlfriend as they are currently expecting twin boys.

Pinky has long been telling me what a super-nice guy Sam is and, wow, was she ever right! Sam has got to be one of the nicest celebs I have ever encountered! Even though he was, as you saw above, absolutely swarmed by people, he stuck around to sign autographs and take pictures with absolutely everyone who wanted them, even me! Yay! Smile

The next to arrive was Michael C. Hall from Dexter. As I have mentioned quite a few times before on this blog, I absolutely LOVE me some Dexter, but I have to say that I love me some Joel McHale more. So before we arrived at the event I laid out some ground rules for the GC. I told him that he must at all times keep his eye on the prize and that prize was a picture with Joel. My number two goal for the evening was to get a picture with Michael C. Hall. If I somehow managed to get photos with any of the other stars, well that would just be icing on the cake. I had to lay out these ground rules because oftentimes at these events several celebrities will show up at the same time and I did not want the GC to get distracted and not be in a position to take my picture with Joel. It was really funny because all throughout the night the GC would point to me from across the way and say, “Eye on the prize, Lin! Eye on the prize!” LOL Because Michael C. Hall showed up just a few minutes before the event was to begin, he was rushed straight inside and was not able to sign any autographs or pose for any pictures. UGH!

Next to show up was Johnny Galecki and he was also rushed straight into the theatre as he arrived a few minutes after the panel was set to begin. He apologized to us stalkers for not being able to sign, but promised to “make it up to us” on his way out. Nice! Security informed us that Johnny was the last celeb to arrive, which meant that Joel McHale had driven himself and therefore entered through a different door. Sigh! How cute is that! It did make me feel like a bit of a tool, though, as I had stood out on that sidewalk holding up my sign for a good two hours. LOL

Even though we all had tickets to the event, we decided not to go inside as we figured we would have a better chance of getting pictures and autographs if we caught the actors as they left the venue. Thankfully we were right. Smile The roundtable panel was fairly short, just about 45 minutes, and after it ended all of the actors, except for Jayma Mays, walked outside together, which, as you can imagine, caused sheer and utter chaos! I had my eye on the prize, though, and as soon as that back door opened I held up my sign for Joel to see, which he did! He immediately started laughing and walked right outside, right through the crowd, and right up to me! Sigh!

Joel thanked me for coming and posed for the above photo and, let me tell you, I just about died of happiness right then and there. It wasn’t until Joel had already gone back inside, to take pictures with some of the audience members, that I realized the picture did not come out! UGH!

And while Pinky had managed to snap a super cute picture of us from farther away, I was still pretty bummed that the one the GC took did not come out. Here I had kept my eye on the prize, made a sign even, and my photo turned out horribly! What kind of luck is that? I really need to learn to trust in the universe, though, because that little mishap turned out to be a blessing in disguise. But more on that later.

Michael C. Hall was absolutely swarmed as soon as he came outside, but he stuck around for a REALLY long time to sign autographs and snap pictures with people. I, sadly, had the same issue with my Michael picture that I had with the one of Joel. According to our wedding photographer, Rob Greer, whom I sent the photograph to, the problem is called Lens Flare and it is extremely difficult to fix, even for professional re-touchers. Such a shame! Ah well, I will just have to stalk him again sometime! Smile

I was also lucky enough to get a pic with Johnny Galecki, which I was floored about! Johnny is super-nice, but is so unlike his Big Bang character, Leonard Hofstadter, it is almost unbelievable! He is NOT AT ALL dorky, awkward, or shy. Quite the contrary, in fact! He seemed to be extremely self-assured and out-going. The guy is obviously an AMAZING actor! As I mentioned above, Jayma Mays was the only one of the group to exit out of a different door and we never caught even a glimpse of her, which I was not all that disappointed about because I have heard from several people that she is not the most fan-friendly celeb. What is it with these Glee actors???

After everyone in our group got pictures with and autographs from Johnny Galecki, Michael C. Hall, and Sam Trammell, Duggan, Scotty, Pinky, the GC, and I headed inside the theatre where Joel McHale was talking to some of the event coordinators. When Joel spotted me, I explained to him that our photograph had not come out and he immediately smiled and said, “Well, then let’s get this right!” and posed for the above pic with me. He also thanked me profusely for being a fan, for coming out to see him, and for making the sign. Sigh!

Because Joel often jokingly signs autographs “Ryan Seacrest”, I told him that I really should have put Ryan’s name on my sign and Joel immediately yelled out, “Anybody have a pen I can borrow?” He then set about crossing out his name and writing in Ryan’s on the sign. Pinky and Scotty were nice enough to snap the above pics of me and Joel while he was writing on the sign. (Thanks, guys!!!!) Joel also posed for pics with Scotty, Pinky, and Duggan. Sigh! What an incredibly nice guy! Easily one of the NICEST celebs I have ever met! Love, love love him!!!!! And this experience was a definite reminder that I really need to trust in the universe more. I was so incredibly bummed when my original photograph with Joel did not come out, but look at it what that camera fail ended up leading to! An even better, more personal experience with one of my favorite stars! It is definitely true what they say, every cloud has a silver lining. And now whenever I get discouraged over something in life not turning out the way I had expected, I will remember this moment and the silver lining that this particular cloud brought me.

My Joel McHale-altered sign is pictured above. Smile All in all it was a FABULOUS night and a FABULOUS fan experience. One of my best yet!

AND, after the event was over, Sam even tweeted a thank you to Pinky for the blankets! How awesome is that???? LOVE IT!!!!

Big THANK YOU to Mikey, from the Mike the Fanboy website, for inviting me to this event! You can read Mikey’s write up of the evening here. And you can read Pinky Lovejoy’s write-up here.

Until next time, Happy Stalking! Smile

Stalk It: Unfortunately, there is no stalking location for this one.