Fringetastic Night: Meeting Josh & Anna

By Arianne Robbins (@fringe__forever)

It was the night of Wednesday, January 18th 2012. Aside from being clear and beautiful, it was also -17 degrees Celsius, the coldest day of the year. My mom, little brother Alex and I walked down Alexander St (in Gastown) at a leisurely pace, as our feet were already beginning to freeze and stiffen.

I clapped my hands in glee and smiled widely as I caught sight of black tents, accompanied by a set of tracks with cameras mounted upon them.

Next to the tracks, a silver Nissan Leaf was parked. I recognized it as Olivia's car! The set was like a beehive, there were constant movements and shouting. In front of the set, a group of people has gathered and were chatting excitedly. Once we reached the swarm, I reached into my bag and took out my clipnote. Inside, I had carefully arranged in this order, my envelope for Anna (containing: the drawing I did of her and a fan letter), two copies of a photo edit I did of Josh, John and Anna (hopefully to be signed!) and a printout of the filming notice with the address.

My small pale hands shook with nervous excitement as I clutched my clipnote tight, teeth gritted against the cold. My blue eyes wandered towards the tents in the left and I saw JOSHUA JACKSON! I whispered to my mom: "That's him! Joshua Jackson IN THE FLESH!" My mom just looked at me and said "Why don't you go over and say hi? You might not get the chance later!" And so I did! Calmly, I strode over to where he was standing, taking pictures with a couple of fans. Once they left, I looked him straight in the eyes and said "Hi! I'm Arianne. I'm a HUGE fan of Fringe! Could you please sign this for me?" I held out my photo edit and a blue pen.  He then asked me, " What's your name?". I told him and he replied "Arianne... Is that FRENCH?". I told him yes it was indeed! Then he went on to say how he and Diane have a house in France and how much they love it there. He and my mom talked for awhile too! He then signed " To Arianne, enjoy our show, Joshua Jackson". I thanked him and asked if I could have my picture taken with him. He encircled my waist with his right hand and my mom clicked away. I said thank you once more, told him he was awesome, and went back to stand and watch the filming.

I stood there, shivering and smiling like an idiot. In my mind I

thought to myself "WHERE IS ANNA?!?!" And right before my eyes, there she was. She chatted quickly with Joel and climbed into the Nissan Leaf. And just like that, the camera began rolling and Joel called out "ACTION!" She opened the door, looked left than right, stride down the street and caught sight of Peter leaving a building. He saw her also, and she broke into a run. He opened his arms to her, and she flung herself at him. He twirled her around while gazing into her eyes lovingly. They closed the embrace with a passionate kiss. "CUT!" Joel called, and they broke apart. Anna patted Josh on the back, they smiled at each other and she headed back to the car. There, she had her makeup touched up, and they filmed the scene again.

When they stopped for a break before filming resumed, Anna was walking back towards the tent. I heard my mon say to me "THAT'S YOUR CHANCE!" So, I took it! I jogged over towards the tent, raising my voice slightly "Anna! Could I please talk to you for a second?" She stopped in mid stride and  turned towards me. I asked politely, "Could you please sign this for me?" holding out my photo edit and the blue pen. She took it from me, and signed it. I asked if I could have my picture taken with her, and she said to me "Of course!" in her super cute Aussie accent, and put her arm around me! After my mom took the first picture, she said to Anna "I'm sorry, your eyes were closed, could we have another?" Anna blushed, said she was sorry, and yes.

It was very sweet! My mom got a good shot of us, and packed away the camera. I turned toward Anna and pulled out the envelope I had brought for her, and handed it to her. She took it, looked me STRAIGHT IN THE EYES OH MY GOD, and beamed at me! "Thank you!!" she said. I melted. "You're very welcome!!" I said and smiled. Just as I was leaving, she caught my shoulder and said "I stole the cap of your pen!" and handed it I'm back to me. I smiled again and said that was perfectly okay. I told her she was awesome, and wonderful. Then we took one last look around, and left.

THE END!

Ps. I wrote this the day after it happened, back in 2012. I was only 14 at the time (I'm almost 18 now)!

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