“I have a friend who’s a movie critic, and over the years, he became friends with Paul Rudd. Well, my friend group used to have a movie club where we’d meet at someone’s house, and the host would force us to watch bad movies of their choice. My critic friend showed us The Room YEARS before it became a cult classic. After watching it, I asked our friend how he even knew about it, and he replied, ‘Paul Rudd told me to show it to you guys.’ I angrily replied, ‘You can tell Paul Rudd to go f*ck himself!’ My friend whipped out his phone and texted Paul, who thought it was hilarious.
Fast forward a few years, and that same friend was hosting an advance screening of Role Models, and Paul was there for a Q&A. Afterwards, my friend introduced all of us to Paul by saying, ‘This is Friend A, this is Friend B, and this is [me]. She’s the one who told you to go f*ck yourself after watching The Room.’ Paul burst out laughing and shook my hand. I can’t remember what he said after that because I was so embarrassed to have that be my introduction to a celebrity, but at least it was memorable.
(I’ve met Paul again since then, and he’s just as lovely in person as you’d expect.)”
—Anonymous
“I bonded over onion rings with Brendan Fraser at LAX. He offered me one of his, but I declined and ordered my own. We talked about travel, life, and onion rings for about 15 minutes. It wasn’t until he got up to catch his flight that I looked him in the eye and realized who I had been talking to.
One of my favorite conversations of all time, and I got the sense that he is genuinely a wonderful person.”
—u/Shoehorse13
“Bumped into Keanu at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. He was waiting in line like everyone else. This happened 18 years ago, before cell phones had cameras. He came over to my wife, put his arm around her, and said, ‘I knew you were trying not to ask,’ and I snapped a quick picture. Thirty minutes later, the paparazzi chased him out.
Two weeks later, while still in Paris, my wife went to Starbucks, and Keanu got in line behind her. She asked him, ‘Are you stalking me?’ He chuckled and said, ‘Well, we will always have Paris.’
It was so cool!”
—u/Wrong-Nail2913
“I think this certainly qualifies as random: I was in line at a Fan Expo to have my pic taken with Brad and Janet from The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon). I’m a huge fan. I was dressed as Magenta, and only one spot away from my turn! Then, Rainn Wilson came bursting through the curtain, apologizing sincerely to me and the other people at the front of the line. He proceeded to grin while having his picture taken with ‘Brad and Janet.’
He then quickly repeated his apologies and ducked back through the curtain to head to the line of people waiting to take photos with HIM. It was totally unexpected and so lovely to see a celebrity geeking out and being excited to meet people who are his heroes, too!”
—Anonymous, 54, Colorado
“I had the pleasure of meeting Fran Drescher at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam in the late ’90s. She and her then-husband, Mark Peter Jacobson, arrived the day before Queen’s Day, a huge celebration in the Netherlands. I was departing. At the time, I was buying chocolate at a kiosk when I heard a very distinct voice say, ‘No, not those, the ones where the cute little guy is looking (I’m a little over 5 feet tall).’
As I turned around, Mr. Jacobson was reaching for the same chocolates. I remarked to him that the woman sounded just like Fran Drescher. He said, ‘It is. Would you like to meet her? She loves her fans!’ She couldn’t have been more charming. We chatted about her plans, and she said it was too bad I had to fly home. She seemed particularly flattered when I admired her performance in This is Spinal Tap.
This interaction happened just before the euro was introduced, and the Dutch guilder was transitioning. So that’s how I ended up with a 10 guilder bank note signed by Fran Drescher. I cherish it to this day.”
—Anonymous, 62, Vallejo, CA
“This was in 2008 for her tour for her first album, so she was popular, but still getting used to it. She had a tour date in my city and her show started at 8 p.m. About 7:15 p.m., I was walking home and saw a woman in a hoodie and shiny tights standing by a back door of the venue, and the door was propped open. The woman was patting her hoodie pockets and cursing as I walked by. I said, ‘Hey, you okay?’ She was looking down and said, ‘I can’t find my f*cking lighter!’ I pulled out my lighter and handed it to her. She looked up and thanked me.
I recognized her. I said ‘Oh, hey. You’re Lady Gaga. Shouldn’t you be inside?’ She laughed and said, ‘I need to chill first. Nerves. Be cool, please. I just want to relax.’ I said ‘No problem. I’m actually not a fan. No offense, but it’s just not my type of music. You got a nice voice though.’ She said, ‘Thanks. And that’s cool. Not offended.’
I told her to have a good show, and that I knew she would do great, then I walked off.”
—u/KissMyAlien
“I sat next to her on a very short flight a few years ago. I was in my early 20s and honestly had no idea who she was at the time. We chatted briefly, talked about where we were both going, and our mutual love for the local area. She mentioned how she had a house in the area with a decently sized property.
It wasn’t until we landed and exited into the terminal that I discovered her identity. I overheard a few people pointing her out. I was shocked. She probably enjoyed not being identified and bothered by fans. She was very nice and a really sweet person!”
—u/td192020
“I had to kill some time in NYC and was near Madame Tussauds in Times Square. It was the middle of the day and almost completely empty. So, as my friend and I got on the elevator to go to the main level, I noticed only two others got in with us. I’m over 6 feet tall, so I immediately noticed an even taller, imposing figure standing across from me. Being an ’80s kid, I figured it out right away…David Byrne of The Talking Heads.
When we got off the elevator, I went over to him to confirm, and he was the nicest celebrity I’ve met. He smiled, made polite chit-chat, snapped a couple of photos (on a digital camera because it was the early 2000s), and went on his way. When I had the film developed, I shouldn’t have been surprised to see that he, himself, looked rather like the wax figures in the background.”
—Anonymous, 49, Northern Virginia
“Right before he officially announced that he was running for president, I literally almost ran into former President Obama at a Thanksgiving buffet. I had a plate full of food in my hand and almost ran straight into someone. When I looked up to see the person’s face, I was shocked that it was him.
We both laughed, politely apologized to each other, and went on our merry ways. My cousin later went up to him and told him how wonderful he was, and wished him good luck in running for president.”
—Anonymous, 37, Washington, DC
“I was a Lowe’s employee in central Jersey, and she was looking for a nice lamp set. I knew who she was immediately, and I didn’t want to make a big fuss about it as she seemed to want to keep things low-key.
She’s so tiny! She also liked my Jean Michel Basquiat tattoo by simply pointing at my arm and saying, ‘That’s a nice tat there.’
I knew that he and she were friends back in the day, so I figured that’s where the compliment came from.”
—u/BlueEyedRelic
“In my 20s, I did background work as an extra for TV. So one day, I was on set for a Disney promo in a beautiful house in the Pacific Palisades.
As always, the celebrities were in their trailers, and the extras hung out under the pop-up tents with foldable tables and chairs. Well, I noticed Jimmy Kimmel was hanging out with the extras. At first, I thought he probably just wanted to hit on the attractive women. But he kept hanging around, all morning, talking to everyone — just hanging out with us. By lunch time, he was sitting and eating lunch with the extras! So, I asked another extra, ‘What’s the deal with Jimmy hanging out with us?’
She said, ‘Oh yeah, Jimmy always hangs out with the extras. He did that yesterday and the day before, too!’ I was shocked.
Jimmy Kimmel is the best, nicest celebrity I’ve ever encountered. He deserves all his fame and credit.”
—Anonymous, 43, Los Angeles
“I sat next to Andre the Giant in first class on a flight, as a kid. I was flying alone, and a little freaked out since I swore I was old enough to handle it, when I actually wasn’t. Then to see him. I instantly knew it was him, even though he was seated and in plain clothes — there was no mistake.
I was about 7 years old. He saw me sitting there nervously and spent most of the flight making silly faces at me so I’d laugh. Anytime my nerves got the better of me, he’d do it again. When we got to our destination, he’d scribbled his autograph on the book he was reading and handed it to me. I was absolutely beaming while running over to my mom.”
—u/ChairmanLaParka
“A few years ago, I saw on Sir Brian May’s website that he was coming to Swansea for an event to save foxes from being hunted. So, my husband and I went to Wind Street in Swansea city centre. Suddenly, there he was, with two minders, dressed quite casually.”
I walked over, shaking like a leaf, and spoke to him, telling him I’d been a huge Queen fan forever. What a lovely, humble, delightful man he is! He hugged me, let me take a selfie with him, and commented on the Freddie Mercury sweatshirt I was wearing, too.
A real gem of a superstar.”
—Anonymous, 66, Swansea, UK
“I was in Dublin, Ireland, and P!nk was staying at the same hotel. My father and I were waiting for the elevator, and when the doors opened, she was in there with her security team. The security team blocked the door, so we couldn’t get on the elevator.
We waited for the next one, and when we got to the lobby floor, P!nk was still there. She was waiting for us and apologized that her team had monopolized the elevator and didn’t stop to let us on. I was a guy in my 20s at the time, and I didn’t really care or know much about P!nk. But I am a fan now, mostly because of her personality.”
—u/static-klingon