What's your best moment as an actor? I believe mine to be from a few months ago when I was at LAX and happened to notice the actor, Bill Paxton speaking with a British Airways gate agent nearby. Fortunately, at the time, I happened to be sitting across the hallway from the gate area and directly adjacent to the agent's podium. Flight 282 to London would be departing soon and Mr. Paxton was going to be one of its passengers. After he finished his business, luckily, he turned in my direction and I made direct eye-to-eye contact with him. Looking him straight in the eye, I smiled and gave him a small, respectful salute with my hand as a hello. To my surprise, he didn't simply nod and turn away; instead, he proceeded to walk right up to me and with a small smile, he said, "Hi, I'm Bill. Do I know you?" I chuckled and said no, I was just an admirer of his work. He continued to look me in the eye and what came out of his mouth next, quite literally, almost knocked me for a loop. "No really," he continued. "I know you from somewhere." "Huh?" I thought. I positively knew this statement could not be true as I had never met the man - I certainly would have remembered such an auspicious occasion and so I modestly responded, "No, I'm pretty sure we haven't met," and my mind raced for something else to say that would continue this wild and totally unexpected conversational turn of events. Not daring to abruptly or accidentally end our dialog (any conversation with an A-list actor is a good one, right?), I immediately proceeded to quickly inquire about his trip. He said he was on his way to London to meet and act with Tom Cruise in the movie, "All You Need is Kill". He mentioned to me that while working was great, especially with Tom Cruise, he wasn't particularly looking forward to the cold and rain he and his fellow passengers were about to fly towards and into. After that statement, I remember thinking, "Wow. I'd give my right nad to have an opportunity to work alongside of either one of you. Be it in the cold, rain, fog, wherever." We chitchatted for another 60 seconds or so when, yet again, that same notable query came out his mouth to me. "You know, I really do know you from somewhere. I just know I do." Visions of my IMDB credit list compared to his danced in my brain when finally I gave in and told him I was a fellow actor. Indiscriminately, he asked me if he had seen me in anything. I went ahead and mentioned a few of my TV credits when suddenly he said, "Oh! '1000 Ways to Die'. I love that show!" "Wait," he said. "Didn't you play a Russian chess guy?" You know those moments where your heart just jumps right into your mouth from something that's crazy sudden and incredibly stupendous at the same time? Like when you're sitting around the Christmas tree and you open up that gift that's been on your mind for the past 5 years? Yea, that feeling... This was one of those moments. He must have seen my eyes grow in size at least an inch and a half as I somehow managed to inconspicuously pick my jaw up off the floor. After that moment of eternity that probably lasted a mere second or two, would you believe yet another small miracle happened? Bill Paxton, A-list actor himself, then proceeded to tell me exactly what happened in my scene and how I 'died'. This from a show that had aired two years prior to our meeting one another. "Oh man, I loved that scene in that episode," he said. "See? I knew I recognized you from somewhere. You did a great job." Holy cow. Bill "Game Over Man" Paxton just said he likes my work... Right after that, Bill's flying companion walked up and the gate agent announced first class boarding was about to commence. Bill introduced me to the lovely woman he was flying with but before he said his goodbye, he said, "Listen. I want you to call this guy. I owe him my career." And he proceeded to give me the name and number to his acting instructor. "Good luck!" he said, as he left to board his flight. What an amazing turn of events. Talk about being in the right place at the right time, yes? Yes, indeed. Having Bill Paxton acknowledge and say he enjoyed my work is certainly one of my best moments as an actor.
when you're rich and famous, pass that name along
Thanks for sharing that incredible story. I guess there are no small parts, etc..... not that you're a small actor. I hope you follow up with that instructor. Marvelous!!!! Gives me hope.
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I think my best moment was working with Martin Short!
Nice! Those moments are spice in life's sometimes bland menu. There's a wry humor in it, too. Basically he said, "Hey, I like your work, now go and get some acting lessons." Gotta love it.
Wow! That's fantastic Tom! Indeed a cherished memory you will never forget.