A big, new Hollywood star? Why, he says: 'No, I'm Bee Vang'

Sharing major screen time with Clint Eastwood in "Gran Torino" hasn't gone to Bee Vang's head.

The young actor, a high school student enrolled in the University of Minnesota's advanced program, returned to Patrick Henry High on Friday to participate in Community Involvement Day, along with "American Idol" alum Paris Bennett and others. Vang interacted with the students by holding mock auditions for the movie "Batman," which explains the make-shift Joker makeup viewable (over his protestations) at startribune.com/video. "Everybody has been saying, 'Oh my God, you're famous,'" Vang told me after class. "I'm like, 'No, I'm Bee Vang.'"

Tom Murray, an administrative teacher, said, "Bee Vang is level-headed and that's why we love him at Patrick Henry High School," where he attended his freshman year.

When asked whether he spent a lot of time in Hollywood, Vang said, "Why would I be in Hollywood? I'm just a newcomer." As such, he's not sure he'll get an invite to the Oscars. When told he had caused a scene just standing outside, he said, "I'd be out of place, I wouldn't cause a stir."

Vang comprehends why this Eastwood movie got snubbed by Oscar: "The time the movie was released was not really great. We had so much good competition. 'Benjamin Button,' 'Slumdog Millionaire,' 'Milk,' 'Frost/Nixon,' 'The Wrestler,' other films I forgot to mention. I'm glad we're losing to these great professional artists. So I'm honored to be a part of this."

Lucinda Winter, exec director of the Minnesota Film and TV Board, said: "The level of work he was exposed to, and working opposite of Clint Eastwood, is just the opportunity of a lifetime for this young man and he certainly is deserving of it. Of course, we're absolutely thrilled because not only was [he] one of the leads in the movie, but it was written here. Good all around."

A show of support Retired Minneapolis attorney Tom Goodman had another sad task -- looking for home video of his daughter Liz Logelin for an upcoming Rachael Ray show. "I couldn't find any, so there's no video of her," Goodman said.

Said Goodman: "There's a tiny effort somewhere in the country, but really nobody cares about widows and widowers who have small children, so he started a foundation for them, the Liz Logelin Foundation. Right after my daughter died, he started blogging about it. This huge community has just developed around him."

Book offers have been pouring in for Matt, who works full time at Yahoo, his father-in-law says. "You can see the way he writes and it's kind of interesting; it's filled with profanity," Goodman said. "You would [like that about him]. ... People have gravitated to him not only because he expresses himself well about this loss, but he's a stranger in a strange land. I'm sure he'll be blogging about this."

Somebody who was on Liz's high school swimming team gave Maddy a one-piece Speedo. "They are sitting on the beach and Matt decided to put this bathing suit on her. He had no idea. Where do you start? She's all arms and legs and here's this suit with holes in it. That's the kind of thing. It just breaks your heart to watch him try to go through it. My wife, Candee, and I are completely blown away by all the support he's getting."

A slimmer Sheletta This new job at FM107 has been fantastic for Sheletta's waistline!

"I [haven't] got time to eat. I don't know how you people with regular jobs work every day [and fit in time for eating]."

When asked if her husband, Shawn Brundidge, had noticed the weight loss, Sheletta said, "He [hasn't noticed]. Shawn hasn't seen me naked since before Andrew was born."

Two out of three of the above brackets -- [ ] -- were used because of Sheletta's preference for substandard grammar -- "ain't," for example -- which must be resisted until it's clear she knows better.