Partyhopper

Summertime in Los Angeles means lunches by the pool, late sunsets at the beach and lots of movies. Lucky for me, it also means that the actors in those movies stop by our offices to promote their projects and get to know our editors.  This was the case with the gorgeous British actor Dominic Cooper, who happens to be in two movies I am very excited about--the blockbuster hit, Mama Mia! and the upcoming Keira Knightly film, The Duchess.

In Style L.A. editors Karen, Ali and Cortney welcome Mama Mia star Dominic Cooper.

Ali, Cortney and I got to learn a lot about Dominic in the hour he spent chatting with us, mainly that he is a true tourist at heart. He walked in carrying maps of the Huntington Gardens museum in Pasadena, and had made a slightly ambitious plan to continue on to the Getty museum after meeting with us. (We ended up keeping him around too long!) He told us about the fabulous 8 weeks he spent in Greece last summer while shooting Mama Mia!--though he did get a touch of island fever when he discovered that getting off the island isn't an easy task unless you have a private chopper. Being stuck on the island meant that Dom got a really great tan, which pleased the movie’s make up artist...and the female many movie-goers who have seen the flick.

Dominic shows off his gift for geography to Ali and Cortney.

We also learned that Dominic is not a born singer. In fact, his former drama teacher told him never to sing as a career. So when we tried to get him to bust out an Abba song, he politely declined. Hanging out with Dominic was so fun we can't wait to do it again at the Toronto Film Festival, where The Duchess will premiere.--Karen Levy