Julia Roberts som hon den där elaka drottningen. Tarsem Singh vid spakarna. Mirror, Mirror är som en liten visuell godisbit med lite retrokänsla i humoravdelningen. Jag gillart’! Kommer i mars 2012.

Julia Roberts i senaste amerikanska Elle.

Jag jobbar på dagarna, uppdaterar AboutJulia.Com på kvällarna (bara två dagar kvar till “Eat, Pray, Love“!) och försöker lugna nerverna tillräckligt länge för att få någon slags reseplanering gjord. Det är fruktansvärt pirrigt nu och det känns som att jag har glömt halva huvudet någonstans. Får inte riktigt tankarna att gå ihop.

Måste nog göra checklistor. En hel bunt.

Det är ett mindre projekt att få ordning på de bångstyriga fransarna när man bara har den korta lilla borsten, men det blir ett helt okej resultat. Hur vårdande den är är dock kanske svårt att avgöra på 9,5 timme. Men den verkar rätt snäll mot ögonen för mina titthål som brukar bli rätt irriterade av nya mascaror verkar inte ha några problem med det här kladdet.

Halva Hollywood är med i “Valentine’s Day”. Åtminstone känns det så. Det är så många parallella handlingar att man blir helt snurrig.

Jag läste manuset innan jag såg filmen och hade rätt höga förväntningar, det hade kunnat bli riktigt bra. Jag säger inte att det är dåligt, inte jättedåligt i alla fall, men mycket av “fluffet” som ligger mellan själva handlingarna känns mer som en parodi på kärlek och romantik än något annat.

Filmen är inget mästerverk, men det hade väl ingen väntat sig heller. Det är fluffigt och relativt förutsägbart, precis som en romantisk komedi ska vara.

Det kan också vara jag som är lite cynisk.

Julia Roberts har utan tvekan den bästa och mest rörande storyn. Detta säger jag inte (enbart) för att jag är partisk, det är faktiskt sant. I hennes sista scen får jag tårar i ögonen, något jag inte direkt hade väntat mig. Hon och Bradley Cooper interagerar väldigt bra och de har båda oväntade twists i slutet av filmen.

Överlag är det för mycket folk med i den här filmen. Det är inte direkt jobbigt för att det blir för mycket att hålla reda på (handlingen är inte överdrivet invecklad) utan för att man inte hinner få någon känsla eller sympati för karaktären. Och när det så blir dramadrama så köper man det inte riktigt, det känns väldigt ansträngt. Och i slutet när allas säckar ska knytas ihop tar det tiiiid.

Taylor Swift är mycket möjligt den sämsta skådespelerskan någonsin. Det var plågsamt att se.

Jag var lite förvånad över att jag gillade Jessica Biel i den här, men hon har roligt material att jobba med. Jag älskar Jennifer Garner, men hennes roll är rätt trist. Min favorit (utöver Julia) är Anne Hathaway, hennes telefonsex-scener är skitroliga!

Vad du än gör, missa inte den fantastiska “Pretty Woman”-referensen i eftertexterna. Filmens bästa ögonblick, no contest.

(Fan, nu hoppade mitt P av tangentbordet igen. Den där nya datorn är välkommen.)

Ja, det är Julia Roberts jag pratar om då. Om någon missat det. Och filmen kommer i februari. Lagom till Alla Hjärtans Dag. Duh.

Min BFF Julia Roberts är för tillfället i Rom och spelar in filmversionen av en av mina absoluta favoritböcker “Eat, Pray, Love” (på svenska pryds boken med den föga smickrande titeln “Lyckan, kärleken och meningen med livet” *yuck*) och döm min förvåning när jag idag såg att även svenska Tuva Novotny är med i filmen! Hon spelar högst troligt svenska Sofie som blir vän med Elizabeth (Julias karaktär) i Rom.

Jag tror bestämt att jag måste läsa boken en vända till. Nu på en gång. Japp. Så får det bli.

Bilden är från presskonferensen.

I don’t even know where to start this post. Having been a fan of Julia’s for almost 20 years, God knows I’ve thought about this day from time to time. What I would say, how I would act etc. Haven’t we all? Would I scream like a teenager? Would I cry? Would I just be mute and stunned? I knew I would be nervous. But I would never have fathomed to which extent this nervousness would go.

Some of that tension was released when I saw her in Three Days of Rain three years ago. Seeing her in the flesh, standing just a few feet away from her and getting her autograph was surreal (but nice). I didn’t scream but I did cry a little bit.

Let me just start by saying, I’m 29 years old (in two weeks). I don’t scream like a teenager, I wouldn’t hop on one leg if Julia told me to. I’m a grown-up, and being a fan as a grown-up isn’t quite the same as being one when you’re ten years old. I admire and appreciate Julia for the actress, and the person that she is. But first and foremost, having gotten to know her, as well as you can through the public eye, I’ve come to care for her as for a friend. It may sound weird, but as with a friend, and can agree or disagree with her decisions and her opinions, but I will always support her in whatever she does. Because she is a smart, intelligent, charming, funny woman with which I feel I have a lot in common. Someone I would very likely have a very interesting and rewarding conversation with.

Having said this, it was bizarre for me to find just how nervous you can get in the presence of someone you’ve never met.

Enough of my ranting, here’s the story.

Tuesday morning I got up pretty early, couldn’t really sleep. I had some very good hotel breakfast, packed my notepad, my cellphone/taperecorder, the map for the place where the screening was taking place and headed off. I got there (after getting lost a few times) about 40 minutes before the movie would start. Trying to calm my nerves I texted pretty much everyone I knew (this phonebill will not be very kind to me). There were about 30 people at the screening. After being seated and the movie was starting, I remember thinking to myself “Damn, I am one lucky bastard”.

After having seen the film we all got onto a bus and headed to the Berkley Hotel in Knightsbridge where the press conference was taking place. We got there about 1,5 hours before it would start so I had plenty of time getting even more nervous. I put my jacked on a chair in the very first row to ensure Julia would see me. Lunch was served (very fancy fingerfood) but I couldn’t get a bite down.

Minutes crawled by and then it was finally time. The number of people had escalated from 30 to about 50-60 people, including at least six cameracrews. The moderator introduced himself and went over some basics. And then I saw Julia’s bodyguard and knew she was close. And so, the moderator introduced them and she came in, smiling and looking very relaxed. She sat down almost right in front of me and I could not remember how to breathe. My palms were sweaty and fingers ice-cold. I remember getting a bit emotional as I thought “WOW, this is actually IT!”, but then I said to myself “You just have to pull it together and get through it, you can freak out later”.

The press conference commenced and about ten minutes in, I built up the courage to ask a question. The moderator nodded my way as to say he noted I wanted to ask a question, and as the previous question was answered, he nodded my way again and said “And now, we’ll go to the lady in the front”. That’s me. She was looking straight at me, waiting for my question.

My goal with this whole thing was for her to know who I was, what I had done for her for the past ten years. I wanted her to know about the site, and that I wasn’t just another screaming lunatic who wanted a piece of her. So I decided, against what everyone else had done, to introduce myself. So, I said “I’m Linda from The Fan Carpet and AboutJulia.Com”. And she cuts me off.  “AboutJulia.Com?” she repeats, intrigued and a bit amused. I feel my face going EXTREMELY red. And then Clive quips “she probably knows more about you then you do!”, Julia goes “I’m sure she does!” and everyone laughs.

I guess this is the place where I’m supposed to feel mortified, but I wasn’t. I was actually kind of proud. So I just went along with it and asked my question, which was.

“I was wondering, having been in the business for so long, do you feel like your level of trust, as this movie is a lot about trust, has shifted, in your personal life and in your professional life, during that time?” (good question, don’t you think? )

Her answer was: “It has and I’m a really trusting person and I think I always have been and I think that I have cultivated a very keen skill of recognizing someone I shouldn’t trust pretty readily. A person has about 15-27 seconds before I’m pretty sure whether or not I can trust them or not.” And then she adds “Someone is gonna be really bummed out because it’s beeping (referring to all the tape recorders on the table in front of her) and that means it’s over. Or it’s gonna blow.” She’s hilarious.

And I have to say I just got all of this from the audio clip on my cellphone, cause I had no idea what she was saying to me at that time. She was looking straight at me, answering the question, and I was trying to keep my face from twitching. Which it was. Heavily. I could not control it. I was trying to relax and smile at her, but I’m pretty sure I looked like an idiot.

Then I could breathe for a while, but I kept thinking about you guys and I really wanted to ask about “Eat, Pray, Love”. And not many people were asking questions, it was the same people over and over again. So here goes nothing again.

Me: “I just recently read “Eat, Pray, Love” and I know that you’re attached to it and I’m interested in the status of that project.”
Julia: “Uhm, we’re shooting it in the winter I think”.
Me: “Good news”
Julia: “Uh-hmm” and que smile.

Fast forward about 15 minutes (I probably could have asked more questions, but it wouldn’t have been good to my heart rate), the press conference is over and I’m thinking, how am I going to get up to her and introduce myself? We were all clapping but nobody was getting up, and being the crazy fan that “knows more about Julia than she does” it probably wasn’t a good idea for me to rush over to her before anybody else had gotten up. Thing was, that I was on the right of the podium, and they were leaving on the left, so I had to get across the room to get to her (this is exciting stuff, isn’t it?). And so, this one guy in the front got up to get his tape recorder and off I was.

I got up to her, shook her hand (her hand was so tiny and she looked so fragile. Her hair was beautiful and her skin is flawless. I even felt a whiff of that smell Dave is always talking about), saying something along the lines of that I wanted to introduce myself cause I felt I freaked her out a bit with the “AboutJulia.Com” intro. So I said I’d been running this site for ten years, and she said “Well, I’ll try and keep it interesting”, I said I was looking forward to “Eat, Pray, Love” she said “Aw, thank you, thank you!” and off she was. And I was on such a high, I nearly forgot my coat. And then I went into the fancy hotel bathroom and freaked out a little bit. Just a little. I’m 29 years old for heaven’s sake.

Afterwards, I went straight to Leicester Square where the premiere would take place, and people had already started lining up. I met up Jess (the wonderful girl who made it all possible) and we braved the cold, watching Julia greet her fans and sign autographs at a miraculous speed. And through this I was pretty calm. I had already had my moment, I got to shake her hand and introduce myself in a normal manner, away from hysteric “fan-situations” such as premieres. The only thing I’m a bit bummed about is that I didn’t get a picture. Except for the one that will forever be mentally inprinted in my memory.

That’s it I think. Any questions?