Oh, you know, that time I met Richard Armitage*

*NBD.

HOLY SHIZZ. IT'S ME AND RICHARD ARMITAGE.
 (Credit: Thanks, stranger!)

Like you didn't see this post coming. 

So the other day, I heard tickets were available for Anderson Cooper's "Anderson Live" talk show. Normally, I wouldn't be interested because I'm never around during the day to watch 'em, really. But when one segment is an interview with the cast of "The Hobbit" ..... 

But first, let me back up: If you're one of the millions of Americans asking yourself, "Who the eff is this Richard Armitage dude she's talking about?" -- I forgive you; he's more well known for his TV roles across the pond -- go read my previous posts about him. There are numerous mentions. I'll wait.

Ready?

Okay. So he was confirmed to be at the taping, so clearly I was going to go. This is the girl who went to London to see Matthew Macfadyen, another fave-yet-obscure-in-the-States Brit actor, on the West End. The girl who went to London again to see David Tennant, my sister's Brit boyfriend, and Catherine Tate on the West End in "Much Ado About Nothing." Like I wasn't going to take a train three hours north to see my No. 1, most favorite of favorites Brit boyfriend. Please.

And the taping surpassed my expectations. Short of him professing his undying love for me in front of a live television audience, anyway.

We saw one whole episode being filmed before the Hobbit cast appeared to tape their segment, which airs today. You really can't see me in any of the shots in that one episode, though you can see my sister and our friends. So you can't see the look on my face that clearly indicated that I was thinking, "WHO CARES? JUST BRING OUT RICHARD!" 

Then when they brought out the cast, I was pretty much as excited as a fangirl could be. You can find snippets of the interview here. You might see me, this time grinning like a full-on idiot and sitting on the edge of my seat and maybe, just, maybe hitting my sister in excitement.

Then afterward as we were leaving the studio, I saw a line of black cars out front. Clearly they were coming out soon, so we loitered until they appeared, at which point I  -- and here I stress the words: very calmly -- walked over to where Richard was signing autographs and the following took place:

Me: Hi, could I get a picture, please?
Richard: Sure. [puts arm around me]
Me: [thinking as I pretty much just plaster myself to his side] omgomgomgomgstrangeryoubettertakeadamngoodpictureomgomgomg
Stranger: [Click]
Me: [aloud, to Richard] Thank you so much.
Richard: You're very welcome.

And then I died a very happy woman. Coincidentally, someone at the event shot some video here, that shows me and him at the very end...

My sister likes to point out that we went all the way to San Diego this summer, spending money on tickets and airfare and hotel, to see Richard (though it wasn't just for him, mind you). But we saw him -- for free -- in New York, without being crowded into Hall H with 6,000 other fans -- and snagged a picture with him.

Now, please don't think I'm a stalker. Sometimes, yes, I like to stand outside the stage door and get the odd autograph. But many times it goes something like this: My sister and I randomly fall into a meet-and-greet -- and somehow end up being first in line -- such as at a Joshua Radin concert earlier this year. Or I randomly see, oh, Colin Ferguson from "Eureka" checking his phone outside Rock Bottom Brewery in San Diego during Comic-Con. Or because of a ticket snafu, we get assigned front-row seats at Nerd HQ panels with Zachary Levi and Nathan Fillion in San Diego and ended up high-fiving Zac.

But I'm nice and calm, and I don't chase after them. So that's something.  But as for this time around with Richard, I really don't know for who else or when I'd go to these lengths again.

Well, until he does a play on the West End...