The Poster Memorabilia blog

The Day I Always Trained For

A rehearsed pitch, an opening night in Toronto, and the first two signatures of a lifelong habit.

By an anonymous Hollywood insider

Ever since my uncle showed me his autograph book, I've wanted to be an autograph hound myself. He made it look so exciting—going to red carpet events, meeting celebrities, and even taking pictures with them. I thought about it so much that before I knew it, I was running around Hollywood myself.

I even trained for it beforehand. Like Rocky running up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, I pretended to go up to celebrities and thought of what to say to ask for their autographs. I had my friends and work friends play the famous people.

“I had my friends and work friends play the famous people.”

While training, I thought long and hard about who I wanted to get my first autographs from. There are so many celebrities to choose from, from living legends to today's hottest stars; I couldn't decide for a long time. It wasn't until I saw Training Day on TV that I finally decided.

My friends thought I was crazy to choose this cast. I mean, the film starred Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke, two of the best actors Hollywood has ever seen. I was going for the big guns on my first try, and I was determined to do well.

Funnily enough, luck was on my side. Both actors reunited for the 2016 remake of the 1960 Western, The Magnificent Seven, alongside Chris Pratt, Haley Bennett, and Vincent D'Onofrio. Better yet, it was directed by Antoine Fuqua, the same man who made Training Day, so the whole thing felt like a reunion built for me specifically.

The film opened that year's Toronto International Film Festival, so I used that opportunity to go there for the first time.

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I can't say I was a big fan of the remake, but I'll always have fond memories of it because it helped me get my first celebrity autographs ever. Seeing Denzel and Ethan together instantly brought me back to the early 2000s, when I first saw the movie playing on TV.

They were both so nice, too. I always thought they were good people, but because of my uncle's stories back in the day, I still kept my expectations in check. He often felt disappointed by how some of his favorite celebrities were in real life, so I came in prepared for some disappointment.

Fortunately, Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke really were good people. At least, they were to me that night. They didn't seem annoyed when I asked them to sign my Training Day movie poster, and Denzel even smiled at me before he left.

That night made me a bigger fan of both actors, and I still couldn't believe they were the first celebrities I ever got autographs from. They also convinced me to make autograph-hounding a lifelong hobby, and I've gotten countless autographs since then, including Eva Mendes.

The actress had stepped back from the spotlight by then, but she made a rare public appearance at the grand opening of a New York & Company store at Dadeland Mall in Miami in March 2017, launching her collection there. I finally got her autograph that night, which meant I had the three names I most wanted on my Training Day poster.

To anyone planning on hounding for autographs as a hobby, I advise you to go for it. It isn't always fun and glamorous, and it takes a lot of patience and hard work, but every signature feels rewarding.

Some things you watch. This one you keep.

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