Gale Harold fanmeet

MEETING YOU WAS AMAZING! I’ll say it again, it was amazing!

I met Gale Harold this year in Bilbao atthe fanmeet organized by ZarataEvents on September 26th and 27th.

Everything begun on March 2015 when my niece, Serena, and my sister Gabriella came to live with me. Serena is a wonderful 18 years old lesbian girl. Talking about “The L World”, another TV showthat’s entirely about the lesbian and LGBT world, she started talking about“QueerAs Folks” tooand I told her I’d never seen it;she also talked to me about one of the actors in the series, Gale Harold . I had no idea who that was.

I got curious and started watching the series dubbed in Italian, and right after the first episodeI was speechless in front of Gale’s handsomenessand his character’s, Brian Kinney. I literally devoured the whole TV showand then ran to buy the DVD in the original language.

Now I know who Gale Harold is! Ah,I’m sure you’ll say, now you get it! I know, but when you’re 47 years old you don’t expect these life altering experiences!

I’ve rewatched the show tenths of times because I wanted to improve my English,and I started wishing I could meet him, at least once in my life! I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to meet the other wonderful members of the castso, thanks also to a series of events that made me able to afford the trip, the hotel, and the pass for the convention, I decided to participate in the event!

I took four planes in five days and, after a turbulent night at the airport in Bilbao, I finally arrived at the hotel. I did not meet any other fan of Gale because they all got there a few days before me.

The morning after I met my first fellow fan and she was BetsyWilse, a wonderful person I’d talked passionately with about QaF online (and I was shocked to find out how many websites about QAF you can find on the Internet, I discovered a new world!!!) . We were both very excited because we knew we were about to meet himand because we were finally able to talk face to face.

The organization, which was impeccable, ushered us inside a room. There was a stage and a chair. One hundred fans sat down quietly.

We were all looking at the doors hoping to see him come in. I spotted his hat first and then saw him briefly. One of the organizers explained to us how to behave, basically we could take pictures but no video was allowed, none at all. They repeated this throughout the whole convention.

Then the time came and he got in. I got all emotional, and I said to myself “It’s real! He’s real!”. Applause, smiles and joypermeated the room. He sat down and looked at us like he knew us already. He is gorgeous.

Questions started.

The bravest of fans got up and timidly asked Gale to talk about his work, his projects, his opinions on the characters in QAF, if he was working on a movie right then (and he cheekily replies, “No not right now, I’m here with you now!) . The organizers tried to help the fans that were too intimidated by his presence.

Then, before asking her question, one of the girls told him that a few of his Italian fans had sent him messages through her: they wanted first of all for her to take pictures of his hands, andGale started talking with his hand and listening to it, asking permission and having a world of fun, I think, and making everybody laugh. Then this girl said that these other fans wanted her to kidnap him and bring him back to Italybut she used the wrong verb. Instead of saying “to kidnaphim and to bringhim in Italy” she said “to rape him”! I doubt this girl knew what “to rape” meantbecause, even if there was a lot of noise and little laughs in the room, and Gale had his eyes wide open, she kept talking to him, and asked him the reason why he’d closed his Twitter account, begged him to reopen itbecause it was a way to keep in touch with him, since he doesn’t come often to Italy and the chances to meet him are scarce.

About the Twitter account, Gale said that all this reminded him of Alice in Wonderland’s White Rabbit, who goes in a dark and foreign place, meaning that he’d like a lot more privacy in his lifeand showing a degree of unease about social media, something we already suspected.

The girl told him that she understood and went back to her chair but Gale called her backand asked her to repeat what she said before. “Do youreallywant to rape me?” he asked, and she replied, “Yes, theytold me tell youthis;” and at this point maybe she started to suspect something was wrong, because everybody was laughing, Gale included,so she turned towards the room saying the Italian verb for kidnap which is “rapire”,and everybody at once told her that the right way to say that is “to kidnap!” . I have no idea how it must have felt for her to find out she’d just told Gale she wanted to use him violence. Tricks of the mind! She then apologized to Gale,while everyone was still laughing,and Gale said, “Thisis a veryItalianthing!”.

It was topical!

The time truly flew away!

Later on I also sat in the “special panel” that was even funnier.

Gale engaged the fans and even invited them on stage. At one time he made them chose a movie title written on a piece of paper that they had to sketch;then he called on stage the girls whose questions, that they had previously written down and given to him, he’d chosen to answer so they could ask him in person but then they had to answer the same question too, and that was so funny. Later on he held a little bag filled with things and the girls he called on stage had to close their eyes and pick an object, and they had to guess what is was.

Surprise surprise, I was called on stage. I was so close to him and I looked into his gorgeous eyes (he’s so tall!). When it was time to choose the object, instead of keeping my eyes closed, like everyone else had done before me, I opened them! The organizer called me a “tremendous guest” ! He laughed and asked me to guess what I’d picked and I told him it was, “a bracelet! (QAF)”. But really I just wanted to look into his eyes!

Did I mention how beautiful they are!!!???

Another very emotional moment for me was the photoshoot. I’m not used to having my picture takenand I never had a photoshoot with an actor, let alone Gale. I entered the room and with my uncertain English I said, “Nice to meetyou.” He smiled and came close to me! I had on a stupid smile, but the photographer was good and the pic turned out fine!

Then I held the picture, to make him sign it during the autograph session, I shook his hand and he smiled! I was walking on clouds! AHAHAHA.

Never felt like that. A fortyseven years old feeling like a seventeen years old! Awesome!

All the tension, the tiredness and the joy caught up with me and that night, after quieting down, I finally fell asleep. A new emotional wave was waiting for me the next day!

Thinking back to everything I’d lived that first day, the first things I have to point outare his professional conduct, his kindness, and the ability to understand how many emotions and anticipations we feel whenever we meet him. He meets every single one of them. He knows people can get nervous in front of himand he’s very good with it, he tries to make you feel like a person, not a fan. He talks to you like he’s your big brother, and behaves that way too. He doesn’t praise himself. He’s not a diva. He tries to talk to you, he seeks a real, if brief, contact with another human being (and in that moment that is you!). He answers kindly to every question.

I was particularly impressed by the way he behaved during the auctionthat was held the second day to fundraise and donate money to a no profit organization that promotes research to fight cancer. He donated his shirts, a picture with his autograph,and two cups from which he’d drank the previous day ( they washed them!). During the auction he never looked to the audience, and I think he did it because he didn’t want to embarrass the people who couldn’t afford to make a bid.

The money raised were circa 2.000,00 eurosand this left a good taste in my mouth.

What else is there to say...

I met a lot of special people. Young, less so, Norwegians, Spanish, Australians, even Russians, French, Swissand many Italians . I shared experiences, little stories, pictures, and made lots of new friends.

I absolutely need and want to thank Gale Harold for allowing me to meet JasonePerz. An amazing person and a true friend. Jasone didn’t know me but welcomed me into her arms, she made me tour Bilbao and let me know its culture, its landscapes, together with Nekane, a childhood friend of hers. We shared our days with Gale and a special day in Bilbao.

Special mention for the pic that is now my profile pic on facebook. Credit goes to Gale, Randy, Peter and Scott who shot the original of this pic in Bilbao last year. Credit for the idea to imitate them instead goes to va EllY.

Touring Bilbao, on the Ria, walking with Jasone and Nekane we met Elly and Nicole, two fans from Norwaywho stopped to ask Jasone if she knew where the pic of the FABFOUR (GaleRandyPeterScott) had been shot, so Jasone brought us all there. Elly wanted to shot the pic again and we were 5! Perfect combination! We arrived to the square, with the fountain and the cathedral,and we posed!

We had so much fun! Nekane, Jasone’s friend, took the pic, and since we’re a group of #socialmediaaddicted, we immediately sent it on twitter to Randy, Scott, Peter and virtually to Gale .

Peter Paige and Scott Lowell favorited it,and I think everyone in the QAF world saw that pic!

 

I don’t know what else to say! Those were the most emotional and intense five days of my lifeand if I say it, you better believe it!

A virtual hug to Gale Harold e and to everybody I met there.

Last message for Gale for us and by us has to be the song by Hard Lessons:

“SEE YOU AGAIN”.

Daniela

Article translated by our staff. All rights are reserved. Any reproduction, even though partial, is forbidden without the admin's authorization and all the credits due to gale-harold.it