Paper Trails

WATCH: Arkansas teen invited to 'Deadpool' premiere by star Ryan Reynolds

Boyle and Reynolds in New York
Boyle and Reynolds in New York

BETTER THAN ICE CREAM: When Mariah Boyle of Van Buren went in to have her wisdom teeth removed in late January, the 19-year-old Alma High graduate knew what to expect. Or thought she did. The list of instructions from her oral surgeon's office left out one thing: packing a suitcase to travel to New York for the premiere of a movie based on a Marvel comic book that she'd been looking forward to seeing. How'd she swing that? Why, she was invited by the film's star.

It all began on the drive home from the oral surgeon's office, during which her mom, Rita Miller Boyle, was making a video. Still loopy from the anesthesia, Mariah burst into tears, believing she'd missed seeing the movie, Deadpool, starring Ryan Reynolds. But she was wrong -- the film hadn't even been released yet; it just hit theaters Friday.

After Mariah became so distraught, believing she'd missed the movie, her mom posted the video on Reynolds' Facebook page on Feb. 3. In response, he took a photo of himself with his cheeks stuffed with gauze and responded, telling Mariah he was giving her a pair of tickets and airfare to New York to attend the film's premiere there last Sunday. The star added a note to her mom that a casserole recipe she'd posted online "looks divine," and he asked her to please bring some to New York.

"It was amazing," Mariah told People magazine last week of the experience. She left for New York last Sunday, attended the premiere Monday and returned home Tuesday. "I wasn't expecting anything like that. It was completely overwhelming. Kind of awesome."

She tells Paper Trails the highlight of the trip was meeting Reynolds and seeing the film.

On Tuesday, Reynolds recounted the story on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, during which the initial video of Mariah was also shared. Go to tinyurl.com/z568kaz to see that segment.

PLAY BALL! For those waiting to catch filmmaker Larry Foley's The First Boys of Spring documentary on the MLB Network, the first showing of it was Saturday. The film will be rebroadcast at 8 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 21.

CATCHING AN (AIR)WAVE: Speaking of which, it's interesting to note who served as the catcher in the re-creation of the historic practices, filmed at Lamar Porter Field in Little Rock -- Rick Steel, the new morning host on radio station KKPT-FM, 94.1, The Point.

TURN THE CHANNEL: Meanwhile, Steel's predecessor, Ashley King, recently joined KSSN-FM, 96. She's on the air weekdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is serving as the station's assistant program director and music director.

Contact Linda S. Haymes at (501) 399-3636 or lhaymes@arkansasonline.com

SundayMonday on 02/14/2016


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