Sergio Says! Musing From Cosmo (And Beyond…)

by The Daily Front Row

Music musts, movie premieres, and some great bon mots from Sergio Kletnoy’s brushes with famous folks: that was life per usual this week for Cosmo’s assistant to EIC Joanna Coles. Ready, set, read!

Monday
I started my week off with New Zealand’s hottest musical export Lorde and Allison Williams of HBO’s coolest show, Girls. I met up with Lorde for an upcoming Marie Claire interview, where the sassiest teen on the planet gave me a better understanding of a 16-year-old pop star. She’s able control her image and sound and stand out in a world where most just want to fit in. You’ll have to wait until MC’s December issue for the full story, but it began with:

Me: “First of all, how excited are you? You know you’re the youngest artist to have a number one single in the U.S. since Tiffany with “I Think We’re Alone Now” back in 1987?”

Lorde: “Really? Did she write it?”
Me: “No, it’s a cover from the 1960s.”
Lorde: “Ohh. Cool.”
I probably would be screaming and showing off if I had the #1 single in the country. But the coolest teen on earth was totally playing it cool. Ahhhh, humility… Kanye could learn a thing or two from her. Later that afternoon, Allison Williams stopped by the office to meet with THE BOSS. Here’s our exchange:
Me: “Although I’m happy to meet you I’m so disappointed, you didn’t bring the Albanian refugee Blerta with you.”
(If you haven’t seen Tina Fey’s excellent SNL spoof of Girls featuring the genius new character from Albania, you’re missing out)!
Allison: “I know! I wish we thought of her first, she would have been so much fun on our show.”
Me: “That’s alright, would you settle for a Russian refugee? I would fit right in.”
Allison: Oh… Yeah… We are already done with the 3rd season.
BURN! 

Tuesday
I spent most of today doing a huge mailing of Cosmo’s November issue with Aussie supermodel and Mrs. Orlando Bloom, aka Miranda Kerr, which has finally hit newsstands. It’s one of my faves, especially after getting the chance to interview Miranda on the set, play with her Yorkshire Frankie, getting her to spit a few bars of a Sir Mix-A-Lot song and entertaining her adorable son Flynn (who danced along to lots of hip-hop and pop) while mommy looked flawless in every shot.  

Wednesday
Work work work, yada yada yada, followed by another movie screening thanks to Cinema Society with Emporio Armani and GQ for Ridley Scott’s grisly, edge of your seat, violent thriller The Counselor, starring Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Rosie Perez, John Leguizamo, Penelope Cruz, Natalie Dormer and Michael Fassbender. The Counselor Is a twisted story about a greedy lawyer (Fassbender), who is way in over his head when he dives into a seedy world of drug trafficking. He gets involved with a creepy drug lord (Bardem) and his conniving girlfriend (Diaz), a dreamy middleman (Pitt), proposes to his clueless but super hot girlfriend (Cruz) and ends up paying a steep price for everything. The screening room happens to be one of my faves in the city, thanks to its comfy bright orange chairs (P.S. those chairs also make weird noises everytime you turn). Along with the film’s stars Rosie, John and Michael, the tiny room was perfect for people watching: Grace Coddington, Julianna Margulies and her hubby, Julian Schnabel, Chris Noth, Jemima Kirke, Joy Behar, Kelly Rutherford, Stefano Tonchi, Deborah Needleman, June Ambrose, Sante D’Orazio, Nicky Hilton and supermodel Marcus Schenkenberg, who looked eerily like a long lost brother of RuPaul Drag Race season 3 winner Raja. My two highlights: talking to Zoe Kravitz (who I have been obsessed with for years) about her band Lolawolf’s stellar dreamy single “Drive and EP (out in November) and fan-girling over a woman who I thought was the Fame actress and former pop star Nia Peeples.

Me: Hi Nia, have to say that I’m a huge fan. I loved “Trouble” and “Street of Dreams” (Nia’s pop singles).
Nia: Oh… Thanks…That made my night. It’s so nice to meet you.

After walking away I realized that the woman I was speaking to wasn’t Nia, but Karen Duffy – MTV’s former VJ aka Pam Fields on Pretty Little Liars. Note to self: lay off the cocktails.

Thursday
In between the usual work load of scheduling JoCo’s lunches and dinners for the month of October, returning phone calls, working on one too many events, including Cosmo’s major luncheon with 100 female-power players, searching high and low for Proenza Schouler boots YOU KNOW WHO had to own, I worked on a music list for Marie Claire, consisting of some of my fave new artists, my version of the “Freshman Class of 2014”. In the process I listened to about 200 songs, which wore me out but at least my picks for obsessions was easy to compile. The things I do to find good music! Enjoy! 

“Sweetest Thing” by Lulu James

“Something I Need” by OneRepublic

“Never Enough” by Trixie Whitnley

“Of The Night” by Bastille

“Uncover” by Zara Larsson

“Don’t Wait” by Mapei

“Under Control” by Clavin Harris & Alesso featuring Hurts

“Feels Like We Only Go Backwards” by Say Lou Lou

“Never Wanna Know” by MØ

“Undiscovered” by Laura Welsh

“Survival” by Eminem

Friday
So excited for this evening when I’ll be back at my fave screening room inside the Crosby Street Hotel. I scored a seat at The Fifth Estate premiere, thanks to Cinema Society with Vanity Fair & Richard Mille (Thanks Richard! Wouldn’t mind rocking one of your luxury watches… wink wink). The Fifth Estate is the hotly anticipated thriller about the news-leaking website WikiLeaks starring Benedict Cumberbatch (a four-time BAFTA and two-time Emmy and Golden Globe nominee) as its founder Julian Assange and directed by Academy Award (Gods And Monsters) winning director Bill Condon. The film also co-stars Daniel Bruhl, Laura Linney, Anthony Mackie and Stanley Tucci. The trailer for the film is riveting, but of course when I told THE BOSS about the premiere, she replied with “I saw the rough cut back in August, but enjoy it!” Thankfully, for once the premiere is on a Friday, so I can actually get a few drinks, schmooze, and have a little or oodles of fun at the after party held at the Marlton Hotel. I know, I know, tough life…But someone’s got to do it. Might as well that someone be me. 

Have a great weekend and catch me on Twitter at @SergioKletnoy until next week. Xoxo 

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