I Totally Fangirled the Veronica Mars Cast.

This will be lengthy, because I'm just naturally long-winded, and/or maybe you've never gone to a movie set but would maybe like to, and would like to know what to expect? But also because it's meant to serve as a kind of journal entry for me, meaning this is how I'll remember the details of the day so I'm writing about it all. There. You've been warned.

Let me start off my saying I own three shows on DVD- only three- and I own them because I actually watch them fairly regularly. The three are Alias, Felicity and Veronica Mars. I was starting to re-watch the third season of Veronica Mars when the announcement was made that they were raising money for the movie through Kickstarter, and then consequently that they'd raised enough to go ahead and greenlight the movie. So, yeah, I'd say I'm a big fan and I was excited. In all honesty, I don't think I'm as crazy a VM fan as others, but I don't actually know any other fans to be able to tell for sure. I am basing it solely on Tweets I've seen.

I'd been following the progress of the movie by following Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell on Twitter and that was about the extent of my knowledge on the project. Then last week, I saw mentioned somewhere that the movie would not be shooting in San Diego, but rather here, in Los Angeles. On a whim, out of sheer curiosity I Googled where the movie might be shooting and was surprised to find an actual address, not just a "Los Angeles area" mention. And dates and times! Frankly, probably nothing would have come of it except I noticed it was shooting barely five miles from where I work, in downtown L.A. and that they would be there that very day as well as the next. And, well. I mean... can you blame me for wanting to drive by and check it out? That very day, after my Zumba class - sporting workout pants, my sweaty Amoeba t-shirt and my hair in a very messy ponytail- I decided to just drive to the location to see if they were even really there. And... they were. I drove by very slowly, saw about three girls/women sitting on the sidewalk, a catering truck, signs for "base camp", some lighting equipment and a couple of police officers. Feeling both excited and a little bit like a stalker, I drove by very slowly again hoping to see something. But alas, I saw nothing and though I was very tempted to park and walk around to see if I saw anyone, I decided my appearance, and in all likelyhood my smell, was not going to help me any so I headed home determined to go back the next day.

I called my BFF who I had plans with the next day (Friday) and asked if we could shelve them so that we might go stalk the movie set of a TV show he'd never watched. He was not thrilled but to his credit, without much hesitation or commentary on my questionable sanity, agreed to go. I went home to proceed to second-guess myself. I mean, who the hell goes to movie sets just to sit around in the hopes of seeing a celebrity? Especially as I already had plans for Friday. Plus, wasn't I too old for that? I live in L.A. for the love of god, you'd think stalking movie sets would be so uncool (It's not, by the way. The whole possibility of running into famous people or the occasional  movie or TV shoot is still fun to me). Despite the nagging feeling that I was being ridiculous, I half-assed packed a bag of jeans, sneakers and a light sweater to change into after work. I should have packed make-up, but I felt ridiculous doing so, so I didn't. Stupid mistake.

I spent Friday going back and forth: stick to my original plans and forget the Veronica Mars thing, or go to the set and maybe I'd see Kristen Bell. For the record, I was under the assumption it would just be her there. I'm not sure why, maybe because the only pap shots I'd seen had been of just her? In any case, that day on Twitter I saw a Tweet of a fan who'd been at the movie set the day before (the day I drove by in my stinky Zumba gear) and got a picture with Kristen Bell after apparently only hanging around for about 10 minutes. Elsewhere I saw a similar story of someone only waiting a short time before Kristen Bell appeared for pics. I was sort of annoyed with myself for not having parked that day, but then remembered I was sweaty and gross, so in fact it was for the best, but that definitely was the final push and I was all in for going that evening. Stupidly I actually thought we'd get there, wait some twenty minutes tops, meet Kristen and then go on with our original plans. Piece of cake. I should note that by this time I was texting my BFF and discovered that he had no idea Kristen Bell was Veronica Mars but that now that he did, he was actually excited to go as he thought she was "hot". Everyone was excited and all was well.

We got to the place at around 6:30. There were five women waiting on the side walk and two motorcycle cops in a more visible spot than they had been the day before. I wasn't sure if that meant they were going to ask us to leave and I could not tell if the women were fans or crew. Then we saw the cameras in their hands and realized they were fans. After parking the car a few blocks away and feeling entirely self-conscious and not a little like an idiot, we walked up (the cops smiling, but not asking us to leave) and stood next to the girls. They did not seem all that happy to see us. But I persevered and chatted enough to find out that three of them had been there since about 2:30 and the other two since 4:30. They'd been told (nicely) to leave and come back at 7:00, giving them the impression of course that maybe someone would come out at or around that time. Seven came and went. At some point we saw Ryan Hansen walking across the street. The girls yelled to get his attention and he waved but kept walking. Great. We moved locations slightly so that now we were looking into what looked like a loading dock for the building where they were shooting and where the food and coffee were. Vans were coming and going. A couple more fans joined us. At random times people would walk by, ask what movie they were shooting or who we were waiting for, had no idea who Veronica Mars was and kept walking. Some knew who Kristen Bell was, and a lot didn't.

The "dock" we were looking at. The vans that were coming and going.

At some point, a van drove up and we all got excited when we realized it was Kristen Bell. She saw us, waved enthusiastically and proceeded to go inside. You could hear the collective group "aww" of disappointment. More vans coming and going. A few extras (actors) walked up to our little group either thinking we were extras or oblivious and indifferent, but asking where they were supposed to check in. Confidently and with authority we pointed across the way. We must have been right because they didn't come back out until a van came by to collect them and then much later to drop them back off in costume. At random times we could see Ryan Hanson talking to crew. Then Krysten Ritter joined him. A couple times, Kristen Bell went to the coffee cart. My friend was getting hungry and I was starting to waver. Stay or go? Clearly they're here but there's just no knowing if or when they'll come talk to us. Then, they start shouting "Rolling!" and my stomach drops because if they've started shooting, it is highly unlikely they are going to stop to come talk to us, but we decide to stay a bit longer...

Our view

Ryan Hansen (in the jeans & white shirt) and Krysten Ritter (in the gray dress)

Kristen Bell, getting coffee

At about 9:30 (after my friend has sneaked over the the catering truck in the hopes of finding some free food without success) there is activity. There is a big group of people gathering at the loading dock and are beginning to descend the stairs as a unit. It is then we realize Kristen Bell is at the front of this crowd holding on to the arm of a very tiny, short-haired blond girl. It is not until later I realize that is Tina Majorino, whose hair makes her almost unrecognizable. There is a documentary film crew with them. Our group, now about twelve people, starts squealing in excitement and then heading for reinforcements, i.e. notepads,Veronica Mars DVD's, cameras and Sharpies. Someone from the VM group shouts "Hey, can we get a picture with you guys? We'd really love to get a picture with you!'. I am fairly certain this is Ryan Hansen. As their group reaches our group and we're all facing each other, there is a slight awkward silence as no one is sure what to say. I can't help but think of West Side Story- the Sharks against the Jets and whether we'll burst into song and dance any minute. Except, wait. This isn't a musical and we don't hate Veronica Mars. Quite the opposite. Also, I can't speak for our entire group but I can't sing or dance so that would not have gone well. But anyway, back to the story! Then Kristen Bell says "Hey guys, it's nice to see you" thus breaking the ice, and all hell broke loose. All of a sudden everyone was talking at once and rushing to ask for pictures and autographs.

Closest to me was Krysten Ritter who seemed impossibly thin, and despite wearing flats, seemed very tall. I am short and I was nervous so probably she's not that tall- just taller. Then again, I have no clue. In any case, she signed my DVD then posed for a picture which my friend had trouble taking, so Krysten had to advise him to try holding down the button a little longer as that usually does the trick. In the nicest way possible she was, in fact, a little bit like her character in Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23 if you ever saw that show. She was nice but seemed rather indifferent (baffled?) by all the hoopla in a really cute way.

Next, I talked to Tina Majorino who was sort of standing behind everyone almost being ignored because I think no one recognized her at first. And, she's tiny. I cannot stress how tiny. I mean, I thought Kristen Ritter was thin, but Tina is thin and petite. But beautiful. So, so pretty. And I know it sounds weird, but there was just this sereneness about her. I mean, it was chaos around her and there was just this calm radiating from her. I don't know, maybe she was just tired. But anyway, super sweet. Signed my DVD also, posed for some pics (a couple unintentional and funny ones because, again, we had trouble with the camera). I hugged her a couple of times which lead to her asking me if I'd hugged Ryan who told me to finish up with Tina (in the midst of my camera troubles) and then go to him, so that when I was ready I ran at him and gave him a huge hug. It was fun and funny.

Ryan was probably the loudest of them all but really silly and funny and super friendly. He gave me a hard time because I was having them sign the Season One DVD and he was not on that cover. I told him I could go get the one he was on as I had all three on me, and we went back and forth before he finally signed it making a point of talking to the camera and saying he woulds sign the back of the DVD- "across Kristen's boobs". I then thanked him for his dance video and told him I'd loved it. He gave me this look that if I interpreted it right was a combo of: "I'm so glad to hear that" and "Are you kidding? It was so much fun to make". Yep, all that in a look. I know! He thanked me for watching it, I thanked him for making it, he thanked me for coming, I thanked him for coming out and talking to us, he thanked me again, and I thanked him and then we both burst out laughing when we ran out of stuff to thank each other for. It was great.

Percy Daggs is lovely. By now, you're realizing that they were all lovely, yes? Because they were. Incredibly down to Earth and approachable. But back to Percy- there's a bit of a shyness to him that makes him more endearing. But also, he's a good looking guy! My BFF who, if you'll remember, has never watched the show, recognized him from somewhere. When he asked Percy if he was in movies too he said only a few but he didn't think he'd know him from any. My friend made him tell him which ones he'd been in and the very first one he mentioned was the one he knew him from. My friend excitedly burst out "that's where I know you from! Man, I love that movie! I've seen it a bunch of times!" and I wish you could have seen Percy's face light up. He couldn't believe it and he kept saying "You saw that one? Seriously?! That's so great! I'm so proud of it but NO one ever knows me from that!" and on they went for a minute or so. Both of them excited. It was really sweet. We talked to him a little more and took some pictures. My friend telling him he couldn't wait to tell his friends who were all fans of the movie too and Percy seemed genuinely happy about it.

And so finally, Kristen Bell. What can I say? I totally froze. There are a million things I could have said about why I loved her character, or the show or about the whole Kickstarter campaign or her baby. Any and all of that. And what did I say? I congratulated her on her baby, and told her she looked great. I asked her to sign my DVD and asked if I could hug her, to which she said yes. But I could not, like a dumbass, get one coherent thought together and so that was it. Mostly I think I came across as frazzled. I think she thought I was an idiot. And I could kick myself. I really could. I hate even writing about it because it so did not go like I'd pictured it. But she was sweet and very gracious and I don't like to think about it too much because I'm sort of embarrassed at how that all went down. D'oh.

Kristen Bell signing my DVD

So, that was our experience. It was so great. I am so glad we decided not to leave! And yes: No Logan. No Piz. No Keith Mars. But that's probably for the best because honestly, if I was that stupid around Kristen Bell, I cannot imagine what I would have been like with Jason Dohring and Chris Lowell (whom I have a real-life crush on, independently of his character on the show). I have a bunch more pics, but I won't be posting those because I feel weird about posting my face all over the place. But the ones I've posted should be enough I think!