MELISSA ROSENBERG: The family started coming to town a couple days before The Night. Excitement has been high, lots of discussions about wardrobe, and some last-minute shoe and shirt shopping. Finally, everyone’s outfit is decided upon.
The big day arrives. Around noon, the house starts filling with the friends and family who are joining me for the premiere. Garen Tolkin, fab make up and hair artist, arrives to glam me up. Her assistant, Lydia Foster, is on hand to attend to my sisters, girlfriends, mother… she’s kept very busy.
Stylist April Steiner arrives with the jeweler whose company is named Diamond In The Rough. They present me with the most stunning, intricately designed bracelets, earrings, and cocktail rings for me to borrow. If I borrow them, I’m guaranteed to be nervous the entire night about losing them. But they’re so gorgeous, I accept the trade-off.
Everyone’s having fun primping. It’s a lot more fun to dress up when you have professionals there to make sure you don’t take any wrong steps. Meanwhile, I’m tucked away in my bathroom getting the final touches. I come out occasionally to make sure that, amid the fun, everyone’s moving toward readiness.
Nate & Al deli supplies platters of sandwiches that Chef Laurie Worthy keeps freshly plated. We make a serious dent in what seemed like a ton of food. I try to wolf something down, but it’s all too exciting to eat.
My husband Lev BURSTS into the house a half hour before limo time, having driven all the way from San Dimas to Beverly Hills in record time. The New Moon scene of Alice driving in Italy about describes his journey home. He was finishing his last day directing a TV pilot. He’s keyed up, caffeinated, and bolts into the shower. I can’t believe he made it in time and am sooooo glad he’s with us when we leave!
The limo arrives to pick us up. It seats 10. Our driver sees this huge group of people heading toward his car and asks nervously how many we are. I say 11. We’re actually 12 but we start shoving ourselves in there before he can stop us. Inside, it’s a game of Twister. Everyone’s on top of one another. Laughter is abundant.
As we near the theater, we see the crowd of fans thickening the closer we get. When we arrive, everyone in the car is a little stunned, overwhelmed, and thrilled by the madness just outside the window. We collect our collective nerve and pile out of the limo in clown-car fashion.
I hit the red carpet with my dashing Lev. And I talk to everyone. I mean…everyone. I’m in front of every journalist there. It takes me 90 minutes to walk the equivalent of two city blocks. And I’m talking the whole time. I try to visit with the fans as much as I can, signing posters, books, and whatever else they brought. I love these folks: so passionate, warm and personable. Unfortunately, I keep getting pulled away to do more press. Still, it’s all incredibly exhilarating.
Highlights on the red carpet include talking with Access and Extra, and my favorites, Carrie Bell from Entertainment Weekly, and Larry Carroll with MTV.
Super highlight: Lev & I meet Mary Murphy and Cat Deeley of So You Think You Can Dance! We’re both huge huge fans of their show. Both ladies couldn’t possibly be warmer. Mary even joins me for an interview and pretends to be thrilled to meet me! Love those gals.
In the theater I nearly fall down the aisle several times — I’ve not yet perfected the art of walking down a sloping aisle while wearing ridiculously high heels. Lev tries to keep me steady.
The excitement in the theater is tangible. It’s like a reunion too, seeing people I haven’t seen in a while. I finally find Stephenie [Meyer] who looks stunning in Carolina Herrera — so great to see her radiant smile. It’s been far too long since I’ve seen her. We see Jamie Campbell Bower, who we spent time with in Rome, Michael Sheen, the gorgeous Edi Gathegi, all the incredibly talented New Moon producers.
They finally get us all in our seats. I take off my shoes (trade secrets!). The movie begins. It seems like a pretty friendly crowd, so I’m hopeful for a good reaction — most of them are either married to, related to, friends with, or associates of someone connected to the movie. They want the movie to succeed. They laugh and gasp and applaud in all the right places. It’s so gratifying to see one’s work playing well to an audience!
I’m relieved, delighted, happy. But I can’t get my shoes back on!
The clowns pile back into the limo, our numbers having grown to 13. Fortunately, the party is only a few blocks away. We enter to a forest-like environment with wonderfully atmospheric music wafting through.
We’re starving so we beeline to our table and get some of the delicious food. We hide out there for a while, then go to mill about. I meet Anna Kendrick, surprisingly, for the first time. She’s funny and lovely and wearing a fabulously fun dress. I get to talk more in-depth with Stephenie, but she’s surrounded by her family, me by mine — we need a lunch together! We see several other New Moon actor friends (love Charlie Bewley!), but never cross paths with our leads. It’s wonderful to see everyone, and we enjoy the party, but it’s been a hell of a day. We clown it back into the limo and spend the ride home packed in like sardines, recounting every great moment of the best night ever.
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