#SDCC and Eric Roberts

So, I saw in the daily program update that Eric Roberts was going to be at ComicCon. I was pretty excited. I have enjoyed so many of his movies. I thought this was a big name that I really needed to add to my collection.  Since I was moving off to another line, I ended up talking to people and I totally forgot about him being there. Yeah, it happens.  The chaos of SDCC.

I met my wife towards the end of the day and she asked if I know he was there.  I did the slap the forehead in a V-8 moment and quickly looked to see if I wasn’t too late.  My wife had already checked him out.  Not in the sense of getting an autograph but checking him out as – did he look as good in person as he did on the big screen.  Since she knew where he was, she led me to him.

When we both saw him, only a few people are in line. I think most people are amazed he was there.  He wasn’t announced beforehand. He’s still a big name and a working actor.  At the time, I had no clue how much he signature would cost but I knew I’d pay.

He was with his handler and his little white dog. You know the type, the one that doubles as an accessory.  He’s talking and laughing and having a great time.  He had a fairly large assortment of photos to choose from but with a resume as large as his, he can’t have everything.

So as is the norm, people want to take photos. He had no trouble with a posed photo. What he didn’t want was a candid photo taken when he was unaware.  And he went out of his way to avoid those shots. From the outside; you would had thought he didn’t want a photo taken as he was charging for photos. No, he wasn’t. If you wanted to just chat and ask for a photo, he’d have done it.

As people tried to snap shots he’d cover his face and just ask them to give him a second let him give a nice smile. What he really wanted was the person taking the photo to be in the photo with him. He’d asked the people in line to crowd around the table to offer him some protection from the people that just refused to take him up on his offer.

When a photo journalist came up, he good naturedly refused to let her take the photo.  Finally she relented and agreed to be in the photo with him.  And I got to snap a few shots with her very fancy and expensive camera.  A camera her brother told me he never got borrow.

So it’s my turn. He does a lot of nice photos and even more in a folder.  I asked about The Coca Cola Kid. It’s the first movie of his I ever saw.  I stop myself form launching into why I like the movie so much. I’m sure he would have patiently listened to the babbling. But I restrained myself.  It was probably lucky that he didn’t have a photo from that movie.  I did come across the one from The Best of the Best. Not a great movie but one I did enjoy.

He is a personalization-izer. He asked my name and he asked me a few questions.  He nodded to the wife and signed the photo.  He laughed as he pointed to the blood stain and thanked me for stopping by.

I really was beaming.  I turned away and my wife was beaming too.  I told he really likes him.  And I think she loved that she got a nod from him.

You never know who will or won’t show up to ComicCon.

AH