Once is the Charm

Last week, I talked to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the stars of the lovely Irish music pic, "Once."

What struck me about them, besides Hansard's uncanny resemblance to my oldest brother, is that the two of them are such genuinely charming people. Their real personalities are very close to their cinematic counterparts, which isn't to say that they didn't gave solid performances. It's just rare to meet people who are, for lack of a better word, real.

Compare Hansard and Irglova to the other people who attended the "Once" party at The Landmark Theatre. The PR people shuttled me around the wine bar (I should have had more wine, in retrospect), and I was introduced to so-and-so head of this, so-and-so head of that. These people, who have naturally never seen me before, were chipper and agreeable, and then they would say something like "It's so nice to see you again" or "I've enjoyed reading your work over the years." Yes... over the years... I'm sure my six-month stint at Variety has made THAT much of an impression.

Still, I'll take all the compliments I can get, even if they do happen to be flat-out lies.

My blurb about the "Once" event is here.