Brittany's
Encounter
When we first started getting information about where they were going to be
and when I was hoping like crazy that I could maybe have the chance to meet him. I begged my parents in the only way a kid would
do.....I sucked up like crazy! They didn't have to ask me to do a single thing for them all week
cause I had already done it! My dad finally saw how much I really wanted to go and he took me even though my Mom told him not to! :) It was even OK with
him to meet Veronica downtown.....what a sweetie, huh?
So Saturday morning I got my dad and myself up and we went off George hunting! We left at about 10:15AM. After we
parked we stopped and talked to a few crew guys who said that George was away at
lunch. We met Veronica at the Herald Washington Library at 11:15AM (it was sooo
great to finally meet another George fan in person) and then walked back to underneath the EL where
they were filming at. Since we knew that George was at lunch we were talking about going to lunch ourselves while standing on a
street corner. I forget what street but it was right under the EL. So at 11:30AM I was looking
around to see what kinds or restaurant were in the area and I looked across the street and there he was!!!!!!!!!!!
He was wearing a black trench coat, a red plaid scarf around his neck...not sure what shirt was underneath but I'm assuming it was
a white shirt and tie cause he was wearing suit pants and they looked black and very nice black
shoes. His hair was OOS length with almost the same look he wore to the Golden Globes. BTW......HE WAS GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We ran up to him and Veronica was walking in between us. He was sorta in a hurry to get back up to the EL but he let us walk with
him! Veronica asked him if he remembered anything special about his Three Kings Press Junket and
he was like 'Oh yeah, You did that MTV thing!' He remembered her...it was soo cool cause that was back in 1999 - almost two
years ago! She talked to him for a bit about a play or something. I don't remember what was really
said between the two of them cause I was in another world. I had my US magazine in my hands and I was just staring at his
face with a huge smile on my face. I couldn't even speak! Guess George does that to ya, huh? Well,
at some point while we were walking Veronica asked George for a hug and he gave her one! Right before he went up the stairs he saw
me holding my magazine and he sorta reached his hand out to take it (it's a good thing too cause I
never would've remembered to ask). The first thing he ever said to me was "What's you name?" I could barley tell him but I did
manage to spell it for him and then he was like "t-t-a-n-y?" and I sorta mumbled 'uh huh'! he
signed it 'To Brittany Love George Clooney' Then he was off to go shoot again on the EL! After he had gone up the stairs I
was standing there for a minute, glued to the spot.....except for the fact that my knees turned to
Jell-O! I had to sit down for a while!
After that we were walking around under the EL where they were shooting trying to see if we could see them....we couldn't. We
could hear them yelling rolling and cut though. We had to be quite while they were shooting. After a while we decided to walk down a block and go
up onto the EL cause there was nothing going on where we were. When we got up there was no one
there and a few crew guys said they had gone to lunch. If they went to lunch them, where was George coming back from before?
Since they were at lunch we decided to go then too. We stopped at a Wendy's and of course I didn't eat anything cause I was afraid
I would throw up! Veronica just had a glass of water but my dad wanted to eat. Gotta feed the
man if he was gonna stand out in the cold with us! After lunch we went back to the EL and there was this huge white sheet thingy
with some lights aimed toward it. As we got closer we noticed Matt Damon was there and he was
filming some scenes. We asked a bunch of the crew where George was and they all said that he had left for the day. :( We watched
from a bad spot for about 20 minutes while they were filming some cars go by -- their own cars
driven by extras and then Veronica said she was leaving cause it was cold and she didn't feel well. Matt was standing in the street
just to the right of the street corner I saw George on when he was shooting! They were filming
him from behind and he turned his head to the left and looked for a bit...then he turned and walked to the right. It was
strange cause they kept cutting after only a few steps...he never made it to the other side. I
thought they were messing up and wanted to do it again but they did it the same way the few times they did it. While we were
watching, my dad and I were asking some of the extras which guy was Steven Soderbergh and they pointed
out two different guys and were saying that was him. The first was a tall older man with white hair and a white beard. The
second guy was shorter and had a black goatee and had long churlish black hair coming out of his hat in
the back. I didn't think either one was him....I though it was the regular height skinnier wearing all black and a black mask
over his face. After a while Matt left and they were packing things up and moving around. We
weren't sure exactly what was happening. This was from about 1:00PM to 2:15PM.
My dad made me go inside for a while cause I made the mistake of telling him that I couldn't feel my toes...LOL! It was like 10
degrees out and we were under the EL so there was wind. The wind chill was probably -5 degrees or
colder. I didn't mind it at all...hey I had just met George Clooney about 2 hours ago! Did he think I was really feeling the
cold? LOL!
After we came back outside we asked the crew what was going on and they said that they were done for the day. I looked around and
didn't see Matt anywhere so I assumed he left. My dad and I watched what they were doing for
a while and we went up close and looked at all their equipment. There was a guy that was about to put away that little thing that
they snap the top down on right before they shoot the scene. It said 'Oceans 11 - Steven
Soderbergh' on it!
Then my dad and I were walking around and we saw this weird looking orange crane thingy with some of the guys from the movie
around it. They moved it across the street and went up on it so they could film
the EL coming in and out of the station! :) We watched for a while and then we went up and talked
to another crew guy who said he has worked with Steven before. My dad still thought the guy with the black goatee was Steven but
the guy we were talking to said he was up on the platform of the crane filming.
He had the camera in his hands. When they came down at about 3:30 I went up to him and
congratulated him on his nominations. Then dear old dad asked him if I could have a picture. He said sure and even took his mask
off his face for the picture. He was who I thought he was in the first place....sometimes you
just can't listen to adults...LOL! He was very nice...I can see why George likes him so much. :) After the picture he had to
leave so my dad and I decided to go home....but not before finding out from the crew where they
were going to be the next day!!!!!!!!!! They told us Emmit's Bar on Milwaukee and Halsted. I was so glad we found out.
When I got home I was in shock! I went right on the computer to talk. I told Katie and Shelby and Dianne about it. I had to
type in all caps...I was so excited. I stayed up till 2AM talking in a chat with Tammy, Shelby and
Katie. When my dad got home from his 'date' with my Mom they talked to him asking him to take me again the next day. Before he
went to sleep he told me he was leaning toward yes.
I was surprised I got any sleep at all that night but I fell asleep quickly and when I got up I went online and talked to Dianne
and she helped me figure out the best way to wake my dad. Her advice worked and he said YES!!! We
showered and left at about 11:15AM.
We got downtown and parked at about 12:00PM and I wouldn't really believe that the crew was really right about the location
until I saw that big white thing outside the bar with lights pointed at it again!
Then I knew it was real! We went up and talked to a woman who I think was part of the crew and
she told us if we wanted to see George we should go onto the other side of the door by the back exit. We went over there and
waited and again looked at all the cool equipment they had. There was about 2 dozen trucks in the area
for the filming...it was overwhelming! Matt came out three times in the 2 hours we where waiting there and the second time at
about 12:45PM as he was walking back into the bar...I asked 'Matt, Matt, can I have a picture?' and
he said sure. He is shorter in person than I thought he was but he was very nice! We waited outside for a while longer (it was a
bit warmer and there was no wind) and at about 2:00PM there were some women on a cell phone
talking to someone inside who said George was coming out in two minutes!!!!!!!! I was sooo glad we heard cause this
time I knew I would be prepared cause I had warning and we were standing only about 15 to 20 feet
away from the door he was going to come out of! Matt came out just a few seconds later with his assistant and another woman.
No one stopped him as far as I know but after he passed me my full attention was on the doorway. A
few more people came out before George, but the there he was!!!!!!!!!!!
I ran up to him and said 'George! Congratulations on your Golden Globe!' and he said 'Oh, thanks!' with a his lovely smile and then
let out one of those wonderful chuckles! Then I was like 'Can I have a picture?' and he said
'Sure, kiddo!' he called me kiddo...I know that should make me feel young but I don't care...whatever George wants to call me is
ok....just as long as he calls me something! I put my arm around his waist and he put his around
my shoulder. I'm not sure how long I was standing with my arm around him but I think it was a good few seconds after my dad took
the picture! His back was very defined and I could feel it even through is thick trench coat. After
the picture and I finally let go he started walking again and I followed along with him as some other people got autographs.
One woman said 'You just made my sister's dream come true!' and he chuckled saying 'Yeah? uh oh!' He
was so adorable! Walking near him I got my pen out of my pocket and tried getting the cap off...very difficult thing to do when
your hands are frozen and shaking from being near him...LOL! I finally got the cap off after
successful drawing all over my hands ;-) After some people got their autographs I went in and asked for my second one.
When I told him my name he looked at me like I was familiar and asked me if it was spelled
'B-r-i-t-t-a-n-y?' and I kinda mumbled 'yeah' Then he chuckled and said 'Yeah, I'm not a very good speller!' I didn't ask him
if he remembered me but I'm sure he did if he remembered Veronica from 2 years ago! What a guy!
Once again he signed it 'To Brittany Love George Clooney'! After he gave the TV Guide Magazine from the Daily Herald from Fail Safe
back to me I asked 'Can I have a hug for my Mom?' and he said sure!!!!!!! I went to hug him but
I didn't realize that the open permanent marker was still open and he said something like 'careful or the pen! This is the
wardrobe!' with a little chuckle and I had no clue what he was talking about...mind was a bit fuzzy.
I moved the pen out of the way once it hit me what he meant and move in for my hug. I will never forget that moment for as long
as I live and so on! I have dreamed of being in his arms and it came true..at least for a little
while! ;-) I couldn't believe that it happened...it was AMAZING being in his arms. After the hug I was walking kiddy corner to the
right behind him and all of a sudden I smelled something wonderful! Then I remembered Shelby
asking me how he smelled on Saturday and I didn't know! I realized it was George! He smelled as gorgeous as he looked! A bunch
more people (women and men) came up to him for autographs and they kept stopping him, he said 'Come
on guys, walk with me otherwise I'm gonna be a dead man!' He was so shy too....it made him even more appealing! :) As we
turned the corner near his trailer a bunch of guys came up with their cameras and
took pictures holding the camera out in front of them while standing next to him.
He didn't object at all...It looked like he found it fun or amusing. He let us follow him all
the way to his trailer and he went inside with another guy...not sure who it was though.
Thanks for the great story Britt!!
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