Just got home from the Shrine Auditorium where I was blogging live on the "On the Red Carpet" blog on DailyNews.com. But "Out In Hollywood" readers get a summary of the night and hopefully, with far fewer typos than in my live blogging where the idea is to post stuff as it happens.
Some of my favorite movies of the year did well with the cast of "Little Miss Sunshine" surprising absolutely everyone and winning the best ensemble award over the casts of "Dreamgirls," "Babel," "Bobby" and "the Departed." Just before I left the Shrine for the night, I watched cast members Steve Carell (who played a depressed gay man getting over a break-up in the film), Greg Kinnear (very cute), the adorable Abigail Breslin and Alan Arkin doing an interview with one of the E! anchors around this little table. They looked tired!
Before and during the show you are in such a frenzy and once it's over, I felt kinda goofy in that punch-drunk way. So my colleague Sandra Bererra and I were sitting at a table in the press room when the service elevator opened and there stood Helen Mirren - someone else carrying her two SAG trophies - along with her husband, the director Taylor Hackford. I couldn't help but yell out: "Hey! Congratulations!" And I waved. Helen Mirren, very down to earth, waved back and shouted out "Thank you!" It was a funny moment. But apparently, i wasn't through being a reporter/blogger/fan for the night. Sandra and I pack up our laptops and are about to leave when the damned elevator opens again and damn if there isn't Jennifer Hudson and her group. I'm a madman. I yell out: "Hey! Can we ride down the elevator with Jennifer Hudson?" They say, "Sure!" So Sandra and I nudge our way in and I start gabbing with Effie.
ME: "Do you need to add a room to your house to put all these trophies?"
JENNIFER: [laughs]
SANDRA: Eyes roll back in head.
ME:"I've seen 'Dreamgirls' three times. I love the soundtrack." [Then I actually - oh my God - quietly start singing a few bars of "I'm Tellin You, I'm Not Going." Got caught up in the moment I guess. But Jennifer takes it all in stride.]
JENNIFER: "Do you have the regular CD or the special one with ALL the songs on it?"
ME: "I think I have the regular one." [I now realize I have the special one but I was momentarily blank because Effie was so nice, had her hand on my shoulder, was so sweet.]
JENNIFER: "Get the special one," she says as she is stepping out of the elevator and someone else carries her SAG trophy. "It's got a remix of "I'm Telling You I'm Not Going." Bye!"
ME: "Bye! Have fun tonight!"
SANDRA: You're such a fan."