The Terrible Catsafterme

Brad's Musings and Meanderings

random acts of quoting

"Hey Beaver, let's try smokin' it." - Larry Mondello, "Leave It to Beaver"

OK, I will admit when I’m wrong. I had encountered Nastassja Kinski once before when she made an appearance at the Hollywood Show in the winter of 2007. At that time, I scoffed at shelling out $30 for a signed photo of her – alluding to the fact that she was a second-rate B-movie actress who took one interesting photo with a snake. Since then, I’ve grown. Although I must admit I still like that snake photo.

But now I’ve seen Tess. Nastassja played the title character of this great film directed by Roman Polanski that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1980. She also starred in three of acclaimed director Wim Wenders’ films. And One from the Heart directed by Francis Ford Coppola. And Inland Empire directed by David Lynch. I’m thinking that these directors might disagree with the 2007 Brad who labeled her as a B-movie actress.

Fortunately, I was able to rectify my mistake when she appeared at the Hollywood Show on October 9, 2010. And yep, you guessed it, I shelled out the $25 for the signed photo and an additional $10 to get a picture with her. My friend Steve Cox encouraged me to have her put a huge signature on the photo to fill up the blank area above her and that famous snake. She happily obliged but became concerned that she had messed up the “H” in “with” in the inscription . I thought it looked fine, but later did notice a very slight smudge on the signature itself.

Her pose with me is one of the classics. I noticed that she wasn’t smiling in any way, shape, or form – which wasn’t at all how she presented herself in person. I had David take a second photo and she gave the same look. She may in fact have been channeling the pain of her character Tess – in which case I was perfectly happy with our picture. A special note to the Brad of 2007: it was an honor to meet Nastassja.

Celebrities of the Fall 2010 Hollywood Show will continue

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