Meeting Virginia Hey

Meeting Mrs. Virginia Hey

I was at my yearly sci-fi convention this past weekend, and by far the highlight was meeting Mrs. Virginia Hey. (Though I confess I don’t know if she is a ‘Mrs.’ or a ‘Ms.’. What kind of a fan am I?) At any rate, the line to the “Walk of Fame” where all the actors greeted their fans was moving fast. I donned my Max costume from the Road Warrior for this historic event and hoped that she wouldn’t think I was some weirdo. My eyes scanned the room to the place where she would be sitting, and there she was. Virginia Hey. The Warrior Woman. She was smiling a brilliant smile as she talked with a fan. She did not look like The Road Warrior was filmed twenty five years ago. The woman looked damn good. I could easily see how she earned the part of a fiercely beautiful warrior woman. I made my way over to her table with my heart beating a mile a minute. I was about to meet with one of the prominent actors from my favorite movie, I was about to talk with Virginia Hey! Me, a simple, humble fan. Suddenly, the fan before me walked away and I stepped up. She looked at me and I looked down at my costume, then I smiled at her with a ‘You’re out of uniform’ expression on my face. She flashed me a smile that seemed to light up the whole room as she said “Oh, you look wonderful; what a costume!”, and my brush with fame was on.

I had been checking the guest roster in the days prior to me leaving, but it wasn’t until the day I left that her name was added to the list. To say I was pumped is like saying the Interceptor was a cool car. Meeting her by itself would be worth the 700 mile, 10 hour trip. All the way on that long drive I imagined this moment, and here it was.

I said “I’m honored to meet you; I’ve been a fan for a long time.” She shook my hand and I instantly realized she was very, very personable. As I stood there, conscious of other fans waiting in line, she made me feel as if she had all the time in the world to talk with me and she would like nothing better than to answer all the questions I was dieing to ask. But, business first. She posed for a picture with me, pulling me in close for a very personable hug. She gave me an autograph, signed ‘To dearest Dave, my “other” Max, lots of love, Virginia Hey.’ It was an image from The Road Warrior, where Max looks at her as she has an arrow aimed at him. She drew a couple of hearts on the picture, and I tried to assure myself that she did so for all the fans, not merely me. But a guy can dream…

I thanked her sincerely, then I asked a question that I never thought would, or even could, be answered. “Could you tell me if Warrior Woman was ever named, or did she even have a back story?” And then fate had its evil way with me. Mrs. Hey had to be on a Q+A panel shortly, and she had to go. But she graciously invited me to come back in a few hours and she would fill me in. Soon, I would be privy to knowledge that very few, if any, Mad Max fans knew of. I shook her hand again and thanked her for her time. I told her I would be back.

And how the hours dragged on. I toured the dealer’s rooms; wasting time like time has never been wasted before. I bought lunch and forced myself to eat slowly. I waited until I thought it would be OK, then another half hour just to be sure. Again, I hung back until there was no one else in line. I didn’t want another fan to miss out because I was taking up all of her time.

When the coast was clear I walked up again. Once more, that movie star smile that we all missed out on in The Road Warrior. She remembered I wanted to hear about Warrior Woman’s back story and she paused to collect her memories of it. She told me this; her words as best as I can remember:

“Warrior Woman was raised by the troops; with the nuclear war they were the only family she had. They never gave her a name because there was no real concern for that kind of thing. This was also why she had such a strong personality and why she knew how to handle weapons. But as a consequence, she never really developed emotionally; as you saw when she met Mel. Even though there was some chemistry between them, she didn’t know how to handle it.”

Now it was my turn to smile. She had so selflessly shared with me a very important part of her character, and I think I felt like the guys did when they were hanging out with Vernon Wells. No offence to Mr. Wells, but Virginia Hey has him beat in the looks department. So take that, guys!

I thanked her yet again, trying not to gush like any number of fanboys out there. I hope she didn’t think that of me. Not wanting to take up any more of her time, I smiled and said my good byes. Once more, I was treated to this very classy lady’s engaging smile. To me, Virginia Hey is not only a Warrior Woman, but a wonderful woman too.


A very happy HUMVEE Driver with a very beautiful Virginia Hey




Virginia Hey's Autograph