Celebrity Sighting #3

Today’s celebrity sighting was a double-whammie. Not only did I see actress Anne Hathaway from a distance of about 30 feet, but I got to see a film shooting! I was walking home from dropping off some paperwork at the office when I noticed 50th Street lined with huge white trucks, all parked end-to-end. I decided to walk home on 49th instead, in case I wanted to stop in at Strawberry and look at clothes.

A crowd was gathered across the street from the McGraw-Hill Publishers building. I was on the opposite side, close to the building. I saw a huge white screen on the sidewalk at the far end of the building and lots of young guys wearing microphones and doing crowd-control. All the extras were standing still in front of the building in their perfect makeup and hair and winter business clothes. Some of the women were wearing fur coats on this beautiful 82-degree day in New York. Every last one of the extras was well-dressed and attractive.

One of the microphone-wearing guys told me the name of the film is “The Devil Wears Prada” and it stars Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep. I walked along the street past the extras and microphone guys into Strawberry, bought a couple workout tops, came back outside and doubled back. They were spraying down the sidewalks from a big water tanker truck, so I guess it’s supposed to be a cold and rainy day in New York for the shoot.

I took a few pictures then walked across the street to join the crowd of onlookers. At the time I wasn’t sure of Anne Hathaway’s claim to fame, but a teenage girl was able to tell me she’s the lead in “The Princess Diaries.” I was hoping to see Meryl Streep – one of my all-time favorite actresses - but the scene being shot only had Anne and the beautiful extras in it.

“Rolling!” the director announced. I watched as they shot three different takes of Anne walking up the sidewalk and into the building’s revolving doors. I guess I was a bit too hasty because every single shot I took of Anne is blurry.

But it was pretty neat being there. Can’t wait to see the movie. One of the onlookers told me she’d read the book, which is something along the lines of “Sex and the City."

After the third or fourth “Cut!” I continued home.

According to IMDB.com, the plot goes like this: A young woman (Hathaway) scores a job working for one of New York City's biggest magazine editors, Miranda Priestly (Streep).

Pretty neat!