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Date Posted: 20:03:45 04/04/09 Sat
Author: Doyle
Author Host/IP: CPE-144-136-133-225.qld.bigpond.net.au / 144.136.133.225
Subject: Got to meet Amber Benson/Tara...

And I also got to meet Hayden Panettiere from Heroes as well. They were both here in Brisbane for the yearly Supernova convention.

After standing in a seemingly never-ending/never-moving line outside in the sun (only to move inside and have to get into another seemingly-never moving endless line), the first person I got to meet was Amber. She was, without a doubt, the friendliest person I met out of the two (and also possibly the friendliest person I've met thus far at Supernova, which I've attended twice previously - once was to see Summer Glau and the other was to see Jewel Staite, both of whom were from Firefly/Serenity). The first thing I did was show Amber the portrait that I'd drawn of her (which I'd put into a small black photo frame and then put into a gold and black gift box, with a letter in an envelope attached underneath). She really seemed to like the drawing (she even gave me a hug, thanking me). Obviously one's first instinct would be to conclude that, "She's just saying she likes it, even if she doesn't.", however, Amber sounded very genuine in her complimenting of the drawing that I'd done.

At Supernova, you pay to get into it, then pay to get a signature with whoever it is you want to meet, then pay again if you want your photo taken with the person (it's not cheap and costs a lot). Anyways, when I paid to get my ticket to meet Amber (and have her sign a picture of herself - which I had to *buy*), the person who gave me my ticket asked if I wanted Amber to write my name on the photo of her that I'd bought. I said yes, told them my name and they wrote it on the ticket (which was supposed to make things easier for the people doing the signing).

Anyway, when I eventually handed Amber the ticket I'd gotten (which was supposed to have my name written on it), Amber ended up having to ask me my name (because the person who'd given me the ticket to meet Amber and had written my name on it didn't do a very good job of making their writing legible, and so Amber had trouble reading it and had to ask me what my name was). I told her my name (Heath), and she remarked, "Oh, I get it..." - this was in reference to my shirt I was wearing. I was wearing a grey shirt with Heath Ledger's Joker on the front, and she obviously thought that the reason I was wearing it was because both him and I shared the same first name. That hadn't really been my intent (I was just wearing that shirt because I liked it), but in the end, I thought it was pretty neat that she made that connection.

Anyway, she then signed the photo of her that I had bought (yes, you had to purchase proper pictures of the people that you wanted signed), with both her signature (and "Tara" written beside it) and 'To Heath' on it (she also drew a smiley face:) Before we parted ways, she complimented my portrait of her again and I got to take a photo of her holding it inside its gift box. We weren't allowed to get photos of ourselves taken with the people as we got their signatures. That was something we had to pay for seperately (and the photos got taken by a "professional" photographer somewhere else). I was glad that she at least allowed me to take a photo of her holding the portrait I'd done of her. She seemed like someone who would actually hang onto it.

I then met Hayden Panettiere. Unlike with Amber, you had to get any gifts you wanted to give to Hayden checked by a security guy (this was after someone else went to ask him whether Hayden would accept gifts). I showed the security guy the portrait I'd done of Hayden (which, again, was in a picture frame and in a nice gift box), I showed that there was nothing sinister about it and he gave it the okay. I then waited an hour for her to come back from lunch (and she, unlike Amber, had multiple people surrounding her when she'd go off to wherever). We were informed that NO photos whatsoever were to be taken of Hayden while we got her signature (which was different to Amber, who had at least allowed me to take a picture of her with her portrait). I was also told that I couldn't hand the portrait to Hayden, I just had to place it on the table and it was up to her whether she picked it up or not. So Hayden eventually returned, and I showed her the portrait I'd done. She seemed to recognise the photoshoot (that the drawing was taken from - since, when I draw portraits, I use existing photos as reference material). She, like Amber, signed the photo of her that I'd puchased, and seemed to like my drawing. However, even though Hayden was friendly enough, I couldn't help but wonder if she was being friendly because she *had* to be (unlike Amber, who you could tell was very genuine). Of course, it's unfair to come to any conclusions about someone who I've only spent about a minute interacting with.

Anyways, after that, I went down to the booth where they "professionally" took photos of you with the people. I got my photo taken with Hayden first (you were instructed to keep your hands in front of you - you couldn't put an arm around her/touch her in any way). Since I'm very tall (and Hayden's quite short), I had to bend down when our photo was taken. She said to me (after I bent my knees to crouch down), "Are you calling me short?". I said, "...No.". I later learned that was a joke she regularly made, but I haveta say...for a while there, I was unsure. I thought it would have made sense for them to have a chair, for any tall people to sit in, and then she could have just stood beside them. Apparently, they didn't think of this (or they weren't "allowed"). I later learned they weren't even game to ask Hayden to stand on a stool (when getting photos taken with excessively tall people). I guess she might've taken offense to being asked to stand on a stool (though someone had commented she was wearing pretty high heels, thus making her appear slightly taller than she actually was).

Lastly, I got my photo taken with Amber (after waiting about an hour or so). She was all too happy to stand on a stool (to make our photo look better). I said to her, "It's nothing personal, I'm just abnormally tall." and she commented that she had always wanted to be tall. I was allowed to put my arm around her (and she did the same with me). We got our photo taken, I said to her again that I hoped she liked my drawing, she complimented it again (and my drawing ability) and the last thing I said to her was that I also enjoyed her on Supernatural. She said "That was really fun." (so she must've enjoyed her experience on that show) and gave me a very genuine smile and wave goodbye (which I returned).

In conclusion, Amber seems to be very bit as nice, warm and friendly as everyone makes her out to be. She genuinely seemed like she enjoyed meeting her fans and getting photos taken with them/talking to them. I haven't a single negative thing to say about her. Hayden was...well...she wasn't nasty or anything, but she definitely wasn't the same sort of person as Amber was. She was nice enough, though.

All in all, despite the atrocious heat and standing for hours upon hours among many many hot and sweaty (and probably smelly) freakishly-dressed people, today was a good day.

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