30 Seconds with a “Guardians of the Galaxy” Superfan

Ronnie Vickers of Smyrna won a trip to Hollywood to attend the film’s red carpet premiere.

 

Ronnie Vickers, 24, of Smyrna.//Photo by Luigi Ciuffetelli 

 

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Ronnie Vickers of Smyrna recently realized a dream when he won an online contest through Marvel Studios. Vickers, 24, was awarded the grand prize of a trip to Hollywood in April to attend the red carpet premiere of Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” Before he left, the board operator/producer for iHeartMedia Inc. had high hopes of meeting his favorite actor: Chris Pratt.

 

DT: How did this happen?

RV: I was on Twitter [in February] and saw a video about the contest posted by Marvel Studios and it featured the lead actor Chris Pratt and the director James Gunn. I figured, Why not? So I entered. About a month later, I woke up to the email [saying he won]. I right away told my mom. 

So, Marvel flew you and your best friend to L.A., put you up in the famed Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel and gave you a pass to the red carpet premiere?

Yes. It was my first time in L.A. I saw the Hollywood sign. That was really cool.

Then what happened?

On the night of the premiere, they sent a driver for us and took us to the Dolby Theatre.

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OK, man. Now you’re just bragging.

(Laughs.) So we get to the event. There are a lot of Marvel producers and different celebrities on the carpet. There are people being interviewed. It was cool to watch. 

Did you meet anyone famous?

No. There is a part of the carpet you have to stay on. It was sectioned off. I was around a bunch of producers.


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You had to meet some stars in the theater…

We had great seats. We were sitting there and before they showed the movie, they did an intro and the cast came up on the stage. On my side, out comes Chris Pratt, director James Gunn, Kurt Russell, Dave Bautista and more of the cast.

Did you ever actually meet a celebrity?

Not really. Sylvester Stallone and his family were three rows behind me. But I didn’t talk to them.

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You had better seats than Rocky?

It’s crazy, right?

How was the film?

It was awesome. It was the perfect amount of comedy. In my opinion, it was better than the first one.

Were you invited to the after-party?

No.

Did you think about crashing it?

After the movie, we just got something to eat. It was late in the evening. We hung around the hotel. The next day we went through Beverly Hills and went to Venice Beach to get some sun. I did get to see Chris Pratt getting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. While I was there, his kid, Jack, and his wife, Anna Faris—they waved to me. I waved to Jack and he waved back to me.

Do you think he thought you were a celebrity?

That would have been cool.

Were you disappointed that you didn’t get to meet any stars?

No. But hey, just to be with them in the same place was cool enough for me. It’s like, a dude from Delaware getting to do this stuff is awesome. 

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