I met him once. I was directing a photoshoot featuring him and a few other celebrities. He arrived a little bit late—nothing egregious, like 10 minutes. Before he arrived, the celebrities weren’t interested in anyone other than their group, didn’t ask questions or listen to me (cont.)
…or the photographer. He walked in and they all focused their attention on him. He said his hellos to them—he had to get through them to get in and talk to anyone else. But get through them he did, and then he walked over to the photographer & myself. (Cont.)
…He introduced himself, shook the crew’s hands, and then asked us where we needed him and what he needed to do. After we answered, he turned to the others and told them what we told him…and then told them they need to listen to me and Eric the photographer. (Cont.)
And they did. He was friendly and respectful and professional. He knew everyone in the room was in awe of him, but he did his best to cut through all of that and relate to us as equals. He was the only star that said goodbye to the crew, and he said it to every single one of us.