Shari's Tom and Jensen Encounter
As
promised, here's the story of my encounter with Tom and Jensen.
It was about 1 1/2 years ago, (Jan. 17,1998) at the Museum of
Television and Radio in NYC. There was a seminar being conducted
as part of the museum's month-long tribute to soap operas. The
tribute was called "Worlds Without End-The Art and History
of the Soap Opera." Throughout the whole museum,soaps were
being showcased. It was all very interesting. There was a room
filled with wedding gowns that had been worn in various soap
weddings. The gown that Vicky wore in her wedding ceremony to
Grant was on display. It was absolutely beautiful! Other rooms
had screens highlighting memorable events that have occurred on
soap operas through the years. During this month-long tribute,
the museum was also hosting seminars on a weekly basis. One of
the weeks was the cast and crew of Another World.I read about the
event in SOW. There was a phone number to call for more info
which I did, and had no problem getting a couple of tickets which
were only about $8.00 a piece. Unbelievable when I think about
it! My husband had already promised me a trip to NYC to see a
broadway show, so now I knew when we had to go. LOL
The panelists listed to attend were:
Charlotte Savitz (EP at the time)
Mary Madeiras - director
Richard Culliton - head writer
Jensen
Linda Dano
Tom
Charles Keating
Lisa Peluso
Mark Pinter
Victoria Wyndham had been scheduled to appear,but an accident
with one of her horses had forced her to leave work that day and
cancel her appearance that evening.
My husband and I spent the whole afternoon browsing around the
museum. At 6:00 the museum closes to the public and we were
forced out. A line was already forming at the door for the
seminar which was to start at 7:00. I figured we better join
these people in line.
Maybe at this point I should give you some personal background
information. At the time of this seminar,I had been watching AW
and Jake and Vicky only about 6 months. I hadn't met any of you
on this board yet. I didn't know of Heather's tapes, so I knew
nothing before Jake and Vicky in NYC. In short, I was ignorant!!
I loved Jake and Vicky, but I knew very little about Tom and
Jensen. Well, my education began in the line we waited in. LOL
There were probably 20-25 people in line and they were reallly
dedicated fans.They had pictures,bios, stories of who they'd met,
luncheon expereiences,etc. I learned a lot in that fast hour. :-)
It was so much fun. The seminar was to start at 7:00. The theater
at the museum only seats about 200 people,so it was a relatively
small group of people assembled. My husband and I got terrific
seats and at about 7:30 all the panelists filed into the theater
from a door in the back and down an aisle through the audience to
the front row. They all looked fabulous! They were dressed fairly
formally. Jensen is beautiful! She looks in person just as she
does on TV. In my opinion, Tom is a hundred times better looking
in person than on TV. The camera does not do him justice,not
there is anything wrong any way you want to look at it. He is
absolutely one gorgeous- looking guy! The panelists seated
themselves in the front row and we all watched a film of the
history of AW. It started with clips of the very first episodes
and followed the show to present day. The ending clip was of a
scene that had aired that day. I know you will all remember it.
It was when Vicky went to Cass's office and ran into Lila there.
They got into one of their tussels. Lila started taunting Vicky
about "hot" dreams about Shane and Vicky proceeded to
pick up a glass of water, throw it on Lila and said "Lila,
honey, you need to cool off!" Everyone laughed and cheered
with Lisa and Jensen laughing the hardest. Jensen turned to the
audience and said "She's had that coming for sooooo
long." After the film, the panelists took seats up on the
stage. The commentator for the evening introduced each one of
them separately and then asked them a question that would allow
them to elaborate on themselves. When it became Tom's turn,
Charles, who was seated on one side of him, gave him his lead-in.
Tom took the cue and started in about himself. Jensen, on the
other side, whispered something to him about allowing the
commentator to do his thing. He didn't hear or understand what
she was getting at,and she obviously didn't want to create a
stir,so she just motioned him to continue. Then, instantly he
realized what she was trying to tell him. He apologized to the
commentator and asked if there was anything specific he wanted to
ask. By this time, he was so flustered and Jensen was shaking her
head and giggling at him. You could tell they are very close.
They did a lot of chattering between themselves throughout the
night. After the introductions, they started a question/answer
period. Jensen was very quiet and never spoke unless a question
was specifically directed at her. She listened attentatively to
everything that everyone said, but never just spoke out as the
others did. She does speak very articulatately. Lisa was
noticeably quiet and reserved also. Charles and Tom were comical
throughout the whole seminar. You would really have had to have
been there to really understand and fully appreciate the constant
funny bantering and antics that went on between the two of them
all night. At one point,Tom had one leg propped over the other
leg. Charles noticed Tom shoe. At first, it seemed he was just
admiring Tom's shoe. Then, he became engrossed in this shoe. He
started twisting Tom's foot all over the place, trying to
understand the mechanical make up of this shoe or who knows
what??? I have know idea and either did Tom. It was so funny to
watch his face while Charles was doing all this. He just watched
him and never said a word. Jensen glanced over and caught what he
was doing. She just smiled to herself and gave one of those
"what in the world is he doing type looks." You
definitely understood that not a one of them would be surprised
by anything Charles might say or do. Tom did very emphatically
express how much he looks up to Charles as an actor. He said that
he uses Charles to bounce ideas off of all the time. Then, he
joked that usually he was more confused after talking to Charles
than he had been before. He told Charles that he was still trying
to figure out something he had said two years ago. Charles just
laughed.I could tell that Tom does respect him a lot, though.
This seminar took place at about the same time as everyone
realized that RKK would be leaving the show. There were some
unhappy RKK fans in the audience. Someone asked about his leaving
and since he wasn't there to address the question himself, the
commentator asked Jensen to answer the question. They all knew
this would be big topic for discussion and you could tell Jensen
was uneasy about being the person chosen to have to respond. She
joked as to why she'd be given the "hot seat." She was
feeling really bad about the whole situation and as
diplomatically as she could with a writer, a director and the EP
sitting right there, explained how Robert had been wronged. She
said he was a very intense actor and was never given the right
chance with his character. The tables were constantly being
turned on him which is very frustrating to an actor. She said she
understood how he felt because she even felt herself in a
constant tailspin with the changes in his character. She
sympathized completely. She said the last few months had been
destroying to him as an actor and that she knew he needed to
leave. Later in the seminar,(we'd actually moved on to another
topic) Mark Pinter remarked that everyone in the soap industry
ends up somewhere else on a different soap sooner or later. He
said, "You wait and see,RKK will be on another soap within
six months." Mark didn't see the look Jensen shot at him and
she didn't say a word, but she looked down at her lap and shook
her head "no way." I know her feeling was that he would
never act again and she felt bad about that. I could go on and
on, (and I have LOL) but after the seminar, which did go on
longer than expected, my husband and I left the museum only to
see a crowd gathering outside in front of the museum. We figured
everyone must think the actors were coming out, although nothing
to that effect had been mentioned. I started to talk to people
again and sure enough Charles came out and someone said that
Linda Dano was somewhere.Needless to say, I was waiting on Tom
and/or Jensen. He appeared within a few minutes. He seemed a bit
overwehlmed by an "unsupervised" crowd in the middle of
Manhatten at a little after 9:00 at night. He joked with everyone
to be careful and watch themselves. He said it in a teasing
manner,but I think he was a bit concerned. At another point he
called it a "pick pocketer's paradise." He laughed and
kidded with everyone and was very willing to pose for pictures.
He reminded people that they didn't need to push or shove. He'd
make sure he saw everyone. People started asking him if Jensen
was coming out and he said she was on her way. She had to stop in
the little girls' room. That led to jokes about why it takes
women so long in a bathroom. We had a lot of fun with him! Very
shortly Jensen did come out. She is the sweetest! She talked and
talked to a group of us who had formed around her, all the while
signing autographs and posing for pictures. What rather amazed me
was the number of people who only want the autograph and to move
on. Me, I could have really cared a less about the autograph, but
I was going to stay and talk as long as she did. She's easy and
fun to talk to.Really, you feel like she could be your next door
neighbor. One woman began to tell of her favorite funny Vicky
moment. She told Jensen that she was sure that she wouldn't
remember it because it was rather insignificant. Jensen said,
"Oh, I bet I remember. I don't forget those things!"
and laughed. The scene which of course I didn't know, was of
someone thinking Vicky looked so familiar. After mulling it over,
she said, "Oh, I know, you look like Jen on "Days of
Our Lives." To which Vicky excitedly recounts to Ryan,
"She thinks I look like a soapstar!" Jensen did
remember it all immediately and agreed it was hysterical. She
talked of her family, her boys, and of how much she enjoys
getting out with the fans and how sorry she is that her life
allows so little time for that. She even started asking us
questions. How long we'd been watching AW, if we liked this or
that, etc. . . She is very warm and friendly. In the middle of
all the fun we were having with her, a car pulled up and a guy
told Tom that their car was there. Tom said "okay." A
few minutes later the same guy said,"Your driver's ready
whenever you are." Tom had made it out to the curb by then,
but we were still surrounding Jensen. Tom had already told Jensen
that their car was there for them and she did say that she'd be
right there and kept on talking. About three times she caught his
eye and said, "I'm coming," with a smile. Finally,she
did say she had to go,that they had work still to do at the
studio and Tom was getting antsy. Someone told Tom to leave
Jensen alone and she laughed. She did make her way away from us
toward Tom and the waiting car. At this point, a guy I was
standing beside yelled "Hi Jensen." She turned and
smiled and said "hi" back. I thought he was just a fan
who had grabbed her attention,but it turned out he really did
know her. She came back and they talked a few minutes. I admit, I
eavesdropped on the whole conversation. She told him that she
wished she had time to talk because she wanted to catch up on
what he was doing. She told him she was headed back to the studio
and he could call her there. I was in shock. This man knew her
number! So, I started talking to him about how he knew her. He
explained that he was a struggling actor and that Jensen was
probably the one person who had helped him the most with his
career. He said that she was the kindest, most honest and
down-to-earth person that he'd met in the business. He went on to
say that it is very hard to meet people who really mean what they
say, and really do what they say they'll do,but Jensen always
did. It's at that moment that I realized her to be one of my
favorite, looked-up-to people in this world. I really admire the
fact that she has remained Jensen - stayed true to herself.
Getting to meet Tom and Jensen has been a highlight in my life.
I'll never forget it. They are truly both as beautiful on the
inside as they are on the outside.
THE END
PICTURES!!
