I have been reading all these wonderful comments on my webpage and I wanted to thank all of you for your support and for taking the time to write to me. I see that in many of the comments you are expressing how pleased you are at meeting me at autograph conventions. I am really honored that you feel this way and in turn, I wanted to share with you how much fun these gatherings are for me also and how much I personally look forward to doing them.
I love to travel. This is a very good thing considering most of my job depends on it. I often find myself filming in all these absolutely fascinating places – some magnificent, some not – but always fascinating. However, when I am filming, I often work 15 hours a day depending on the project. Given that, I can be on location somewhere and never really get to talk to any locals or to see any of the area. The only people that I see are the people on the set that are working with me on the project. When I travel for a convention however, I get to meet people from that area (and thanks to all of you who travel long distances) and I get to hear firsthand about what it’s like to live there. It is wonderful to hear how so many of you are so proud of the State you live in and to tell me what I must do, visit or eat before I leave for home. I always try to do at least one or two of these suggestions. It’s fun to know what’s out there.
One of the other reasons I love to attend these conventions and meet fans of mine is a purely a selfish one. When you work in the theatre you get immediate responses from the audience. They either applaud or they laugh or they can show you that they don’t like the play. But in film and TV, the crew’s job is to tell me if I’m in focus or if we are moving on to the next scene. So I rarely get any feedback. I feel so fortunate when people take time out of their busy lives and approach me, either when I’m walking around in New York or I’m at a convention, to tell me that they like a certain film or television show of mine. Nine times out of ten, they start off with an apology. “I’m sorry to bother you but I really enjoy your work.” Bother me? It is never, and I repeat, NEVER a bother. So, thank you again for the verbal support and compliments over the years, whether it be at the conventions or on the street. It is always much appreciated. I enjoy meeting all of you as much as you seem to enjoy meeting me.
I look forward to meeting more of you in the future. Until then, health and happiness to you all. See you soon!