Serendipity - WDW's birthday adventure with Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth and Jonathan Ross - and Maggie in London

Sometimes you just have to wonder and last night was one of those occasions. Wet Dark and Wild had its first birthday yesterday and I have always been very aware of, and not to mention grateful for, the luck and good fortune that has followed me about during that year - now and again it's hard even to believe. The name of this site was inspired by Robert Downey Jr, an actor for whom, through his portrayal of Paul Avery in Zodiac and his obvious friendship and professional support for Jake Gyllenhaal, I have a deep regard. 'Wet, dark and wild' seemed, to me, to sum up everything that drew me to Jake.




So how amazing that on the birthday of the site, I go to see the recording of the Jonathan Ross show, thanks to Ruby, and discover that we're not seeing the filming of tonight's show after all (that took place on Monday) but next Friday's instead. And there on the show, direct from the London premiere of Ironman, was Robert Downey Jr himself. And not only that, the other guest was another co-star of Jake's, Gwyneth Paltrow, who was wearing the deadliest pair of heels I have ever seen. Having said that, RDJ's footwear was pretty incredible and ubercool, an effect highlighted by bright red socks. I did kinda wonder if Robert had kept his Ironman boots as a souvenir.


The show itself was a great experience to watch, although delayed for a couple of hours due to the premiere. Robert was the first guest and endured the first degree on Marvel Comics - Jonathan Ross is a self-admitted Marvel comic geek (sorry, enthusiast) and even came along prepared with his very own Ironman mask (silver foil, cardboard box and the finger from a large pointy hand) and machine gun that fired large numbers of elastic bands to an alarming noise. We were in the second row and I did fear that my Jonathan Ross TV debut could be me getting twanged on the nose by a rubber band. The picture below is illicit so it's wonky.


Otherwise, Robert was asked about his family and whether he had ever smoked a pipe. Not unexpectedly, the answer was yes. His motivation, he said, for doing Ironman was that he wanted to do a film more than eight people would see - to demonstrate the point, Robert asked how many people in the audience had heard of his last film called Fur, which showed him depicting a character who suffered from a condition that led to long hairs growing over his entire body. Point made.


Robert was very relaxed but clearly not an expert on comic books although he did appear to be a fan of the extremely likeable and hilarious Jonathan Ross (his mime of his dog's behaviour when it had a stick stuck up its backside is not something I'm going to forget in a hurry). One thing that struck me about Robert is how, now and then, he made me think I was in the same room as Paul Avery - he got the look.


Gwyneth was beautiful and very tall (not surprising, considering the shoes). She wore a different dress to the one she wore at the premiere - a lovely black number with a slightly longer skirt. She mentioned Proof as the last big film she worked on, but only mentioned Antony Hopkins. Gwyneth seemed to indicate that she wished she were married to the lead singer of Radiohead instead of Coldplay and she said that her days of the microdiet were over - pregnancy gave her a deep appreciation of icecream that I can truly understand. She supped a pint of Guiness like a good'un (her favourite drink - she took it away with her) and had a good go at a Scottish accent but then she said that the only paper she read was the Financial Times, that she didn't watch movies, just documentaries, and my old view of Gwyneth from Proof came flooding over me and I think I may have nodded off. Great shoes though.




Just for the halibut, here is a picture of me outside the hospitality area of the BBC, next to the icon of 60s' and 70s' UK TV - the Doctor's Tardis.



Back to Jake... A poster on IMDb seems to indicate that next week filming on Nailed is moving back to the Statehouse in Columbia so more sightings will hopefully follow.

Also, there is the rumour by 'sources' (them again) that Jake is to open an organic restaurant in LA with Chris Fischer. We've heard this rumour before - in fact, I think this one pops up each summer - but, if it's true this time, may I just point out that my bar skills are legendary and I can do the washing up if I have to. I was amused by the NY Daily News: 'Jake Gyllenhaal wants to open a restaurant. One source says, "Cooking is his big hobby and his passion. It's nothing for him to whip up miso-marinated cod with braised microgreens." Note to self: don't go to Jake Gyllenhaal's restaurant.' What on earth is miso-marinated cod? Is it tasty?


The Gyllenhaals in London

Yesterday, Maggie Gyllenhaal was seen in Holland Park, London. Ruby and I went through Holland Park ourselves yesterday. The day before, Maggie was spotted in a cafe with Ramona and, judging from this picture, Maggie isn't the only Gyllenhaal in London at the moment - I do believe that is Maggie's father Stephen enjoying the spring weather with his family.


Includes pictures from IHJ, WDW, The Mail On Sunday and Popsugar.