In the summer of 1982, a heartwarming film called “E..T. The Extraterrestrial” - directed by Steven Spielberg - opened in theaters nationwide. It became an instant classic and the entire world fell in love with it - including yours truly.
Little did I know that several decades later I would meet one of the stars of the film - Dee Wallace - at the world-famous Chinese Theater in Hollywood!
Dee was at the theater to attend the 2023 Golden State Film Festival and support the Independent short film “Lena’s Dance” that she recently starred in and won Best Actress at the 2022 Cannes Shorts festival!
Based on a true story, "Lena's Dance" tells the story of two people generations apart, 16-year-old Michael, a gay high school student, and 98-year-old Lena, who lives at the nursing home where Michael works part-time, (just outside of Boston, MA) who serendipitously end up transforming each other lives forever after an unexpected encounter at the nursing home one late evening. It's such a heartwarming film and Dee's performance in it is delightful.
Anyway, the Writer, Producer, and Co-Star of the film Michael Sean McHale whom I’ve known for the past 10 years is also great friends with Dee. So when he invited me to the Film Festival to see a screening of the film he mentioned that Dee would be there too! The hairs on the back of my neck instantly stood up. I couldn't wait to meet this amazing actress whom I have admired since I saw her in "E.T." all those years ago!
Michael knew that I wanted to ask Dee to be on my podcast so when she arrived at the theater he quickly introduced us and the rest is Hollywood Obsessed history! As you can see from the photo above I was thrilled to meet her! As a matter of fact, it was right after we took that photo that she graciously said that she would love to be a guest on my podcast!
Needless to say, I have thanked Michael multiple times since then for introducing us that night. And for making another one of my Hollywood dreams come true! I'm so grateful to have such wonderful friends like him in my life here in Tinseltown. :)
If you’d like to see the trailer for “Lena’s Dance” go to - https://www.lenasdance.com
Aside from starring in “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial”, Dee also starred in the Stephen King horror film “Cujo”, “The Howling”, “Critters”, and "The Frighteners”, among many other fantastic films throughout the 1980s, ’90s and 00’s.
Listen to my fascinating conversation with the wonderful Dee Wallace using the links below. Enjoy!
Episode 13 - HERE
Episode 14 - HERE
