NOV. 20, 2008:

Cleveland-When I got to the Cinemark Valley View in Cleveland at 4 p.m., I had no idea there would be so many fans waiting in line. The doors weren’t supposed to open until 5 p.m. I only showed up so early because media registration started at 4 p.m.

Will wasn’t supposed to be arriving until 6 p.m. His day was full of philanthropy as he gave back to the Cleveland community at-large. He stopped by the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, Ginn Academy, Case Elementary School and Open Doors Academy in Cleveland Heights.

That day, I sat down with him and a few other journalists for an early-morning round-table interview. The premiere tonight for his new movie “Seven Pounds” was available to the public for free with a donation of non-perishable food items. The clever food drive to attend the premiere was to go along with his donation of 200 turkeys to the Cleveland Food Bank.

I expected to see Will again on the red carpet, and I hoped he’d confirm those rumors about an upcoming project with Steven Spielberg. I waited anxiously for the next few hours behind a metal barricade. Other journalists began to surround me as they arrived.

Once 6 p.m. came and passed, I began to wonder if Will was going to make it OK.. The weather wasn’t the greatest, and the snow was falling fast.

Ramona Robinson from WKYC-3 Cleveland began to speak on a small stage toward the entrance of the theater. She tried to entertain the crowd for a while, but the crowd grew restless, and a lot of them just wanted to sit down after being on their feet so long for an anxious glance, possible picture and maybe an autograph.

Right around 7 p.m. everyone started screaming, and I knew exactly why. It took him a good 20 minutes just to reach the media inside. I wasn’t aware of it since I’d been there so long, but there were quite a few people waiting in the snow storm with just a little canopy to shield them.

I felt thankful to be inside. even if I was smashed up against three or four other journalists. Once he got to the stage where Ramona was speaking earlier, he made his presentation of the check for a photo-op, gained an award and learned that today, Nov. 20, would officially be Will Smith day in the city of Cleveland.

Smith made his way down the red carpet again, and just as he was in sight he turned around and walked in the other direction. Then the screaming got louder. I couldn’t understand what had just happened until I saw LeBron James walking along the red carpet with Will. They posed for a photo, and then LeBron speed-walked past his screaming fans, past the media and into the theater.

Will Smith came right over to me as if to speak with me, only to speak to the journalists on either side of me. Luckily, I got the sound bytes from both. I don’t think he was snubbing me; I think he simply wanted to give other journalists the opportunity to have their questions answered. I can’t complain about sitting down with him for a half hour earlier in the day, and he looked as if he’d recognized me.

I would definitely do it all over again, and I even considered an attempt to catch the same plane to Denver that he’d be on later tonight. Then I remembered I had to work tomorrow. Cleveland was his fourth stop on a five-city tour of the premiere. But he’s definitely brought new meaning to a season of giving, because he’s been stopping at schools and children’s hospitals and donating money to charitable causes in each city. He started in Miami, where he’s the honorary mayor, then went to St. Louis and Dallas. After tonight he’d be finishing up the tour in Denver.

Contact all reporter Robert Checkal at [email protected].

Links for:

Steven Spielberg:

http://perezhilton.com/2008-11-07-spielberg-and-will-smith-teaming-up

Seven Pounds:

http://www.sonypictures.com/sevenpounds