L.A Book Festival 26th April 2008

Report by Sandy

The reading was quite spectacular. Ben Barnes came on to the stage as cool as could be, under screams from teenage girls. The girl who was hosting the event looked like she was having hot flashes and struggled with her words for a bit. She asked him a few standard questions: if he was a fan of the book, how did he like filming the movie and so on. He seemed genuinely excited about it all and said he had trouble realizing what was happening. Then he sat down comfortably and proceeded to read. It was great fun, he was doing different inflection for the different characters, and seemed like he was having a good time. His voice is very pleasant, he had some cute facial expressions at times and he made the reading exciting.

When he was done, he had to walk from the stage area to the signing area and some girls were kind of chasing after him. Some guys from security had to open the way for him. I must confess I felt bad for him right then. I do not understand why young girls feel the need to act this way. It is not respectful and all it does is make the person uncomfortable. Anyhow, there was a huge line waiting to meet him for the signing, and I was lucky to make it. Some people were turned away and a guy actually got really upset and started arguing with security. The crowd was composed mostly of people with kids from 8 to about 12 and teenagers, mostly girls. I was one of the rare 30 something.

After about 1/2h of waiting in the blazing sun, it was finally my turn. Ben was with an assistant who was handing him posters to sign to give to people who did not have a book to sign. As soon as I came in, he looked at me, smiled broadly (the guy has a bright, infectious smile and uses it very often) and greeted me with a :
BB: Hello how are you?
S: I'm good, thanks. How are you?
BB: I'm very well, thank you. *takes the book and signs it* Here you go *gives the book back*
S: Thank you so much.
BB: You're welcome. Bye
S: Bye. Good luck with the movie
BB: Thank you.

During this short exchange, he never stopped smiling, and always looked at me in the eyes, which is something
most celebrities avoid to do.

To sum it up, I found him to be one of the nicest celebrity I've ever met. His smile is generous and sincere. He seems to truly enjoy the interaction with people. He looks like a super nice guy all around, passionate about his job. I could completely see myself having a beer with him, just hanging out. Very down to earth,normal, does not come across as the "I know I'm so good looking" type at all and makes you comfortable. He obviously has a very strong support system and I just hope he won't let all the Hollywood crap spoil him. He has a spontaneity and authenticity in his demeanor that's very refreshing and it would be a shame if he loses that.