James Logan
02-14-2003, 02:57 PM
I don't know if this is really gossip, but hey, technically it is, so fuck it... :)
I met John Malkovich yesterday. I was on the Champs Elysées in Paris with a couple of friends shopping for Valentine's Day presents, and we're walking around the shops. On my right there's a coffee shop, and at the bar, sipping his coffee, is someone who looks oddly familiar to me. Long coat...white little case...greyish hair and "beard"...and then I recognize the man and think "Holy fuck, that's John Malkovich!" I wait for a few seconds, we walk past him, and then I tell my friends to stop.
"Hey", I tell one of 'em, "John Malkovich is standing right at that café over there."
"Who's John Malkovich?", he answers.
"The guy who was in BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, obviously."
"Oh. Yeah."
We wait a little to make sure it's him. He comes out of the coffee shop, and starts walking around. He enters a couple of lingerie shops, looks around, comes back out. By then I'm definite: that IS John Malkovich. I pat the inside of my pocket and realize I still got the photo camera I took with me in Italy a week back. Malko's already heading out of the area, so I run after him. I catch up with him...
"Excusez-moi." ("Sorry")
He turns around, looks at me.
"Désolé de vous déranger, mais je pourrais avoir une photo?" ("Sorry for bothering, but do you think it might be possible for me to take a picture?")
He looks at me, hesitates for a second, apparently uncomfortable. It's obvious the man doesn't want to get the attention of a crowd on him. Then very politely, he smiles, and answers in flawless french:
"Non, je ne préfèrerais pas...je m'excuse..." ("No, I'd rather not...I apologize...")
And then he just puts his hand on mine, smiles to me, shakes my hand, says "Désolé" once again and only walks away when I answer back "no problem, I understand".
I know this ain't much, but it's just a story I felt like telling. a) Because it's cool to have met John Malkovich, b) because the guy is a definite class-act, politely turning down my picture request but still making me feel like I got so much more just in one hand-shake, c) because the man is freaking John Malkovich and he was walking around lingerie shops studying the thongs and panties! :p
I met John Malkovich yesterday. I was on the Champs Elysées in Paris with a couple of friends shopping for Valentine's Day presents, and we're walking around the shops. On my right there's a coffee shop, and at the bar, sipping his coffee, is someone who looks oddly familiar to me. Long coat...white little case...greyish hair and "beard"...and then I recognize the man and think "Holy fuck, that's John Malkovich!" I wait for a few seconds, we walk past him, and then I tell my friends to stop.
"Hey", I tell one of 'em, "John Malkovich is standing right at that café over there."
"Who's John Malkovich?", he answers.
"The guy who was in BEING JOHN MALKOVICH, obviously."
"Oh. Yeah."
We wait a little to make sure it's him. He comes out of the coffee shop, and starts walking around. He enters a couple of lingerie shops, looks around, comes back out. By then I'm definite: that IS John Malkovich. I pat the inside of my pocket and realize I still got the photo camera I took with me in Italy a week back. Malko's already heading out of the area, so I run after him. I catch up with him...
"Excusez-moi." ("Sorry")
He turns around, looks at me.
"Désolé de vous déranger, mais je pourrais avoir une photo?" ("Sorry for bothering, but do you think it might be possible for me to take a picture?")
He looks at me, hesitates for a second, apparently uncomfortable. It's obvious the man doesn't want to get the attention of a crowd on him. Then very politely, he smiles, and answers in flawless french:
"Non, je ne préfèrerais pas...je m'excuse..." ("No, I'd rather not...I apologize...")
And then he just puts his hand on mine, smiles to me, shakes my hand, says "Désolé" once again and only walks away when I answer back "no problem, I understand".
I know this ain't much, but it's just a story I felt like telling. a) Because it's cool to have met John Malkovich, b) because the guy is a definite class-act, politely turning down my picture request but still making me feel like I got so much more just in one hand-shake, c) because the man is freaking John Malkovich and he was walking around lingerie shops studying the thongs and panties! :p