Being the paparazzi is hard work!

Being the paparazzi is hard work!

Oct 24

This morning I decided to take on a type of journalism I really haven’t thrown myself into before: celebrity gossip. Sure, I’ve covered celebrity sightings and events before, but I’ve never been on a wild goose chase like the one I put myself through today.

A friend recommended me to an entertainment editor at a national celebrity gossip magazine (I’ll leave the magazine title out for now, since the story hasn’t been published yet) who was looking for a Boston-based reporter to cover the rumored budding romance between Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively. The pair had been spotted leaving Reynolds’ Back Bay apartment together over the weekend, and Lively was seen bringing a gift to Reynolds, who celebrated his birthday yesterday. I wrote about Reynolds when he was on the North Shore filming “The Proposal” with Sandra Bullock and Betty White (who I was lucky enough to score an interview with!) and I ran into him at The Liberty back in September, so I figured we were practically BFFs (I’m kidding), so why not take the assignment?

I did my research and began scouring Twitter, Facebook and blogs to see where Reynolds was filming R.I.P.D. (which is what he’s been in town the last few months for) and if any locals were bragging about seeing him or Lively in the city. I got my leads from the magazine – which didn’t give me much to work with – and hit the streets of Boston.

Reynolds’ Back Bay apartment building was easy to locate, as was a parking meter right out front – score! – and the handful of restaurants he’s already been spotted at were directly behind the building. I stopped by nearly all of the restaurants, coffee shops and a few other places I stumbled upon in the neighborhood, talking with staffers and customers as well as the average man on the street, looking for any new leads and fresh gossip.

R.I.P.D. was filming out in Hyde Park (a Boston neighborhood) again today, so I drove over there to see what I could find out. They were filming inside the old Stop & Shop warehouse, with dozens of trailers parked out back, but not much to see from the parking lot outside the gates that were guarded by security personnel. I spoke with a couple of friendly people in the parking lot who worked with the crew and gave me some useful information I could share with the magazine.

Today gave me a glimpse of what it’s like to be the paparazzi – and it’s not an easy job! Somebody’s got to do it though… right?