New York, March 13, 2006 – “These are people she probably won’t talk to” said the publicist to a security guard during a walk-through of the gigantic media setup at Jazz at Lincoln Center, before the V for Vendetta premiere. Alas, the publicist was gesturing directly at our section of the massive red carpet, and sure enough, without a video camera, you didn’t get to chat with Natalie Portman. Her V costar, Australian actor Hugo Weaving, is currently appearing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in the play Hedda Gabler, with Cate Blanchett. “This is my day off”, Weaving deadpanned.

There were plenty of others at the premiere that we didn’t get to speak with, like Mark Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon, Robert Downey, Jr., Paul Rudd and designer Marc Jacobs, who was solo, this time.