That title is cheesy and more than a little twee, I know. It could be worse though. I could put an exclamation point at the end of it and really gross you out. But the thing is, I also really wanted to call him a Superstar. I feel like anything less is a disservice to him. And I feel like since his movie, the one for which he was here yesterday in San Diego for Comic-Con, is called Real Steel, it would be a good way to pimp his project and pay tribute to how f-cking awesome he is.
Because Hugh Jackman is So.F-cking.Awesome. Which you’ve heard me say over and over and over again the last few weeks since I saw him in Toronto at his one man show. (Duana went last week and gushed about him too.) Should we tire though of saying and hearing that a celebrity is so f-cking awesome, especially when there are so many who are so totally not? Oh hi there Justin Timberlake. More on that later.
So they had a Real Steel display truck out there yesterday and the whole idea was that he’d show up, pass some free sh-t out to the fans, do a few interviews, and he’d be out in 45 minutes, tops. Hugh arrives and is supposed to take the mic, chit chat with the crowd, throw some signed posters and t-shirts out there, spend 10 minutes, and then a half hour doing media...
Never. That is never his style.
He got up and pretty much entertained them, like his own comedy show, for almost 20 minutes. Taking questions from the crowd (what’s your favourite colour?! For real), singing, flexing, smiling, thanking them for standing out in the hot sun supporting them. Then, of course, he insisted on passing out EVERY FREE GIFT on his own. It took a long time. Then he went out into the crowd for pictures and hugs. And then he still came for interviews and did not rush through them and gave thoughtful answers and was patient and charming and considerate. All told he was there for almost 2 hours. He may even have missed his flight for it. And that was ok. No pouting, no regret.
I PROMISE YOU they all don’t do that. That very, very few of them do that. And so happily too. And not in a way that’s a total dicksuck either. He just...has good manners and a great work ethic. Also, he’s very handsome and was wearing the sh-t out of his pants.
Anyway, about those manners – normally you stick a mic in their face and giv’er right away so as not to waste any of their precious time on introductions and small talk. With Hugh, he comes over and you get your question off, and he steps back and says, “First, what’s your name?”
Because a real conversation happens when two people actually know each other’s names, right?
I love him so much. We talked about the show, about Real Steel, about how much the fans mean to him, he hummed to the camera for me, he laughed when I said I was into his jazz hands, and then when it was over, he thanked me, offered me his hand, and said, “bye Lainey”. He remembered my name and used it. And he did that for everyone on the line.
So please don’t make me sh-t on his movie. I can’t. And you can say that’s a lack of objectivity which perhaps it is, and I say it’s just because he doesn’t deserve to get sh-t on, and maybe that’s the same thing just said differently but I’m ok with you being mad at me for this one. I want good things for Hugh because Hugh is Good.
Photos from Wenn.com