I have a rather amusing anecdote to relay to you. I was standing in line for "One Hour Photo" this very evening at the Alamo Drafthouse. I was holding a glass of wine, and, lest I should feel like an idiot, I had set my water glass on the ground. Somehow, holding two drinks at the same time has always made me uncomfortable. I can't really explain why, but I suppose it has something to do with my perception of the "cool" way to hold a drink, most likely shaped by the silver screen. Why, did you ever see Cary Grant or Humphrey Bogart holding two drinks at once? I think not.
So I set my water glass on the ground in front of the column which was labeled "Line for One Hour Photo Starts Here." The man in front of me, also waiting in line for the movie, stepped slowly around the column, carrying on a conversation with his girlfriend. His foot paused in front of my water glass, and although he wasn't looking down, I thought that there were two possibilities.
1. He was aware of my water glass, and would not kick it over as a
result of his awareness.
2. He was not aware of my water glass, and it didn't matter much anyway.
At that moment I had the chance to speak up and say "You're about to kick over my water!" Instead I just looked on in silence.
Having spilled my water, the man exclaimed "I'm sorry, was that yours?"
"Yes," I replied, "but it was just water. No biggie."
"Oh, good! I'm really sorry," he said. "I wasn't paying attention."
"No sweat," I said. "Don't worry about it."
Then he turned to look at me, and his face looked very familiar. Having seen Pulp Fiction about sixteen times, I said, "You look just like Tim Roth! Has anyone ever told you that?"
He looked at me rather strangely, for about five seconds. Finally he said (in a very familiar voice), "I am Tim Roth. What's your name?" He held out his hand.
"Really! Wow, I am a big fan of yours!" I said, shaking his hand. "My name's chris." I would know his face anywhere, so of course I believed him, and was, I must admit, a bit star-struck.
We chit-chatted for a few minutes. He said (paraphrase) that he was watching the movie to witness Robin William's descent into evil characters. Pretty soon, the Drafthouse girl came outside to tell everyone that it was time to go into the theater. I suavely chose to respect his privacy, and took a seat a couple of rows away from him, a smile on my face from having met one of my film idols.
It was only once I got home that I realized I had been talking to Eric Stoltz. Not only that, I realized that Eric has a great sense of humor.