On the first anniversary of the attacks on the US, some of the world’s most famous celebrities have paused to reflect on their memories of the tragedy.
“I was scared,” says American actress Goldie Hawn, speaking to Reuters Video News. “For the first time since the Cold War, when I was little and I would hide under tables when I’d hear the fire engine because I thought it was an air raid attack, I was scared. And I couldn’t stop crying.”
Though legendary Italian actress Sophia Loren called September 11 “the most awful day of my life”, One Hour Photo star Robin Williams says: “My recollections are of a nation stunned and coming out of shock and gathering together as the most positive thing that has happened in a long time.”
“Most of us are still in shock,” says artist and widow of John Lennon, Yoko Ono. “But I think that somehow we are coming together more, and there is a kind of warm feeling in New York.” Sharing a similar view, actress Elizabeth Hurley opines that the tragedy “revolutionised the way a lot of us think”. “We all appreciate what we’ve got a lot more and hopefully try to be nicer in some ways,” she says.
British director Sam Mendes told Reuters: “You know, all one feels is sadness”. And the sentiment was echoed by Spanish actor Antonio Banderas, who remembered feeling “tremendous sadness, and then immediately after, thinking, ‘What are going to be the consequences of this?’.”
One year on, actress and activist Susan Sarandon has turned her attention to what the future holds. “I’d rather look at what we’re doing now and how we’re going to proceed from here,” she says. “I want to look forward and not look back.”
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
