LOS ANGELES?Michael C. Hall, who recently announced that he is successfully battling cancer, did the rounds of the after-parties at Sunday?s Golden Globe Awards. Clutching his statuette for Best Actor-TV Drama Series, the star of the acclaimed ?Dexter? series celebrated his first ever Globe win at this significant time in his life.

As his wife and ?Dexter? co-star Jennifer Carpenter proudly stood by, Michael posed for photos with guests at one of the parties that immediately followed the 67th Golden Globe Awards. Earlier, Jennifer was misty-eyed when Michael made his acceptance speech, especially when he thanked her. ?Jennifer, all my love and gratitude,? the actor remarked.

Michael revealed that he has Hodgkin?s lymphoma a few days before the Golden Globes. Backstage at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the 38-year-old actor explained: ?My health is very much a personal matter. I had every intention of keeping it quiet but because the awards shows were imminent, I figured that I had to make a statement. It was also nice to be able to make the statement at this point in my treatment where I was able to assure people that I was really on the road to recovery.?

Michael, who wore a black Japanese hat to cover the effects of his cancer treatment, quipped when asked about this ?head accessory choice?: ?I wanted something that was pretty simple but maybe fancier than your normal thing. I found this Japanese hat. It is actually really long but I got the woman who helped Jennifer with her dress to wrangle it.?

Rain-soaked couple

Michael and Jennifer were among the many stars who walked the rain-soaked red carpet last Sunday afternoon. For the first time in many years, rain fell on the Golden Globe red carpet parade which usually takes place in typically sunny LA weather.

If you think that rain is the great equalizer in Hollywood, you?re wrong. The publicists held umbrellas over their respective clients. They quickly learned the way to hold the umbrellas over their A-list clients: hold them very high while keeping distance from the stars. Because if the publicists didn?t contort their bodies that way, they will be seen in the photos, too. But Penelope Cruz carried the umbrella herself like a true Spanish señorita and glamorously twirled the brolly as if it was really meant to go with her black Giorgio Armani Prive gown.

For a few lucky women, their husbands or boyfriends gallantly held the umbrellas. These were the gentlemen of the afternoon: Paul McCartney (for girlfriend Nancy Shevell), Harrison Ford (Calista Flockhart), George Clooney (Elisabetta Canalis), Jesse James (Sandra Bullock), John Krasinski (Emily Blunt), Nick Cannon (Mariah Carey, who knew how to walk the red carpet, no matter how drenched it was), Joshua Jackson (Diane Kruger), Josh Duhamel (Fergie), and Jeff Bridges (Susan Geston).

From our vantage point on the red carpet where we helped clear the stars for security, we observed a snippy attitude or two because of the rains. But overall, the wet weather resulted in a jovial atmosphere as the stars simply laughed off the race from the limo to suddenly encountering TV show personality Billy Bush and his mike to a still photographer who stopped them on their tracks for a quick shot.

We saw why Julia Roberts is still America?s Sweetheart to this day. Hearing the soaked fans in the bleachers yelling ?Julia! Julia!? she stepped away from the mass of umbrellas covering her, walked in the rain to be nearer the bleachers stand, waved and flashed that famous dazzling smile to the grateful wet folks. Now that?s a true star.

Before all that water could completely turn us into a Chia Pet (okay, we heard that from Sandra Bullock when she was asked what would happen to her hair if it got wet from the rain), we forced, er, persuaded a publicist to part with his umbrella as he was entering the security/ticket/ID check line. Taking pity on our wet puppy look, he gave it to us. Later, he came back and asked for the umbrella because he needed it for ?Avatar? director James Cameron who was arriving in his limo. Reluctantly, we gave back the umbrella. Who would deny the King of the World his umbrella?

?Fair? weather

If anything, the downpour eased our problem of getting the stars into the ballroom by the 5 p.m. show time. In the past, it was a struggle to keep stars from lingering in front of the hyper photographers. This time, the wet weather kept the A-listers moving at a faster pace.

Among the familiar faces on the red carpet were Fil-Am Martin Huberty, fresh from the Prieto-Valdes-Legarda clan reunion in the Philippines and who came with Sarah Ferguson, the Duchess of York; our guests, Filipino designer Oliver Tolentino (we survived the storm in his tuxedo) and his business manager Andrew Caruthers; ?Kababayan LA? TV show host Jannelle So and her fiancé, businessman Jeff Lim; Filipino-American Symphony Orchestra (Faso) co-founders Roger and Cora Oriel, also the couple behind the Asian Journal Foundation.

Jannelle, Margaret Gardiner, a journalist and the first Miss Universe from South Africa, and our wife, Janet, wore gowns by Oliver. All throughout the evening, the three ladies drew admiring comments on their gowns and the inevitable question, ?Who are you wearing??

(Tomorrow, the sidelights continue: inside the ballroom and the after-parties).

Email the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com and read his blog, ?The Nepales Report,? on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.