To be perfectly honest, I wasn't sure how successful the new "Jumanji" remake was gonna be. The original one with Robin Williams was so iconic and memorable, I didn't think it needed a remake! But, there's one now! And with a stellar cast, I figured: why don't I get their autographs too? Even if it bombed, at least I was able to get them!
I'm lucky enough to be employed at this big media company which, among many things, allows me to take part in interviews where stars have to do their press tours for their current films. So you can probably already tell that I was also present when the cast of "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" also did their round-about of interviews and whatnot. Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, and more, this was an all-star cast through and through. Even the lovely Awkwafina, pre-"Crazy Rich Asians"-fame, was also there!
I remember I was so nervous to ask for their autographs. Having been doing this for some time, I know that press tours are what celebrities hate doing the most. Sure, they're all smiles and laughing in front of the cameras, but once they're off? They're moody, exhausted, and people are better off avoiding them. I was lucky, however, that that wasn't the case with this cast. They were tired, sure, but surprisingly enough, they still had some energy once the interviews were over. And it was then that I took my chance.
I first approached Jack Black because, out of all of them, I've always felt he was the nicest and most genuine. Lo and behold, I was right! The cooky, happy-go-lucky, and extremely nice Jack Black you all see on-screen is exactly the way he is in real life. He was more than happy to sign my copies of the movie poster. I had a couple with me that day and I was only really expecting he'd sign just one but he signed them all! It was thanks to that the other cast also gave their autographs on practically all of my copies!
He then called out Kevin Hart and, before I could even ask him myself, Jack Black told him to sign my posters. He's that nice of a guy! Of course, Hart was also accommodating. Some may find him annoying but I've always thought of him as a nice guy myself. Like Black, he also signed all of my posters. While he did so, I sheepishly approached Karen Gillan and asked for her to sign them too. She was in the middle of touching up makeup at that moment but she said she'd do it after Kevin Hart was finished. And even before I could give my thanks, Nick Jonas butted in and asked me if I wanted his autographs too. Of course, I said yes! Though I really just nodded in excitement!
I was so blown away! They are all planning to sign them! One-by-one, the rest of the cast went in and signed my posters. They practically passed them around, almost to the point that they never really knew who the posters came from in the first place. Lastly, there was Dwayne Johnson! The Rock himself! I politely asked him for his autographs but he was surrounded by so many people, he didn't hear me at first. It took about three times of asking him until he finally heard me. "Sure, give 'em to me!" he said with such a kind tone!
I knew he was the most exhausted out of all of them but he still signed all of my posters just like the rest did. Right then and there, even though I hadn't seen the film yet, I was already convinced this movie was gonna be good! I mean, if the cast was this fun off-screen, even more so on-screen, right?
I miss doing that job! I got to meet a lot of amazing people, some of the most famous celebrities in the world, and got to see what they were really like behind the scenes! I just hope this pandemic will be over soon so I can do that job again! I'm hoping to get even more autographs this year!
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.
