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See, I was lucky enough to meet Garett Maggart in person despite the somewhat hindering fact that I live in europe. The meeting took place in a more private setting and the group of fans was very small, only about 20 people or so. Which means the atmosphere was rather one of a "meeting of friends" than an "official event".
Most of the people who are into TS for a length of time know that he has a scary history with stalking fans. Most of them also know that he apparently doesn't feel too comfortable in large groups of fans, Moonridge and CasCon notwithstanding. Not because he considers himself as "someone better" than fans - people who have met him more often than I have might be able to verify that - but I guess it might have something to do with former experiences with fans. Burnt child and all such...
He's nothing like Blair Sandburg, he's much more private and "shy" (for lack of a better term) when it comes to dealing with strangers (like we were) but he went out of his way to make us feel comfortable and he succeeded very, very well with that.
I met a man who was intelligent, quick-minded, politically interested (even if it's not about the USA), funny, nice, polite, well-mannered and respectful to our little group of fans, not to mention utterly amazed that there's still a fan-base for TS and for him. He's the kind of person who considers himself a perfectly "normal" guy and therefore was amazed that there are people out there who don't know him but want to meet him just because they saw TS. And this was the "ring" that meeting had. He took his time with us, talked, joked, asked and answered questions, told us things from his daily life and family and asked about how we live, showed photos he had in his wallet and the whole thing rather felt like a gathering of friends hanging around together for a few hours in a separate room of a restaurant, talking, laughing and discussing, instead of an "official" fans-meet-actor-event. It was simply great and way more than I expected.
Most people who are in TS-fandom long enough also know that he once said publicly that he has to deal with dyslexia and therefore memorizes entire scripts instead of just reading the necessary parts before shooting a scene.
After liking the character "Blair Sandburg" I took a liking to the actor Garett Maggart as well because he was such a perfectly normal and likeable guy when we met him. It was a really pleasurable and joyful experience, last but not least because he treated us "fans" not only friendly, but with such a natural and common respect that the "borders" between "here are fans"/"there is Mr. Maggart" vanished. It was an amazing experience to realize afterwards, that a friend of mine and I had just discussed the assets and drawbacks of the implementation of the european currency "Euro" with him as if he was just... well, a "just met acquaintance" instead of an US-actor from our favorite TV-show.
Why am I telling this?
Because I find it really, really sad and repugnant to see that there are people out there, who discuss and twist a simple interview in a way that lacks IMO any common respect one should pay to *any* person when discussing them in public. IMO you (generic) don't talk about real people and use their real names in such a way publicly, it's simply crude.
I might display a thin skin here, but that's the way I feel about this kind of behavior and talk.
PatK
Most of the people who are into TS for a length of time know that he has a scary history with stalking fans. Most of them also know that he apparently doesn't feel too comfortable in large groups of fans, Moonridge and CasCon notwithstanding. Not because he considers himself as "someone better" than fans - people who have met him more often than I have might be able to verify that - but I guess it might have something to do with former experiences with fans. Burnt child and all such...
He's nothing like Blair Sandburg, he's much more private and "shy" (for lack of a better term) when it comes to dealing with strangers (like we were) but he went out of his way to make us feel comfortable and he succeeded very, very well with that.
I met a man who was intelligent, quick-minded, politically interested (even if it's not about the USA), funny, nice, polite, well-mannered and respectful to our little group of fans, not to mention utterly amazed that there's still a fan-base for TS and for him. He's the kind of person who considers himself a perfectly "normal" guy and therefore was amazed that there are people out there who don't know him but want to meet him just because they saw TS. And this was the "ring" that meeting had. He took his time with us, talked, joked, asked and answered questions, told us things from his daily life and family and asked about how we live, showed photos he had in his wallet and the whole thing rather felt like a gathering of friends hanging around together for a few hours in a separate room of a restaurant, talking, laughing and discussing, instead of an "official" fans-meet-actor-event. It was simply great and way more than I expected.
Most people who are in TS-fandom long enough also know that he once said publicly that he has to deal with dyslexia and therefore memorizes entire scripts instead of just reading the necessary parts before shooting a scene.
After liking the character "Blair Sandburg" I took a liking to the actor Garett Maggart as well because he was such a perfectly normal and likeable guy when we met him. It was a really pleasurable and joyful experience, last but not least because he treated us "fans" not only friendly, but with such a natural and common respect that the "borders" between "here are fans"/"there is Mr. Maggart" vanished. It was an amazing experience to realize afterwards, that a friend of mine and I had just discussed the assets and drawbacks of the implementation of the european currency "Euro" with him as if he was just... well, a "just met acquaintance" instead of an US-actor from our favorite TV-show.
Why am I telling this?
Because I find it really, really sad and repugnant to see that there are people out there, who discuss and twist a simple interview in a way that lacks IMO any common respect one should pay to *any* person when discussing them in public. IMO you (generic) don't talk about real people and use their real names in such a way publicly, it's simply crude.
I might display a thin skin here, but that's the way I feel about this kind of behavior and talk.
PatK
