This is the first video in my new series, The Early Tapes, which features a look at the very first time I talked to certain celebrities. Some were already established, others were just starting out in the business, while others were in between. With some (like this one), you’ll get a bit more of the behind the scenes banter that didn’t make the cut for my original red carpet reports.
There’s no better way to kick off this series than with this fun interview with Zachary Levi. I was VERY new to red carpet reporting – I was 8 and this was only my second one! I’m still amazed by how nice stars were to me when I was just a little peanut with a microphone. Zach (and Keaton Simons, who is also featured in this interview) stopped to talk to me at the Sky High premiere at the El Capitan on July 24th, 2005. They couldn’t have been nicer. I love it when people have fun doing these interviews!
It’s especially interesting looking back at this video now, given that Zach is currently on the big screen playing Shazam! for the second time. I’d love to get a new interview with him!
This video was filmed on March 7th, 2010. It was a landmark year for the Academy Awards, with Kathryn Bigelow’s Best Director win, and Avatar taking Best Picture. At the time, I was hosting All Star Planet, and one of the charities we supported was Children Uniting Nations. Daphna Ziman, the head of CUN, held an annual Oscars viewing and after party, and I was there with the ASP team on the red carpet, talking to celebrities before and after the ceremony.
I like looking back on these videos and spotting people who are in current things, so it’s pretty exciting that I talked to David Dastmalchian who plays Veb, my favorite alien character, in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. You’ll find him at 24:02. And one of my favorite people to interview, Kathryn Newton (Cassie Lang), was there as well (at 16:58). What a small multiverse this is!
I first met Jansen in 2007 at the premiere of Bridge to Terabithia. I had previously met his sister, Hayden, and she took me under her wing on the red carpet, vowing to protect me from bullies (like a big sister would). Jansen was just about 2 years older than me. I saw him at a bunch of events over the next couple of years, but the next time we talked was at a sweet sixteen party in 2008. I was almost 12, covering the party for KEWL Magazine. We were the youngest attendees, and next to the sophisticated older teens, Jansen seemed like a kid in a candy store! In 2009, I asked him to accompany me on the red carpet for my own movie premiere, which was an event benefiting my newly-founded charity. He had matured a great deal in just over a year, and I was very grateful to have him there to help with my nerves. Although I had attended hundreds of red carpets as press, I had little experience on the other side of the velvet ropes. As it goes sometimes, our paths never crossed again, but I fondly remember him as he was on that perfect Hollywood day.
The red carpet premiere of Eight Below took place seventeen years ago, at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood on February 18th, 2006. I was still brand new to red carpet reporting, having only started the summer before. I was 9 years old. It still blows me away how kind these big stars were to a little peanut of an interviewer like me! I’m so glad I got to meet Paul Walker, who was such a nice person. It was fun talking with young stars like Carter Jenkins, Sara Paxton and Daniel Curtis Lee, as well as Jason Biggs, Jon Voight and director Frank Marshall.
Congratulations to Kathryn Newton on her MCU debut! There’s no doubt she’s made a successful transition from child actor to starring roles as a young adult. But before Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Freaky, Big Little Lies, Blockers and roles in award-winning films like Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri & Lady Bird, I got a chance to watch the beginning of her evolution from sitcom daughter to film star. Here’s a look back at my interviews with Kathryn from 2008 and 2014, as we grew up together on the red carpet.
This event took place 10 years ago, on January 10th, 2013 at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood. Hollywood High School honored famous alumna Carol Burnett at this event, and I interviewed many show business legends (in addition to Carol) on the red carpet. It was wonderful to meet them all, like Shirley Jones, Margaret O’Brien, Erin Murphy, Renee Taylor, Sally Kirkland, Sally Kellerman, Judy Tenuta – unfortunately some are no longer with us now. I also got to meet Lamb Chop (and Mallory Lewis, of course)! It was also nice to see Lou Wegner and Stephen Kramer Glickman again.
Just like the holiday season, CES comes around just once a year – and it’s almost here. Tech products will be on display, for industry insiders and press (like us), filling nearly a million square feet of exhibit space in Las Vegas the first week in January. Review my coverage of CES 2022 to see what it’s like…
My interview with Tina Anthony from the CTA:
My interviews at Showstoppers:
My interviews at the Las Vegas Convention Center:
Sadly, another person I have interviewed has passed away… I enjoyed a quick chat with Kirstie on the red carpet for Pirates of the Carribbean: On Stranger Tides. It was a crazy night, and she was very gracious to stop and talk with me.
Celebrating the 12 year anniversary of my strange encounter with Russell Brand at the El Capitan Theatre on December 6th, 2010. I’m pretty sure this was my only red carpet for a Shakespeare movie. I always enjoy talking to filmmakers about their craft, and it was fun to see Jadin Gould and Tommy Davidson again.
Ten years ago, I attended this fun event on the Santa Monica Pier, benefiting Children Uniting Nations. Not only did I get to talk to some of my favorite people, like Alyson Stoner, Ashley Argota and Booboo and Fivel, but I also met a lot of music artists and actors for the first time, like MAX and Aaron Fresh.
