Ben Stiller was shooting The Secret Life of Walter Mitty on the Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan. At break time he took a short walk off the set with his ice tea when some fans began to approach him for autographs -my wife and I among them, shouting "Good luck with the movie BEN!". At first he panicked and alerted his handlers to shoo people away... but soon relented, and was genially posing for family photos with a couple of kids.
Ben's a good guy and we watched him for a short time -he was doing both directing and acting for the feature movie... soon to be in a theater near you (next year). For me there's always a strange feeling that permeates my being when I pass by my fellow extras lined up in the street... basically you want to be there among them. So I quickly got on Central Casting and submitted myself to this project -but I never got selected by the casting director. Maybe it's my Boardwalk Empire haircut -it's way too short for a contemporary look that this set required.
Oh well, I guess I'll just have to be content with getting a glimpse of Ben and having him acknowledge my good wishes (read: maybe he'll remember me) for his film's success. Ben humbly replied "Thank you.".
