Tom Sizemore signs some autographs

So after True Blood I headed over to a different venue to get Tom Sizemore on some of my cast pieces.   I had a Saving Private Ryan signed by Damon, a Black Hawk Down signed by Jason Isaacs and Brian Van Holt, and True Romance that had no one on it yet.  When I got to where Tom was at I realized he played Pete Rose in the movie Hustle.  So I also brought out a baseball to have him sign.  

Well Tom came out and was as nice as could be.  There were only four graphers there and we all knew each other so we worked together and engineered a game plan: first hand him a blue and get all your light photos done, then hand him a silver and get your dark photos signed, then let me get in there with my ball point pen for the baseball, then do photos with.   Well that's exactly how it went down. 

When I handed Tom the baseball he said something that I'm still a little baffled about.   First he told me that Ted Sizemore (who was the 1969 NL Rookie of the Year) is his uncle.  I didn't know that so I was said wow that's pretty cool.  Seeing that I liked his baseball connection Tom then told me that Grady Sizemore (Cleveland Indians Outfielder) is his nephew.   I said holy shit, you got a family of baseball players.   Tom said he thinks Grady is the best center fielder in baseball and I commented that he's a beast but has had some really bad luck with injuries and needs to stay healthy.  Tom agreed Grady has had some bad luck.  Tom then signed my baseball and I asked him to write Charlie Hustle on the top panel and he did.  

Well here's the baffling part . . . I see nothing on the internet about Tom being related to Grady or Ted.  In fact, a few sites say they definitely are not related.  Did Tom Sizemore just punk me?!?  Or does the internet just not know about their shared ancestry?  I'm really confused now.  Tom Sizemore, what's up man?  I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt and say that the internet is wrong, but I'm definitely asking him the next time I see him. 

True Blood season 5 premiere

The True Blood season 5 premiere was Wednesday, and I was there front and center getting autographs.  I decided before the event that I wanted to go big so I came in with over 60 11x14s I wanted to get signed (probably the most I've ever brought to one event). 

Well the day was a huge success and I did not go home with all that many unsigned photos.  Anna Paquin was the only big name to not sign, and she is pregnant so I can't blame her for not doing it. Ryan Kwanten didn't sign on arrivals, but signed few leaving the theatre (I didn't get him though).

I worked on three cast 11x14s and all of them ended up getting pretty full with names.  Here they are with the names IDed. 

Here's my 16x20 I was also working on.  I got Nelsan, Deborah, Rutina, and Sam on it.

And now the massive flow of celebrities to come over and sign.  The event was pretty chaotic as multiple stars signed at the same time and it became a pretty steady flow of people signing back to back  in assembly line fashion for over an hour.  Organization was next to impossible, but I managed. 

The first person so sign was Adina Porter (Lettie Mae Thornton).  She was really nice and came right over when she was done with press.  

Next was new-comer Giles Matthey who will play Claude in season 5.  He signed for everyone and I added him to all my cast pieces. 

Next was Jacob Hopkins who is going to play Alexander Drew the nine year old vampire in season 5.  He came right over without us calling and he signed. 

Immediately after him was Chloe Noelle who is plays Luna's daughter Emma Garza on the show.  She and her dad came over and signed.

Right after Chloe was Todd Lowe (Terry Bellefleur) I added him to some cast pieces and also in a dual shot 11x14 with him and Arlene. 

I also added Carrie Preston (Arlene) to my dual shot 11x14 to complete it and my cast pieces as well.  Carrie came over with her husband who played Ben Linus on Lost. 

Joe Manganiello is always pretty good about signing and good lord when he came over the ladies went crazy.  I heard so many "EWWWW"s and "Oh Alcide"s and "Oh my god you are so hot"s.  He hammed it up and took care of his fans. 

Next was the person I came to the premiere wanting the most: Lucy Griffiths.  Many of you might not know who she is, but I like the BBC show Robin Hood and she played Marion on it.  True Blood is going to be the first thing she is known for stateside, but I know that she's a pretty big deal across the pond in the UK.  I went a little crazy with her.  I came in with ten individual 11x14s.  Luckily the whole morning I was soliciting my friends to all help me with her since none of them had any individuals for her to sign.  I passed out six 11x14s to different friends (thank you Will, CB, Billy, Big Sassy, Anthony,and Scottie) they got them signed for me and I got four individuals done myself and even added her to one of my cast pieces.  The ten 11x14s alone made my night. 

Next was Louis Herthum who plays J.D. on the show. 

Nelsan Ellis ( Lafayette Reynolds) was next and he seemed a little intimidated to be signing but he still did it.  This is an example of how crazy it got and how hard to organize your photos it was:  I had an individual 11x14 of Nelsan along and completely forget to get it signed.  I did however add him to my cast stuff.

Next was Valentina Cervi who will play Salome in season 5.  I think she's going to have a big role so I had an individual 11x14 along and I also added her to my cast pieces. 

Tara Buck (Ginger) was next and I've noticed she almost always signs cast pieces towards the bottom, I've gotten her on probably 4-5 different cast pieces and it's always been the same. 

Sam Trammel (Sam Merlotte) was next and he's usually pretty good about signing for his fans.  He signed for everyone again tonight, I got him on three individual 11x14s and my cast 16x20. 

Michael McMillan (Reverend Steve Newlin of the Church of Light) was next and I got him on my cast stuff and also a 11x14 still of him as a newly turned vampire from Season 5. 

Jim Parrack (Hoyt Fortenberry) was next and I added him my cast shots. 

Next was Lauren Bowles who plays Andy's new love interest and Merlotte's waitress Holly Cleary.  I added her to my cast pieces. 

Then came the oldest and most powerful vampire on the planet, Russell Edgerton himself, Denis O'Hare. He's always pretty cool and he was again today.  I had him sign an individual poster 11x14 shot of him and he wrote his character name on it with an arrow pointing to his face. 

Janina Gavakar was next and I will always think of her as Shiva on The League.  I had four individual 11x14s of her along and between the way in and out she signed them all. 

Kristin Bauer was next and I added her to my cast pieces. I forgot to get her on my 16x20 though. 

Next was Alexander Skarsgard (Eric Northman) and he was better about signing tonight than he was the last two times I saw him (Battleship and Independent Spirit Awards where he was pretty stingy).  I got him on five 11x14s. One of which was another Rolling Stone shot, I'm convinced I'll never finish that shot. 

Then Michelle Forbes (Mary Ann) and Deborah Ann Wohl (Jessica) decided to sign at the exact same time.  I juggled between photos and managed to get them the stuff I wanted most. 

Then was Chris Bauer and the last time I saw Chris he said he really liked one of my Wire photos and asked for a copy.  Well today I brought him two 11x14 photos from The Wire for him to keep and he and his publicist were really happy and thanked me for remembering and for bringing them. I got him on two different Wire 11x14s today for myself and some cast stuff too. 

And Rutina Wesley (Tara) was the last person to sign on arrivals.  She didn't look happy while she was signing, but hey she did it.  Her publicist was pretty strict on one each so I added her to my 16x20 cast piece. 

After about an hour wait the exits began and Chris Heyerdahl was the first to come over.  I had an individual 11x14 along of him from Season 5 of True blood because I read he's going to be a big role and also because I think he's a really good actor. 

Stephen Moyer didn't sign on arrivals so most of us were waiting for him on exits.  When he came over we even asked him if Anna was going to sign and he basically told us there was no chance since she was pregnant. Understandable.  I got Stephen on five 11x14s including a Rolling Stone shot that Alex signed for me at Battleship.  Now I need Anna to complete it. 

A pretty phenomenal night when all was said and done even if I didn't get Anna or Ryan.