Post by Bob on Oct 18, 2018 20:04:25 GMT
hercape.com/2018/10/18/chris-evans-gives-hugs-not-spoilers/
Chris Evans gives hugs, but not spoilers
by Meredith Miller 43 minutes ago Follow @millermeredith1
On Saturday, October 13, 2018, Chris Evans was a guest at Ace Comic Con Midwest in Chicago. The event lasted three days and featured many other notable guests, but the entire purpose of my visit was to meet Evans. It was well worth the six-hour drive to Chicago.
A Little Background
Years ago, while I was in college, I did an internship for a producer in Los Angeles. One of the movies they were filming at the time was a spoof of teen comedies called Not Another Teen Movie starring Chris Evans in his first major movie role. I did not meet him at the time, our paths never crossed. I have followed his career ever since with the hope of meeting him someday. Someday came last Saturday.
The Build Up
I knew going in that my first photo op wasn’t scheduled until 1:45pm on Saturday, but I had heard horror stories of long lines just to get in the door at these events. My friends and I arrived before the doors opened at 10:00am and were delighted to find the line to get inside moved incredibly quickly. Once inside, we went directly to the table to redeem our photo op tickets and were surprised to find no line there at all. That meant we had several free hours to roam the convention floor, check out the vendors and artist booths, admire some cosplay, and attend a panel. We spent an enjoyable hour listening to Zazie Beetz discuss Deadpool with moderator, and Deadpool comic book writer, Brian Posehn. He also asked questions submitted ahead of time through the official Ace app and let some audience members ask live questions.
The Waiting Game
Ace had very specific rules about when to line-up for autographs and photo ops. The time of your op dictated the time you could pass through a second security screening before lining up. They had convenient screens showing which lines were open for each celebrity. We dutifully waited until our slot was open before getting in line…only to be told moments later that things were running late and they were about 20 minutes behind schedule. The wait passed quickly as we nervously chatted with others in line. The rules were very clear that photo ops were not meet and greets and that we would only have a moment to ask for a specific pose if we had one in mind. Our photo op was the last group scheduled for Evans before his panel, so we were concerned we would be rushed because they were behind schedule. We worried for nothing.
The Shield
When we reached the front of the cue, we dropped our bags and stuff we didn’t want in the photo into provided bins and passed through to a smaller line behind a curtain, only five or six people deep. Each photo booth was designed so that only the two or three people in line behind you were able to witness your op. It was otherwise cut-off and somewhat private, save for the photographer and various workers. I was with two friends who chose to share their first op. I purposely had them go in front of me so I could watch them with Chris and attempt to calm my own nervous energy.
We stepped around the curtain and there he was. Chris Evans, holding Cap’s gleaming shield. He was tall, beautiful, and smiling, and my brain momentarily short-circuited. As my friends awaited their turn behind the designated yellow tape-line on the floor, I handed my ticket to the ticket taker. I then stepped up to the line myself as my friends took their places on either side of Chris. He put his free arm around one of them and she laid her head on his shoulder. The smile never left his face as the photographer snapped. As soon as they turned for the exit, he turned to me. He looked me right in the eye, his face lit up as though he’d seen an old friend, and he said, “Hi, how are you?” I think I responded, “Good thanks, you?” because that’s my default response to that question, but I was stunned. Chris Evans spoke to me. Unprompted. Outside the bounds of the ‘this isn’t a time for chatting with the celebrities’ rules. I stepped up next to him. He put his arm around my back, so I did the same to him. Then he softly rubbed my back until the photographer snapped the photo. As an automatic response, I’m pretty sure I rubbed his back in return. After the flash, he pulled back, hand still on my arm, looked me in the eye again and said, “thank you”. I thanked him too and headed for the exit.
I picked up my stuff from the bins that had been slowly slid down a table outside the booth by employees, and caught up with my friends while picking up our instantly printed 8 x 10 glossy photos. As we giggled and gushed about our respective experiences, we headed over to the panel stage where the seats had expectedly been mostly claimed already.
Avengers and Guardians Panel
The Avengers and Guardians panel with Chris, Lee Pace, and Karen Gillan started very quickly after my photo op, about 15 minutes behind schedule. Seats from the far back didn’t offer great views of the stage, but large screens were provided to give everyone a chance to see. The moderator, Angélique Roché, started off asking several questions of her own to the trio before diving into a few questions submitted ahead of time through the app. When she opened up questions to the audience, a mad dash to the microphone resulted in a ridiculously long line in seconds flat. All three panelists provided entertaining answers and gamely joked around with each other and the audience. The entire video of the panel is available on Ace’s Facebook page. The moderator did her best to avoid asking for secrets, but Chris had difficulty elaborating on many of his answers to audience questions for fear that he would say too much.
Most notably, Chris tried valiantly to walk back the impact of his tweet the week before regarding his final day of shooting Avengers 4. There has been online debate over whether it meant he was confirming Cap’s death/departure from the franchise. He said he knew people thought he tweeted a spoiler but clarified that regardless of how Avengers 4 ends, he would’ve tweeted the exact same thing. It was a very emotional day, the culmination of 10 years filming. He felt more emotions than he was expecting to feel and felt it was appropriate to share the gratitude. He insisted he wasn’t confirming or deny anything.
Before We Go is one of my favorite movies. I submitted a question ahead of time, through the app, asking if Chris were to direct again, what type of project would he look for? My question was not chosen by the moderator, but thankfully an audience member asked a similar question live. His answer was delightful. He said he grew up in the Spielberg era of movies like E.T. and would go with something that has more of a family vibe.
Waiting Again
My second op was scheduled late into the afternoon. (Yes, of course I bought two photo ops with Chris Evans.) We had the same experience of lining up on time only to be told they were running behind schedule. Not unexpected, considering they were already off schedule hours earlier. However, considering they had a digital display that constantly updated when lines were open, it would have been nice if they also simply updated a more accurate time for the ops so we could cut down on the time spent standing in narrow single file lines as opposed to walking around or waiting in the areas with more room to move. Even so, again the time passed quickly as we chatted with other fans while waiting for the line to start moving. While waiting, we were unexpectedly treated to the sight of Tom Hiddleston walking along the hallway on the second floor and then down the staircase headed to his photo booth. He smiled and waved to fans the entire time.
How About a Hug?
When we finally approached the end of the line and dropped our belongings in the bins again, nerves set in. I didn’t have any creative poses in mind, I simply wanted to hug him. I think it’s a little invasive when people just rush up and grab celebrities with no warning, so I was intent on asking permission. I watched my friend, who cosplayed as The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes as she posed with Chris happily helping her hoist the bi pride flag behind them. Then, I watched as my other friend hugged him for her photo. As she turned to leave, he immediately turned and looked me in the eye with a smile so warm it could melt the ice caps and said, “Hey”. I stepped closer and asked if I could give him a hug. He answered, “Oh, of course. Come ‘ere.” He reached for me, pulled me in close, and wrapped his arms all the way around me. I did the same. This was not the tentative, politely awkward hug you’d expect from someone you’ve just met. It was warm and cuddly. He hugged me so tightly that the scruff of his beard scratched my forehead a little — and that scratch was honestly the best thing to happen to me in a year. After the photo snapped and we pulled back, with his hands still on my arms, he looked me in the eye and again thanked me. I’m pretty certain that Chris Evans, sweetest man in the world, thanked every single fan for having their photo taken with him.
I floated out of the photo booth, picked up my stuff, and then walked to the printers to excitedly wait for the photographic reminder that I hugged Chris Evans.
Commit to the Bit
I chose not to do any creative or funny poses because I wanted a hug. Many fans went the other direction. Chris was game for just about anything fans asked him to do. There are several fun pics floating around Twitter and Instagram. I have no ownership over them, so I will not post any here, but please take a few moments to search out the hashtag #acecomiccon if you’re interested. Chris recreated memes, he posed with people cosplaying as characters from many of his past movies (not just Marvel), and he pulled a lot of funny faces.
As I mentioned above, he and my friend posed holding her bi pride flag behind them. This was the second time in 10 weeks she posed with her flag and a member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In August, she wrapped that same flag around Sebastian Stan.
Next Time
By the time I decided to attend this convention, the limited number of autograph opportunities were sold out. If Chris Evans ever guests at another convention I am able to attend, I hope to score an autograph in addition to another photo. The autograph session is where fans have more of a chance to briefly speak to the celebrities. While I did write out a letter ahead of time that a friend of a friend passed on during her autograph session, I’d love the chance to actually talk to him for a moment with time to prepare. I was not expecting him to speak to me in the photo op and was too surprised to come up with anything clever to say.
NEXT: Chris Evans wraps Avengers 4
Chris seemed to really enjoy himself all day. He was relaxed and joking at the panel. He took the time to make every person feel like they had a personal experience during the ops. He thanked people for coming to see him. He was happy, warm, and friendly. He confirmed my suspicion that he is not only talented, eloquent, and intelligent, but also a genuinely sweet and kind man.
by Meredith Miller 43 minutes ago Follow @millermeredith1
On Saturday, October 13, 2018, Chris Evans was a guest at Ace Comic Con Midwest in Chicago. The event lasted three days and featured many other notable guests, but the entire purpose of my visit was to meet Evans. It was well worth the six-hour drive to Chicago.
A Little Background
Years ago, while I was in college, I did an internship for a producer in Los Angeles. One of the movies they were filming at the time was a spoof of teen comedies called Not Another Teen Movie starring Chris Evans in his first major movie role. I did not meet him at the time, our paths never crossed. I have followed his career ever since with the hope of meeting him someday. Someday came last Saturday.
The Build Up
I knew going in that my first photo op wasn’t scheduled until 1:45pm on Saturday, but I had heard horror stories of long lines just to get in the door at these events. My friends and I arrived before the doors opened at 10:00am and were delighted to find the line to get inside moved incredibly quickly. Once inside, we went directly to the table to redeem our photo op tickets and were surprised to find no line there at all. That meant we had several free hours to roam the convention floor, check out the vendors and artist booths, admire some cosplay, and attend a panel. We spent an enjoyable hour listening to Zazie Beetz discuss Deadpool with moderator, and Deadpool comic book writer, Brian Posehn. He also asked questions submitted ahead of time through the official Ace app and let some audience members ask live questions.
The Waiting Game
Ace had very specific rules about when to line-up for autographs and photo ops. The time of your op dictated the time you could pass through a second security screening before lining up. They had convenient screens showing which lines were open for each celebrity. We dutifully waited until our slot was open before getting in line…only to be told moments later that things were running late and they were about 20 minutes behind schedule. The wait passed quickly as we nervously chatted with others in line. The rules were very clear that photo ops were not meet and greets and that we would only have a moment to ask for a specific pose if we had one in mind. Our photo op was the last group scheduled for Evans before his panel, so we were concerned we would be rushed because they were behind schedule. We worried for nothing.
The Shield
When we reached the front of the cue, we dropped our bags and stuff we didn’t want in the photo into provided bins and passed through to a smaller line behind a curtain, only five or six people deep. Each photo booth was designed so that only the two or three people in line behind you were able to witness your op. It was otherwise cut-off and somewhat private, save for the photographer and various workers. I was with two friends who chose to share their first op. I purposely had them go in front of me so I could watch them with Chris and attempt to calm my own nervous energy.
We stepped around the curtain and there he was. Chris Evans, holding Cap’s gleaming shield. He was tall, beautiful, and smiling, and my brain momentarily short-circuited. As my friends awaited their turn behind the designated yellow tape-line on the floor, I handed my ticket to the ticket taker. I then stepped up to the line myself as my friends took their places on either side of Chris. He put his free arm around one of them and she laid her head on his shoulder. The smile never left his face as the photographer snapped. As soon as they turned for the exit, he turned to me. He looked me right in the eye, his face lit up as though he’d seen an old friend, and he said, “Hi, how are you?” I think I responded, “Good thanks, you?” because that’s my default response to that question, but I was stunned. Chris Evans spoke to me. Unprompted. Outside the bounds of the ‘this isn’t a time for chatting with the celebrities’ rules. I stepped up next to him. He put his arm around my back, so I did the same to him. Then he softly rubbed my back until the photographer snapped the photo. As an automatic response, I’m pretty sure I rubbed his back in return. After the flash, he pulled back, hand still on my arm, looked me in the eye again and said, “thank you”. I thanked him too and headed for the exit.
I picked up my stuff from the bins that had been slowly slid down a table outside the booth by employees, and caught up with my friends while picking up our instantly printed 8 x 10 glossy photos. As we giggled and gushed about our respective experiences, we headed over to the panel stage where the seats had expectedly been mostly claimed already.
Avengers and Guardians Panel
The Avengers and Guardians panel with Chris, Lee Pace, and Karen Gillan started very quickly after my photo op, about 15 minutes behind schedule. Seats from the far back didn’t offer great views of the stage, but large screens were provided to give everyone a chance to see. The moderator, Angélique Roché, started off asking several questions of her own to the trio before diving into a few questions submitted ahead of time through the app. When she opened up questions to the audience, a mad dash to the microphone resulted in a ridiculously long line in seconds flat. All three panelists provided entertaining answers and gamely joked around with each other and the audience. The entire video of the panel is available on Ace’s Facebook page. The moderator did her best to avoid asking for secrets, but Chris had difficulty elaborating on many of his answers to audience questions for fear that he would say too much.
Most notably, Chris tried valiantly to walk back the impact of his tweet the week before regarding his final day of shooting Avengers 4. There has been online debate over whether it meant he was confirming Cap’s death/departure from the franchise. He said he knew people thought he tweeted a spoiler but clarified that regardless of how Avengers 4 ends, he would’ve tweeted the exact same thing. It was a very emotional day, the culmination of 10 years filming. He felt more emotions than he was expecting to feel and felt it was appropriate to share the gratitude. He insisted he wasn’t confirming or deny anything.
Before We Go is one of my favorite movies. I submitted a question ahead of time, through the app, asking if Chris were to direct again, what type of project would he look for? My question was not chosen by the moderator, but thankfully an audience member asked a similar question live. His answer was delightful. He said he grew up in the Spielberg era of movies like E.T. and would go with something that has more of a family vibe.
Waiting Again
My second op was scheduled late into the afternoon. (Yes, of course I bought two photo ops with Chris Evans.) We had the same experience of lining up on time only to be told they were running behind schedule. Not unexpected, considering they were already off schedule hours earlier. However, considering they had a digital display that constantly updated when lines were open, it would have been nice if they also simply updated a more accurate time for the ops so we could cut down on the time spent standing in narrow single file lines as opposed to walking around or waiting in the areas with more room to move. Even so, again the time passed quickly as we chatted with other fans while waiting for the line to start moving. While waiting, we were unexpectedly treated to the sight of Tom Hiddleston walking along the hallway on the second floor and then down the staircase headed to his photo booth. He smiled and waved to fans the entire time.
How About a Hug?
When we finally approached the end of the line and dropped our belongings in the bins again, nerves set in. I didn’t have any creative poses in mind, I simply wanted to hug him. I think it’s a little invasive when people just rush up and grab celebrities with no warning, so I was intent on asking permission. I watched my friend, who cosplayed as The Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes as she posed with Chris happily helping her hoist the bi pride flag behind them. Then, I watched as my other friend hugged him for her photo. As she turned to leave, he immediately turned and looked me in the eye with a smile so warm it could melt the ice caps and said, “Hey”. I stepped closer and asked if I could give him a hug. He answered, “Oh, of course. Come ‘ere.” He reached for me, pulled me in close, and wrapped his arms all the way around me. I did the same. This was not the tentative, politely awkward hug you’d expect from someone you’ve just met. It was warm and cuddly. He hugged me so tightly that the scruff of his beard scratched my forehead a little — and that scratch was honestly the best thing to happen to me in a year. After the photo snapped and we pulled back, with his hands still on my arms, he looked me in the eye and again thanked me. I’m pretty certain that Chris Evans, sweetest man in the world, thanked every single fan for having their photo taken with him.
I floated out of the photo booth, picked up my stuff, and then walked to the printers to excitedly wait for the photographic reminder that I hugged Chris Evans.
Commit to the Bit
I chose not to do any creative or funny poses because I wanted a hug. Many fans went the other direction. Chris was game for just about anything fans asked him to do. There are several fun pics floating around Twitter and Instagram. I have no ownership over them, so I will not post any here, but please take a few moments to search out the hashtag #acecomiccon if you’re interested. Chris recreated memes, he posed with people cosplaying as characters from many of his past movies (not just Marvel), and he pulled a lot of funny faces.
As I mentioned above, he and my friend posed holding her bi pride flag behind them. This was the second time in 10 weeks she posed with her flag and a member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In August, she wrapped that same flag around Sebastian Stan.
Next Time
By the time I decided to attend this convention, the limited number of autograph opportunities were sold out. If Chris Evans ever guests at another convention I am able to attend, I hope to score an autograph in addition to another photo. The autograph session is where fans have more of a chance to briefly speak to the celebrities. While I did write out a letter ahead of time that a friend of a friend passed on during her autograph session, I’d love the chance to actually talk to him for a moment with time to prepare. I was not expecting him to speak to me in the photo op and was too surprised to come up with anything clever to say.
NEXT: Chris Evans wraps Avengers 4
Chris seemed to really enjoy himself all day. He was relaxed and joking at the panel. He took the time to make every person feel like they had a personal experience during the ops. He thanked people for coming to see him. He was happy, warm, and friendly. He confirmed my suspicion that he is not only talented, eloquent, and intelligent, but also a genuinely sweet and kind man.