Lucas Land: Prince of Darkness

  (Previous chapter: ID Please)

Over my two years as web writer and then editor of starwars.com, I happened to run into my share of celebrities. Protocol dictated that Lucasfilm employees would refrain from drooling all over themselves whenever one star or another walked in—as they were wont to do—but it didn't mean some of those encounters would leave any less of a mark, no matter how cool you played it at the time.

There was the big man himself, George Lucas, on a couple of occasions; personal heroes of mine such as sound designer Ben Burtt (busy mixing Episode I, no less); actors the likes of Robert Redford, devastatingly handsome as always and having dinner at one of the Skywalker Ranch restaurants; and a host more, either properly introduced and greeted in the flesh with a handshake, or else glimpsed en passant which was sometimes even more charming.

And then, surprisingly, there was Ozzy Osbourne.

The affair took place at Skywalker Ranch on May 17, 1999—a mere two days before the official release of Episode I. As part of the big fanfare for the new Star Wars movie, an assortment of artists had been invited to attend what was labeled the MTV Premiere. The event consisted of a grand gathering on the grounds of the Ranch, a cornucopia of items to eat and drink (and at least twice that number of photo ops), with a handful of official speeches followed by an advance screening of The Phantom Menace. 

And as the in-house reporter, I was sent to the scene of the crime and tasked with reporting on the proceedings. 

There were a ton of people pouring in. I remember seeing Paul Rudd and Carmen Electra, just as I recall walking by Ryan Reynolds and almost running into Bruce Boxleitner (TRON, man!). At some point I noticed Elijah Wood—and I'm told Orlando Bloom was also in attendance, although I hadn't yet seen him in anything at that point. Edward Furlong showed up, then Usher, and a veritable torrent of actors and musicians and models that no dam could stop. Not to mention notable elements from the cast and crew.

For a while I just stood around with a glass in my hand, smiling and wondering what I'd end up reporting, because in the end there wasn't a whole lot to write about: it was a show for the MTV camera crew and little else. A man all dressed in black (leather pants), with long slick hair and sunglasses, and—like me—carrying a drink he didn't seem to know what to do with, walked up to me and asked how I was doing. 
The Prince of Darkness.

We ended up talking for the better part of a half hour, discussing life, death, philosophy. He had made the trip with one of his kids, and as we watched him running around in the grass that always seemed greener at the Ranch than anywhere else, Ozzy told me that life was moving fast and that I had to make sure I took it all in. "Still, take time to breathe, in and out. We'll be dead before we know it: we have to make it last."
So I stood there next to him. Breathing in and breathing out, with Ozzy Osbourne. Neither of us touching our drinks.

He didn't take off the shades, of course, which means I never got to really look the man in the eye. As he excused himself (without a handshake, I was sorry to notice) wished me good day and ambled off, I felt a strange connection like nothing I experienced before or since. As if I'd been visited by the spirit of an unexpected mentor who'd imparted some ancient wisdom to the eager youngster that I was, before gently floating away, his task accomplished.

It took me a while to realize we'd never even talked about Star Wars.

But in a way, that's all we talked about.

(Next chapter: Hero Worship – coming soon)

(Full series here!)

 

 

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