After more than a year of just staying at home, attending an event feels like heaven. And as you know, in heaven, there are many stars. That's the best metaphor I could use to describe the Cannes Film Festival where I met a ton of famous faces, from Hollywood A-listers to international celebrities.
I was there to work as a member of the press but thanks to my connections, I scored access to some of the biggest stars out there. It was a thrill to see all of them and I even got to interview a handful of them but there was a specific group I was aiming to meet: the cast of "Stillwater." The Tom McCarthy-directed flick starred Matt Damon, Abigail Breslin, Camille Cottin, Anne Le Ny, and more. It was set to premiere at this year's Canned Film Festival so I wanted to get their autographs on a couple of movie posters I got from my friend who helped work on the film.
Throughout my years of working in the press, I was never one to ask for autographs. But when I received these movie posters and I found out that "Stillwater" would premiere at the same festival where I had to work, the first international assignment I had since the pandemic started, I just had to try.
Thanks to my press pass, it was pretty easy to meet the cast after they had walked on the red carpet. I just told the people in charge that I had to interview them (I didn't but I could always write about them afterward so it technically wasn't a lie) and they let me through without even a second thought. Luckily enough, the cast were all nice people. I mean, I've always heard that Matt Damon was among the nicer Hollywood celebs out there so meeting him in person really sealed the deal on that. He was gracious and polite, not to mention gung-ho to sign anything that a fan would hand over to him.
Then there was Abigail Breslin, the Oscar-nominated child actor turned superstar. She was also pretty nice. In fact, I could honestly say that Breslin was the most approachable of all the cast members I met. It was pretty heartwarming to see that not all child actors grow up to be messed-up spoiled brats who are entitled. Believe me, I've encountered enough of them throughout my career.
As for Camille Cottin and Anne Le Ny, these were classy women! Perhaps it's because they were French? Though thank goodness they spoke English because having been in Cannes for a while by that point, I discovered that my French truly sucked! I was most nervous about these two because I didn't want to attempt to speak the language again, but luckily, they were fluent in English. It was was pretty easy to ask for their autographs.
I never got to meet the rest of the cast who were there but that's okay. No disrespect to them but I figured getting these actors' autographs was enough. And beyond these signed posters, the experience of attending the Cannes Film Festival and meeting these incredible stars, especially after the pandemic, was what stayed with me the most. It was the best day of 2021 for me!
Please note: Our inventory is limited as we may have only received a few posters in total. Most of our items are obtained from film premieres, studios, and from autographed hounds such as the one in the story above.
