My first Premiere

So, I had to spend another night in London. The only hotel I could get was near Leicester Square. As I got into my room I turned on the news to see Rio Ferdinand, footballer, being interviewed outside the Odeon Leicester Square about his role as executive producer on the film Dead Man Running. The interview was coming live from about 200 yards away ... weird.

So I went up into the square and walked past three stretch limos on my street, parked behind the rear entrance of the cinema. Hmm. Walking further up, I saw flashbulbs popping in the distance and assumed it was more people arriving at the premiere.

So I had a really nasty pizza in a Pizza Hut and walked back. As I walked past the Odeon, more flashbulbs were popping. So I dashed up to my hotel room, grabbed my camera, then hoofed up to Leicester Square. I was that paparazzo. Pushed up against a fence, facing a security guy who watched us, looking for weapons or something. The crowds were coming out of the cinema now ... lots of very thin young women in short skirts and huge black guys. I heard that Ashley Cole was another exec producer and that Fifty Cent was a cast member - hence the stretch limos, perhaps. I didn't see anyone famous but thought I'd better at least take some photos of the people hanging around, even if I didn't know them.

Amazing how passive the crowd was. We just stood there, waiting and watching, with murmurs and rumours passing around ... 'There's Ashley' 'No, he's gone by now.' And so on. I don't think I could do it for a living.