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Have you ever met a celebrity?

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I waited on a few celebrities when I worked in downtown San Jose. I'll drop a couple of names:

Scott Steiner - Clearly 'roided out and physically imposing, but otherwise a very nice guy and generous tipper. He finished two steaks and an appetizer by himself!

Jarome Iginla - Very cool dude. Not shy or reserved at all around hockey fans and was happy to talk about the game and give an autograph.

I'm also closely related to a relatively well-known reporter who has been on Sports Center, but I won't say anymore to preserve internet anonymity. Let me just say, having attended the ESPYs and being around that crowd, that most sports reporters NEVER sleep and are junkies for their job. They live out of their cars, offices, and whatever arenas they are covering, exchanging gossip and leads in a mad dash to be the first to report something on Twitter. I wouldn't be surprised if many of them were coked up.
 
When I was younger my best friends parents were really good friends with Tom Berenger. I was 14 and we'd go over to his house all the time during the summer and play on the jet skis and things with his daughters. Tom even let my buddy and I stay in his guest house. It was very cool. I bet I could still go over there and he'd remember me.
 
Since it's somewhat fitting given how much he's been mentioned on GAF recently, I worked for Robin Thicke for about 18 months when I first moved to Los Angeles.
 
I met the singer for Gym Class heroes without knowing who he was at first. It was a long time ago at a Warped Tour. I was standing at the very back of this outdoor area but around this one stage where I was waiting for a band to play. At the moment, this god awful band called Aiden was playing. I just stood there, watching, looking like I just smelled something bad when he comes up and just stands there too. He was smoking his cigarette, looking all tall and handsome and whatnot (I'm a bit of a sucker for tall dudes with tattoos). We started talking and I'm pretty sure he knew I didn't know who he was. He wasn't very fond of the band that was playing as well. Later on, I finally get close to the stage where I was waiting for this one band and after them, Gym Class Heroes goes up and I freaked a little, as a teenage girl would after conversing with a handsome singer from a band.
 
Just last night I met Scott Ian from Anthrax in L.A. He's pretty short lol. Really friendly and down to earth though. It was a screening for their new concert film. He had a Q and A afterwards and acknowledged that it probably won't even result in any profits, but that they don't care. There was like 20 of us in attendance. You would've thought that it was for a local community college course or something. But he was still very humble and thankful about it all. Cool dude in my book.
 
Met and took a picture with Danny McBride when they were filming Eastbound and Down in Wilmington.

He was reading the script while crew was setting up a scene in one of the dining areas on campus. My brother and I were a couple of the only students there and my brother was too skittish to go over and say anything.

Just as we were about to leave, I make a U-turn and go up to Danny and introduce myself and ask if my brother can get a picture with him. I told him that he was the first celebrity that my brother had ever met to which he responded, and I'll never forget:

"Well, I guess I'll be the one to pop his cherry."

He was friendly and took time to take a couple of pictures with me and my brother.
 
While not really a celebrity, I did get to know the man who (though I believe he recently lost the title) had the most academy awards of any living person. his name was Dennis Murren, and he was the man most responsible for the majority of the star wars series special effects.

He's a really relaxed guy, super laid back with tons of awesome stories to tell. I got to meet with him due mainly to the fact that my sister became best friends with his daughter.
 
Sam Raimi - Very nice guy. We talked for a few minutes about movies and what not.
Eddie Griffin - Nice but strange. He started talking to me about the moon or something. I just wanted to get out of that conversation.
Orlando Jones - Was with me when Eddie started to talk about the moon. I think he wanted out of that conversation as well.
Mos Def - Extremely nice guy. Took the time to talk with my friend and I backstage at a music festival.
Shaq - The only take away was that he was really damn big.
Tabu and Will.i.am (Before Fergie and the great fall off) - They were standing next to me at a hip hop festival and we chatted for a minute. Tabu, was great, Will.i.am was just quiet.
The Broken Lizard guys - Met them at a bar. They were discussing some movie they were working on. I was drunk and interjected, then we just started talking.
Peter Dante from the Adam Sandler movies - This dude was a trip. We met him in bar while were were doing karaoke. He ended up joining our group and we sang and drank all night. Funny guy.
 
Yes.

Paul Giamatti is an asshole.

Kiefer Sutherland can rock a turtleneck and square-rimmed glasses and still outclass everyone in a room. Same goes for Jon Hamm with the "two-day disheveled" look.

Colm Feore is a boss.

There are others, but I wouldn't like to brag.
 
Well, I met Coach K of Duke when I was 14. Basically, they were in town for the first 2 rounds of the NCAA tournament and I got his autograph in the lobby of the hotel where the team was staying. A handful of mostly kids (including myself) practically ambushed them as they returned from an open practice. He was polite and, like I said, gave me his autograph on team-related newspaper.

In college, I was bussing tables at a Red Robin when racer Jeff Gordon, his then-wife Brooke, and perhaps his or her parents were there. I left him well enough alone, he didn't need a bus-boy interrupting his mid-afternoon lunch.

These days, I would also follow that latter pattern. I have no desire to meet any celebrity, whether I am a fan or not, and if I did come across one, I'd try to remember to grant them their space. While some celebrities thrive on the fawning public, I'm quite sure that most would prefer to be able to live a private life while running the same routine errands as the rest of us.
 
crazyrabbits said:
Yes.

Paul Giamatti is an asshole.

Kiefer Sutherland can rock a turtleneck and square-rimmed glasses and still outclass everyone in a room. Same goes for Jon Hamm with the "two-day disheveled" look.

Colm Feore is a boss.

There are others, but I wouldn't like to brag.
Click to expand...
How was Giamatti an asshole?

I know he was priveledged
 
I met MC Hammer when I worked in retail. Can't touch that.
 
Quite a few, but Chevy Chase and Richard Gere would be the ones I've met the most during my teens. Been to a lot of random celebs houses as well. Oh and Bobby Valentine. All three would be more times then I could count.
 
luckygodzilla said:
While not really a celebrity, I did get to know the man who (though I believe he recently lost the title) had the most academy awards of any living person. his name was Dennis Murren, and he was the man most responsible for the majority of the star wars series special effects.

He's a really relaxed guy, super laid back with tons of awesome stories to tell. I got to meet with him due mainly to the fact that my sister became best friends with his daughter.
Click to expand...

Makes sense, he was one of the founders of Industrial Light & Magic, so I guess he has tons of visual effect awards.
 
I wish I was a celebrity just so I could hang with other celebrities

"Yo going out to dinner with Matty (McCaunaghay) tonight . Then we hitting up some bars"
 
My second cousin on my grandfather's side is Ed Reed and I met him at a funeral. Down to earth dude. Also met Trick Daddy, he threw a grapefruit at me when I was like 14 or so.

Forgot I worked backstage security for a concert and met Wayne Wonder, Jeezy, and Lil. Wayne. Wayne was an asshole but Jeezy was so cool and gracious. Wayne Wonder was amazingly small.
 
When I saw All the Way on Broadway a few months ago, I got to go backstage and talk to Bryan Cranston for a good 20 minutes or so. Got my picture taken with him. Super cool and friendly guy.

Also met Hideo Kojima last year at the grand opening of The Art of Videogames at the Smithsonian in DC.
 
My dad and I were golfing one time and Morgan Freeman was golfing the tee in front of us the whole time. He chatted with us a bunch while we waited because his friend he was golfing with (seemingly not a celeberty) was super slow. He was in town filming Oblivion. Super nice guy.
 
Worked in a hat store for years, and every 2 weeks Randy "Macho Man" Savage came into my store to buy a black fitted ball cap. Really nice guy, and any time someone recognized him he'd be friendly and didn't mind a picture if you asked. He was much more laid back than his persona, which is really to be expected. Was a real shame when he died.

When I was 7 my grandma chased Hulk Hogan into a men's room to tell him I was his biggest fan. When he came out he said hi to us, and when he found out we were heading the same direction he put me up on his shoulders and carried me to our gate before he gave me a hug and told me "Your grandma's something else, bud." Even though I was that young I still remember it vividly.

I got a nasty look from John Travolta in Clearwater when I was bringing my mom some take-out and he was walking with some Scientology drones toward their main hall. I stepped past and around him on the sidewalk and then got stopped by some other people coming the other way and he gave me a look like, "You got really far, huh asshole?".

I got to ride an elevator with Kevin Smith in Orlando once. He was super cool and when I told him I really loved his run on Daredevil he went wide eyed and said, "Holy shit, someone who didn't say Jay & Silent Bob!" (this was like 2002) and had a good laugh about it. Classy dude.
 
If film premieres count:

Met Chris Pratt, Chris Hemsworth, Karen Gillan and Vin Diesel at the Guardians of The Galaxy premiere.

Saw James Gunn, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana and Joss Whedon at the Guardians of The Galaxy premiere.

Met Hugh Jackman at the premiere for The Wolverine.

Saw Famke Janssen, Rila Fukushima, James Mangold and Tao Okamoto at the premiere for The Wolverine.

Saw Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Hayley Atwell and the Russo brothers at the Captain America: The Winter Soldier premiere.

Saw Robert Downey Jr and Don Cheadle at the Iron Man 3 premiere.

Met Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard and Anne Hathaway at the premiere for The Dark Knight Rises.

Saw Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt at the premiere for The Dark Knight Rises.
 
Niel deGrasse Tyson went to the same gym as I.

I took a photo of him on the elliptical machine in a totally non-creepy stalker way that I'm afraid to post here that he may found out and refuse to come back to the gym.

edit: Hmm yeah, and also went to one of the foreign embassy's event and met Ban Ki-Moon.
 
I met comedian Doug Benson briefly at a small show at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. He was pretty cool. My friend and I got a photo with him after his set.
 
Michael Bay while he was touring theatres in my area. Didn't really speak to him much or anything but he was alone, he shook my hand and introduced himself. The two times he's been at my theatre he's been real chill.
 
I met Kevin Bacon on the street in NYC once. I was staying on the Upper West Side walking back from dinner. He was out on the street waiting for his wife to come out to join him. It was just the two of us. He was staring around, bored, so I stopped and chatted with him, just shootin' the shit like. I honestly didn't recognize him and then his wife came out and it was Kyra Sedgwick and then I realized.

I got flabbergasted and jibbered like an idiot for a minute and then he laughed kindly and bid me good night.
 
Saw Dave Chappelle at the checkout line of the American Apparel near Chinatown in San Francisco a couple of years back. I didn't approach him or anything but my GF at the time asked if he was Dave Chappelle (I mean, I already knew) but he was real chill about it. This was during his buff period.

I've also seen Terrell Owens and Common at airports before. Seems like I only every see black celebrities in real life.
 
Dinokill said:
What is with GAF and their obsession with celebrities?
Click to expand...

Celebrity obsession is not exclusive to this forum. Gossip rags are a multi-million dollar industry and ever general discussion forum on the internet that has a population of more than a 1,000 has a thread like this.
 
Me and my brother meet Sergio Aragones once in the hotel's bar. Shared a few drinks, badmouthed the football game on TV (guess it was the Chivas vs someone) and otherwise got a great moment.

Next day he autographed my Groo comic.
 
Log4Girlz said:
Michael Bay while he was touring theatres in my area. Didn't really speak to him much or anything but he was alone, he shook my hand and introduced himself. The two times he's been at my theatre he's been real chill.
Click to expand...

Michael Bay is a celebrity?

I mean, he makes successful movies, but he's not exactly Steven Spielberg...
 
Dean Cain - super nice, fun
Eric Roberts - Camera shy
Stephen Baldwin - Loud but fun
David Arquette - drunk or stoned at the W in Hollywood, all smiles when I shook his hand and told him he was awesome
George W Bush in his first campaign tour as a Presidential nominee. Just shook his hand.
Ken Griffey Jr - buying groceries at a store right next to my home. He wouldn't admit who he was, so I snapped a pic and left him alone.
Kellindo Parker (Janelle Monae's official guitar player) - shot behind the scenes of a music video he did with my friends/colleagues. We all had a late night dinner at Denny's, where he did Obama impressions, crazy voices, etc. Stupendously hilarious guy.
And while not major celebs, I've met and hung out with Jesse La flair, Cory Demeyers and other freerunners. They're all talented and super friendly.
 
Whoompthereitis said:
DO ELABORATE!
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LOL I'll do my best! It was actually a long time ago, back in '99 / '00. This was when Robin was writing mostly for other artists, and was working on finalizing his own record deal. He literally began recording his first record the week after I stopped working for him.

You know with all of the grief he is getting in the media lately, I found that Robin was a decent guy overall. He had a great sense of humor, and his sense of melody pretty much blew me away every day that I was there. He was loyal to his close friends, and went out of his way to help me on a couple of occasions. I really can't slam him because he gave me a job and helped my wife get a job and basically kept us afloat until we found our own path here.

The womanizing and the drugs (which are now public information anyway) were rampant back then also. I could go on and on with some incredible stories, but the world is a small place nowadays... I honestly didn't think his behavior was anything beyond what you would expect for a guy making that much money and living that lifestyle at his age. He's EXTREMELY competitive, to the point where you had to have the stomach to deal with him if things didn't go his way. He had an arcade hockey machine that we would play from time to time, and man he would RAGE when he didn't win.

His wife Paula is one of sweetest people I've ever met, truly. She was genuine, hard working, friendly, personable, and of course beautiful. I don't think she had much confidence in herself until Robin's path crossed with Overbrook entertainment. At that point she started working out more, and slowly dabbling in acting. I'm really happy for her that she is standing on her own two feet now.

I met loads of people while working for him, all of which were nice as far as I can remember:

Alan Thicke
Jordan Knight (hilariously funny)
Mya (she brought her puppy to the studio and he took a MASSIVE dump on the floor)
Seal
Heidi Klum
Mariah Carey
Spinderella
Will Smith
Jada Pinkett Smith
Probably 20-30 other celebs that were all at one of Robin's massive halloween parties.

It was fun, but it helped me realize how intense the entertainment industry is. It's very much a who you know type of game, and the competition and the political crap that goes with it were way too much for me to deal with coming from a small town.
 
Dinokill said:
What is with GAF and their obsession with celebrities?
Click to expand...

It's a weird thing and I'm not really even into celebrities in my day-to-day, but it's a trip seeing a celebrity in person. I mean, you've seen their image so many times whether in pictures or on TV, and you are already familiar in a way with that person. It's like finally meeting a relative you've never met before, but heard a lot of stories about. Never been quite starstruck before but I can understand it.
 
Billy Corgan dining at my father's restaurant was probably the craziest thing. I was around 12. None of the staffers even knew him. The hotel he was staying in booked him a table there or something. He was on tour here in europe with the Smashing Pumpkins (maybe the rest of the band was there as well but I didn't recognise or acknowledged them, was too starstruck).

And I didn't actually met him. I still regret that. I only saw him from a couple of meters away.

Otherwise, only local celebrities or soccer semi-celebrities IIRC.
 
Krappadizzle said:
When I was younger my best friends parents were really good friends with Tom Berenger. I was 14 and we'd go over to his house all the time during the summer and play on the jet skis and things with his daughters. Tom even let my buddy and I stay in his guest house. It was very cool. I bet I could still go over there and he'd remember me.
Click to expand...

Dude, what!?

That's so awesome.

Reading this thread makes me feel like I'm behind on my 'meeting celebrities' quota. So far, none.
 
Oh! Forgot that a coupla years ago I hung out and got high with Todd Glass for a few hours. Dude was constantly 'on' but not in an annoying way. Genuinely a hilarious dude at all times
 
Gonzalez said:
Billy Mitchell at a Pizzeria in South Florida. He was bringing in samples of his Pizza Sauce for the owner to try.
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His kid goes to school with my son. So does the Rock's kid. My son came home one day and said a kid he knows in school's dad played video games for a living. I said I doubt it since there is only one real professional gamer and his name is Billy Mitchell. He said "that's his name!"

I also went to high school with Judd Apatow, but he wasn't famous back then, just funny as hell. You knew he was destined for great things. Later on I worked for a company that represented Cindy Crawford. I loved the days when she came into the office. Saw and said hello to lots of celebs on the streets of NYC all the time.
 
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