My White Collar Set Visit!

So, the 14^th of May is now and forever going to be known as Bomer Day, just so you all know.

Now that I’ve put that out there, it is finally time to write a post about how it all came about!

This has taken me a ridiculously long time to get around to, somehow. I had a week off work when I got home from the US and this was something I planned on doing then – and nearly two months later, I’m getting there at last!

So. I don’t know how long ago now, me and my awesome WCHBO crew on Twitter were talking about all going to New York together to hunt down the cast of White Collar. It would have been crazy and all kinds of brilliant, but I was a student then and had said all along that I wouldn’t have the money or be able to take the holidays that soon into my first year of work, so I wouldn’t be able to go. I can’t actually remember how it came about that I mentioned to my mum wanting to go to NY, but somehow our speculative conversations about a trip sometime turned into a booking for a month in the US right after my 21^st birthday. Our first week was in New York, and as amazing and insane and addictive a city as it is, and as much as it has to offer, finding my White Collar boys was still pretty damn high on the to-do list!

Our days in the Big Apple passed and we covered ridiculous amounts of ground; so much so that even though I have the hundreds (and hundreds) of photos to prove it, I can hardly believe that we saw all of the things that we did. But I was starting to get just a tiny bit concerned about the fact that where there are normally White Collar shooting locations being announced what feels like every second day, none of those little ‘don’t-park-here-or-you’ll-get-towed’ signs were making any appearances on street corners anywhere in the city. I couldn’t go all the way to New York (it took me 30 hours to fly there – 30 HOURS, people) and not see them filming. It was a pretty decent amount of the reason I went there in the first place, after all.

I had made tentative plans with a bunch of other fans, some of whom were going for a different WC fan trip, others who had said they’d make the trip so we could all go to the set together, but everything hinged on the announcement of a shooting location for one of the days I was there. People were asking the writers on Twitter if they knew anything, I think some people even asked cast members for me, but we just weren’t getting an answer out of anyone! Luckily for me, just when I was getting to the stage where it was dawning on me that, yes, I had come all this way, and yes, I would miss out on making this huge dream of mine come true, my darling tweetpea Val used her magical skills, working her charm on one of our (and especially her) beloved writers, and managing to find out their filming location for my last day in New York. The night before we were going to go to the set, I felt sick I was so nervous. At that point I just kind of couldn’t get my head around what was potentially going to actually happen the next morning. And even knowing that they really were going to be there, and Matt Negrete knew I was coming, I tried not to let myself count on it, because I had been trying not to get my hopes up before I went, had failed, and had pretty much ended up devastated when I thought it wasn’t going to work out for me.

We were sworn to secrecy about the whole thing; and given that the signs only went up the night before, production might have been trying to keep things quiet as long as possible. Unfortunately, that meant that by the time it appeared on OLV, it was too late for some of my friends, who I would have loved to meet, to make their trips into the city to visit the set with me. Next time, we will organise things better girls, promise!!

So on the day, we headed to the set super early, like Matt told Val I should, and not long after we got there, we spotted him going over some stuff by the monitors for episode 407. I’m kind of a shy person (away from the internet, haha) but luckily I had my absolutely-not-the-slightest-bit-shy Mum with me, who spent her day befriending crew members and extras - to the extent that before one shot towards the end of the day when they were rounding up the background actors, they actually tried to take her with them, haha =P

She thought (and turned out to probably be right) that this might be our best and possibly only chance to talk to Matt, so we headed over to him. He was so lovely!! He signed some sides that I got from Channing Powell on my first afternoon in NY (when we went to a different shooting location only a block from our hotel and saw Mircea Monroe filming one of her scenes as guest star of 406) and also a picture, and then he signed something for Val too, which was really nice of him – and well deserved for her awesome detective work and for making the whole thing happen, something I am and always will be super-grateful for. He also was kind enough to take a photo with me and even record a short video message for Val back home in Sydney =)

He told us what they would be filming that morning (a scene with Tim DeKay and Willie Garson, followed by a scene with Tim and one of the guest stars for that episode, who I feel absolutely horrible for not remembering the name of, even though I definitely knew him from something, I just wish I knew what!), and then that they would be shifting to a different location in the afternoon (to film some stuff with Matt Bomer).

They weren’t quite ready to start filming yet, they were still setting everything up, so we went for a walk for a little while, and when we came back, Tim and Willie were there! They were filming a scene with Peter’s new Taurus, which is massive and very sleek, haha. It was around now that we realised hanging on the wardrobe rack right next to us was a certain Very Important Prop, which Val was trying to convince me to swipe =P

They did a few takes, and between them Tim was looking around and saw us standing over the other side of the street. It was still pretty early and there weren’t really any other people around, so he obviously realised we were there to watch, and he waved to us =) Then, when they were taking a break between shots, he just came right over! I could hardly believe it – people always talk about how awesome a guy Tim is to meet, and I wouldn’t have thought it was possible, but he was even more amazing than I could have expected. You all know how much I love Bomer, but meeting him is kind of a crazy frenzy – Tim is awesome because he is so relaxed, so generous with his time, and he makes sure that he signs everything that gets thrown at him and takes a picture (or five) with every single person who wants one. I have a whole new kind of love and immense respect for him now!! He signed some pictures for me, and signed Val’s too, and then took pictures with me and Mum =) One of the most adorable parts was when he first came over and said hi and asked our names and where we were from and everything, and he was like, “Hi, I’m Tim”, haha =P

After he chatted with us for a bit and signed everything and took pictures, he had to go film some more, but he said he’d send Willie over to see us. He called out to him from across the street and was like, “These guys came from Australia!” and Willie was impressed, he came over and made a joke about Tim being in Men at Work for a few years way back when, lol. He asked our names and everything and was asking if we wanted to take some pictures when they called him back over because they were ready to shoot some more, so he said he’d come back when they were done.

We watched them film some more, from the other side of the street since they were filming the reverse angle of what they had already done, and Willie tried a couple of times to come over to see us between takes, but every time he tried they kept calling him back! Eventually they stopped for a break and he finally made it over to us, and he also signed my picture and took some photos with us.

Not long after that, they finished filming his part, and started moving things around to film Tim’s scene with Mystery Guest Guy, so we decided since we’d already been there a while to go look around a bit and have some food and stuff. On our way to a coffee shop we found all the wardrobe trucks and cast trailers and everything, which was pretty cool. We also found The Van!

After that, we decided to head down to the end of the street they were filming on and have a look at the Intrepid, which is an aircraft carrier-turned-museum. It was fun, and while we were there I got a message from Carol, so when we left there we met up with her and her husband Ryan, and headed back to the set. When we got back, they were filming a big scene with lots of extras dressed as staff of the company in the episode and as FBI agents, and Marsha Thomason was there! We only got to see her from across the street, and apparently Sharif Atkins was there too, but we didn’t see him at all.

It was after that that Tim and Willie came back over, because more people had turned up, including Cynthia and Tammy. They were both taking photos with everyone, and signing stuff, and generally being awesome =)

At the same time, an assistant was there with them, and some of the other girls from the WC forum who had turned up were asking when Matt was going to be there, and she said we might get the chance to see him later in the afternoon, but that he wouldn’t have time for signing anything or hanging around to chat, he would only be able to take a couple of quick pictures and then he would have to go. I was a little disappointed to hear that I might not get to get his autograph, since I had managed to get the others, but a photo would have been more than enough, and would have been much better than nothing! After that, most of the forum people decided to head off, because they had other things planned for the day, so we decided we would go and have lunch somewhere, and come back later to see Matt. As we were wandering further away though, I started stressing out that if we got back late we wouldn’t get to see Matt at all, so me and Mum went back down to the bridge at the end of the street were Matt Negrete and a couple of other crew members had said they would be filming that afternoon.

We were kind of just hanging around, since one absolutely awesome crew guy (who was super cute and helpful) had tried to give us a time when Matt would be heading down there so we might be able to see him on his way, because it was a few blocks from the trailers to the location. We were standing at the bottom of this road just talking and hanging around and then suddenly Mum goes, “Claire! Claire! It’s him!” Cue, heart attack. Because, right there in front of me, quite possibly the finest human being ever created, in the flesh. I think I actually nearly died, my heart was beating so fast and I was completely speechless. He was so sweet! He would have known that’s why we were there, because there wasn’t really a lot else in that area other than all of their stuff, and even though he must have been in a hurry, he still stopped, which was awesome. He was wearing sunglasses when he first walked up to us, but took them off to take a photo with me. He asked how we were, and where we were from, and I think he might have asked if we were enjoying ourselves? To be honest, it is kind of all this insane blur – all I could think was “oh my God, is this happening right now?!” and “far out, he’s pretty”, and “that’s a lot of make-up”, haha. I think my facial expression in the photo kind of sums up how stunned I was, I couldn’t quite believe he had managed to walk the full length of that block without us even seeing him until he was right there, oops! I wish I had turned around sooner and had been paying a bit more attention so I might have seen him swagger down the street with his cool glasses on, lol. Next time..?

He stayed for a few minutes and then he had to go, but the same crew members we had seen earlier in the day when we were watching Tim and Willie filming let us hang around while they finished setting up. They were filming on a walkway that crosses 12^th Ave and goes across to the Intrepid, so we watched for a while until they were ready to start filming. Matt’s scene was with Perrey Reeves, and we watched the first couple of takes from just below the walkway, but then we moved away a bit so we wouldn’t distract them.

When we were sitting on some benches over near where all the extras were hanging around, one came over to ask if we were fans of the show and if we were enjoying ourselves. I was like, um, absolutely, haha! 

They moved from the top of the walkway to film Matt going up and down the stairs a few times, and then while we were watching that I spotted Carol and Tammy and Cynthia watching from the other side of the fence around the lot, so I went over to see them. We could see Matt up the top chatting to people, and then he looked over and saw us and waved, which was cool. We were just hanging around chatting, and Mum went to take some pictures of them filming over the other side of the lot near The Van. After that, they seemed to be finished, and they were packing up all their stuff and lots of people were leaving. We all still hung around, because we were hoping that Matt was going to come by, but then this organiser-type guy was standing by the gate and he called this other guy over, I think to try to stop us mobbing Matt or something, haha! Sometime around then was when Michele arrived, and I’m pretty sure she has the best timing of like any person ever, because it was also right about then that Matt was leaving, and even though the organiser-guy was trying to get him to go with him to their next location (a hotel a few blocks away where they were going to be filming inside), he stopped and came over to us! He recognised some people, like Carol, and he was chatting with everyone and took loads of pictures with us all – luckily, he was nice enough to take a few photos with each person - especially since the first one I took with him that time I looked like a complete idiot, haha - my half of that picture will never see the light of day!

He was carrying loads of stuff, his umbrella and coffee and everything, but Carol goes, “He’s standing right there, if you get your magazine out I’m sure he’ll sign it for you,” and she gave me a marker and everything, so we thought even though the other lady had said earlier he wouldn’t be signing stuff, he hopefully wouldn’t mind.  Luckily for me, he didn’t, and signed my copy of Vanity Fair with the USA Summer promo thing in it, which Tim and Willie had both already signed for me earlier. 

Matt was seriously lovely; even though it was clear he was in a hurry and was needed somewhere else, he still made sure everyone got their pictures and was chatting with us all  and asking how the people were that he’d met before – it is kind of awesome that he remembered quite a few of the girls! And then just as quickly as he’d arrived, he was gone, and I could commence my complete brain-melt about the fact that that entire thing had just happened.

We all hung around for a little while longer, talking and being stoked, and I said a proper hello to Michele, who I hadn’t met before, and then after a while we all started walking and eventually went our separate ways; some people had to go home and the rest of us had hotels and stuff to go back to. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face; it was without a doubt one of the greatest days of my fangirl life, finally getting to make a mega-dream of mine come true!!

There are a few people who I have already mentioned but I have to thank again, because it never would have been possible without them – from the first day, the couple of ladies who told us we hadn’t entirely missed everything, and where we should go to see what was left of filming, and Channing Powell; and then from the second day, Matt Negrete, all of the awesome crew who told us where they were going to be when, Umbrella Guy, who I really wish I knew the real name of because he was lovely and probably the reason I got to meet Matt, the extras who chatted with us while we watched, but mostly, my darling tweetpea Val, who was the one who managed to get the location out of someone and who made sure they knew I was coming and just how far I had come, haha. It definitely would not have worked out without your help dear, and I hope you know how grateful I am – and how much they all can’t wait to meet their Sydney Superfan!

Hopefully this won’t be the last time I get to meet the most awesome cast and crew in television, but if it does turn out to be my only visit, this fangirl can die happy, haha =)

Until next time,

C xoxo