A Half-Dozen Gracious Celebrities in My Town - and I Haven’t Seen a Soul

My pal Julie's pal Eric snaps a pic of Kevin Costner
at the Indians game in May.

Here’s how the typical Midwest movie conversation goes these days. I arrive at my 9 to 5 and casually mention catching a far off glimpse of the Draft Day film crew at work, no more than a mile from my home.

“Oh, yea,” my co-worker – let’s call her Julie because … well, that’s her name – says, “We saw Kevin Costner at the Indians game. Seems like a really nice guy.”

Or, after posting how I haven’t bumped into any Captain America 2 stars on the old Facebook, my neighbor sends me a shot of Samuel L. Jackson hamming for her friend’s cell phone camera at a popular restaurant downtown. “She says he was a helluva nice guy,” is Allison’s report.

Are you kidding me? Kevin Costner, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Jennifer Garner, Scarlett Johansson, Ivan Reitman, Denis Leary, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cleveland’s own Russo Brothers – and who knows who else – all boppin’ about Northeast Ohio and nary a one has popped into view.

My pal Allison's pal Katy Quinn snap a pic of
Samuel L. Jackson at the Velvet Tango Room.

I even read somewhere that Dan Akroyd was stopping over in Cleveland to meet up with Reitman to discuss Ghostbusters 3. Are you kidding me?

Okay, true. I’m a 43-year-old father, have a day job, and swim lessons and little league must be attended to. And it’s not likely I’ll find extra time to go to Vosh (where Costner was seen) or the Velvet Tango Room (where my friend’s friend, Katy Quinn, met him). But still. C’mon. They gotta pick up beer at the local Heinen’s or grab a cone at Mitchell’s, right? Right?

Ah well. Maybe it’s not meant to be this time around. That’s okay. I’m just glad that every run-in I’ve read about, or story that was shared with me, talks about how gracious our guests, like Cap 2’s Mr. Jackson, have been.

“He’s really cool,” Quinn says of Jackson. “Down to Earth. Somebody you’d feel comfortable inviting to your backyard barbeque.”

Costner continues to wow Clevelanders. The first reported sighting of the Draft Day star was at Vosh, a jazz club in Lakewood, Ohio. “He thought it was a cool place,” co-owner Ryan Krivosh said of Costner’s visit.

Then there’s the second-hand stories of Costner making sure the Shaker Heights family whose home Draft Day took over felt comfortable with all the activity and made sure he was available for any photos or questions they might have.

Even the New York Post got in on the Midwest action by detailing how Garner is enjoying “small town life” in Shaker Heights. The short blurb mentions how Garner chatted with neighbors while teaching her children how to ride bikes.

And in the midst of a little bad PR for Marvel Studios after shutting down a major commuter highway for two weeks, star Evans tweeted a kind apology for all the mess. (And, please, people. You should know better than to take Detroit as your detour. Get on 90 or 490 to 77 and north to E 9^th and Chester.)

But I’m not giving up hope! Both crews are in town for the better part of the first half of June. So there’s time.

I just need to get a babysitter and a little bit hipper.