OK so this past weekend, I attended an event at the USC film school. I attend panels, network away, yet constantly get distracted by this guy… I can’t place it, but he looks SO familiar. Something about the eyes?
I see him again and again, and we keep making eye-contact (or so I think it’s eye contact) so before I leave, I just go up to him and say “Heyy…do I know you?” to which he responds, “I was thinking the same thing!” First I ask if he went to SC. Negative. I ask if he was sure. Again, he was sure we didn’t go to school together. He ask me where I worked. I say TV Guide Network. He says that may be why… and asks if I do red carpet interviews. CLICK! We conclude that I must have interviewed him at some carpet. We begin trying to figure out exactly which carpet… and well, call me crazy, but I have a photographic sort of memory, and throw out the Acts of Love Autism event, back in November 2008. ..and was right! That’s when “Hi, I’m Austin”/”Hi I’m Samia” happens.
So after Austin Butler and I discover that we’re long lost friends (sort of?) he introduces me to Sean Covel, who just so happened to a be a speaker on one of panels I attended. Why is Sean Covel a big deal? He graduated from USC’s film school and well, produced a film that at least 50% of you readers have quoted at some point – “Napoleon Dynamite.”
Anyway, as I talk them, I discover “fun facts” like how Sean, though he’s seen the film a million times, has blocked the lines from his memory, and actually gets the lines from the film wrong when he DOES try to quote them.
Austin was on the Nickelodeon show Zoey 101 (co-starring Britney’s sis, Jamie Lynn Spears,) and in a film called Aliens in the Attic (which he was promoting when we first met last year. has been busy in Canada, shooting a new CW series called “Life UneXpected.” had a week off in LA, and decided to pay a visit to his buddy Sean. They actually know eachother because Sean is engaged to actress Alexa Vega, who’s worked with Austin.
Anyway, as we’re parting, the highlight of the convo happens. Do we say “Nice meeting you?” Not quite. Since we’ve met before, the cliche-carpet-line, “Nice to see you!” seems appropriate. Problem? It’s cliche, it’s stock, it’s…well, long story short, it’s a commonly heard line on the carpet, that both stars and publicists use so they don’t offend someone they have/haven’t met. Me, Sean, and Austin joke/banter about this, and conclude that the next time we cross paths, we’ll use a “Hey You!!” or something to that effect.
Anyway, my friend is getting antsy, so I wrap up convo with the guys and… what do I say? “Nice seeing you again.” :-/
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