Kim Westover - JAG set visit Jan. 2002
Meeting David James Elliott and Catherine Bell:
My story of meeting David James Elliott (and Catherine Bell) is long. And it was 3 years ago, but I don't think I will **ever** forget one moment of it!!!
Here goes:
It started back in August or September (that part is a little harder to remember) of 2001.
My dad is Dr. Jerry Falwell's Executive Assistant. (I don't know if any of you are familiar with Dr. Falwell and his ministry or not. I won't go into who he is, unless you e-mail and tell me you don't know, then I will explain.)
Anyway, my dad got a call from Charles Floyd Johnson, the CO-Executive Producer of "JAG", (hereafter referred to as CFJ) saying, that Don Bellisario had created and was producing a new show that would be a CBS 2001-2002 mid-season replacement, entitled "First Monday."
My dad is the one, to whom anyone must talk first, if they want to schedule Dr. Falwell to speak somewhere or make an appearance on a television program. In other words, my dad manages Dr. Falwell's schedule.
Mr. Bellisario wanted Dr. Falwell to appear in an episode of "First Monday" (the second episode) that dealt with the subject of abortion and parental rights, concerning a minor having an abortion, because of Dr. Falwell's very public stand against abortions.
The two schedules (Dr. Falwell's and "First Monday" filming) were difficult to mesh and there were MANY telephone conversations between my dad and CFJ. In the course of these conversations, my dad told him what big "JAG" fans we (our family) are and especially his daughter - me. My dad also told CFJ that his daughter is the biggest Harm and Mac fan of all. CFJ told my dad to let him know if we were ever going to be in the L. A. area during the filming and he would arrange for us to visit the set.
Well, I was on Cloud Nine just hearing that!!!!
My dad and Dr. Falwell finally got the schedules all arranged with CFJ and they went out to L. A. in October of 2001 to do the filming. Daddy actually met CFJ and DPB at that time and again they extended the invitation for our family to come visit the set.
My best friend Connie and I had planned to go out to L. A. for the JAG Convention - I had already purchased, not only our Convention tickets, but our airline tickets as well and we were supposed to sit at DJE's table. Needless to say I was very upset when the Convention was cancelled (and the convention organizer refused to refund my $614.50)
So since I already had the airline tickets on USAir, I just had to have the date changed on them.
My parents were going to Hawaii with a plane change in L. A. (on a different airline - Delta) the 8th of January 2002 so they just moved their departure date up two days and I had Connie's and my tickets changed to Sunday, January 6th, 2002. Connie had never been to L. A. so she and I planned to stay all week and I was going to show her around and do all the touristy things.
Well, of course, nothing is ever as easy as it seems.
I live in Lynchburg Virginia in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. And it sleeted/snowed here on Sunday, January 6, 2002, the day we were to leave for L. A.
The night before we were to leave, Delta Airlines called and asked my dad if he and mother could leave on the 6AM flight instead of the 10AM flight because we were expecting sleet and snow around 11AM. My dad said yes, they could. I then asked my dad to call USAir to see if Connie and I should/could leave earlier also. So instead of an 11AM flight we took a 9:30 flight.
Although it was not a problem getting out of Lynchburg because we changed to the earlier flight, Connie and I had to change planes in Pittsburgh, where it was REALLY snowing. Our flight to L. A. from Pittsburgh was delayed leaving by about 5 hours. I was a nervous wreck!!! Not because of flying in general, or the weather in general, but with the delays, I was afraid we wouldn't get there in time!
Well, Connie and I finally arrived at the airport in L. A., 5 hours late, but we got there! Starving, too, I might add, and my parents were waiting on us with the rental car.
Our day on the set was scheduled for Monday, January 7, 2002 and we were to be at the studio in Valencia at 11AM PST.
Monday morning I was so nervous I was almost sick. I couldn't eat anything for breakfast. We left the hotel around 9AM because we were staying in Beverly Hills and didn't know how long it would take us to get there and find the studio in Valencia, which is about an hour north of L. A.
We arrived around 10AM and found the studio, but since we had a hour to spare, we drove around, etc.
We went back and got there about a quarter until 11 and went in the main lobby where the offices are located.
My dad went to find somebody to tell us were to go from there.
A very nice young man took us to "JAG OPS" and showed us where to sit and gave us the little monitors and head sets so we could see and hear what was being filmed. On the set, the filming action actually takes place in another room from where the visitors sit.
As we went through the double doors of "JAG Ops" -- there *he* was, standing there talking to one of the crew with a cup of coffee in his hand...DAVID JAMES ELLIOTT IN PERSON!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My mother tapped me on the shoulder and said. "there he is." I guess David must have heard her because he turned around and that brilliant, blinding smile was firmly in place!! I FORGOT HOW TO BREATHE!!!!!
(I am in a wheelchair and it is a good thing because I am sure I would have passed out right there at his feet!)
He also has the most beautiful eyes!! I know they tend to change color with his moods and what he is wearing. His eyes were the most beautiful green that day!
CFJ had told DJE and CB that we would be visiting that day and had, in fact, arranged the filming schedule so they would be filming scenes together while we were there.
That day DJE was wearing the short sleeved khakis; "peanut butters," I believe they are called. I was so excited about that because, even though I think he looks great in anything...the short sleeved khakis are my personal favorite on him. So it was like he was dressed just for my preference that day.
We went over and sat down, turned our monitors on and put our headphones on so we could see and hear what was going on.
They were filming the "courtroom" scene in the episode, "Head to Toe." It was the Season 7 episode about the Navy Lieutenant who was stationed in Saudi Arabia and drove herself into town and didn't wear the Muslim robe and head scarf.
When DJE came back out, he started talking to Matt Sigloch (the military technical advisor -- he is really nice too), then the next thing I knew DJE was dragging (literally) a startled Matt, over to meet us. David did not introduce himself, he introduced Matt and then waited for us to introduce ourselves. (That cracked me up!)After David introduced Matt, my dad introduced all of us. Then David shook our hands.
Next, we did the photos of all of us with David. Matt took those photos and then my dad took a photo of just David and I together. David knelt next to me and put his arm on my wheelchair next to mine. I WAS SO NERVOUS!!!!!!!!!!!
After that, we talked for a little while until he had to go do another "take" of a scene. Then he would come back and talk to us between "takes."
I could tell he was shy and uncomfortable meeting strangers though. Oh, he was VERY nice, but he kept the conversation going and didn't give us much of a chance to ask questions. I think he does that on purpose so that he can kind of control the direction of the conversation, so it doesn't get too personal.
He invited us to have lunch in their lunch room, but then when we got in there he just got his food from the food services cart and went back to his trailer.
One of the crew had brought homemade cookies that day and every time he would come back in the area where we were he was munching on a cookie. I don't know how he stays so thin if he eats sweets like that and I understand he has quite a sweet tooth. I guess all that running and exercising he does is how he keeps the weight off. Speaking of his weight...I remember a few episodes previous to us going out there people on the lists were talking about he looked like he had gained weight. Well, it was all in the camera! He was VERY thin.
We met Catherine, too and did the photo session with her also. She is really sweet. And so tiny (tall, but tiny) and so delicate, almost fragile looking, not frail, just fragile.
Although I think CB makes a great Marine, if I had met her before she started on JAG and then been told she had been cast as a Marine I would have a hard time believing she could pull it off until I saw it. Of course, now I know she can!
We spent about 4 hours on the set (including the hour break for lunch) and it was one of the best times of my life. I will never forget it!!!!
There was one time David was really having trouble with his lines and they had to do take after take after take. At one point, he stopped and said he forgot his lines. I told Mother, that by that time, I knew his lines!! And he had trouble with one line that he would just get so tongue twisted every time he said it. Finally he asked if he could say it a little differently, but it would mean the same and they let him. When the episode aired, that line had been dropped.
Oh, I almost for got to mention, that after every take, when David would come out where we were, Matt would tuck David's shirt back in his pants. The first time he did that my eyes nearly popped out of my head as I looked over and Matt had David's pants unzipped and he was tucking David's shirt into his pants. That was a sight!
Instead of taking a gift to David, because I couldn't think of anything to get him, I took a gift for his daughter, Stephanie. (This was a year before Wyatt came along).
I have a friend that writes children's books and he has 4 in a series published, so I took 3 of them since the 4th had only been published a couple of weeks and I couldn't get one before I went out there.
DJE seemed touched that I would think of Stephanie. He said she would be there after school, so this would give her something to do while she waited on him. There was also a stuffed animal of the main character of the books I included.
I hope she enjoyed them and hopefully they are reading them to Wyatt and he is enjoying them and the stuffed animal, too.
Well, that's the highlights, I think. I would be happy to answer any questions. Just e-mail me or I guess you can ask on the list if the moderator doesn't mind.
I hope it all makes sense!
I am always happy to discuss David and Harm.
Thanks for reading.