CusickGallery.net: Henry Ian Cusick

Our fellow CG moderator Jane LaMotte,  along with HenryIanDaily contributor Christine Davidian, were two of the fortunate fans who were able to go to the world premiere of Frank VS God this past weekend!  They came back with their own wonderful tales of  seeing the movie and meeting Ian and here in their own words they share their excitement and their stories (and photos!) with us.

Jane’s account is posted first followed by Christine’s.  A huge “Thank You” to you both!

” My First Hollywood Premiere: ‘Frank VS God’ at the Chinese Theatre, last Friday”  

By CG Moderator: Jane LaMotte

“First, I want to say that all three films that I saw at Dances with Films were excellent. It was so refreshing to see such labors of love. I left each film feeling like I was a part of a big happy family, and grew to truly appreciate the tagline of the Dances with Films festival—the last truly independent ‘independent film festival.’ Here, it’s not who you know….

OK, I hear you, and I’ll cut to the chase! I walked out of the theatre after the afternoon’s first offering to find Ian almost smack in front of me talking in a group of people awaiting the next film, which was of course ‘Frank vs. God.’ And one of those people was Nestor Carbonell. I felt strangely calm and totally over my head at the same time. I hesitated for a moment and then went directly to the restroom to compose myself.

I came out of the restroom sure of one thing—having met Ian at Comic-con made a huge difference to my level of nervousness—this time the jitters were all but non-existent. Oh my, he looked lovely in a white shirt and black jeans. I pulled myself together and caught his eye. It took him a second to recognize me, but he remembered me as soon as I said my name. Other people wanted to talk to him, so I made it quick. I told him I was under orders to give him a kiss for each of the Sistahs so I’d have to make it a good one, and then I planted one firmly on his left cheek. He didn’t seem a bit surprised—I think he actually loved it, knowing it was coming from all of you, too!

I turned away from the group—Mission Complete: Kiss Delivered!—and hoped that I’d have a chance to take a picture sometime later, because it wasn’t going to happen right at that moment. Then I saw the face of the lovely girl I knew only from her photo on Facebook, Christine, aka WalkingInMyShoe. She said, “Are you Jane?” I replied, “Yes, did you see what just happened?!!!” We squeeed a bit together, and we were instant friends.

I then met her good friend Tatiana, and we chatted a bit. What came next is a bit of a blur—I still can’t believe I did it. I asked Christine if she wanted to meet Ian, and I think she said it was going to take a while to get her nerve up. I said, “Oh come on, girl,” and I gently took her wrist. Perfect timing, Ian was not so busy right then, so I got to introduce him to Christine. I was very glad that I remembered that she was running HenryIanDaily on LiveJournal these days, or I don’t know what else I was going to say!

Soon her phone came out and my camera came out and Ian was directing his son Eli to man the cameras—it was happening pretty fast. Nestor Carbonell was next to me threatening to photo bomb us, and as I pulled him in next to me to be in the picture, I was thinking, “This is totally surreal. Nestor is just the cherry on a perfect, perfect cake!” And that was the picture taken with Christine’s phone. Nestor got pulled away before I handed my camera to Eli, so my picture has just the three of us. Right after that, we parted from Ian, but having bonded over this extraordinary experience, Christine, Tatiana, and I stuck together for the rest of the event!

So that’s about it for my second encounter with Ian. ‘Frank vs. God’ was amazing—and I promise I’m not just saying that because I was ‘high on Ian!’ It is sweet, funny, beautiful, very well written, and the cast gives 100%. I fell in love with it, and you will too. I really hope you all get to see it in a theatre. It would be a shame if, for some reason, it went straight to DVD. It is a perfect choice for independent movie theatres.

After the screening, there was a Q & A with the creators and some of the cast right there in the theatre. I took pictures, but they are inconceivably bad! The audience was invited to come upstairs to the after party, so of course we went. I stayed just long enough to drink my complementary drink—and that gave me time to get to know Christine and Tatiana a little better. They are so dear! I really look forward to seeing them again when I’m in LA, and I’m excited about getting to know Christine even better through her writing on LiveJournal and elsewhere. I needed to get back downstairs for the next film, which I had been looking forward to seeing, too. I let Ian know I was taking off—it was so easy to talk to him by then, he is just such a genuinely kind person—and he thanked me for coming. That always gets me, when a person I want to thank from the bottom of my heart for all of their hard work as a performer turns it all around and thanks me! Love that!

That’s it for me. I can’t wait for you guys to get to see “Frank vs. God.” I told Ian it was the best thing he’d ever done—ok, maybe I was a little ‘high on Ian’ at that point—but it is definitely ONE of the best things he has done.”

 Photo 1: Jane, Christine and Ian

Photo 2: Nestor, Jane, Christine and Ian

Christine’s account of her special evening:

“Hey so the Frank vs God premiere was amazing! The film was awesome and so thought provoking and I thoroughly enjoyed it and connected with it on so many levels. I think I now love this man more now than I ever did before! I’m not just saying that because I met him either.

It was like a dream, the whole experience. I had seen him before at the LOST panel but didn’t actually get to meet him or talk to him of course so the premiere was extra special for me. I was a tad anxious. However, I am so glad that sistah Jane, pulled me over to meet him. I would have probably waited on the side for ten plus minutes mustering up the courage, if she hadn’t. Usually I am not that shy, but being as the man mean’s a lot to me in so many ways, it was a little difficult for me. She told him that I was co-managing henryian_daily and he commended me by saying “wow thats so great and that it must be alot of work” with that smile of his. Speaking to him finally was a weight lifting off my shoulders. He is definitely one of the most humble and down-to-earth people I have ever met, not to mention the fact that he is way more beautiful in person. He was just how I imagined he’d be. I told him that he is an inspiration to me and to what I write. He was really curious about what I write and where I post the writing, he sounded quite thrilled. Wish I could have been a bit more assertive that was my only weakness.  After the amazingness of Frank vs. God (If any of you guys haven’t seen it yet get on it because it is a gem of a film and he’s brilliant as usual!), there was the reception at a bar/restaurant above Grauman’s Chinese. That was just splendid!! I met his son Eli. He’s such a great kid! Major props to Ian on raising such a good son.  Then I met a friend of Annie’s, Mary Jane I believe she’s such a sweet lady! Then finally spoke to Ian again!! I had to tell him how great I thought the film was. I also said, without  weirding him out or frightening him, that every project he’s done has helped me overcome a difficult patch in my life and that I owe him a lot. He was quite thankful and said thank you for coming out. Part of me still thinks I may have caught him off guard, but I honestly couldn’t have asked for a better and more sincere response from him :).” 

Photo 1: Christine and Ian

Photo 2: Christine and Ian again, all smiles this time :)