The Stars Celebrate "New Year's Eve" a Bit Early
It was only Dec 5, but that didn't stop Hollywood's biggest stars from converging on Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles to celebrate "New Year's Eve." The movie, that is, directed by Garry Marshall and jam-packed with Tinseltown's favorites, who brought family and friends to the gala premiere on Monday.
Michelle Pfeiffer, 53, snuggled close to her husband David E. Kelley to keep warm and led the slightly older set of the romantic comedy's stars, including Larry Miller, Hector Elizondo and Penny Marshall. Her romantic interest in the flick, the much-younger Zac Efron, spearheaded the younger crowd, which featured familiar names like Katherine Heigl, Ashton Kutcher, Hilary Swank, Josh Duhamel, Alyssa Milano, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Sofia Vergara and Lea Michele.
Pfeiffer brought a whole gang of guys, all of whom happen to be her "Glee" co-stars, including Cory Monteith, Kevin McHale, Mark Salling, Darren Criss, Harry Shum, Jr., and Chris Colfer. Heigl was hand-in-hand with her husband, musician Josh Kelley and Duhamel hugged his own musical phenomenon close, wife Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas.
Earlier at a press conference for the multi-generational, multi-couple romance, Efron admitted to having serious feelings for his on-screen lover, despite the fact that she is 20 years his senior.
"I met Michelle Pfeiffer a few years ago during 'Hairspray,'" Efron recalled with a big smile. "And had a huge crush on her, always, from day one. And back then I was very, very young and very bashful. And just around her I tended to put my foot in my mouth a lot. I didn't really know what to say to her and everything just came out wrong. I didn�t know what to do. I was very shy.
"But then I got to talk on the phone with her about this part, I remember. And she said, 'I think we should take this to the next level. We should really push it. And let's get a kiss in there.' And I was like, 'I'm in! I'm in this movie. Put me in. sign me up. Let's do it.' And it turned out to be, well, it was awesome! It is lovely working with her. Every single time, every second with her is amazing."
But Efron will have to remember that kiss when the clock strikes midnight on the real New Year's Eve, for Pfeiffer revealed the truth about her party plans for that big night.
"I never make it to midnight!" she said with a laugh. "I celebrate New Year's at 9 p.m. West Coast time. I watch the ball drop in my jammies with some champagne, maybe some pie, whatever happens to be around. Then it's bed time!"
