PLAYING WITH FIRE PREMIERE WEEKEND IN NYC

Confession: My husband is way cooler than I am. He’s into K-pop, knows the names of every Real Housewife on the planet, believes in aliens, makes everyone laugh, and directs bomb ass movies like SHE’S THE MAN – a personal favorite of mine. His most recent film, Playing With Fire, is heart-warming family comedy about a group of Smokejumpers lead by John Cena, who rescue three kids from a fire and are forced to “contain them” for a weekend. Think Three Men and a Baby, but make ‘em elite firefighters. Now, despite Hollywood’ portrayal, filmmaking is not at all glamorous. Andy, the cast and crew, filmed this movie in the middle of winter in Vancouver, surrounded by constant snowstorms. They were up at the crack of dawn and usually went to bed in the early morning hours. It’s a TOUGH gig. But with that hard work comes undeniable perks. And who reaps the benefits of said perks? ME. That is who. Happy wife, happy life ya’ll.

Having a baby is hard, and it really changes your dynamic with your partner. For example, instead of binging BELOW DECK in bed together at night, I now yell at Andy a lot and go to bed about an hour after he gets home from work. I’m a real delight these days. So, when we found out the Playing With Fire premiere was going to be in NYC, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to have a little weekend getaway together courtesy of Paramount.

So we called Gigi (my mommy) in to watch our daughter for the weekend, and after my mom said, “Go, we’ll be fine!” about 800 times, Andy and I headed to LAX. We were met by airport greeters Paramount had arranged. We had no idea this service even existed, and are now massive fans. They check your bags for you, take you to the front of the security line and plop you in a lounge until your flight takes off. We ended up using them a few weeks later when we were traveling with our baby to my husband’s hip replacement surgery in Minnesota. They were absolute lifesavers; we had a 6 month old, my husband was in a wheelchair and we were facing an 8-hour delay. They also do not cost an arm and a leg.

Flying across the country away from my baby for the first time was a disaster. I had moments of mommy celebration (mainly because I could pee in peace) and then moments of mommy breakdown where I imagined the worst possible/least likely thing happening to my mom and baby. But I’m glad I worked through it because premiere weekend was absolute heaven in the city.

Mandarin Oriental crushing the hospitality game.

In NYC, Paramount put us up at the Mandarin Oriental. We’ve stayed at a few different hotels in NYC, but the Mandarin quickly went right to the top of our list. We stayed in a beautiful suite with stunning views of the city and a toilet with a moving lid - which scared the crap out of me the first time I went in the bathroom, but once I found the seat heater, we got along just fine. During Andy’s press events, I got in a long workout at their beautiful gym, a swim in their lap pool and an insane massage – all three with stunning city views. It was the best new mom R&R I could have ever asked for. We also particularly loved the food at the Mandarin Oriental. If you ever find yourself there, the dim sum sampler and the wanton soup are a must gets. Trust me.

Andy with his cast - missing the hilarious John Leguizamo and the incomparable Judy Greer, who I have an epic girl crush on her FYI.

I just wanted a dress that was comfortable, not maternity, and did not make me look like an overstuff burrito trying to fit into Spanx - ya feel me? I ended up loving this dress, and of course it’s now on sale so get it while you can.

The premiere itself was an absolute blast. While Andy was doing his own glam and press, I got my hair and makeup done at my favorite salon – Warren Tricomi at the Plaza Hotel. Sidenote: The Plaza is home to many of my NYC favorites including the Eloise themed afternoon tea and The Todd English Food Hall. I wore a loose-fitting, casual wrap dress from Intermix because daytime premieres tend to be less formal and Mama still has baby weight to lose! 

I waited with Andy’s publicist and my stepson, Austin, on the red carpet for Andy and the cast who all arrived on vintage fire trucks. They honored first responders and their families throughout their whole press tour, and took photos with one of their good friends from Make A Wish, who has a fun role in the movie. There were kids and families everywhere, laughing and having a great time, and I, of course, was wildly proud of my husband for making another family comedy families can see together. On theme with the movie, that night, we had a lovely family style dinner with close friends and family at a delicious Italian restaurant called Parm. Strong recommend for casual dining.  

Andy, Austin, and I with Keegan-Michael Key. He is truly one of the funniest people I’ve ever met.

I made Finley re-enact the iconic moment. Epic.

The next day, Andy had a bunch more press to do, so I tagged along to watch. During one of the Q&A panels, someone asked the cast what they’re favorite part of filming the movie was, and without a second of hesitation, Finley Rose Slater (4), leaned forward into her microphone and said, “Me and John Cena poopin’ in the woods,” which made my entire weekend. Watch out for this girl, Hollywood ; she is an absolute gem.

Monday morning, however, our weekend took a very ironic turn, when we woke up in NYC to frantic messages from my mom and neighbor back in L.A. saying they were being evacuated from The Getty Fire that had sprung up overnight and spread quickly throughout Brentwood. Of course, every ounce of mom-guilt imaginable washed over me at the thought of my poor mother waking up our baby being evacuated from wildfires in the middle of the night! I cried the whole way home, and basically vowed never to leave Georgie again. Needless to say, our appreciation for first responders escalated exponentially. They are true heroes.

Georgie Girl evacuating The Getty Fire at 5:30AM in L.A.

Over the next weeks, a few articles came out claiming this was a “PR nightmare” for a comedy about smokejumpers to come out during such a time. Now, I’m obviously biased, but truly feel I would disagree with that despite my connection to the film. First of all, Paramount had been holding private screenings for first responders and their families weeks before the fires broke out. Secondly, it seemed like an especially poignant time to have a movie come out that highlighted all the amazing work our first responders do for us. Last but not least, because it’s a family comedy, it’s the perfect movie to spark (pun intended) conversations in your household about fire safety. The star of the film, John Cena, who is a total sweetheart btw, personally donated $500,000.00 to first responders, which started a massive snowball of donations. We just cannot thank them enough for keeping us safe.

Playing With Fire is in theaters now! I hope you and your whole family laugh out loud and leave the theater feeling uplifted.