Actress Bai Ling’s film A Beautiful Life is premiering on October 9, 2009 and her publicist wants her interviewed by Buzzine magazine — the Webzine I write for. From my experience, one-on-one interviews are typically short and sweet, lasting maybe 20 minutes on the long end during film junkets where there’s a high concentration of journalists to turn and burn. Less formal one-on-one’s have been longer, lasting about an hour, depending on where the interview takes me. Apparently, my interview with Bai Ling on Monday, September 28 is going to be a little different.
Her publicist called me and laid out the plan for the evening. Apparently, we’re meeting for a bit at a high end restaurant in Beverly Hills. He suggested to Bai Ling that we go to her favorite dance club afterward. In short, this is going to be the longest interview I’ve ever had with a celebrity. That being the case — while I’ll have my own list of prepared questions — I’m probably going to need more to fill the time of the entire evening. If you’re a fan of Bai Ling and want to satisfy any curiosities, your welcome to write your question here as a comment and — if appropriate — I’ll try to work it into my interview.
For my part, I’m pretty excited, but I’m also nervous about the evening. I don’t mind the restaurant part, but the dance club could be a problem. First, it’ll probably be really noisy — even on a Monday night — and the interview will be hampered. Trying to have a conversation in a club usually devolves into yelling into each others’ ears. Secondly, I don’t dance. More specifically: I can’t dance. I have no rhythm and I lack the coordination to move the individual parts of my body in the simultaneous ways that make dance beautiful. If Bai Ling asks me to dance I foresee one of two situations happening: 1. I’m adamant in my refusal, putting her off and ruining her mood for the evening or 2. I get out on the dance floor, hoping for some kind of movie moment where my African Anteater dance becomes all the rage, but in reality everyone just stares and gawks.
There’s also the problem of logistics. We’re meeting at the restaurant, but if we do go somewhere afterward who’s driving? If she or a driver is driving us, where do I leave my car? Furthermore, who’s paying for this shindig? I’ll assume she or her representation will foot the bill to generate some good will with the Press, but I can’t be sure. Like I said, I’ve never been on this kind of interview so this is going to be a learning experience. Look for my interview with Bai Ling soon.
Don’t forget to leave your questions here.