Marisa Tomei

Ok, you've all waited long enough. Granted, I could make you wait a couple more days, but this is not really all that great a story, so I'll get it over with.

Ok, I think I've mentioned before, but just in case, my sister and I are on a quest. Since we were much younger, we have really enjoyed a film called Oscar, starring Sylvester Stallone as a mobster who is trying to go straight to fulfill a promise to his dying father.



It was, I gather, Stallone's first try at comedy and in view, a very successful bid at that. I must have seen the movie a thousand times, and I still laugh to this day.

In any event, after seeing the movie The Terminal, in which Tom Hanks's character is out to get a picture autographed that his father had started as a collection some time ago. And I thought, "Hey, we should do this with Oscar!" when Peter Riegert came to town. We've gotten two autographs so far, and both actors were surprised and pleased to sign the DVD and couldn't believe we had it.

So, a few months ago, I heard on the radio that there was going to be a presentation put on by the Smithsonian about Italian food, culture, and film, and one of the panelists would be Marisa Tomei, who happens to be in Oscar. Judy and I got real excited, since this would be a big time score, and I bought tickets and we planned our trip to see her. We had the DVD ready, the tickets, etc.

The ticket stated we'd be spending "An Afternoon With the Stars" and we took this as a good sign. The other 2 in attendance were Mario Batali (Food Network Chef) and Lidia Bastianich (I think she has a show on PBS). Stanley Tucci bowed out at the last minute. I figured we might be in for a bit of trouble when we arrived and they were selling books that were pre-autographed. Still, we had been promised an afternoon with the stars, and Judy and I are experts at staking out stage doors, so I figured we'd manage one way or another.

Well, I was wrong. First of all, I can't figure out for the life of me why Marisa Tomei was invited to attend and speak. She sat up there and had very little to contribute to the conversation other than the fact that she liked to eat and frankly, the moderator, Jim Bohannon, didn't really seem to know what to ask these people anyway. The whole thing was a little vague. When Mario and Lidia spoke, it was definitely about eating and food and their restaurants and such, but with Marisa, the conversation was more rambling, touching on her acting career, her parents, what she likes to eat, can she cook... The best I could figure was that she was invited because a) she's Italian and b) she's friends with the other 2.

So it was over, and none too soon, and the panel took off, so we went outside. We stuck around the stage door and then we saw a car roar around the corner and we decided to see what happened. We followed it and it went to the back of the auditorium, so we took a chance. When Marisa popped out, Judy went up to her and she looked at Judy, shook her head AT HER HANDLER, got in the car, and shut the door.

She did not even talk to her. Not so much as a "Sorry, not today." Nothing. So, there will be one autograph absent from our DVD and the heck with her. And it'll be a cold day in you-know-where when I see another movie of hers again.