Please do *not* post this on any forums or websites. Thank you.

She began talking to me as we waited near the red carpet. She was a big Elijah Wood fan, and not long after we began talking, it was evident that her admiration for him was a bit... excessive. She said that she did not consider herself a mere fan, but rather a friend. To her, Elijah wasn't just some actor; he was a person. Apparently she had met Sean Astin at a Virgin Megastore book signing (she was first in line) and had given him a letter to give to Elijah. I can only wonder what Astin thought of her. She told me that she couldn't understand why she hadn't received a reply from Elijah, because he'd surely gotten the letter by now. Anyway, I suggested that it would be very difficult for Elijah to read and respond to everything he received, because he must get so much. Her response was, "Yes, but I'm really sincere. I put in my letter that I was really sincere."

Ah, well, that makes a difference. I suppose that I could've tried to avoid her and not talk to her, but I had time to kill, and even though she was clearly a bit delusional as to how the actor-fan relationship works, she seemed harmless (though I'm not sure what she would have done had she had the opportunity to get near Elijah). And even though I was clearly busy listening to a CD, she continuously initiated conversation.

She kept asking one of the security guys who was talking with some of us about "Alex," a guy who apparently was supposed to have entertainment connections and who told her he could get her into the premiere. He hadn't contacted her however, and she was hoping the security guy could help her out... which he couldn't. She also asked someone who worked for TORN (www.theonering.net) the same thing, and was told that nothing could be done... she might want to try talking to a publicist. She also asked another "security guy" some of the same questions. As she kept questioning security guy no. 1, he finally had to tell her that she would have to quit it -- "you're a nice girl, but you're going to have to stop asking me questions. You're asking me the same thing over and over again". Her reply was that she couldn't understand why he couldn't answer a simple question.

She was English, and had apparently been in the States for a month; she said she came down just to see the LOTR boys, or Elijah more specifically. Wood was to be on Leno the next day, and she planned on going down to NBC studios to ask when Wood was supposed to show up so that she could meet him.

Anyway, at some point it became clear that the actors weren't going to be able to come over to where we were waiting, and at this she became a bit distraught; her face reddened and she looked about ready to cry. She said that she was crushed to know that Elijah wouldn't be coming over, and couldn't understand why there needed to be barricades and security anyway -- after all, the actors walked on the street in their everyday lives without security, didn't they? I pointed out that the two situations were not comparable, and that this was standard procedure -- it's a safety precaution, and one that isn't controlled by the actors but rather by the studio, I would assume. At this she seemed relieved, and said, "So I shouldn't take it personally, right?" It seems that she was almost personally insulted, as if it were done to keep Elijah away from her. So I suppose she felt better when she found out that things worked this way at all movie premieres (this was her first). Still, she decided that it would be a real letdown to only see Elijah pass by without being able to talk to him, and so she left....

But not before leaving me a message that included her address and a mention of the letter she had left with Sean Astin. She told me to give it to Elijah if he did come over, and to try and scream to him her name and a message pertaining to hope (I can't remember what exactly it was); she said that he would know what it meant, and that he would surely know who she was. I did remind her that the likelihood of me being able to do so was slim, and she said that she understood. In the end, I wasn't even able to spot Elijah once (though he was there), so I didn't have to make that decision.

One would hope that she was relatively harmless, if deluded. As I said elsewhere, I felt for her.