RICHARD MADDEN
WEDNESDAY 27 OCTOBER 2021
UK GALA SCREENING OF ETERNALS
IMAX, WATERLOO, LONDON
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Richard and me on the blue carpet ... Where to begin … I guess my Eternals journey
began in late 2019 and into early 2020, before anyone had barely heard of
Covid-19 and the resultant pandemic, which continues to affect our everyday
lives! Eternals was originally due to be released in
November 2020, was then postponed until February 2021 and finally pushed back
to November 2021; hence the date of the UK Gala Screening in London. Since March 2021, Richard had been filming the
Russo Brothers sci-fi spy drama, Citadel, for Amazon; filming took place in
the UK, with production moving to Spain in late-September. He then took time out to take part in the
global press tour for Eternals, before returning to complete the final days
of the Citadel shoot. Eternals premiered in Hollywood, at the El
Capitan theatre, on Monday 18 October with the cast in attendance. There was however, a Covid
scare, due to the cast coming into close contact with someone who tested
positive for the virus. This resulted
in the ‘talent’ going into
quarantine, whilst carrying out press interviews in the subsequent days. Having been given the Covid
all-clear, the next stop on the press tour was the Rome Film Festival, where
Eternals closed the event on the evening of 24 October. Gemma Chan, Angelina Jolie, Kit Harington,
Richard and director Chloe Zhao were in attendance at the event. The guys
remained in Rome the following day, before heading to London on Tuesday 26
October. Meanwhile, my Eternals adventure began on Tuesday
19 October with a trip to London to check out the area around the BFI Imax
cinema where the UK Gala Screening was due to take place, before continuing
on Monday 25 October, having booked a three-night stay at the Premier Inn
situated within the former County Hall on the banks of the Thames. The weather forecast for Monday 25 October was
dry, apart from a rain shower at around 14:00 so, initially, I’d planned to
set off from home at 12:30 to avoid the worst of it. However, my friend L texted mid-morning
about arrangements and it panicked me … so, in the event, I left home around
an hour earlier than I’d intended!!! Anyway I never travel light, so had a wheelie
suitcase, a backpack, another backpack to carry a document wallet/clipboard
containing a photograph of Richard, plus my plum coloured Gabbie-style
Kipling handbag which holds a lot too!
I didn’t want to drive to the station and park because it would be
expensive to leave my car there for four days, not to mention the risk of
leaving it overnight in a public car park.
Nor did I wish to catch a bus, having not been on a bus since March
2020 due to the pandemic. So that meant walking to the station, but I did
okay despite feeling like a Sherpa! A train pulled into the platform as I arrived in
the booking hall and, luckily for me, I’d already bought a one-day travel
card for Monday and another for Thursday, so was able to catch this train
without delay. It was actually a slow
train, not too busy, but there were youngsters on board due to it being
half-term. I had decided that the most sensible idea would
be to alight at Blackfriars and walk along the south bank of the Thames to
reach Waterloo. This meant carrying my suitcase down the stairs at
Blackfriars … because I’m not always keen to use the lift! The alternative route would have been to
catch the tube to Embankment, then either head to Waterloo on the tube, or
carry my belongings up the steps onto the Jubilee Bridge and then down the
other side; I did the latter when returning home after the 1917 premiere and
it’s not recommended! Having reached the Southbank Centre, I then
headed to the Imax for a Mocha … or maybe a Cappuccino! The official checking-in time at the hotel
was 15:00, so with time in hand I then headed to the Jubilee Gardens and sat
for a while on the stone wall at the side of Belvedere Road. It had been a beautiful sunny day thus far,
but then clouds began to gather. I
walked up Belvedere Road towards Westminster Bridge, and then did a u-turn in order to kill more time. It had begun to spit with rain, before
becoming heavier, so I headed across the road to shelter under the portico
opposite the Premier Inn. I waited until it had stopped raining, then
loitered a while, before deciding it was time to check-in; it was 14:30. Besides, other hotel guests were already
checking in by then!!! My room was number 357 on the third floor, facing
south. It was classified as a ‘standard’ and was the usual layout you
find in a Premier Inn. Having booked
in, and taken my luggage to my room, I then went out for a walk, buying a
sandwich and drink at Waterloo Station, before returning to the hotel to
await the arrival of my friend. My friend texted me when she arrived; she was on
the second floor, and could see a number of the London Eye gondolas from her
hotel bedroom windows. The London Eye
is beautiful when lit up in pink, at night and, even though I don’t like
heights, I now fancy having a ride on it!
We went for a walk, before turning in, crossing
over the Jubilee Bridge and reaching Trafalgar Square before turning back to
our hotel. We hadn’t booked in for breakfast on Tuesday, so
met up and went for a walk to Waterloo Station to find food and drink. We checked out the Imax once more, to see
if anyone had arrived to queue for wristbands for the crowd-pens, before
heading over the Jubilee Bridge and sitting down to eat our breakfast in the
Victoria Embankment Gardens! Or at
least we would have sat down, had the benches not been wet!!! The hotel where movie stars stay, when
undertaking press tours, was close by, so we popped along to see if there was
any sign of the Eternals arriving … but we soon became disgusted with the
behaviour of the professional autograph hunters who were hanging around
outside the hotel. They swooped on
Chloe Zhao and Kumail Nanjiani
when they arrived, jostling to get autographs … we had to leave, it was
awful, and made one ashamed to be British L. We couldn’t go back
throughout our stay, as didn’t wish to be mistakenly associated with this
rabble. We met up with our friend L, late afternoon, and
had another wander around the Imax area.
We started queuing for wristbands at around 19:00, despite the fact
that they were not due to be distributed until 08:00 the next day; security
wasn’t keen for us to stay overnight, perhaps in view of the recent attacks
in London on women. But, anyway … it all worked out in the end and we got our
wristbands. Our time was then our own, until around 14:30 the
day of the Gala Screening. As eluded to earlier, I had a photograph for
Richard to sign but felt that I ought to get the autographs of the other
Eternals too … so we took a trip to Forbidden Planet on Wednesday, walking
from our hotel to Trafalgar Square, up St Martin’s Lane, through Seven Dials
to Shaftesbury Avenue. Having made our purchases, we returned via
Leicester Square, Haymarket, Trafalgar Square and the Jubilee Bridge to our
hotel. Having showered, washed my hair and applied eye makeup, mask wearing
precluding the need for additional makeup, we headed to the Imax to join the
other wristband holders outside the Imax itself. A member of the security team led us through the
catacombs and around to the entrance of the blue carpet area, where our bags
were checked, including by a spaniel sniffer dog! In normal circumstances,
the slope where the blue carpet was positioned, is the entrance to a Covid testing centre, adjacent to King’s College! We were then loaded into the pen on the
right-hand side of the slope, in number order; we were 2, 3 and 4, with a
limited number of wristbands having been issued on this occasion, estimated
as 30! Also, the fans were just one
deep along the barriers, which made it a pleasant experience for
everyone. The Marvel cosplayers were loaded into the pen to our right. Members
of the media were situated across the carpet from the fans. Presenter Asad Ahmad, from the local BBC evening news programme was
there too. To fill in time and get us in the mood for the
event, there was an MC to warm up the crowd. He called the cosplayers ‘dresser
uppers’, which was amusing. Salma Hayek, who plays Eternal Ajak, refers to cosplayers as ‘those weird people who dress up’! The stars finally arrived, with Kumail and Barry Keoghan the
first to walk the carpet. And, of course, our beautiful man arrived at the
top of the carpet too; he was wearing Prada from head to toe. He did a brief
interview, before undertaking a few selfies and
autographs and then heading across to speak to the first few
journalists/presenters on the other side of the carpet. Richard then returned to the fanzone
to continue signing and doing selfies. When he
reached us, he kindly signed my photograph; he said “I’ve not seen this
picture before” so I explained that I’d taken it myself, in Glasgow. I had
been standing on the pavement outside the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland on
04 July 2019 when Richard posed for photographs with the drama graduates,
having received his drama doctorate! I told Richard that we love him very much, ‘we’ being his fandom, and told him
that he is very beautiful. Ruth got a selfie and
two autographs, but not before Angelina Jolie had said hello to Richard … and
he’d stood there, holding Ruth’s phone in his hand for a few seconds! L also got a selfie
and presumably an autograph; having missed out a number of times before. Richard then returned, for me to take a selfie of us together; he was so kind, and so patient,
and very attentive as you can see from the photo montage below!
These three photos were taken by my friend L I’d worn a dinosaur-print mask in his honour, as
his favourite movie is still Jurassic Park. I told him this as he walked
away, and he gave me a Rocketman/John Reid style
wink! I also got Kit Harrington’s and Chloe Zhao’s
autographs; they were lovely. As were Barry Keoghan,
and Lauren Ridloff too. Richard’s mum and dad attended the screening, but
we didn’t see them, as guests entered via one of the other entrances to the
Imax complex. Once everyone was inside the Imax, we were
permitted to exit the crowd pens. A
number of fans asked to take a banner home, one of the selection which had
lined the blue carpet. L took one but,
even if it had been possible to get hold of one featuring Ikaris,
it would have been impossible for me to take it home on the train because of
all my other luggage! We walked back to our hotel which was only a
quarter of a mile away … and retired to the bar to celebrate our
experience. I even had a glass of
white wine … and was surprised that it didn’t affect me very much, despite
the fact I can’t remember the last time I drank, apart from a few sips of
champagne at my niece’s wedding a couple of months previously. We booked a late breakfast for the following day,
to allow us time to pack before eating and heading home! Having collected our luggage and handed in
our room keys, we walked to Blackfriars; my friend caught the District Line
tube, whilst I caught a Thameslink train back to St
Albans. I then walked home with my luggage, arriving back soon after 13:00. Richard and the other Marvel stars (Gemma Chan,
Kit Harington, Kumail Nanjiani,
Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan
and Chloe Zhao) attended a fan screening at the Imax in Leicester Square on
Thursday evening; meanwhile Salma Hayek, who lives in London, recorded an
appearance on the Graham Norton show. Richard departed his hotel on Saturday,
presumably to return to the set of Citadel to complete filming on the Amazon
series which is due to be released early next year. I’m feeling extremely blessed following the UK Gala
Screening and our encounter with Richard; we honestly couldn’t have asked for
a better experience, or to meet a nicer man!
Our memories will keep us in seventh heaven until, hopefully, the next
time we see our very beautiful man. Richard is simply the best and I adore him. J |
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