When I was growing up, there was few bigger stars in Vancouver for homegrown talent than Michael J. Fox.. The Edmonton born, Vancouver raised actor probably is responsible for creating many of the TV stars we have now.
About a month ago, the 4x Golden Globe & 5X Emmy Winning actor was in Vancouver for his annual charity golf tournament. Michael also picked up an honorary degree for Doctor Of Laws from The Justice Institute of British Columbia in New Westminster while he was in town this time. This was actually the 2nd time Mr. Fox had recieved a Doctor Of Laws honourary degree in B.C. The 1st being in 2008 at UBC. The former Back To The Future, Family Ties, Teen Wolf & Spin City star comes back to Vancouver every year to take part in a charity golf event & dinner for his charity, The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research https://www.michaeljfox.org/ the disease he himself has. The amazing thing about Michael is that he deals with this disease everyday, a condition that causes him discomfort, shaking & focus problems, and he still finds the time to meet with fans, give autographs & take photos. Not once, not twice, nor even 3 times, but FIVE times over his short stay here I met him & every time he stopped to sign for the 3-15 people that were there on these encounters. I meet countless celebrities with NO REASON to be rude/mean, who simply think people are below them & that they dont need to give back to fans...and while there isnt any law saying they HAVE to, it is, for the most part, a good jesture to keep or develop new fans for your future projects. Michael, has every reason in the book to ignore people if he felt like it. Hes won a truckload of awards & honours, he isnt currently promoting any show/movie to try & buy fans/viewers for, and most importantly he suffers from a debilitating degenerative condition that makes signing an autograph or stopping to take a photo a sincere challenge....and he does it with grace & respect. He should be what most celebrities look up to wanting to be like. I liked also that during his stay here, talking with others, everyone seemed to like him from different things. While most seemed to remember him as Marty McFly in Back To The Future films, there was some who recalled him as Teen Wolf, and of course, my favorite character if his, Alex. P. Keaton from Family Ties. The new generation of viewers know him as Stuart Little. He simply touches almost every corner of the entertainment spectrum. The man even has a Grammy Award. Below is some photos of Michael from his short stay here, including some from his Honourary Degree ceremony & his golf event (where I didnt see him too much). I also have a video of Michael giving a speech at the Justice Institute, I will post it eventually... assuming there is some demand for it from you all.
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Castle & Firefly star Nathan Fillion in Vancouver shooting Percy Jackson II this past spring7/1/2012 Happy Canada Day everyone. Lets start this new celebrity blog section with some Canadian content. Hailing from Edmonton, Alberta..... Nathan Fillion.
A few weeks ago the film Percy Jackson 2: Sea Of Monsters was getting ready to film scenes with Hermes, the Greek God & a messenger. The film, primarily centres around an unproven cast of younger kids who are cast as the sons & daughters of Greek Gods. In the 1st film they made the wise move & went out & surrounded them with notable names like Sean Bean, Pierce Brosnan, Catherine Keener, Uma Thurman & Rosario Dawson. This film, they have done the same. Along with acting legend Stanley Tucci, the film nabbed Firefly captain & Castle crime fighting mystery writer, Nathan Fillion to take on the role of Hermes. Fillion's journey in Vancouver was brief. He was here for less than 4 days. I managed to catch up with him on 3 of those days. When Nathan first arrived in town, I was there, along with a few other autograph hounds to greet him. He had just stepped off a flight from LA & seemed rushed. He signed 1 each for us & hastily retreated to his hotel. I caught up with him the next day, this time on set. I got a call from 1 of the locals telling me he was on set & best part.... it was literally 10 blocks from my house. He was filming scenes with a trio of the main cast from the film. As Hermes, it was his job to deliver messages, and what more clever & creative way of tying that into the present day world than make Hermes... a UPS agent. Fillion donned the familiar brown shirt & shorts of UPS agents everywhere and went about filming his scenes in an abandoned car rental lot that had been transformed into a UPS store for the day. When I showed up, they were on lunch break, but soon they would start to return. A fluctuating crowd of 10-20 people waited around hoping to see Captain Reynolds/Richard Castle (depending which fanbase they knew him from). My personal favorite part of the day, wasnt what I say later, but this part.... when the cast started returning Fillion was 1st up. Everyone was excited, but we missed our chance to get him as we were all taken by surprise. The crew then got a little pushy & told us (in reference to the next vehicle coming...which had the "star" of the movie, whom no one was there to even see) "dont ask for autographs or approach the vehicle, hes just going to be going right in, sorry" which got a plethora of blank stares from the crowd as they all just saw the only person any of them care about go in already. Sure enough the next vehicle arrived and not even a single person cared. Eventually there was a break in the shoot. Nathan left the building & walked into the secured gated work area they had set up in the back parking lot. I realized he had walked away, and decided to go for a stroll around the side of the building. When I got there, sure enough I saw Mr. Fillion on the phone. So I patiently waited till he was done his call. I then asked if he had time for an autograph & he awkwardly looked at the washroom, then me & said "I'll be back in a minute". Sure enough he came back out & came right over to me, happily signed 2 for me & even apologized for being so hasty in his interaction with us the day before. I then walked back around the other side, and saw the fans all staring up into the lot where Mr. Fillion was now standing & signing something for a fan/crew member? He stared down at the crowd, someone asked him for an autograph & he came over & signed for those who had things. I gave out a couple of the extra photos I had on me to fans with nothing, and shortly after, Nathan was back in to film & the crowd was pleased. Not too long after filming wrapped & the cast were leaving. Of course the primadonna wannabe talentless star of the film snuck out, avoiding the crowd of 10-20 people who didnt even care about him. Nathan on the other hand, walked out onto the sidewalk & looked for a vehicle. I crossed paths with him again, said hi & then turned around & he was gone. Couple of days later, he was departing, and a group of autograph hounds were there again for him leaving. He signed willingly again for us there, and then checked in for his flight & was off back to LA-LA-land. Below is a few photos from the encounters with him over the few days & some of him prepping for his filming |
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