A lovely surprise from Mr. Macfadyen on my mailbox!

Who knew over a year later, I would hear back from today's birthday celebrant! Yes, I'm talking about the handsome and very talented (one of my favorite actors) Matthew Macfadyen himself, especially when I least expected it! I just received a (surprise) reply from Matthew (on the eve of his birthday, of all days...) yesterday, late afternoon when I checked my mailbox! OMG! I can't believe I got a reply from Matthew!!! I had an Elizabeth Bennet stunned moment when I saw the familiar envelope (RSE) while opening my mailbox, lol...It was like getting an unexpected Darcy's Letter! Or in this case, Mr. Macfadyen's letter...well, not exactly a letter, but a reply from him nonetheless...! So, it's a lovely gift to received from him (the day before his birthday), which makes me so happy even more to celebrate his special day today, as I've been busy preparing for his birthday celebratory marathon posts on Devoted P&P Fans FB page for today (as you can see, the MM birthday celebration has been going on most of today as it started since midnight last night!) for my fellow MM fans to celebrate this lovely and amazing man on his special day.

If you're wondering why I would say something about hearing back and getting a reply from Mr. Macfadyen...well, here's my (rather lengthy detailed) story about it with my scanned MM autograph photos (scroll all the way down, if you want to skip my long story and just see the autograph photos, lol)...


A lil' over a year ago (September 2011), I wrote and sent MM a fan mail and included a few photos for him to sign (if it was possible and if he wouldn't mind signing at least one of them...just a lil' request, you know...). At the time when I sent my fan letter to him (which I kept a secret, by the way, until now...), he was recently cast in Joe Wright's Anna Karenina film and the film started production too around that time (I think...). I thought I'd try to write him a letter, basically just telling him how much I love and appreciate him as an actor...that I'm such a big fan of him, especially his terrific acting and film work. I told him about this P&P blog and the Devoted P&P Fans FB page. I even included the links to these sites, just in case, he wants to check them out, which he may or may not do...who knows? Celebs these days use internet and social media to promote their work, so they know how to use the web and browse various sites. So, I thought why not...might as well. I didn't expect to get a reply from him, but I did secretly hope for one...I mean, who doesn't, right? Isn't that the purpose of writing a fan letter in the first place, so you expect or at least hope to get a reply from him? Anyway, I hear (from fans who had sent him fan mail in previous years) that he does reply, but it may take about 2-3 months (if you're lucky) or 6 months to the latest. Since at the time, he was about to start filming AK film and had attached himself to star in UK's BBC and BBC America's Ripper Street and he was about to start publicity/promo/press junkets for The Three Musketeers, it may (or may not) be a while to hear back from him. A month or two passed by, no response, which I understood. He was busy with a few film projects he was filming and about to film at the time.

Three months. Nothing. Okay, I was not really counting nor desperately waiting or expecting a reply so soon (or maybe secretly I was, lol)...just whenever or if it'll happen, it will. If not, it's all good. It was probably not meant to be (or I'm just not lucky like those other fans who got a reply and autograph from him)...but I didn't even think about it or rather stop thinking and hoping to hear back from him. Then, six months passed...still no reply. I thought maybe or maybe not...I better stop hoping, waiting, and expecting to get a reply from him. He's busy, I should leave him alone, lol. About 7 months to a year later with no reply, I thought it was impossible and not gonna happen. So, okay, no chance of that happening, a year has passed by...who knows if he even received it or not. I'll never know because I didn't hear back from him. I thought, I will just wonder about it someday, lol..But hey, at least I tried...and it won't (and didn't) change my love and appreciation of him (as an actor and my favorite Darcy) if I didn't get a reply from him. It was not like he owed me or that he was obligated to do so...just that I'd try to write him and see if I get a reply just to know if he got it. And since I didn't, with over a year that has gone by, since I sent him the fan mail...I didn't even think about it anymore. I had almost forgotten about it until MM started making public appearances recently for Anna Karenina and Ripper Street...and a few MM fans I know on FB and twitter, who were fortunate and so lucky to have met him kept talking about their unforgettable M&G experience in meeting him. One of them (the lovely Emilia Ravenna) even asked me if I want to send him a message or that if I had written a fan mail to him (she was so kind enough to send my birthday with photo message for him...thank you Emilia!)...oh, that's when It all came back to me! I had kept it a secret for so long that I wrote him a letter and I didn't want to talk about it with fellow MM fans until after or if I ever I get a reply...if not, I thought I'm just not gonna talk about it, since (at first, I didn't want to jinx it) really...there was nothing there to talk about, hahaha...!

Fast forward a week ago or so, I started to wonder why I didn't hear back from him though...What if...
1. He didn't received it (or if he did, he probably didn't get a chance to read it or that he was busy and just didn't get to it...so he either kept it on his "to read fan mail" file, which he must receive so many of them from his fans around the world in his home office or he just throw it away, lol...)
2. His agents didn't received it or they did, but didn't forward it to him...who knows? I had hoped they did forward it to him and didn't do the latter, lol...
3. Perhaps the stamps (international coupon reply) I included in the self-addressed envelope were not enough?!? That could've been one of the reasons, I thought, I didn't hear back from him at all...
4. Maybe I had asked him too much for an autograph?! (with 4 photos I included in my letter to him, lol...that could be another reason for not getting a reply...asking too much, I understand is a big no, no...well, I did asked politely and didn't expect for him to signed them all! One of them would've been fine, right?) from him.
5. I'm just not lucky and it wasn't meant to be...that I understand very well. Sometimes things just don't happen the way you want or expect them to happen.

I'm guessing one or all of the above would be the reason for not hearing back from him. So, I thought I should stop with thinking what if...it's not gonna happen now. Over a year has gone by...it's Impossible! MM's too busy and I'll never hear back from him and I probably will never meet him either...Then, I remember that famous Audrey Hepburn quote (even I started seeing it on Oprah's Own Network's facebook status recently, lol)...

"Nothing is IMPOSSIBLE. The word itself says I'M POSSIBLE." (Audrey Hepburn)

Well, I believe it now as that "impossible" word aforementioned here, has now turned into "I'm possible" or possible, as Matthew did reply!!! Though he didn't write a letter or mention my name, not that I'm ungrateful and complaining, lol. He did signed the photos (4 of my favorite pics of him, which I told him in the letter) I have asked him nicely to sign! Yes, he did signed an autograph (not just one of them, but all 4 of them!) and I scanned them here to share with you all that he did and he's simply amazing (so kind and generous) and didn't even forget to reply to one of his biggest fans. Even though he was fashionably late and it only took him over a year, but hey, he was busy and he more than made up for it (shows he actually care and read/open his fan mails...other celebs wouldn't even bother)...and it's better late than never, lol. Thank you ever so much, Matthew!!! I love you (even more) and appreciate you most ardently! Also, thank you to his agents for forwarding my fan letter to him.

Anyway, here's the first and last parts of my 2-page fan letter to MM...I thought I'd share these with you all...since, I am quite amazed that I've actually saved the draft (started on August 2011) of my letter to him (all this time) since I first wrote it over a year ago...and re-reading it just kind of amused me (By the way, I was almost tempted to write "Dear Mr. Darcy...." lol...but decided to just write "Dear Mr. Macfadyen," instead...), so here it is (an example, for those of you who would like to write him a fan mail one day...he does reply, no matter how long it takes him!)...

Dear Mr. Macfadyen,

Hello, there! I just want to say that I am one of your biggest fans and would really love to meet you in person someday, but for now, writing you is as close as I'm going to get a chance of meeting you. If that's my fate, I don't mind, I probably wouldn't be able to say a word, let alone form a sentence if and when I do get to meet you in person, haha! At least in writing you, I can tell how much I love and appreciate you in great detail, not just as a very talented and versatile actor, but you seemed to be a wonderful person from the articles and interviews I've read and seen you in, the actors you've worked with (especially Keira Knightley and director Joe Wright) and from reading the wonderful accounts and meet & greet experiences my fellow MM fans have been saying and phrasing you about...

Anyway, just thought I'd write you and tell you that I'm such a big fan of your terrific acting and film work, but not in an obsessive (maybe a little, lol) or stalkerish way...no, I'm not, that's why I decided to just write you instead of meet you and follow you around, haha... No, that's not the kind of person or fan I am. I just love you, in general, lol. But really, if I do get an opportunity to meet you someday (maybe in one of the premieres of The Three Musketeers or Anna Karenina...would've been nice if I live in London when P&P was released back in 2005...) I definitely would love to meet you. For now, I thought this letter would do. Also, if it's possible to request a few autographs from you from the few pictures I've enclosed here for you to sign...I would most greatly appreciate it. THANK YOU so much in advance!

your biggest and most ardent fan,
Jeane

Here are my MM signed autograph photos...

Jeane's Matthew Macfadyen Signed Autograph Photos

EDIT: Thanks for reading! Now, If you would like to write and send Matthew a fan letter or request an autograph, you can write him through his agents Hamilton Hodell with the following address...

c/o Hamilton Hodell
5th Floor
66-68 Margaret Street
London W1W 8SR

For more info on how to send MM a fan mail or request an autograph, visit his agents' website here!