We love it when the New York Times lets one of their august scribes put together a funny first-person piece that’s written exactly the way we would have done it. That’s what happened this week when theater critic Charles Isherwood published an account of his brief cameo on Gossip Girl. Much of the story is consumed with his fretting over his lines, practicing in front of his cat, and blacking out from embarrassment. We can relate completely, especially to this part, during which he is thrown on-camera opposite an impossibly good-looking new character:
Arriving on the backstage set where I would perform, I was introduced to the actor, Harmon Walsh, to whom I would be speaking my lines. A new source of anxiety, possibly more unhinging than the trailer. It should have occurred to me, I know, that appearing on “Gossip Girl” would probably mean mixing among the more god- and goddesslike of mortals. I am not a regular watcher of the show, but I know enough to know it’s stocked with young beauties of both sexes. And it’s not just that Mr. Walsh, while not a regular on the show, was handsome enough to be one. That might have been bearable. But my mark — that’s more actor speak for where you’re supposed to stand — was two inches away from him, or so it seemed. Before I could get comfortable with this instant intimacy and banish from my mind despairing thoughts about pores and plans for teeth-whitening processes, I was delivering my lines.
Not only did we have a similar experience when we met Blake Lively for the first time, but we can also imagine our gay panic had we been forced to play off a hottie like Walsh. In fact, we can see ourselves writing pretty much exactly the same paragraph. You know, if we were ever asked to make a cameo on the show. Ahem.
Gossip Boy, but Just for a Day [NYT]
Not only did we have a similar experience when we met Blake Lively for the first time, but we can also imagine our gay panic had we been forced to play off a hottie like Walsh. In fact, we can see ourselves writing pretty much exactly the same paragraph. You know, if we were ever asked to make a cameo on the show. Ahem.
