PickedPics

So I never told you all about the Black Mass premiere in London…

Basically, it was the BFI London Film Festival, and it was honestly a bit too expensive for me to attend and actually see the films, so I stuck for trying to attend the gala premieres and see if I could meet anyone.

I got to Leicester Square at about 2:30pm, and queued to get a wristband. I was ended up pretty much at the front of the barrier, with two teens in front of me and a really lovely French girl. Pretty much made friends with all of them tbh, and we promised to help each other out. It was just hard to get photos because the zip on the sleeve of my jacket kept catching on one of the younger girls’ hair and I felt so bad but she said it was fine.

Naturally, chaos ensued when the stars started arriving at around 6:30, I think? Benedict Cumberbatch was the first to arrive with his wife Sophie, and she went on straight inside. She didn’t stop to sign anyway, but I noticed people weren’t trying to call out for her anyway. I thought that was odd, especially because she looked so beautiful. So as she passed where I was standing, I yelled out to her that she looked beautiful, and she turned to face me, stunned, and I told her she looked really pretty tonight, to which she gushed and said “thank you so much” before carrying on inside. Benedict was signing autographs all the way down the other end, and then Johnny Depp arrived with Amber Heard. Yeah, that was when it got crazy.

It got to the point where people were pushing me forward so much I was near enough on top of the two teens in front of me and I felt SO bad for that, especially when a woman nearby accused me of trying to push my way to the front when the reality was that I had some really annoying people behind me who had no chill.

Anyway we had been told beforehand that Johnny wouldn’t stop for actual photos, but he would sign anything we wanted him to sign. His security were properly manhandling him to get through all the fans really quickly, and I knew that I only had one chance to say what I wanted to him without fucking up, because he wouldn’t have heard me properly.

So when he got near me, I said “dude, is it okay if you sign my phone? It’s all I have” and he laughed and said “that’s cool!” I handed him my phone, and when he signed it I told him thank you, as one would. There were a lot of people in my area trying to reach over me and so he kept signing their stuff, which meant I had a bit of time!

I pretty much blurted out that Edward Scissorhands was my favourite film when I was a kid, and he looked surprised. I told him it was because I could relate to Edward, and that it gave me hope, because I was the “different” kid when I was younger, still kind of am now, but it taught me that it was okay to be different, no matter how people reacted. I told him the film meant a lot to me and that he did a fantastic job in it. All the while, he was starting to move down the barrier, but he was still listening really attentively to me, and he kept saying things like “that’s wonderful,” “you’re so sweet,” and “bless you.” Then he told me “that film was hell for me to do, you know?” I told him that I did know, and that’s why I appreciate his work in it even more.

At that point, he blew me a kiss and then put his hand over his heart and I pretty much died.