Starstruck

I have a confession to make.

For thirty-something years of my life, I have never felt starstruck before. I have met many famous CEOs of multinational companies and interviewed them during my years as an IT journalist.

But I was NEVER, EVER awestruck. Until I met Eric Khoo during a recent interview.

Yes, THAT Eric Khoo who has put tiny Singapore on the world stage in the film industry. I've watched some of his movies: his debut film "Mee Pok Man"; "12 Storeys"; and "Be With Me". I've read about him in the news. I've seen his pictures, which were taken with gorgeous celebrities at the Festival de Cannes.

So when I was told I would get to interview the man himself for a client of mine, I thought: "Wow."

Then "Wow." turned into this strange feeling in my stomach when I finally met Eric. He has always come across as very serious, very dark, and very stern in his photographs. So for the first time in my life as a reporter, I was nervous. Oh dear, what if I asked questions that he thought was stupid (though I have put in hours of research before the interview)? What if he asked me something about his film/s and all he gets is this blank stare from me. What if all I got were moody, monosyllabic replies. What if. What if?

Then the interview started, and what a relief! He is very serious about his work but he is such a wonderful person to talk to. None of the stereotypical star-attitude that some celebrities gave reporters. Eric gave lots of interesting quotes, he is very passionate about his work, and he is very down to earth.

Whew. What a relief.

I never told Terence that I asked to take a photograph with Eric. (He'll find out for the first time from this blog!) I'll get teased to death. He'll think I'm going through some strange phase. No. No. No. I was just starstruck from meeting a truly talented man.

P/S: But all the high I experienced from meeting a celebrity quickly dissipated when I sat down to write the story for my client. With so many great quotes, it became a massive exercise to squeeze them into a specific word count.