 TAFs Was "Expendable" yet we Still Attended the Premiere!
TAFs Camps out with the Fans and Greets the Stars!
Reported By: Randy Jennings
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Even though TheArnoldFans was NOT given red carpet access, it didn't stop me from driving six hours from Sacramento, CA to Los Angeles to witness the Hollywood premiere. Okay, sure, at first I was outraged about not getting on the carpet like so many years before but it was explained to me soon after that this was the World Premiere and top press members were flying in from all over the world so Lionsgate had to chose their top 20 worldwide media outlets (Access Hollywood, E.T., etc.). Okay, I'll buy that excuse. I was really looking forward to interviewing Stallone and getting a couple of Arnold-related comments from the action hero. Sure, my hopes were shattered and the night before the premiere, still angry, I was in no way going. The next morning, on the day of the premiere, I knew this could still be the opportunity to have a blast by seeing the stars of the film. Who knew, maybe I'd even have more fun not being on the red carpet and be more relaxed without juggling my microphone, recorder and notepad of questions. It was decided; I would go and stand across the street with the fans and my friends and watch the World Premiere of The Expendables!
I arrived two hours early across the street from the famous Chinese Theater on Hollywood Blvd. Fans, tourists and autograph-chasers had already beat me to the front of the barrier so I stood as close as possible. Not too much later, I would be entertained by the arrival of my old friend Chris "Sea-bass" Heathcoat and his four kids to feed. the last time that I had the opportunity to hang with Chris was during the T3 days so it was great catching up with an Arnold fan as passionate as myself.
California protestors, who were tipped off that Arnold was scheduled to appear, gathered in two small packs. No more than eight protestors, who spoke up about state worker wages, held signs proclaiming Arnold as the enemy. Their chants were soon strongly outnumbered by the many fans who chanted back, "WE LOVE ARNOLD, WE LOVE ARNOLD!"
At 6pm, the film's celebrities started to arrive. Most of the film's stars were all kind enough to run across the street to us fans. The last time I attended a premiere from across the street was for The 6th Day and I must say, this brought back the fun memories: the pushing of excited crowds and the energy made it feel like an outdoor rock concert. Today's acts were Steve "Stone Cold" Austin, Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren, Charisma "Angel" Carpenter, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Gary Daniels, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone. Many of these stars gave me either fist bumps, high-fives or smiles (Thanks Charisma).
And where was Arnold you ask? Well, he did attend the premiere however he snuck into the theater after the carpet arrivals. Since he was running late, Arnold did not want to take away Sly's spotlight and steal the thunder as the last arriving celebrity. Leave that ballsy move to Bruce Willis!
After the stars had all gone inside to watch the film, I met up with another friend who works at Stan Winston Studios but I did return to the premiere in time to see many of the celebrities depart. There was no Arnold sighting here for me this evening... however, I did get in three awesome Arnold-related tours in LA on the following day. Another time, Arnold fans!
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