A Personal Martin Sheen Encounter

Gordon Shumway posted at Television Without Pity:
"I was walking with a friend back to her car when we met up with Martin Sheen and a priest. Of all the things one would think of asking at a moment like this, I asked the priest if he was the in The West Wing, "The Wedding," back in December, and he said he was. I also asked if he had also done the Mass for Zoey in "7A WF 83429," and I also got an affirmative answer.

Martin topped off that moment about commenting to his friend, Fr. Michael Kennedy: "These people know these things."

From The Wedding
From 7A WF 83429
***
"I think that Martin [Sheen] was proud that his fans pay enough attention to the show to recognize a background character who appeared for just seconds on the screen. I imagine that the priest got the role on the show because of his friendship with Martin.

But when I was trying to explain to Martin [Sheen] why ["The West Wing"] wasn't going to be on this next Sunday, it was very surreal. Martin asked me why ["The West Wing"] wasn't going to be on this next Sunday, and I said it was because of the Oscars, and then Martin asked me if the Oscars were on NBC, to which I said no, but that they wouldn't want to waste a [" West Wing"] episode up against the Oscars.

And, yes, for a moment, I almost said if the losers got eaten, I would watch, but I was afraid that he wouldn't remember the reference and I would come off like a crazed fan. Last year, I spent Oscar night at a party that included not only Martin [Sheen], but Toby's ex-wife and Sam's hooker friend. This year, I will be sitting alone, in front of my TV."