Saddle Up and Ride with the Cowboys & Aliens

The scene they were shooting (top secret - trust me, you don't want spoilers) involved everyone in the cast, minus the lovely Olivia Wilde (there is no God) and everyone was game to chat. Read: we totally lucked out.

While we waited for shooting to begin, a dirtied up Keith Carradine moseyed over to our tent to say hello and show off his battle scars. For a Deadwood fan like myself, it was a particular treat to see Wild Bill Hickcock back in a ten-gallon hat and mustache. Carridine plays a sheriff in the film and from what we can tell, he'll be easily moving up the ranks of badass old people.

Thanks to the enthusiastic and charmin Jon Favreau, we were then treated to a slew of hellos from the rest of the cast. Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood, Little Miss Sunshine) who we may have scared with our presence. At the young age of 26, Dano is a serious actor - it makes sense why a group of eager ears wouldn't be the greatest thing to have on the sidelines. Nonetheless, Dano told us that working with Harrison Ford was something of a dream, having grown up watching his movies. Meeting Ford was a rare case of his own fandom. Glad to know I'm not alone.

Sam Rockwell plays the local doctor in Cowboys & Aliens and was excited to be reteaming with Favreau (he played bad guy Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2). Rockwell explained that life on the C&W set was a bit more restrained than the loose IM2:

"We have a solid script but we improvise within that and we change stuff on the day, the obstacle here is obviously that we're doing a period piece.  So it's not like you could just say anything, you know? You've gotta like - you can't just say, 'Ah, Dude, that sucks.'  You can't do that because you're in the Old West."

We kind of assumed playing a doctor meant he'd be burdened with the task of dishing out exposition. Apparently not:

"No, actually I've been lucky in that way, you know.  I kind of serve as the Jimmy Stewart, Bill Paxton of the piece [laughs]. I'm sort of sincere, but I have those moments of levity."

The greatest revelation? When we suggested that Bill Paxton would be thrilled to hear the comparison, Rockwell revealed that his performance in the excellent Galaxy Quest was mostly lifted from Paxton's in Aliens. Incredible!

Daniel Craig was a busy man that day, but had time for a quick greeting. This is when every person on set began to swoon (that's right, male or female). Craig is a bonafide star - a physical mix of Steve McQueen and Paul Newman who can turn on the badassery when needed. Luckily, he was kind enough to shake our hands and poke fun Favreau and Harrison. All in a day's work.

It wasn't in the books, but eventually, we had our encounter with the legendary Harrison Ford. He's as rough, gruff and wily in real life as he is on screen. Our quick introduction went something like:

"So how does this work? I say 'hello' and then you guys say you like the movie?"

The pride of  breaking Harrison Ford's set visit cherry? Unmatchable. We all shook hands while attempting not to withhold the urge to bear hug our hero Han Solo. Later, he would zoom past us in his roadster golf cart, maniacally laughing while we stand in amazement.

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Between takes, Jon Favreau gives us the best present ever

Walking around the set canyon set