April 26 is Hug an Australian Day! In honor of such an important holiday, I'm going to match my favorite Australian actors with the perfect hug. You know, just in case I ever have the chance to meet them. I need to be prepared.
Chris Hemsworth is the god of thunder and stands at a height of 6'3. It's obvious that the perfect way to hug this lovable guy is with a giant, bear-slash-bro hug. I'm talking about one of those hugs that completely envelopes you, crushing your bones and soul at the same time, and ending in a rambunctious round of laughter. I'm already laughing just thinking about it!
In everything I've seen of Hugh Jackman, I know him to be a true gentleman. (Or maybe that's just his acting from Kate and Leopold and Les Mis blinding me.) Thus, the perfect way to hug ole Hugh is to start with a handshake, which then merges into a friendly embrace. Completely professional and gentlemanly. (And swoon-worthy.)
Nicole Kidman is all grace and beauty, so whatever hug she receives should be full of respect and elegance. I think sharing a quick, polite hug with her would be the perfect balance.
If I'm getting a hug from Liam Hemsworth, it has to be pretty spectacular. So I think I have to demand the "twirl hug." You know the hug I'm talking about: the one where he picks you up and spins you around, making you almost faint from both being dizzy and hyperventilating.
Margot Robbie comes across fun and super cool. A tight squeeze from her will have you completely satisfied and feeling ten times more confident than you did before.
Yvonne Strahovski is gorgeous and badass (at least she was as Sarah in Chuck). No other hug than the ultimate "girl gang" hug where you practically run at one another and fling your arms around the other could ever express the utmost adoration for such a fantastic lady.
Eka Darville is just an adorable human being. When I saw him in Jessica Jones, I just wanted to give him a big, warm hug. You know the kind you lavish upon anything adorable, whether a human, a stuffed animal, or that it's-so-ugly-it's-cute critter you found in the backyard. (Or is that just me?)
While Dominic Purcell was born in England, he grew up in Australia, giving him some right to be included in this post. He seems like a pretty cool dude, so I'd give him one of those hug-then-clap-each-other-on-the-back embraces. I think he could handle it, and I might be able to handle it as well without fangirling too much.
A number of hugs could work with Luke Bracey and his action-movie physique. But I think I'd want to give him only a quick hug, so I could pull back and look up into his beautiful, beautiful face.
Hugo Weaving is like the favorite uncle of movies: he's fantastic and he's always around. Still, no matter what your level of affection for him might be, the one-armed hug is the perfect way to express how much you appreciate all that he's done.
Miranda Otto
Miranda Otto is wonderful. I mean, how can she not be after portraying Eowyn in Lord of the Rings? To show how grateful you are for such an amazing woman, you'd give her nothing but the most genuine of hugs: warm, firm, and affectionate.
I don't know about you, but if I saw David Wenham, I'd want to give him a giant bro hug--just like Boromir gives to Faramir in the extended edition of The Two Towers. In fact, why not just grab every Australian actor from the Middle-earth franchise for one giant group hug with David in the middle? It would be the best.
Cate Blanchett is a queen, specifically my elf queen. Thus, I would not give her a hug; I'd feel unworthy to embrace such a lovely figure. Instead, I would only be able to bow. (And then maybe she could say in reply, "You bow to no one." Too far?) However, after seeing her in the Thor: Ragnarok trailer, I might want to "gang girl" hug her as well. Because wow.
If you could, which Australian actor would you want to hug? And how?
I absolutely loved Anton Yelchin as Chekov and pretty much everything else I've ever seen him in. He had an easygoing manner on screen and off that made it seem like he'd be easy to get along with in real life. Often my favorite actors are the ones who seem just like normal people that happen to be passionate about their craft. When I researched more about his background, the fact that he was indeed one of those humble few became evident.
I'm not even going to pretend that I have something profound to say about this tragedy. Things like this always feel unreal; Anton shouldn't have died that night. His Jeep had a recall; how many times does that happen and we barely have time to get it looked at? There's something that's quite disturbing about someone so close to your age passing away in a freak accident. It could have happened to any of us. Anton Yelchin seemed to be a genuinely sweet guy who had an awesome career already and an even brighter one ahead of him. This year is full of crap. I hope that his family is able to gain some sense of closure and peace through this trying time.
Devastated by our friend's loss. We are mourning his passing and celebrating the beautiful spirit that he was. #RIPAnton
On June 19th, a friend sent me a link with the headline "'Star Trek' Actor Anton Yelchin Dies in Fatal Traffic Collision," and my heart dropped in my chest. I had no words, no reaction. I just stared at my phone in disbelief. It's an odd feeling, I think, to hear about a celebrity's death. I didn't know him, but I felt like I knew him--or at least knew him enough that it affected the rest of my day and most of this past week.
When Leonard Nimoy died last year, I was so full of sorrow that the world had lost such a legend. But with Anton Yelchin's death, I'm full of anguish--even anger--that his life has been cut so short. I only saw him in four films. His name might be recognizable due to his appearance in the Star Trek films, but that is it. He didn't get the chance to become a legend like Leonard Nimoy. He didn't get to become the rising star everybody said he would be.
I didn't realize how much it had affected me until I sat down to write this. Tears sprang into my eyes, and I felt foolish. I didn't know him. I'm not his family or his friend--I can't possibly understand the devastation they must be feeling right now after losing someone they hold so dear. The countless tweets from other celebrities I read over the past week were touching. Perhaps he wasn't known that well by the world, but he was still known by many people in the Hollywood scene. I adored him as Chekov in both Star Trek films (and I achingly look forward to seeing him one last time in Star Trek Beyond). I thought he was spot on as Kyle Reese in Terminator Salvation, and it's that movie that made me realize how wonderful of an actor he was. He played such a different character than Chekov that I saw his potential. And he was just as good as Ian in Only Lovers Left Alive. I wish I had seen more films starring him. I wish I had been one of the people to care more. But his short time in Hollywood still made an impact, and he will not be easily forgotten. So maybe he did become his own type of legend.
It's hard to figure out what to say about Anton Yelchin and his death. I was shocked and saddened when I heard the news, and even now as I write this, I feel like crying. Anton's life was a bright shining star that was cut short all too soon. Though I haven't always liked aspects of the Star Trek reboots, Anton Yelchin's take on Chekov was one of the few things that I loved. He always brightened my day, and he was a ray of sunshine. It breaks my heart that he couldn't brighten the world longer. All I can say is this: he will be deeply missed. Rest in peace, Anton. Thank you for all you've done.
I never knew much about Anton Yelchin. I only saw him in the Star Trek films, but those were enough to reveal to me what a talented young actor he was, and I wish I could have seen more of his career before now. So many deaths have happened in my life recently. My grandmother in November, my favorite furry friend in January, and several celebrities who have been a part of my life without even knowing it. Most of these deaths have been understandable. Old age and sickness are natural enemies of the body. Anton Yelchin, however, wasn’t old or sick. He was a young man with a promising career that was sadly cut short. Some are likely angry at this, while others are contemplating life and death and the way the world works. But in death it is always best to celebrate life.
Anton Yelchin instantly endeared the character of Chekhov to me with his probably legit Russian accent. Whenever I think of Star Trek and of him, I think of his character excitedly proclaiming “I can do that!” when he has to beam someone up. The actor proved that he could do a lot of things. I’ve seen numerous thoughts posted from so many actors and directors praising not only his acting talent but also the sweet and professional person that he was. Without any evidence of fake sympathy, each person professed a deep admiration and true sense of loss at the news of his death. Anton Yelchin has not left behind a world of enemies, and I believe that he will be remembered for many years. Better than making a thousand films and winning endless awards is the legacy of being loved by many for the person that you are, and from all that I have seen, Anton Yelchin could say “I can do that.”
The world lost a great person this past week. I never got to meet or know him personally, but I know he had a lasting impact... on my dad, me, and millions of others. Prayers for those that did know him!
"Live long and prosper. Peace and long life." It seems it could be said that that was true for the man who made those words famous... 83 years, wow! Leonard Nimoy, you will be missed. Thanks for the memories!
Jaime Heller
Despite the numerous roles he’s played over the last sixty years, Leonard Nimoy has been and always shall be my Spock. I don’t want to diminish his talent in any way by saying this, but Spock was the first role I saw him in and the last role I saw him in. And I’ve loved every moment of his character. From the Live Long and Prosper hand signal to the stoic dialogue, he was truly amazing at playing the “pointy-eared hobgoblin” (Bones’ words, not mine).
Star Trek has been something that kind of changed my life in a way only a handful of over fandoms have. For me, it was the “next step” beyond Star Wars to introduce me to my love for science fiction and fantasy. I used to “watch” the show with my dad, which became something much more special than “just another TV show” (we have all three seasons of the original series on DVD). But I’ll admit I didn’t really care much until the 2009 reboot movie came out.
And then I was in love and still am.
Leonard Nimoy starred in that as well—as the pivotal point of the story. And I loved J.J. Abrams and the rest of the crew for including him. Because it wasn’t just a reboot now. It was Star Trek in an alternate timeline. How cool was that?
In addition, Leonard Nimoy had that unique voice that could be recognized anywhere. From Atlantis to Transformers and various other voice acting roles in between I enjoyed watching movies that included his talent beyond just acting. I hadn’t even remembered how influential he had been in other things over the years.
But my favorite thing he has done besides Spock is the famous, hilarious, and downright perfect rendition of “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins.” It’s definitely worth watching (and learning). And it appeared in the 2013 STID car commercial, “The Challenge,” that featured both Leonard Nimoy and Zachary Quinto (aka both Spocks) in a race to get to the golf country club. Also a hilarious moment that I will forever love.
Following Leonard Nimoy on twitter was also one of the best social media decisions of my life. Because not only was I following an 80+ year old man on twitter, but the advice and encouragement he spread across the web with a few typed tweets was wonderful. He “adopted” anybody who needed a grandpa as his grandchildren (“honoraries”), he encouraged people to stop smoking or not start at all, and he always ended his tweets with the #LLAP (Live Long and Prosper). He was truly an inspiration.
It was a sad day to hear he had died—especially since for me, it came quite unexpected. I immediately messaged my sister about it and we talked about how sad it was (we're both trekkies and she wrote a song for me about Star Trek once). It saddened me further when I realized next year would have been the 50th anniversary of Star Trek and he didn’t make it to that. The world has lost a bright star and it will be long and hard for Leonard Nimoy to be forgotten. He will always be Spock to me and he will always live long and prosper in the hearts of Trekkies everywhere.
Mirriam Neal
Looking back through my life, there are many threads that wind themselves back through every year as far as I can remember. Leonard Nimoy is one of these threads; or, more specifically, Mr. Spock and Star Trek. I grew up with my parents telling tales of Star Trek, tossing around quotes like ‘He’s dead, Jim’ or ‘There be whales here!’ or ‘I feel…fine.’ When I was old enough to watch them, I drank them in and immediately fell in love with Spock; throughout the whole Original Series, he was my favorite. His struggle to maintain his Vulcan dignity while grappling with his human half was something of constant interest.
Several years ago, a friend gave me a dozen vintage Star Trek books. One of them was full of behind-the-scenes stories, anecdotes and tales from the cast and crew. Leonard and William had an ongoing rivalry of the best kind – who could make the other laugh, who could shock the other most. Leonard would put William’s makeup in the fridge so it was freezing the next day, William would crack a joke on set in an attempt to break Leonard up during filming. You can find bloopers from the Original series on Youtube, and watching Leonard is always the best part.
While he played a stoic Vulcan, Leonard was always the first to smile or laugh, the first to see the joke in any situation. He was a rare person, someone who took his craft seriously, who showed a sense of humor and a sense of solemnity. When I read the news of his death, I could only sit in shock while the reality of it seeped into my bones, and then I cried. It was surreal, a part of my life that would not stretch into my future.
Leonard Nimoy meant a lot to me. He will always be part of my past, and when I tell my own children tales of Star Trek, I’ll tell them of Spock most of all; of the most human Vulcan in the universe. Thank you for everything, Leonard Nimoy. Live long and prosper.
Sky Destrian
Star Trek in my family is practically genetic. Just like your hair and eye color, Star Trek gets passed down throughout the generations. While the concept of traveling through space is certainly interesting, it's the heart of the show that I'm after: the people in it. The various Star Trek characters have meant so much to me over the years. So when I found out about the death of Leonard Nimoy, I cried.
I had already heard about the deaths of DeForest Kelley and James Doohan, but those were before I was born. This was real and happening right in front of me. It was my first experience parting with someone from the Star Trek universe, and someone who was extremely important to me at that.
I never met Mr. Nimoy, obviously. And even when it comes to Star Trek, I know the most about Star Trek: The Next Generation, not The Original Series. But, like many of my generation, one of my first exposures to the Original Series was through the 2009 reboot. As Jaime said, Leonard Nimoy starred in that, and he was fantastic. That was only the beginning.
My dad took me through the original Star Trek movies after that. We started with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, in which there's a moment that has every Star Trek fan crying at the end. That scene, and The Wrath of Khan, are both incredibly close to my heart. We then watched Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, which brought Spock to life in the most glorious of ways.
But, I have to say, my favorite portrayal of Spock is in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Spock tries to fit into the hip and trendy world of Los Angeles, and due to this, he interjects swear words into his speech like everyone else. Hearing a Vulcan use profanity is one of the funniest things I've seen. It's so endearing, in a way, and quite frankly, hilarious. My favorite line is, "They are not the hell your whales!"
Though Spock was a logical being, set on the pursuit of the mind, I would argue that Spock has taught me--and all of us--how to feel. He is arguably one of the most sensible, real characters in Star Trek. While he claimed to be logical, underneath it all Spock was one of the most human characters of all.
As James Kirk said in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, "Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most... human."
But I'd be amiss not to mention that Leonard Nimoy's life went far beyond his role as Spock. Nimoy was a writer, a director, a photographer, and a musician. He wrote two autobiographies, titled I Am Not Spock and I Am Spock, respectively. The titles (and content) of these autobiographies reflect the nuanced relationship Nimoy had with Spock. While it appears Nimoy grew to appreciate Spock later in life, he certainly felt the difficulties of being so closely associated with the character.
That's why I feel it's important to note Nimoy's other achievements. He had a great love for photography. He did several photo series focused In 2007, he did a particularly meaningful photo series called "The Full Body Project," centered around celebrating fuller body-types. (There's a really awesome article about it, here.) His photography is also in several museums.
While Leonard Nimoy is not Spock, through his roles in Star Trek over the years, he has impacted many people, the nerd community in particular. As Jaime mentioned before, Nimoy offered himself as an adoptive grandfather to anyone who wanted it. That's the kind of person he was to us: a fatherly figure, always there for us to trailblaze the way to our next adventure. He was the helmsman of what now has become a flourishing community of nerds. In many ways, he has changed the world of story and fandom forever. We are better people because of his existence, and I am thankful that he chose to share so much with us.
The world lost someone incredible last Friday. However, I firmly believe his legacy will live on in many ways. It will live on every time we continue to look at the world with wonder and excitement, and metaphorically explore the stars (whatever that looks like for us). Most importantly, it will live on every time we improve our world.
"It's all about trying to make the world and the universe a better place. I'm proud to be connected with it. I think we need that in our lives. We need ethical, heroic people trying to do the right thing to help others and to improve life on this planet and in the universe." -- Leonard Nimoy
I can say that without a doubt, Leonard Nimoy has made the universe a better place. Because of him, I am inspired to do the same.
Thank you for your impact on the world and us, Mr. Nimoy. We have been, and always shall be, your fans. LLAP.
The Fangirl Experience is a new, monthly column suggested by Jaime Heller, featuring contributions from both our staff and our readers. Everybody has those moments when being a fangirl feels like the world has become perfectly balanced. It's those moments when you feel a stir in your heart that maybe you've made the right decision in falling down the fandom vortex. When, in the words of my good "friend" Zachary Levi, your "unbridled passion for something, or things, defines who they are as a person without fear of other people's judgment." It's that moment you want to share with the whole world, scream to the rooftops, about what happened. Maybe it's a small moment, maybe it's a big one. But every fangirl has one--or will have one--and we would like to share ours with you. Because our Initiative would be nothing without the Experience.
By Paige Kelly
The Lord of the Rings has always been near and dear to my heart, and thus, always a dream of mine to work on the movies in some way. My chance for being an extra in Middle-earth came and went, but I got to meet someone very involved with The Hobbit while studying abroad--and I wasn’t even anywhere near NZ!
I studied for an academic year at the University of Ulster, Magee, in Northern Ireland. During my first week there, we were given a schedule with orientation events, things such as field trips to scenic and historical sites, lectures, city tours. At the end of the week, a special meet and greet in Belfast (about 2.5 hours away from where I lived in Derry/Londonderry) was on the schedule, and from what I can remember, I think it was only a day or two before that we only found out who the mysterious celebrity was--only known as the “Chancellor” of the university. I had met my best friend a few days previously, and when we discovered that it was, in fact, James Nesbitt, we had a major bonding session over discovering we were both Tolkien fanatics. Nesbitt is a Northern Irish actor from the Coleraine area, where he still lives, and played “Bofur” in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit film trilogy. Not only was I ecstatic about meeting someone who’d worked on these movies and met everyone involved, I had also been a fan of him earlier on in his career when he played “Leo” on the Irish television show, Ballykissangel, which I grew up watching. Meeting an actor who was involved in two of my favourite fandoms on earth?! I was thrilled and was trying to think of questions to ask all week.
Before Nesbitt, I’d never really met anyone who was a major celebrity, so I always thought that people getting starstruck was quite stupid. I mean, they’re normal people, really, as normal as me, right? So normal that they live in tiny places like Coleraine, which is not on anyone’s radar unless you’ve been in Northern Ireland a decent amount of time. But my friend and I, we just plain got excited. We couldn’t sit still the entire bus ride, and she’d stayed up the whole night before inking a drawing of Bofur for him to sign (oh how I wish I’d thought of doing that! I just hastily grabbed my closest Tolkien book and went with it). I think it could safely be said that we were the most excited out of our entire group.
At the campus in Belfast, they had a nice area set up with tables and tea and biscuits, which we were too excited to eat properly, and the room was absolutely packed out with other internationals--basically wall to wall crowds. All my friend and I’s photos are blurry and jumpy both from excitement and bouncing on our toes to see him up front at the podium. Nesbitt gave a nice short little speech, in a Northern Irish accent (I mean, duh, but most things you see him in they change it to a lighter or more English or southern Irish one), about how proud the university was to welcome new international students and what it means to them, although I know my friend and I were both thinking, That’s nice!! Now, describe, IN GREAT DETAIL, what it was like working on the set of The Hobbit. And all the people you met there.
Afterwards, he walked around taking photos and shaking hands, and my friend and I were the nerds walking around the crowd, trying to follow him, not wanting to be pushy and rude but determined not to leave without a photo. When we finally got to him, he turned around and greeted us, asked where we were from. I did most of the talking and told him how I was from North Carolina, and that I was studying in Derry at Magee. He was just as nice and pleasant as could be, very easygoing and smiling the whole time (much like Bofur, I suppose!), and told me how he was just in Derry the previous day and what a wonderful city it was (I believe he commented something along similar lines about North Carolina, but I can’t remember that part). He was very busy with lots of other photographs, but I think--and can’t remember details clearly--I told him how excited I was about The Hobbit, as he was signing my copy of The Fellowship of the Ring (I know, I know, not the same book, but like I said, it was the first thing I grabbed), and how I had loved Ballykissangel. He took a photo with us as well, and then he was off, greeting other students.
All in all, it was a fabulous day. I think my friend and I both walked off a little starstruck, giddy with the fact that we got a picture and autographs and I shook the hand that shook the hands of Peter Jackson, Ian McKellan, Martin Freeman, Orlando Bloom, Richard Armitage, Aiden Turner, Dean O’Gorman, and the list goes on and on… you know how that six degrees of separation theory thing goes? Yeah, I guess I could only say I’m 1 degree away from all those people now.
The funny thing was the local reaction to all this. My friend and I shared it with our church and new friends as a huge highlight, which I’m sure they respected, but their reactions were great--just like “Oh, Jimmy? Aye yeah, he’s just up near Coleraine.” Being such a local, his celebrity status doesn’t really affect them, regardless of the level of celebrity. I think we provided them with quite a bit of amusement and a good laugh over our fangirling. One of my friends who worked at the university there would periodically send me text messages after that notifying me whenever “Jimmy” had just poked his head in the office. It’s nice, common thing that the Irish don’t get too starstruck by celebrities and really just see them as some of their own--I guess when it’s such a small place with relatively few famous people, that’s the way it goes. Whether it was getting excited over meeting actors or bands like Rend Collective Experiment, you’d just get a shrug out of a local with a “that’s all? Sure everyone knows them, like.” They can teach you a good lesson in not getting a big head!
All in all, regardless of whether any more Lord of the Rings related films get made and I get to help out with them, I’m just glad I met one member of the cast who was just as fantastic in real life and one I’m proud to have as the chancellor of my university there. Even if I suddenly forgot every single question I wanted to ask him about filming The Hobbit. But, I remind myself, there’s always next time.
Of course, the Fangirl Initiative wouldn't be complete without the help of you, our readers. We want to hear and feature your stories and tales. If you have a fangirl experience you'd like to share in this column, let us know!
