Celebrity Meetings (Share Only the Great Ones)

[Grofield]

After reading some hilarious stories on another message board about run-ins with David Carradine (an almost endless parade of tales with the Snake Charmer himself cold-shouldering or just plain insulting people at conventions), I'm interested to hear your amusing celebrity stories.

I'll start...

A friend of my brother's decided to geek out and harass cranky producer Robert Evans at a convention almost a decade ago, and kept pressing him for information about Evans' then-upcoming THE PHANTOM. This was the unforgettable exchange that resulted:

FRIEND: Mr. Evans, do you know when the movie will be shot?
EVANS: Put it to you this way-- You'll be shot before the movie!

[Mattimus]

This would not be considered a "great" celebrity, but it was funny as hell in retrospect. I was about nine years old when the power rangers hit the boob tube and I saw Tommy the green ranger at the mall once. He was with his wife and baby. Me, being the brilliant bastard i am, go up to him and say "Hey, who is this? I thought you were going out with Kimberly?" His wife turns to him and says "Who the fuck is Kimberly?!"

[Guttenberg Fan Club]

I saw Nathan Lane walking in downtown Manhattan. It was a great one!

[Charlie Brigden]

Takeshi Kitano bowed at me six times.

[tcjsavannah]

I had Emmitt Smith spell his name for me when he was ordering a to-go pizza in Gainesville one summer. In person, no less.

[moovyphreak]

1. Here I am meeting Bruce Campbell a month or so ago in Atlanta:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moovyphreak/34631389/

2. Here I am getting a good reaction from the late, great Chris Farley when I imitated him at the Planet Hollywood Atlanta in January 1997:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moovyphreak/2336841/

and here he is addressing me directly regarding said imitation shortly thereafter:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moovyphreak/2336840/

3. Here I am as a young lad meeting with the late Sorrell Booke (a.k.a. Boss Hogg) in either 1987 or 1988:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moovyphreak/29310769/

[Jason P. Thompson]

I know the nephew of Susan Sarandon and back in the summer of 2001 (when I was at USC) Susan and Tim were in town. They invited Luke (her nephew) to dinner and told him to bring some friends along if he wanted. It pretty much became a contest to get in the three slots he chose from. I was starring in on e of his short films at the time and so I was pretty much a lock.

So... they took us out and we all had a pretty good time. Tim was much friendlier than I expected and Susan seemed to be very interested in what we were doing at the time.

An experience I'll never forget. Nearly four years later it's been hard to knock it off from the master list of "things I've done".

[Nexus-6]

Ed Harris was in a play in NYC called "Taking Sides". I hadn't seen the play but my mother had. When I went on a trip to NY with a friend it was still running so we decided to wait by the exit to get an autograph. We were the first ones there and before we knew it, there were maybe 10-15 more people waiting. When Harris stepped out(wearing a NASCAR hat, which threw me off), everyone basically stormed him, it was horrible. Some other guy who was there must have gotten Harris to pose for what seemed like 10 pictures before Harris got fed up and just walked off down the street. I ended up getting an autograph(before photo guy took over), but vowed never to do it again. It must suck to be a celebrity sometimes.

-In the beginning of 2001 I lived in LA for a whopping 3 months, before I became broke and despondant. While I was there though I bumped into many "celebrities", but actually met(or spoke to) very few.
I was like 3 feet away from Pierce Brosnan at Tower Records on Sunset(the one across the street from the viper room). That kind of threw me off because no one in the store was bothering him. Right on I say.
-I also passed right by "Puddy"(Patrick Winterbautum(sp?)) on Hollywood Blvd. in full-on Tick attire sitting in a chair while they set up lights in an alley. He looked a bit embarassed to be sitting there, but I didn't bug him(har har). I gave him the nod, but I doubt he could nod back in that mask.
-Another night, 2 of my friends and I were looking for a karaoke bar, but unfortunatly all we could find were Japanese style karaoke bars, where you basically rent a room and sing with your friends. In our search for a more public place to unleash our horrible singing on the world, we passed by a theater where Kevin Smith and co. were filming the scenes where people exit the theater near the end of "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back". We didn't see half of the actors there, they must have shot their scenes on another night or earlier that night, but it was still cool. We watched them shoot for over an hour(mostly stuff with Jay and Silent Bob with the monkey, and a few other actors exiting). My friend, like a dumbass, actually messed up one shot by walking too close. Smith laughed it off, so it was all good, even though I'm sure she was embarassed. When they started packing shit up we walked over and talked to Jason Mewes for a few minutes. In case anyone is wondering, he didn't seem like he was on drugs or anything. That was a pretty cool night.
-For 2 weeks of my stay in LA I lived in a Hostel right off of Hollywood Blvd., the only one I knew of with a bar and small stage, and they had a comedy night. A whole lot of comedians came in there to test out their new material, which didn't make much sense to me, because most of their audience in the Hostel was foreigners. I guess they did it for a reaction, and just to have someone, anyone hear it. I met a lot of cool comedians there, some of which I've seen since on Comedy Central specials or in movies. I don't know if anyone knows the guy, but I drank and talked to Judah Friedlander for a few hours, another cool guy. I had to look up his name on IMDb actually, after recognizing him in his cameo in "Meet the Parents". If you have no clue who I'm talking about, he's the comedian who has big sideburns, big glasses, is a little chunky, and always wears a trucker cap.

For a little over a month I worked as a P.A. on a movie called "Diablo"(you'll know it as "A Man Apart", the name change was due to the PC game of the same name). My buddy Josh and I weren't truly full-fledged P.A.'s, but we did do some of the same stuff they did, in addition to running food and stuff to the set(and we got walkie-talkies, hell yeah!). It was a pretty cool experience all in all, sometimes it was extremely stressful, other times it was extremely boring(film sets are VERY "hurry and wait"), but I wouldn't trade it in for anything. I got to briefly talk to F. Gary Gray(the film of his I knew best at that point was "Friday"), Vin Diesel(I was a fan of "Pitch Black" at that point, so I was very nervous) and Larenz Tate(even though we were told not to bother the actors, they approached us), and talked to Tim Olyphant for a few minutes as well. He's a cool dude.

Anyways, those are the ones I actually do consider "great", I've had lots of sightings too, but I won't bore you with that shit. Okay, enough name-dropping for one day. Now I just need to actually do something with my damn life.

[Fazer]

1. Here I am meeting Bruce Campbell a month or so ago in Atlanta:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/moovyphreak/34631389/


This thread no longer needs to continue...unless it involves Bruce meetings. I met bruce twice. Once at the filming of the wrestling scene in Spidey 1 at the sony lot in culver city. A second time, was about a year earlier at E3 when he was doing an appearance for the first Evil Dead video game.

Also, as i was walking with some friends to go see the Cowboy Beebop movie at the NuArt on santa monica, we walked by a sushi place with this guy who afar looked like a homeless dude chatting up a quite attractive blonde. As we got closer and walked by, we realized it was actually Benicio Del Toro. He gave us the head nod and we returned the favor and then burst into laughter a block down because they guy really looked like shit.

[thalasi]

I used to work at a Circuit City about a block from the Yankees spring training field in Tampa and met Derrick Jeter when he came in to buy some CDs, he was a total dick. I didnt recognize him immediately and asked him if he needed help finding anything like I would any customer and he throws a tantrum about needing his space.

On the other hand, Warrick Dunn has a home in Tampa and frequented the same CC in the off-season and hes the nicest guy youll ever meet, though he is a little bitter towards Bucc's fans because he says they never liked him anyway. The man got down on his knees(as a joke, obviously) and begged me to check the warehouse one more time when Chapelle Season One came out and it was impossible to find.

[woodrowgus]

.....Couple of years ago I had Paul Rudd and a girlfriend at my bar here on Maui. When dealing with celebrities I try never to single them out or discuss their careers, but they had been very friendly. As they were about to take off, I pulled him aside and said "I've gotta thank you for Wet Hot American Summer .".
He laughed and said he was glad that I and nine other people enjoyed it.

[Barkatthemoon]

The only famous person I've met up close was Brad Gillis from Night Ranger.

One incarnation of the band with only two original members (Brad and Kelly) played a club in my town.

As I was leaving, I met him coming back inside. He gave me a nod and a "Hey man".

Dude was really short. About 5' 2"

[romeosolo]

I met GOD at a 7-Eleven buying lottery tickets. Said HE needed the money. Did not win. No hope. No hope.

[Bemis]

God? I've got that beat. I met Vincent D'Onofrio. Two months ago he came into the children's museum I worked at with his kids. Nice enough guy, very tall.

I met Bob Saget at an amusement park when I was twelve. I'm not even sure if that counts.

I had the mandatory Bruce Campbell meeting at a book signing, and I also got to meet Eric Idle when he was on his Greedy Bastard tour. My girlfriend told him that she loved the movie "Casper" when she was growing up. He smiled warmly and said "Ah yes, Mr. Dibbs..."

Earlier this year, I met Werner Herzog - actually, I had several exchanges with him over the course of a few days. Mass MoCA (local museum) was organizing a documentary forum and had invited several directors to participate in April 2006. Herzog misunderstood and came this year, calling that day to let the organizers know when his flight would arrive. It turned into a three-day Herzog event where he showed Grizzly Man, a documentary on Grizzly Man's score, and an unreleased film called The Wild Blue Yonder. He made himself very available to everyone, staying after screenings to have a smoke and talk with people on the sidewalk. We talked about the dancing chicken scene in Stroszek and filmmaking in general. It was one of the highlights of my life thus far.

And my girlfriend has an uncanny knack for meeting celebrities. She's had lunch with Andrea Martin, coffee with Marisa Tomei and Michelle Williams, and P. Diddy bought her a bagel. She doesn't seem to find this very unusual.

Oh yeah, and then-Governor Bush visited my high school in winter 1999. But I didn't really pay much attention, because I figured he'd be gone by April. He donated us a VCR.

A frigging VCR.

[Sour Lemon Pie]

Last summer, i went to Massachusetts. (sp?). I was with my friend and her mom in P-Town, a cool gay place.... and Susan Sarandon was there. My friend's mom told me to ask her for a pic, since i was coming from South America to visit the country, but i refused. I only passed by. She's short, but looks very good.

And i met Munky from Korn, but i guess that doesn't counts, since he's in a band, lol.

[Seamus]

Oh my God! You all met people! Real-life, honest-to-god people! That is so cool! Wow!

Celebrity worship is disgusting.

[Bemis]

I don't think anything posted here so far could be termed celebrity worship.

[Grofield]

I was looking more for stories from CHUD regulars who were insulted or chewed apart by famous people, since those always make the best "I met so-and-so" tales. Hardly celebrity worship.

[Death Surge]

Had drinks a few months back with Snoop Dogg and a mini entourage at a hole-in-the-wall bar just outside Detroit. When asked what he was doing in that particular bar, the answer was "Would you expect to see me in this bar? That's why I'm here."

My wife refused to believe it was him unless he sang a couple of lines from Gin and Juice. He did and all doubt was removed (Beeotch!). Definitly him. Nicest guy in the world too. Made me forgive him for the movie Bones

[OhioJones]

Well, I wasn't chewed apart by any celebrities but I've had the opportunity to meet a few:

1. James Doohan (Scottie of Star Trek) - at a Camelot Music Store grand opening about the time Star Trek 4 came out on VHS. Yes.... VHS. He was nice and I got a picture and autograph.

2. Joe Pantoliano - I was a production assistant on the movie A Better Way to Die (a direct to DVD) flick with Lou Diamond Philips, Natasha Hendstrich and Andre Brauer. Shot a few years ago in Newark, Ohio I was able to go in his trailer, meet him and get a picture. Nice guy.

3. Steven Soderberg - Filmed parts of Traffic in Columbus, Ohio. I was working with the Ohio Film Commission at the time and was responsible for helping scout locations. Took him and members of his crew around to various spots. Very quiet guy.

[sawalter]

Was an extra for a day on The Patriot (Mel Gibson version) when they filmed at Middleton Place plantation in Charleston, SC. Met Jason Isaacs and Adam Baldwin when we filmed the party scene just prior to the boat explosion. Nice guys. They put up with our attempts to act/goof-off when we shot some of the long shots without sound (we were British officer extras).

[Ilmarinkatu]

Never met any acting stars, so I wasn't going to mention these at first, but others threw in their sports ones, so what the hell. In 9th grade my family won a trip to the Super Bowl and Pro Bowl (with all sorts of other events thrown in) from the NFL. I met a lot of sports stars throughout the trip, like Muhammed Ali and various NFL players.

It wasn't until I got to Hawaii that I found out we would be staying in the same hotel (Hilton on Waikiki beach, though they have subsequently lodged the players elsewhere) with all the NFL players. I stayed across the hall from Barry Sanders and rode up and down the elevator with him a few times. Most memorable events:

1) Saw Emmitt Smith and went to get an autograph. When I got within earshot of him he was berating the employee at the front of the hotel because his limo was late. Basically his whole speech consisted of "F**k this s**t, I'm a celebrity, where's my limo..." etc. It went on like this for some time. What a dick. Although he did give me an autograph, I guess because he didn't think I was responsible for his limo being late.

2) Conversely, Michael Irvin was the nicest guy I met. He was at the counter, trying to check out and I went up to him to ask for an autograph. He was obviously in a big rush, and said he would sign for me in just one minute. After getting his paperwork sorted out, he ran over to the payphone to make a call, and I just sort of milled around the lobby looking for other players. After getting off the phone, and still in an obvious rush, he happened to see me standing there and walked over to me an apologized for forgetting to sign for me earlier, and offered to sign my player guidebook. I was stunned after all the stories you hear about him.

[DickDastardly]

Bruce Campbell came to Anchorage to show "Man with the Screaming Brain" and sign some books a couple of weeks ago. I got him to sign a book and my copy of Evil Dead 2. After the screening though a friend who works as a bartender called and said that Bruce Campbell was sitting in front of him at the bar he works at. Me and another friend jumped into his truck and roared across town. Bruce was talking to some people so we didn't want to bother him, so we waited till it looked like he was getting ready to leave. We went over and talked to him about the flick for a while. He was really cool and friendly till one of the employee's asked him for an autograph. Bruce's reply was something like. "Fuck that, I'm off the clock." We talked for a few more minutes and then we left him alone. All in all he seemed like a cool guy as long as you don't ask him for an autograph after he has just spent 5 hours signing shit.

[targetpractice]

Gene Simmons totally ignored me at the mall, WHILE I was wearing a KISS t-shirt. Doesn't that suck???

[Mad Man Mundt]

Unless you have tits, I'd say that's par for the course. I guess it sucks, but expecting anything from Gene except ego and ugliness is folly, and for the record I am a big KISS fan.

[Andrew Joe]

I think the only big one is me going to a book signing to meet Bruce Campbell, not only did I meet him, but when he needed a copy of his bio to read from, he read from mine, so that's always been a highpoint when it comes to my geekiness.

Other than that, i've spotted Colm Feore at a mall and Ian McKellen very briefly while in town shooting [Riddick and X2]

[boots013]

Don't really have any really "good" celeb stories, as I haven't really ever met any Hollywood celebs. [Well, I *did* see Danny DeVito, Rhea Pearlman and their children at the Maryland Science Center one summer, long ago.]

I do have several stories of encounters with WWE wrestlers. Those were some good times. A while back, it seemed that every time they were in town, we ran into them at a bar somewheres. I've met/ drank with the Dudley Boyz, Jonathon Coachman, Michael Cole, Ivory, Maven, Chuck Palumbo, X-Pac [douche], and Al Snow [!]. Saw, but didn't talk to HHH, Chyna, and William Regal.

I also saw John Cena [can't see him?] in Sam Goody's at the mall last year. He wasn't the big name he is now, but I'd been a fan since seeing an OVW special on him a few years back. I actually didn't say anything because there were plenty of folks nearby and he seemed to be enjoying his private time to shop. We just exchanged nods.

[JGButler]

Got a little face time with Tom Savini at the Dawn '04 Launch Party in San Antonio. Awesome, awesome guy.

As for wrestlers, when the WWE would be on the road to one of their big TV events they usually stop off and do little house shows in between. When they'd come through here, the FOX Affiliate I work for would usually sponsor the event and so I'd get to hang out backstage with all the wrestlers before the show started and once the show started I'd stand back behind the entrance curtain. They'd come in through the back door and chit chat with me a little before their music started and they went down to the ring. The last time they came through Stephanie mcMahon made the trip and I got to talk to her for a bit. She was a lot more approachable then I figured she'd be.

[BillJohnson]

I met Nick Nunziata at Dragon Con in 1999. He had much darker beard stubble than I imagined.

[Mr_Cellophane]

When I was in New York in May I had some successful encounters with non-celebrities, but personal favorites of mine. I was able to meet and shake hands with George Hearn and I got a hug from Jennifer Laura Thompson (and SHE initiated it! She totally went in for the hug).

But my favorite was after seeing Glengarry Glen Ross, which is my all-time favorite dramatic play. I met Jeffrey Tambor and talked to Liev Schreiber for a little bit (he knockedit out of the park the night that I saw it. His Ricky Roma was far better than Pacino's, sad to say). I got everyone to sign the poster I bought in the lobby before the show. Everyone, that is, but Alan Alda who had snuck out the main entrance instead of going out the stage door. So the next day I waited at the stage door for an hour and a half in the New York rain. Alda's car pulled up and he got out. He walks into the covered area leading to the stage door and I call out to him:

"Excuse me, Mr. Alda? . . . Mr. Alda?" He turned around.

"What?"

At this point I pulled this:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v668/cellophane00/glengarryposter.jpg

out of my bag. "Would you mind si--" He cut me off.

"No." And he walked away. So I've got everybody's, including the awful Frederic Weller's, signature on this thing except Alda's.

But my all-time favorite celebrity meeting was Daniel Baldwin. Let me repeat that this is DANIEL Baldwin of Celebrity Fit Club and Vampires fame. He came into the club where I regularly perform stand-up, but not without first sending a PA in to the club to announce that a "special celebrity guest" was coming in tonight and wanted some stage time. We were happy to give him some stage time, seeing as it was an open-mic and everyone can have it if they want it. The PA didn't get it, though, because he kept on making sure we knew that a celebrity was coming in and that stage time should be given. Again - open-mic night. Well, the PA wouldn't tell us who was coming in, but everyone was getting excited for the mystery guest - who with all of the promotion and hyperbole oozing from the PA, we all expected Cruise-level celebrity. So when Daniel Baldwin strolls in, a lot of people were disappointed. Some people were oblivious. One girl actually told him that she liked him in Pearl Harbor. But it was soon revealed that the PA's ejaculatory praise for him was most likely a regular routine that accompanied all open-mic nights, bat mitzvahs, and dinner reservations at the local Chile's.

Now, me and the rest of my comic-friends have mostly gotten over any celebrity-gawking seeing as we get C and D-listers in the club all of the time; we'll get poeple from Last Comic Standing to come in and headline, or Chappelle Show guest stars. Judah Friedlander (as already mentioned by Nexus-6) is the coolest and funniest cat I've ever met. But that didn't stop good ol' Danny boy from thinking that we must have all been awestruck from having him there.

The main reason I loved meeting him was because he was just so incredibly self-absorbed in a way that only Tom Cruise displays publicly. He was hesitant at first, but finally allowed us photos with him:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v668/cellophane00/baldwin.jpg

Oddly enough, I look 12 in this photo. But he was just. . . so. . . God-like in his mind. It was awesome!

Edited to add: Now I don't mean to say that I didn't like Daniel Baldwin. He was a congenial guy and he was pretty funny. It was just that no one there was as enamored by his celebrity as he was. He spent most of the time backstage telling loads of stories that basically glorified himself, only two of which were interesting (One was about trying to gain weight for a role, so he called Robert DeNiro to talk to him about gaining weight for "Raging Bull." The story was accompanied by a pitch-perfect DeNiro impression. The second was a story about playing poker with Rodney Dangerfield, Shecky Green, Robin Williams, and Milton Berle, and asking to see Berle's member).

Also, I ran into Rachel Dratch on the street in New York. I didn't say anything, seeing as I was so surprised by how massively ugly she is in person. She's incredibly funny, though.

[Gorille Verte]

In '97 (or whenever it was) I discussed the theatrical re-release of the Star Wars movies with Ian MacKaye of Minor Threat/Fugazi. He was neither pro, nor con.

Sorta lame, but that's my contribution.

[Richard Dickson]

About seven years ago I was visiting a friend down in Miami (I was there for a Rolling Stones concert/birthday weekend) and she mentioned that a friend of her's was PAing on the shoot for the Eddie Murphy movie Holy Man, which was shooting down there in a big warehouse that had been converted for film production. This friend invites us out to visit the set, so we head out and spend a good part of the day there. Eddie wasn't there that day, but we did get to meet Kelly Preston and Jeff Goldblum, who was exactly the way he is in his films. The conversation went something like:

"Hmm, so, what brings you down to Miami?"

"Well, it's my birthday this weekend--"

"Oh, well, happy birthday, of course."

"-- and we're going to see the Stones concert."

"Oh yes, the Stones, very good, very good."

Duchovny had him nailed on that Celebrity Jeopardy sketch.

Later we watched them film a scene -- it was a scene in the control room of Goldblum and Preston watching Eddie on the air, so it was almost entirely reaction shots. Goldblum was doing all his mannerisms full-tilt, and it was pretty funny, but then Stephen Herek yelled cut and told Goldblum he was doing too much, that he wanted him to be subtle. I turned to my friend and said, "You don't cast Jeff Goldblum for his subtlety," which was precisely the argument Goldblum launched into. They had a pretty good back and forth for about fifteen minutes, after which Goldblum did it Herek's way, but you could tell he wasn't happy.

Never did see the film.

[Andrew]

Well ok, here's an 'what an asshole' encounter for you....

Many years ago, a friend and I were working in a computer store in LA -- he was in sales, I was in servise. Anyway, it was VERY busy and he was in the middle of selling a young family their first computer when none other than Jim Belushi appeared next to him.

Belushi interrupted with nary an excuse me and explained he needed some item (I want to say computer, but I don't really remember) and was in a rush.

My friend said he would be happy to help him in a few moments after he finished with the family. Belushi said he needed it now and was in a REALLY big hurry. (the place we worked in NEVER had more than two sales people visible -- where they all went, I have no idea. So my friend was likely the only guy around at the time - again, the fog of time confuses me. :P )

My friend once again said he was happy to help in a moment - or he could page someone else to help.

Belushi looked at him and - I SHIT YOU NOT - said 'Don't you know who I am?' (Really, who SAYS THAT?)

And my friend, who was an ass himself and generally had no patience with anyone in particular said 'Sure. You're John Belushi's less talented brother.'

As I remember, my friend got a talking to by the manager. But he thought it was worth it and i have to say it was fun to watch from the service counter.

I met some good celebs there too, but that was the worst encounter I've seen.

[Giant Baba]

In 1995 I got into a fight with Shane MacGowan. He sucker punched me in the stomach and I belted him upside his head pretty good. It was fast, ugly and he got what was coming to him.

To be fair, it's not hard to deck a drunk.

[Mr_Cellophane]

Well ok, here's an 'what an asshole' encounter for you....

Many years ago, a friend and I were working in a computer store in LA -- he was in sales, I was in servise. Anyway, it was VERY busy and he was in the middle of selling a young family their first computer when none other than Jim Belushi appeared next to him.

Belushi interrupted with nary an excuse me and explained he needed some item (I want to say computer, but I don't really remember) and was in a rush.

My friend said he would be happy to help him in a few moments after he finished with the family. Belushi said he needed it now and was in a REALLY big hurry. (the place we worked in NEVER had more than two sales people visible -- where they all went, I have no idea. So my friend was likely the only guy around at the time - again, the fog of time confuses me. :P )

My friend once again said he was happy to help in a moment - or he could page someone else to help.

Belushi looked at him and - I SHIT YOU NOT - said 'Don't you know who I am?' (Really, who SAYS THAT?)

And my friend, who was an ass himself and generally had no patience with anyone in particular said 'Sure. You're John Belushi's less talented brother.'

As I remember, my friend got a talking to by the manager. But he thought it was worth it and i have to say it was fun to watch from the service counter.

I met some good celebs there too, but that was the worst encounter I've seen.

The Belush! That's a great story. That is a flat-out classic.

[fabfunk]

Well ok, here's an 'what an asshole' encounter for you....

Many years ago, a friend and I were working in a computer store in LA -- he was in sales, I was in servise. Anyway, it was VERY busy and he was in the middle of selling a young family their first computer when none other than Jim Belushi appeared next to him.

Belushi interrupted with nary an excuse me and explained he needed some item (I want to say computer, but I don't really remember) and was in a rush.

My friend said he would be happy to help him in a few moments after he finished with the family. Belushi said he needed it now and was in a REALLY big hurry. (the place we worked in NEVER had more than two sales people visible -- where they all went, I have no idea. So my friend was likely the only guy around at the time - again, the fog of time confuses me. :P )

My friend once again said he was happy to help in a moment - or he could page someone else to help.

Belushi looked at him and - I SHIT YOU NOT - said 'Don't you know who I am?' (Really, who SAYS THAT?)

And my friend, who was an ass himself and generally had no patience with anyone in particular said 'Sure. You're John Belushi's less talented brother.'

As I remember, my friend got a talking to by the manager. But he thought it was worth it and i have to say it was fun to watch from the service counter.

I met some good celebs there too, but that was the worst encounter I've seen.

I just found this thread, and THIS is a great fucking story!

[ElCapitanAmerica]

In college, I was part of an organization called HOPE (Hispanic Organization Promoting Education). We invited Edward James Olmos to give a talk to some of the kids we used to tutor, and the rest of the student body.

After the speech, we had a little roundtable with him to just talk about stuff. I drew a quick sketch of him that kinda sucked (I don't think I drew all the craters in his face, if any), and to top it all off I put "Stand by me" or "Lean on me" when I meant to put "Stand and deliver".

Gave it to him to sign, and gave me a really annoyed look, he wrote:

"Keep trying"

Not my proudest moment.

[Alex Riviello]

Only have one that stands out in my mind-

High School- working at a fast food place in CT with my buddy. One night, Jon Stewart walks in. He runs to the corner with his big sunglasses and a hat on, while his model girlfriend places the order. My friend's a funny guy- he starts telling every single person who comes in line that Jon Stewart's sitting over there.

So anyway, Stewart finishes his meal and gets up to leave- and my friend yells at him before he can leave "YO! Jon Stewart! You were the bomb in Big Daddy! That little kid annoyed the piss out of me, but you were great!"

Stewart starts cracking up and leaves with a wave.

Another funny story- not mine, but I'll share it. My sister bumped into Tom Cruise in the street- literally. He was hopping out of a limo and banged right into her. The killer part is that whenever she tells the story she says:

"So this guy SLAMS into me- and I look down, and it's Tom Cruise!"

Cracks me up every time.

I've met a bunch of other celebs, especially around NYC... but never really thought anything of it.

[Chris Miller]

I think I've said this in other places on chud, but whatever. I was working in a Ruby Tuesday's 6 years ago, and I waited on Gwar. They ordered froo froo girly drinks, like pina coladas and raspberry margaritas. I knew something was odd with the table when I noticed it was a bunch of guys in their late 30s and early 40s wearing Green Day and Misfits shirts. I asked them if they were going to see Gwar, at which point they told me they were gwar and autographed my server slip for me. Of course, they could have been lying their asses off, as I wouldn't have known who the fuck they were without their foam rubber costumes, but I'm fairly sure they were the same guys later in the evening feeding people into a huge prop vagina.
They tipped me 10 bucks.

[Diva]

Belushi looked at him and - I SHIT YOU NOT - said 'Don't you know who I am?' (Really, who SAYS THAT?)

And my friend, who was an ass himself and generally had no patience with anyone in particular said 'Sure. You're John Belushi's less talented brother.'

As I remember, my friend got a talking to by the manager. But he thought it was worth it and i have to say it was fun to watch from the service counter.

I worked the front desk at an exclusive NYC health club about a year ago and had a similar experience. All members, including celebs, have to swipe their membership card to enter the gym. Many are really cool about it, but there are some who think they are too above that.

One such person was David Blaine. He tried to waltz past the dask and I called him back. After asking for his ID, he pulled the "Don't you know who I am?" line. The rest of the exchange goes like this:

"No"

"I'm David Blaine, the illusionist".

"Well then, I guess you can make your card magically appear."

Needless to say, I got a talking to from the manager but it was so worth it just to see Blaine's face. He's such a douchebag.

My other favorite story from working there was when I met Tom Brady. I honestly had no idea who he was and when he came up to the front desk, I asked for his membership card and he said he was just visiting. So I asked him to fill out the guest card and said that I'd need to see ID. He apologized and said he didn't have one with him. I'm so embarrassed thinking about it now, but I said, "Well we normally require all guests to show us an ID for liability reasons. However, you seem nice so I'll do you a favor today and let you in." HA!

Tom was totally cool about it, thanked me, and apologized for not bringing his license. After he had gone inside, my coworker runs over to me and says, "I can't believe you just did that." "Did what?" "Ask him for ID." "Why?" "That was Tom Brady." *blank stare* "Tom Brady, the three time Super Bowl champion quarterback?!" Needless to say I got teased the rest of the day.

The best part though, was the next day Tom Brady comes to the gym again. He walks up to me and says, "Sorry about yesterday. I brought my ID today." I turned bright red and apologized. And then he apologized back! I mean this guy was the nicest dude. I love telling that story because its rare to find someone so down to earth in general, let alone a celebrity.

Some other memorable moments from working at that gym are:

-- searching the women's locker room with Kate Winslet because she lost her cell phone (she's fucking hot in person)

-- helping Eric Stoltz find the perfect lock (we went through each one in stock to find the easiest combo to remember; I took extra long as I've had a huge crush on him since Some Kind of Wonderful)

-- hanging out in the cafe/lounge with Philip Seymore Hoffman (of all the celebs, he was the most chill; he knew every staff person by name and stayed long after his workout to just chat with folks)

-- being a score keeper for Leo DiCaprio and his entourage (although he's a huge dick; he wasn't a member and always expected himself and 10 of his friends to get in for free whenever they wanted)

-- getting hit on by Tom Wopat (more hilarious, than a highlight; though he gave me a signed CD of his recent jazz album and tickets to see him perform "Glengarry Glen Ross")

-- safe-keeping Bobby Kennedy, Jr's palm pilot (he needed to charge it while he worked out and put me in charge; Man, I was so tempted to go through it)

-- calling Q-Tip up on his cell phone (he'd left a weight vest behind, which I recognized as his, and called him to tell him we would hold it for him at the desk)

-- meeting a whole host of Olympic medalists (Misty May and Kerry Walsh; the Hamm brothers, etc) who came to the gym to film the season finale of The Apprentice, in which one team had to make a commercial to promote NY as a contender to host the 2012 Olympics.

Other than the incredibly shitty pay, that was an awesome job!

[4496 aka Joe Sixpack]

Met Shaquille O'Neal at FAO Schwartz in Orlando a few years ago. Shook his (massive) hand and spoke with him for a couple of seconds. Nice guy.

There are probably a few college football fans around these parts who would appreciate these: Interviewed Steve Spurrier and Tommy Bowden for my paper a couple months back. Got to spend some time alone with each, which was cool.

[Charlie Brigden]

Interviewed Steve Spurrier and Tommy Bowden for my paper a couple months back. Got to spend some time alone with each, which was cool.

Did you swallow?

[4496 aka Joe Sixpack]

Did you swallow?

Yes. Yes, I did. I swallowed when I sucked their dicks.

[fabfunk]

Okay, let's see:

My fave has to be Phil Hoffman on the subway, super early in the morning. He was with two friends just chatting, and I said I adore his work in "Love Liza". I almost said, "and Twister" but I stopped myself. Very nice guy.

I told Ron Howard I loved "Arrested Development". This while he was on his way to see "Cinderella Man". For the FOURTH TIME.

Alan Ruck, Cameron from "Ferris Bueller" is such a nice guy. I used to buy gummy bears from his wife's marketplace.

I see Bill Murray a lot, but I generally avoid him, as he's got a bit of a temper. In reality, he just has a small group of friends, and he doesn't let anyone in. He seemed really pleased to be recognized when I saw him at a coffee shop I worked at a long time ago, until he said, "Great, thanks! Now leave me alone." Another time, I drove up to a light and saw he was in the car next to me. I did a ridiculous double take- the look on his face was pure exasperation. Perhaps he knows me in relation to his son, who used to go to school with me. I didn't know he was Bill's kid when we got into a particularly nasty grade school scuffle near the seventh grade or so.

I saw Fisher Stevens tonight, but for the life of me, I couldn't think of a single thing to say to him, though he had a hot babe near him, perhaps a girlfriend or wife, and when one of my lady friends commented on her nice shoes, I remarked, "I have a pair just like them". She responded, "So does my husband" with an unusual amount of conviction.

[Alex Riviello]

My fave has to be Phil Hoffman on the subway, super early in the morning. He was with two friends just chatting, and I said I adore his work in "Love Liza". I almost said, "and Twister" but I stopped myself. Very nice guy.

I saw him walking around 8th street once, and he looked like a bum. Wouldn't have even known it was him if it hadn't been pointed out to me.

A friend of mine lives next door to Peter Weller. He had a party at his house a few weeks ago that I missed- which might've been for the best, cause I could see myself getting drunk, banging on Weller's door and yelling "Dead or alive you're coming with me!"

[WayDen]

Pretty funny thread...

This was at least 5 or 6 years ago, but still pretty funny. Steven Seagal was at a nightclub here in Orlando where they used to host fight nights on Monday nights. One of my friends caught his eye, and he invited her to sit at his table - but she wouldn't go without us (my friend & I). Not two minutes after sitting at his table, he tries to feel her up and kiss her. She pushed him away and called him "old". My friend and I laughed (you have to know the girl, she doesn't take shit like that from anyone), and he got all three of us kicked out of the club for the night.

What a dick. But it was pretty cool to meet up with some other friends later on and tell them why we weren't at the club for too long....

[Moltisanti]

He learned that move from the Dali Lama.

[Vegan Dracula]

I met Sam Rockwell at a bar called Lucy's on avenue A in NYC. He was with two friends but took time out for a little small talk. The guy is cool as fuck.

Milla Jovovich squeezed my leg at the NYC comic convention at the Javits Center and I almost had a heart attack. She's crazy friendly.

[Zollicoffer]

I peed next to Bill Parcells after just getting out of watching Million Dollar Baby. I had seen him just before the movie started, with a ton of guys around him asking him a bunch of dumb questions about how the Cowboys were going to do that year. But it was a surprise when I looked over and saw him standing in the urinal next to me.

[Owen]

I met Jerome Blake (played some creatures in the Star Wars prequels) at a Steak and Shake in Indianapolis 2 or 3 years ago. I didn't know who he was at the time, but he was sitting with a guy I knew and some other dude so I joined them. He was an alright guy, but the guy he was with that I didn't know was this retard sycophant that would essentially go off anytime one of us disagreed with Blake. I found out he was in Star Wars through the conversation.

I saw Brodie Croyle at Circuit City here in town, being a total dick whining about his iPod and shit, and keeping everyone occupied so I couldn't pay for my movies for about 10 minutes.

I've met pretty much every memeber of the football and basketball teams here, but Brodie's the closest of the lot to a celebrity. ACtually, neither of these are actually celebrity's but it's all I've got.

[Brechtsky]

Mother's day, this year, my parents are in town for the holiday, staying in beverly hills.

Im smoking a cigarette off their balconey (a door with a guardrail), and I notice a mid twenty to thirty year old, sunbathing topless. Naturally I take a gander, but I am generally respectful, and turn my back to her upon the next couple cigs. Eventually, my mom asks if the woman is still there, and I say, I havent looked in a while.

So my mom peaks over my shoulder and says, "hey, that's bruce willis." I turn around, and yep there's brucey poo, standing in place where the topless hottie used to be.

For a few moments, we stare at each other, in complete silence, seperated by two floors. Eventually, I break the silnece with a, "hello", cause after all, he's fucking staring at me.

"hello" he says back. Again silence. Then a few seconds later:

"Hey, you aren't taking pictures, are you?" he asks.

"Uh no- I'm smoking a cigarette" (lifting it in the air to show him).

"oh okay--thanks."

I guess his chica saw me checking her out, and thought I was paparazzi. Even as he asked if I was taking pictures, it was obvious he thought it was absurd. He wasn't an ass or anything, he seemed to be placating the woman. I was wearing a suit, on mothers day, in an expensive hotels room, with my mother standing next to me-- it was pretty clear what the situation was.

Anyway, that's my best one. But of note, that weekend they were in town, we had dinner next to Doris Roberts one night, Jason Bateman the next, and they had a long conversation with Richard Lewis at breakfast one morning at the hotel. It was like celebrity-craziness that weekend.

[Brechtsky]

Oh, but my favorite experience was working as a PA on a commercial with Dion Beebe as the DP, two weeks before he won the oscar this year.

That was cool, cause the first and second ADs were from crash, too. Lots of nominated people surrounding me.

[fabfunk]

Milla Jovovich squeezed my leg at the NYC comic convention at the Javits Center and I almost had a heart attack.

I would've caved in to cardiac arrest.

[Ryan S~]

When I first got into sound production I was picking up a friend at Sharpe Sound in Van. to go for beer. He said he was going to be about an hour because he had to do some engineering for a doc. Did I want to sit in? Shit, he was going to be working in the big theatre, of course I want in.

Turns out it was Anthony Hopkins doing the VO for an Imax doc on Siegfried and Roy. After about two hours of recording he said he was hungry and thirsty, did we want to break for food? Sure. He asked if there was a place nearby we could walk to? Oh, you mean you want to eat with us? Cool.

We went to a little asian place and spent the rest of the night being told stories by Anthony Hopkins. My buddy got him to record his answering message on his voice mail as Hannibal Lecter. Helluva nice guy, very generous, and incredibly smart.

I also got hugged by Drew Barrymore because I was friends with the person who engineering her ADR on "Ever After"

[Doug]

I see Bill Murray a lot, but I generally avoid him, as he's got a bit of a temper. In reality, he just has a small group of friends, and he doesn't let anyone in. He seemed really pleased to be recognized when I saw him at a coffee shop I worked at a long time ago, until he said, "Great, thanks! Now leave me alone." Another time, I drove up to a light and saw he was in the car next to me. I did a ridiculous double take- the look on his face was pure exasperation. Perhaps he knows me in relation to his son, who used to go to school with me. I didn't know he was Bill's kid when we got into a particularly nasty grade school scuffle near the seventh grade or so.

.
And here I thought you only stalked porn stars.

[neaux]

one of my really close friends from college tells me he's dating a Playboy playmate. Supposedly they are getting married.

Assuming all of this is legit, I will be attending their "celebration" post wedding party later this year... where there might be more celebs in attendance.

again, assuming this is legit, I'll give you guys the low-down After it happens. I'd rather not spread rumors because the girl in question is famous enough that she has been in real hollywood movies and on recent television shows.

[Chris Myers]

- George Romero got old. I mean, really old. Don't think he'll make it many more years.

- Udo Kier is scary. Give him something to drink and let an exotic looking lady join the discussion, and he'll come up with the craziest stories one can think of. Believe me, this guy has seen clubs and places you would imagine only to appear in vampire movies. His eyes. Never seen so gripping eyes. Devil within.

- Tom Savini. Eerie. Kind, but I wouldn't trust this guy. He looks more like a Stan Winston creature than a real human.

- talked to Doug Bradley (Pinhead, the Hellraiser movies) at a convention after the sign stuff was over; very nice guy. We got to talk a good 15 minutes.