The Oscars 2013 - Part 5: Vanity Fair Party

If I didn’t know about the Governors Ball, I was totally aware of the Vanity Fair Party. 
And I was really looking forward to going there. 
The problem was, half of Hollywood was going there at the same time, and reaching the Sunset Tower Hotel, where the party is held every year, was more difficult (and longer) than we expected. The jet lag hit us in the Limousine and we had to keep talking to each other to arrive at destination still awake.
But then, there we were, at the most fabulous party of the year in LA!
As usual, we immediately understood there were two different kinds of entrance: one for the common people like us and the other one for the stars. The wall of TV journalists was particularly astonishing here: photographers were piling up one above the other and the flashes of their cameras were incessant as well as their requests to the stars passing by. We arrived at the same time of Jennifer Lawrence (who changed her dress, in the meantime) and the moment was absolutely frantic. Everybody was screaming, taking pictures and going crazy:

Once inside, I had troubles recognising the place. I have been at the restaurant of the Sunset Tower Hotel few years before, but now it looked like a completely different location. Maybe it was the number of stars per meter that made the difference.
At this party, the sensation I felt at the Oscars was even more intense: it looked like one of those dreams where you could see people but people can’t see you. Do you know what I mean? I walked around bumping into any possible star I used to see on a silver screen, feeling invisible. Casey Affleck was talking to somebody in a corner, Jennifer Aniston was walking in front of me and I had to be careful not to step on her red long dress, Robert De Niro was just arrived with his young son, Jason Gordon Levitt (by far one of the nicest people I saw that night) was smiling and having fun, in another room, absolutely packed, the slim and tall figure of Adrien Brody was mesmerising the crowd around him.
It was probably a bit too much. 

After a glass of wine, we decided the overdose of stars had to stop.

The funniest part, though, was just about to start. 
We called our driver, saying that he could pick us up, but we didn’t realize it was rush hour on Sunset Boulevard… hundreds of stars were waiting for their cars as well, and so I enjoyed looking at them in a “normal” situation.

Zooey Deschanel (with a lovely vintage dress!) had both her arms around her boyfriend, and was pretending to be already asleep, Octavia Spencer, her high heels shoes in her hands, was making a TV interview barefoot, Jason Clarke (again!) was looking around hoping to find a lift, Vin Diesel couldn’t count on any super-power to find his limousine, and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, in an ethereal pink dress, was standing there, pretending to be admired for her stunning beauty while waiting for someone to fly her elsewhere. But the funniest scene was seeing Jane Fonda, in an improbable leopard dress, grabbing a couple of hamburgers from the little van at the roadside that was trying to feed all the stars (knowing that, as a matter of fact, they don’t really eat at parties and so, in the end, they’re starving).

The night was really over, I felt a bit of sadness at the idea that the most magical night of the year was gone, but immediately afterwards I felt happy and lucky, because I knew I could write about it in my blog…

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I really need to thank many people who made my dream come true.
First of all, the Academy people: my eternal gratitude goes to Dawn Hudson, for inviting me, to Heather Cochran for introducing me to Daniel Day Lewis (and much more!) and to Debbie Peters for her precious help.
A big GRAZIE! to my colleague Susanna who offered me to share the hotel room as well as the entire experience with her, and to the Dream Team (Emanuele, Gigi & Jonathan) who drove me anywhere in Los Angeles and supported me every day.
And to my boss, who’s been putting up with my cinema passion for almost 13 years, not only the usual Grazie, Capo! but the reassurance that the procedure for his canonization already started!
Now, guys, the only problem is that it won’t be easy to convince me to let the OSCAR go...

The Oscars 2013 - Part 2: Getting There

The car was supposed to pick us up around 2.30 pm. Of course, Susanna (the colleague with whom I was sharing the experience and the hotel room) and I, were late. Everything was a disaster: the pedicure, the make-up, the dresses. Why we didn’t have anybody to help us? The miraculous cream Susanna talked to me about, producing such a nice effect on her, on my face was looking like collapsing wallpaper. Nothing was working the way we wanted, but in the end, somehow, we managed to be presentable and we finally got off the hotel to go into our car. 
Our car was the biggest black limousine ever produced and there was enough space for 10 people, not to mention the nice bar, fully equipped, and our super nice driver, George. 

Once picked up our Boss at his hotel we headed towards the Dolby Theatre, and while I was in the car (for far too long, for my taste) I was just going crazy because I couldn't simply wait any longer for the whole thing to happen. Basta -  I feel like screaming - I want to be at the Oscars NOW! 
After an infinite time, we arrived in Hollywood Boulevard, that was actually partially closed for the event. Only Limousines were allowed to get there. Few meters before the theatre, there was the weirdest demonstration I had ever seen. No, I had actually already seen something like that in an episode of Six Feet Under, many years ago: men and women of all ages were showing us signs where they were basically announcing us that we (meaning actors, film-makers, people involved in the show business in general) were a bunch of fornicators and God despised us so much that we will all end up in hell. Well, guys, if Daniel Day Lewis, Jeremy Irons and Michael Fassbender are going to be there, I just want to be part of that club. Thanks very much.

And then we finally got there:

A big Oscar statue was welcoming us: we had to follow a path that was leading us inside the theatre: 

It was the “check-point”, where you had to show your ticket and your passport. And it was there I realized that, of course, there are two kinds of Red Carpet. One is for the stars, and the other one for the rest of us (why I didn’t have access to the stars one is still a mystery to me…). 
When we arrived, the only two stars available were Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones (not exactly my cup of tea). It was the craziest place on earth: big, warm lights were irradiating the carpet and they were so strong you could barely stand under them. Besides that, the public at the balconies on both sides of the carpet, was screaming so, so much. 
I really thought: Ok, that’s it, I officially am at the Oscar night! 
The only problem with the Red Carpet is that you can’t really stand there. Security people politely ask you to move, to keep going, and you are actually quite happy to do so, because you can’t see anything and the shouting all around is just too loud.

Then you are at the entrance of the theatre: there is a long corridor and monumental stairs that lead you into the place. The corridor was already full of dressed up men and women taking pictures and looking for stars. 

 Of course, I did the same. Actually, since Susanna and my Boss wanted to get inside, I walked around by myself for at least 30 minutes, hoping to see somebody I liked. It was then that I bumped for the first time into an actor that, for some strange reasons, I kept bumping into for the whole night (till the point he was looking at me in an inquisitive way: do I know you???). His name is Jason Clarke, and he has a major role in Zero Dark Thirty by Kathryn Bigelow. Cute guy, actually, and he was by himself too, but I suddenly remembered to have read somewhere that he was from Queensland, Australia, and I simply preferred to miss my chance (sorry, guys, bloggers have their personal issues too):

Anyway, my heart was already broken: Malik Bendjelloul, the director of the documentary Searching for Sugar Man, to whom I was secretly wishing to make a love declaration (both for the wonderful movie and for, let’s say, less artistic reasons), showed up with a stunningly gorgeous girlfriend at his arm, leaving me without any hope. Damn!

And before I had time for more, they announced that the ceremony was about to start and that everybody should get inside. So I rushed into the theatre, looking for a glass of champagne, and for my seat...

... and in case you’re wondering what kind of smiling and happy face I had in the car that was getting me to the Oscar Night, well, dear readers, here it is:

And to give you an idea of the Red Carpet: