Hollywood's biggest superheroes had travellers marvelling yesterday when they blew into Calgary, led by Oscar winner Halle Berry.
The starlet, who became the first black actress to win a best actress Oscar this past spring, arrived from Los Angeles to finish shooting her role in next summer's highly-anticipated X-Men sequel, X2. Cameras are rolling on the blockbuster production in Kananaskis.
"It's great to be here. I'm excited about how things are going so far," the 34-year-old star of Monster's Ball and Swordfish told the Sun. "But I just got here -- this (the airport) is all I've seen so far."
In an interview in Hollywood where she was promoting her role in next week's new Bond movie Die Another Day, she told the Sun she was hoping to do some dog-sledding if her schedule allows.
Joining Berry on the star-studded flight was her X-Men co-star Patrick Stewart, X2 director Bryan Singer and, arriving for an unrelated film project, Baywatch star David Hasselhoff.
The human Hollywood cargo gave home-bound Calgarians a pleasantly unexpected surprise, one which Star Trek fan Grant Evaskevich won't soon forget.
Grant, 37, and his 35-year-old wife Kim chatted movie business with Berry and Stewart for the duration of the flight from L.A. "The conversation was very long. They were very nice," Kim said.
"I told him we had a Star Trek figurine of him that we hang on our Christmas tree, and he smiled and laughed," Grant said.
That tidbit prompted a chuckle from Hasselhoff, who sat in front of Berry and Stewart. "After Grant mentioned the figurine, (Hasselhoff) said, 'It isn't as bad as having an air freshener figurine of yourself,' " Kim said.
"They were actually very sweet. It was awesome."
As for Stewart, the knowledge that, somewhere in Calgary, his likeness hangs from a Christmas tree, will never fade. "It's one of the best things that's ever happened, you know," he told the Sun.
"As a big Christmas tree fan, to actually find yourself as an ornament -- I would say it comes just ahead of knighthood," he said with a grin.
For 16-year-old Janelle Murphy, the return trip from seeing her sister in L.A. was, well, a ball -- and she's got proof of it all for any non-believers at Springbank high school.
"One of the stewardesses went up and got me (Berry's) autograph," the Grade 11 teen beamed, one hand firmly grasping the prized piece of paper.
"I've never really seen a movie star up close. I was really excited," she said. "I'm a big fan."
Expected to join Berry and Stewart shortly on X2 are Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, and Oscar nominee Ian McKellen.
More Artists
