It was opening night for the British Film Festival and I'd managed to blag a ticket to the premiere of Frost/Nixon, a film directed by Ron Howard of Happy Days fame.
We'd started off at a swanky hotel bar in London's West End. The studio dudes were dressed in their best suits, with bow ties. The hotel was all marble floors and enormous gold-framed mirrors, chintzy chairs and uptight staff. The cocktails we ordered were 20 pounds a pop and ridiculously delicious. The waiters and waitresses all looked like fashion models. I felt slightly out of place in my 30 pound TK Maxx dress, but a couple of tasty mojitos quickly took care of that. I was busy listening to the horrific story of one of my favourite English comedians being a cokehead, when we were given our cue to make our way to Leicester Square.
It is one of Europe's most famous red carpet spots, home to film premieres, glammed-up celebrities and throngs of eager paparazzi. As we passed through three rounds of security in the chilly Autumn air, I started to get excited. I was about to do something I never thought I would do - walk down a real red carpet. I'd spent the past six months seeing pictures of huge stars - Sarah Jessica Parker, David Duchovny, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman - on the very same red carpet, under the lights of the famous Odeon cinema.
At first I was struck by the incredibly bright lights coming from the cinema and then there was the constant flash of the photographers at work. It was amusing to watch them burst into action and then realise their subjects were Nigel Nobodies rather than an A-list celebs. There they were wasting their card space on startled anonymous types rather than Hollywood names.
I was taking it all in when one of the studio guys nudged me to point out Kevin Bacon, one of the film's stars. I had said earlier in the day that if I saw Kevin Bacon in the flesh, my life would be complete. And there he was. I didn't have long to marvel the Footloose star before I saw my childhood crush Richie Cunningham, aka Ron Howard. I was star struck. Ron Howard! Oscar-winning director, producer, actor, voice over man and producer of Arrested Development... Richie Cunningham!The red carpet was over in a flash and we were whisked inside where I marvelled at the cinema itself. The Odeon was built in 1937 and still has some of its original art deco beauty. Our seats were near the front, on the end of the row which was where all the film's stars lined up while Ron Howard did a speech introducing them. Kevin Bacon was chatting like a naughty schoolboy at a boring assembly with the other stars following suit. Then they walked up on stage, did little waves and no doubt snuck out the back as the opening credits rolled.
After the film we were picked up by drivers in shiny Mercedes cars and taken home through the bustling streets of the West End. It had been a very glitzy, glamourous night, of the sort I could definitely get used to.
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