Six Degrees of Separation

If you live in the Greater Los Angeles area for any extended amount of time, you will inevitably be faced with the question, "Do you work in the industry?"

The industry...that's what we call the film business here. And yes, we do often say it with an air of pretentiousness. In Pittsburgh, the term is no doubt used to refer to the steel industry. In Texas, it can refer to the oil business. Here in Los Angeles, however, we make dreams- celluloid dreams that flash in front of your eyes at 24 frames per second.

It's something we're quite used to here...and everybody in this town knows someone who is somehow involved in the industry. The funny thing is, one can say that one works in the industry even if one has never made any money doing so. Aspiring screenwriters, actors, and comedians all make that claim.

There are, of course, several people who are paid handsomely for their role in the Hollywood dream machine. My roommate works as an editor for a company that has produced many of your favorite reality shows, including Temptation Island and Joe Millionaire. I know people who work as production assistants, somebody who works on the Craig Kilborn show, and actors who have had bit parts on TV shows and appeared on commercials.

Consequently, I have, from time to time, been to what can be described as "industry parties." On two occasions, there have been people who possessed some degree of celebrity. Several years ago, I went to a party at the home of a friend of mine whose husband was/is an aspiring comedian. The party was full of people who consistently tried to outdo each other by dropping names of people they knew or with whom they had worked.

I overhead conversations such as, "Yeah...I was talking to Tom [Hanks] and Rita [Wilson] the other day..." or, "I think Oliver [Stone] is interested in my script."

Since I was not involved in the industry, I didn't have much to contribute, so I spent my time talking to this strange little man with long hair. I was trying to figure out where I might have known him from...he looked oddly familiar to me, but I couldn't quite place him. Just as I was about to give up, somebody else at the party walked up to him and asked, "Hey, aren't you that guy from Growing Pains?"

At this point, I committed somewhat of a social faux pas, as I whipped around, pointed at him and exclaimed, "Boner!" He seemed pretty irritated at the fact that I had just shouted the nickname of a television character he was no doubt hoping to distance himself from. I'm afraid he really didn't talk to me much after that.

Recently, I had another brush with celebrity that went much better. An acquaintance of mine recently wrote, produced and directed a short film entitled Perfection. Starring in this short film is the actress Ming-Na Wen, from ER, The Joy Luck Club, Mulan, and so on. A few weeks ago, I was invited to attend the premiere of this film at Sony Picture Studios in Culver City. The movie was screened repeatedly throughout the day, and there was a reception in the lobby. While mingling at the reception, I noticed that Ming-Na was present at the event.

Naturally, living in L.A., I've seen celebrities around from time to time. On two separate occasions, I've seen Owen Wilson and Eminem eating at Subway in Burbank. I've seen Joe Mantegna at the Wells Fargo Bank in Toluca Lake a few times, and had a brief conversation with Sarah Chalke from Scrubs at Trader Joe's. The list could go on and on.

I've never been in a situation where it would actually be acceptable to simply go talk to one of them, Boner not withstanding. Not wanting to repeat my faux pas with Andrew Koenig, I decided that it we be in my best interest not to mention Ming-Na's brief affiliation with the godawful sitcom, The Single Guy.

Finally, I worked up the courage to walk over and introduce myself to her. I planned to simply tell her that I enjoyed her performance and let that be the end of it. I was surprised, however, when she introduced me to her husband and their daughter, and then, of course, asked me if I "work in the industry." I told her no, and then proceeded to tell her about how I was working on my teaching credential and all that. To my surprise, she was generally interested in everything I had to say, and I ended up talking to her for about twenty minutes, then spoke with her husband for a little bit longer.

While I'm not really the starstruck type, I was pretty excited about having maintained a conversation with a celebrity for that long.

I haven't let this brush with fame change me, however. I'm still the same person I always was.

Although I am having lunch with Tom and Rita next week.