We don’t have many celebrities in dallas. Okay, Jessica Simpson and her fluctuating waistline pop up at a Cowboys game once in a while (or at a suck-face match with Romo at Suite), and the Wilson boys occasionally grace us with their presence. So when word came that Oscar-winning bachelor (and notorious Halle Berry kisser) Adrien Brody was coming to town for a few days to promote his new film, The Brothers Bloom, we headed to the AFI Opening Night Party at NorthPark Center to hunt him down. Ammo: tape recorder and shameless D Magazine credential flashing. Uniform: best low-cut dress in brightest red. The scene: as the crowd began filtering out of the screening and onto the wet grass at CenterPark, girls in colorful unitards hula-hooped, and Hunter Sullivan crooned. We peeked over shoulders for Brody, who we heard was with his entourage, looking scruffy but sexy in an Armani tux. We spotted a few others: Greg Haynes Johnson twirling Jennifer Miller to “The Best Is Yet to Come,” Capera Ryan and Deborah Scott, and Katherine Harper, Robin Gierhart, and Wendy Teague tromping through the wet grass to the bar. “My shoes!” cried Wendy, and we felt her pain as our heels sank into the damp soil. Still, no Brody.
We took a breather and ran into the other celeb in attendance: photographer Robert Knight, the subject of Rock Prophecies, a documentary that won the AFI Audience Award. He handed us a guitar pick and wandered away. Director John Chester looked at us with a raised brow. “I don’t think you can actually use that,” he said. So right. Just then, we heard a murmur in the crowd, and we craned our neck to see who everyone was looking at. Brody, perhaps? And then, through the crowd, we saw him: Mayor Tom Leppert. Apparently his fashion choice (tux and silver bow tie) was enough to cause a Brody-esque flutter among the masses.
Looking for more pictures of Opening Night Gala? Click HERE.
Looking for more pictures of Texas Day Gala? Click HERE
Don’t miss this month: Mark Cuban, Mike Modano, and a host of celeb buddies partying and playing baseball during the Reebok Celebrity Heroes Baseball Game and ’80s-themed pre-game gala. Speaking of our stylish mayor, join him for his birthday party and Dallas Zoo fundraiser, which they’re calling Giraffes, Monkeys, and Lepperts. (Yes, that’s really the name.) The dress is “safari casual.” So bow ties are optional.
