Chatting To Andie Macdowell With My Mouth Full of Hot Dog
What I learned from a 5-minute interaction with the face of L’Oreal
As a proud member of the Dogspotting Facebook community it is my civic duty to document most dogs I encounter while outside on the streets of Toronto. Dogs that score you the most street cred in this community are fresh puppies, unusual breed hybrids, and dogs in predicaments. My favourite concept is the “dog in a sweater” variety of which the harvest is plentiful this time of the year.
This inconsequential evening, I filmed a short video of a tiny dog in an Adidas tracksuit coming out of a Starbucks while I ate dinner on my way home from work. Not paying mind to the woman walking the dog I scrolled through Instagram and bit into my $2.50 veggie dog covered in sauerkraut and green olives and braced the strong wind blowing my bangs off my forehead.
“You seem quite busy,” the woman mused.
I realized how messy I must have looked without so much as a free hand to clear the hair from my face and the olives now lining my cashmere scarf battling the wind.
“Yeah, there’s a lot going through my mind right now,” I retorted. The woman’s face, now instantly recognizable, became more clear with her Southern-tinted accent. When she remarked that she too had a lot going through her mind I realized exactly who she was.
“Has anyone ever told you that you look exactly like — “ the woman promptly cut me off.
“Andie Macdowell? Yes, because I am her.”
My mouth fell agape. I had met celebrities before, or seen them rather and felt it too intrusive to say anything, so I would merely keep a mental tally of them and experience satisfaction from simply their fleeting presence in my life. Not only did this celebrity approach me, but she even offered up her own identity while walking alongside me as I ate my dinner. I was awestruck.
“I thought so but I didn’t want to be rude.”
“I thought no one would recognize me. I’m not wearing any makeup,” Andie admitted self-deprecatingly. Andie Macdowell is talking to me! And she’s self-deprecating! I’m self-deprecating! Let’s be friends!
I shook my head and took a bite of my ‘dog, “You’re just as beautiful in person.”
She gave me a great big smile, “Well thank you, I really needed to hear that today.” My heart instantly warmed. Did I just make Andie Macdowell’s day? I was thinking back to the time when I saw the Addams Family on Broadway and waited an hour in the rain to meet Brooke Shields, who I only managed to stutter at “you’re beautiful Brooke!” Not my proudest moment.
Yum, imitation meat-chewing my veggie dog I continued to lift Andie Macdowell’s spirits, “You’re gorgeous. You probably hear this all the time!”
Andie’s face (we’re on a first name basis now) looked a bit sad, “Well I just turned 60 this year so I don’t hear it very often. It’s very nice to hear from a young lady like yourself.”
I couldn’t believe it. Am I Andie Macdowell’s self-esteem hype beast?
In no dream would I have thought that an opinion of mine would matter in any capacity to any celebrity. Especially my unsolicited comments regarding how beautiful I think the face of L’Oreal is while wiping mayonnaise from the corners of my mouth. And maybe my opinion meant nothing and she was just being polite back.
Andie and I continued to walk side by side while I would ask her what brought her to the city and she would discuss a film she’s working on. When we reached the intersection where I intended to cross she would turn the opposite direction. Bye, Andie Macdowell I love you! I thought to myself.
“It was lovely talking to you,” I told her. She returned the sentiment. Andie and her small chavvy tracksuit wearing dog disappearing in the distance, I wondered whether we would keep in touch through WhatsApp or if I’d send her snail mail to Hollywood.
I smiled for the rest of my commute home. As beautiful as she is I can’t help but feel sad about how she reacted to my comments. Had she warmly accepted them in a way that would suggest she was aware she was beautiful, she’d follow under that Hollywood diva trope and I’d go home and tell my roommates that this random actress had a huge ego. So in a way, I understood that she had to act this way to promote a humility that’s crucial to an actress of her age’s survival in this ruthless industry. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but feel surprised at her level of humility and self-depreciation particularly with regard to her comment on being an actress of her age.
Andie is only two years younger than my mother and the two seem to suffer from different strands of this woman of my age syndrome. My mother considers herself more beautiful in her youth because of the influx of compliments and flattery she received that she no longer does, much like I’m sure Andie does being in Hollywood. I found it refreshing as a young self-deprecating woman to meet someone I have perceived most of my life as the face of health and beauty to be so flattered about what I had to say about her looks.
I have no profound revelations about ageism in Hollywood or what actresses go through in the spectrum of their careers, but meeting this woman certainly made me recognize that it’s not just “regular” women that have these insecurities — the face of L’Oreal or not. We all need each other’s reassurance, and oftentimes it matters much more coming from another woman than it does coming from a man.
The politics of womanhood and self-esteem do not necessitate common denominator bonds (race, class, sexuality, ability all refract our gendered experiences rather than bring us together simply because we identify as women) but they do help us recognize that the struggles one another face can sometimes be soothed by reassurance that we are beautiful simply because we put on a brave face in this ever-changing scary world we live in. Andie Macdowell isn’t beautiful because she’s aging well or looks good for her age she’s beautiful because she puts her talents out there and faces consequences for every choice she makes on a different scale than I do. And to me that’s brave.
And sometimes posting a video of a celebrity’s dog in Adidas tracksuit scores you major points on a Dogspotting Facebook group.
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