Reported by: Jessica Noll Photographed by: Jessica NollWeb produced by: Jessica NollMaysville’s Second Street, was lined with, what the mayor estimated as about 3,000 adoring, screaming and sign-holding fans, at Monday night’s red carpet movie premiere featuring George Clooney and Renée Zellweger.
“This is the best night, in the best town, in the best state in America,” said Maysville Mayor David Cartmell.
The two Oscar winners joined local politicians like Gov. Steve Beshear and his wife Jane, beauties like Miss America 2000 Heather Renée French and fans like Diana Martinez from Radcliff, Ky., at the Washington Opera House.
“I’m hoping to see George in the flesh, that is the goal,” said Martinez, who made a sign welcoming Clooney home.
Martinez got her wish to see Clooney and Zellweger up-close and in-person. The two worked the crowd starting before 7 p.m. and not going inside the theater until the premiere started at 8 p.m.
They were signing pillowcases, hand-drawn pictures, magazines, photos, footballs, shirts, hats and “Leatherheads” flyers.
The hometown star, George hugged a little girl in the crowd and one lucky woman, Karen Edwards of Edgewood, Ky., who was celebrating her birthday Monday.
Fan Becky Sullivan of Vanceburg, Ky., brought the pillowcase that her deceased mother embroidered as she “thought it would be something nice” for him to sign, making it even more special to her.
Robin Plate from Cincinnati travels around the country meeting soap opera stars, but Monday night, she had her eye on the red carpet hoping for a glimpse of Clooney and Zellweger.
“You always hear about premieres in Hollywood – so it’s neat to have it here,” Plate said. “It reminds us that he [George] has a family and tat he cares – he has class and values.”
The man who taught George his values may have just been his own father Nick, who was in attendance boasting on his son.
“I’m very proud,” he said of his son.
Nick’s sister and actress Rosemary also had a movie premiere in Maysville at the Russell Theater in 1953. He said his family and the town have come full circle.
“You can just imagine it, like wow, what a way to bracket a lifetime – and all those years in between,” Nick said. “Fifty years ago as a young man, my sister had a premiere here and now as an old man, my son is here, it’s great.”
And George said it was good to be home.
“Coming back here is so important,” he said. “This is home for us – it’s important for us to bring this full circle and like Rosemary said: ‘It’s nice to be home again.’”
French, Miss America 2000, a Maysville hometown girl herself, grew up with George she said.
“George is our favorite son,” she said of the man she called a real “jokester at heart.”
“We come from a great community – they encourage us,” French said of the tiny town on the Ohio River.
A tiny town that just won the high school state championships.
“This has the country’s focus on Kentucky – Maysville has hit the trifecta with basketball, Clooney and Clinton (Bill Clinton is visiting the town Tuesday),” said Beshear, who presented julep cups to both George and Zellweger.
Beshear jokingly said the cup to George said, “Congrats, invite me to the Oscars so we can do this again.”
As he presented the cups to them he said, “George, your our favorite son and Renée, we’re adopting you.”
Before the premiere started in the opera house, Cartmell proclaimed Monday, March 25, 2008 as ‘Renée Zellweger Day’ and every other day of the year as ‘George Clooney Day’ – Not that fans don’t celebrate George Clooney in Maysville every day.
Fans were not only able to celebrate, see and meet two of Hollywod’s biggest stars, but they had the chance to win tickets to see the movie Monday night at the second showing of “Leatherheads,” a football movie set in the ’20s, with a romantic comedic twist.
In fact, in the movie two men are fighting over Zellweger’s character, so the question was asked if she has ever had two guys fighting over her?
Laughing, Zellweger said, “Not that I know of.”
George explained why not only did he want to come home for the movie premiere but why it made sense for the movie.
“It’s a small town movie and it should be in a small town,” said Clooney, actor and director of the movie “Leatherheads,” who also told everyone he could, on the red carpet to stop at Magee’s Bakery for a transparent pie.
“Stuff it in your heart,” he laughed.
