Stargazing

I saw an announcement on the UT website yesterday:

"AUSTIN, Texas—The West Mall area at The University of Texas at Austin will become the filming site Tuesday afternoon (April 3) for two scenes for the feature film, “Fireflies in the Garden.”
The filming project on campus from 1-9 p.m. Tuesday is expected to have minimal impact on vehicle and pedestrian traffic. University police officers and guards will be on site to help route traffic around the production areas.
One scene on the West Mall will be filmed on the west steps of the Main Building and the other scene will be in the circle drive area near Flawn Academic Center.
The production by Fireflies in the Garden, Inc., describes interactions within a family in crisis and how the tragic death of a family member affects family dynamics. The cast includes Julia Roberts (YES!!), Willem Dafoe (okay i guess... he was a mean Green Goblin), Emily Watson (Yes! Gosford Park!), Carrie Ann Moss (Trinity from the Matrix! Woohoo!), Ryan Reynolds and Ioan Gruffudd (Who?). Only Reynolds and Gruffudd will be involved in the scenes to be filmed on campus Tuesday (Nooooo...!)."

Didn't turn out to be such a bad thing because the 2 actors in question happen to look like this:

No, they didn't look like this during filming, but it was total star fever on campus. Some students had already been chosen as extras and everyone else was dreaming up ways to get on camera. Crew members kept telling us to keep quiet. Turns out Ioan Gruffudd (L) was the guy who played William Wilberforce in the recent Amazing Grace, the stretchy guy in Fantastic Four and Lancelot in King Arthur. But from what I gathered talking to the other curious onlookers around me, all the girls were there to see Ryan Reynolds (R), "that total hottie from Van Wilder!!" I vaguely remember Beth/Mark downloading a really grainy version of that movie a few years ago, but I don't remember any of it. It was funny how every single girl (including me!) was whipping out their camera phones and snapping away while he was getting his makeup done... And when, for one brief moment, he turned around and flashed a smile, there was a collective squeal/sigh of delight. Feast your eyes...