Actress and New York Times bestselling author Valerie Bertinelli recently came to Naperville to discuss her new book “Getting Naked: The Quiet Work of Becoming Perfectly Imperfect.”
Hundreds gathered to hear from Bertinelli
More than 650 people filled North Central College’s Pfeiffer Hall for the event, sponsored by Anderson’s Bookshop.
In the book, Bertinelli reflects on growing older, the struggles she’s faced, and starting over.
“My brain is so much smarter, I have so much more life experience. We learn so much through our mistakes,” Bertinelli said.
Connecting with the audience
During the presentation, Bertinelli discussed her career, from acting to hosting cooking shows.
“There’s a lot of experiences I’ve had during my lifetime that I’m so happy I did,” said Bertinelli. “I’ll never do it again, but it was a lot of fun to do at the time.”
One member of the audience shared an interesting connection to Bertinelli when it comes to cooking.
“I’ve been cooking since I was three years old, and along the way, I got interested in cooking shows. And like every kid, I really wanted to be on one of those shows. So I’d grown up with my mom watching ‘Kids Baking Championship,’ which that’s how I actually was introduced to Valerie,” said Blake Schmidt.
Schmidt would meet Bertinelli at another Anderson’s event when he was in the fourth grade. He says she inspired him to audition for cooking shows, and he eventually ended up on Master Chef Junior.
“It was an amazing experience,” said Schmidt.
Audience members such as Schmidt received a pre-signed copy of the book and were able to take a photo with Bertinelli after the event.
“I thought it would be a great night out with my sister because we’re both fans and I can’t wait to read the book,” said event attendee Laurie Knick.
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