Celebrity encounters

did:plc:rr76pame44hsxdp2snk5aeha · 2025-12-30T14:09:00.634Z

I still find it amusing and bizarre in equal measure that about 10 years ago me, Edna and Mr Court were all in the same room

Short anecdotes about in-person encounters with celebrities while working (Old Navy, music settings). Multiple posts reference Kurt Vile and include the phrase "I almost accidentally killed Kurt Vile," describing physically running into him and joking with coworkers.

Created 24 hours ago • 153 documents • Range: 12/30 12:00pm – 12/30 5:18pm

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12/30/25, 05:18 PM
Alison Krause and I nearly ran right into each other as we were each walking quickly around the back entrance of the Ryman one evening...
12/30/25, 05:18 PM
Years ago we lived on the Upper East Side and I’d see Abe Vigoda (Tessio!) walking around the neighborhood every so often.
12/30/25, 05:15 PM
and I even spoke to her, as we were disembarking at O'Hare! (...in my execrable French, no less....)
12/30/25, 05:13 PM
I've physically bumped into two celebrities: Cyndi Lauper ran into me in a crowd at Magic Kingdom (and said "oh my gawd, sorry!"), and I bumped shoulders with a very skinny, leather-jacket-clad Lou Reed while leaving a Laurie Anderson concert.
12/30/25, 05:08 PM
In the late 1990’s was a Wilco concert and Jack Black was there. I looked at him, recognized him, and then kept on going.
12/30/25, 05:08 PM
Shared a nearly empty New Jersey Transit train car with Walter Mosley.
12/30/25, 05:06 PM
Once when we were getting on the Jurassic Park ride at Universal Studios we noticed Martin Short & friends boarding in the front row. After the ride I actually stood next to him when everyone goes to look at the photo from the waterfall splash. I walked away without saying a word to him.
Marlborough Lights obvs, it was the 90s
12/30/25, 05:03 PM
I can one-up you on that - I was a lodger in a flat in West Ken (my first place living in London) with a guy who was friends with Jarvis! Never met him though, so not much of a one-up ;)
12/30/25, 05:03 PM
I have never interacted with any celebrities that I am aware of. The nearest thing would be domain-specific celebrities. I saw John McCarthy (CS celebrity) twice at Peet’s Coffee in Palo Alto, and I got a hug from Elizabeth Kübler-Ross (Psychology celebrity) in 1983. That’s all I got.
12/30/25, 05:03 PM
Waited at baggage reclaim at Heathrow near Stephen Fry.
12/30/25, 05:02 PM
When my son was about 5yo, he played with Holly Hunter’s twins at the Union Square playground for about 45 minutes. We were the only people there; she was with her partner. I successfully resisted the urge to approach her in any way.
12/30/25, 05:02 PM
Comedian Dawn French, wearing a party hat, passed me in The Ship, Soho, many Christmases ago. I once sat across from Uriah Heep guitarist Mick Box on the Central line tube in London for a few stops.
12/30/25, 05:00 PM
No. I mean the celebs that just enjoy NYCC like Charlie Cox. He has gone as a fan dressed as Bluey and I’ve never seen him. Same with Adam Savage.
12/30/25, 04:57 PM
It was the Malt House, and as a student at the time I went in about 20 minutes after he left. They told us the secret service guys smashed his glass so no-one could nick his fingerprints. About 15 minutes later Jacques Chirac walked past as we sat on the balcony.
12/30/25, 04:56 PM
Obviously when they were making the Divergent movies I had quite a few ~celeb interactions~ but this was before that so it always stands out to me.
12/30/25, 04:56 PM
I was saw Darrel Hammond board a plane with an armed police escort and sit in his own row in first class. I almost made an Al Gore joke walking past him…. Turned out it was actually Al Gore and not Darrel Hammond.
12/30/25, 04:53 PM
While at Lilly’s Bordello in Dublin I was denied entry to the VIP area, because I’m clearly not a VIP. Colin Farrell was in there tearing up the place. Wonder if the doorman did me a favour.
12/30/25, 04:53 PM
I was in a restaurant in an airport and The Big Show was sitting at a table nearby with someone else I didn't recognize. I didn't want to bother him and I'm not really a wrestling fan anyway.
12/30/25, 04:52 PM
I was having a birthday dinner at a restaurant in downtown Culver City when Tim Robbins walked by in a Santa hat singing Christmas carols. He walked back and forth a few times and each time had a bigger group of people with him. (Yes, my birthday is around Christmas, he's not insane)
12/30/25, 04:51 PM
When I lived in London they used to have an Irish festival, The Fleadh in Finsbury Park. I saw them there in 1990 with The Pogues (Sean McGowan's final gig, Kirsty McColl special guest) Christy Moore, Paul Brady, Maria McKee and Van Morrison among others - cracking day out.
12/30/25, 04:48 PM
Was at a packed Spotted Cat music club one night and saw Judy Greer at the bar. We both bought a Miller High Life and agreed it was indeed the champagne of beers. Those were the only words we said to each other. Photo bombed a pic she took with someone else at the club. Wish I had that photo.
12/30/25, 04:47 PM
Lol many many many years ago i walked into a pub in Wellingborough and as I opened the door i walked straight into Cliff Lazarenko, I said sorry mate, he looked at me smiled nodded and off he went
12/30/25, 04:42 PM
I saw a rather sheepish-looking Chuck Norris entering the VIP Lounge at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, ca 1994. "Chuck Norris was flying commercial?" Look, I don't know what to tell you.
12/30/25, 04:42 PM
Mr H was raised in Leamington Spa and went to school in Warwick. It was the 1960s - they had a bus.
12/30/25, 04:40 PM
Mr S (British, short, glasses, 50+) was asked by a girl in a Miami hotel foyer if he was one of the Brazilian football World Cup squad who were staying there He was not But they checked out 5 minutes later and we were upgraded to a v nice room that one of them had just vacated 🏆
12/30/25, 04:36 PM
I was with a friend at the Bill Clinton Presidential Library in 2004. She went up to a man who was there with a small entourage, thinking he may have been Roger Clinton. She came back and told me his name didn't ring a bell for her, but did I maybe know who this Mark Cuban guy was?
12/30/25, 04:35 PM
also i think ive mentioned this one - i fell asleep on Mike Judges couch when we went back to his after the bars closed and he put a blanket on me the next weekend - i got him to order us drinks using Beavis, Butthead, and Hank Hill voices (for those familiar we were at Ranch 616 and Star Bar)
12/30/25, 04:34 PM
I met Don Cheadle at a brunch spot in LA. Very kind (and tiny). I met Shemar Moore at Universal Studios Hollywood. I waved to Kevin Bacon at LAX. Wayne Brady undressed me with his eyes at the Bellagio. That's all I can remember.
12/30/25, 04:33 PM
Never met anyone, but at a Weird Al concert with my brother in law, Al was singing Tacky and he traverses the venue doing so. He walks up the aisle we were at to the stage. I was inches away from him.
12/30/25, 04:31 PM
Rode the elevator at work with Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn.
12/30/25, 04:31 PM
Please quote this from the time you didn't interact with someone famous. Before the allegations came out, I saw Lawrence Krauss in the crowd at the Reason Rally. Didn't say anything to him though.
12/30/25, 04:30 PM
There is a video somewhere on Facebook or on one of my ex-wife's phones of me trying to out Troy Baker to his face at either Otakon or MomoCon, I forget which... Karaoked with OR3O at MomoCon... Accidentally elbowed GaijinGoombah at the same MomoCon in a crowded stairwell.
12/30/25, 04:27 PM
Getting off the plane from Glasgow at Gatwick airport, I passed Karen Gillan going the other way
12/30/25, 04:23 PM
I arrived one morning for a corporate gig I was doing and for some reason, it was in a waterfront condo in Baltimore. It was so early that almost no one else was around - except Bill Cosby. We encountered each other in a door way, both did quick double takes, and then walked on.
12/30/25, 04:23 PM
I was walking on Lake Street in Chicago the day after Rahm Emmanuel was elected mayor. He was walking toward me with this entourage and I completely ignored him.
12/30/25, 04:23 PM
LosCon 2017 or 18. Watched a man with very colorful hair wearing a d&d shirt run back and forth the whole con. Later, I realized it was Tailsen Jaffe when I saw him giving out autographs post panel. (I was on my way in to watch the next panel).
12/30/25, 04:20 PM
I ran into Huell Howser once at UCLA and was so star-struck* I could do nothing but grin stupidly at him. (He smiled and said hi.) *IYKYK
12/30/25, 04:17 PM
I was at the Six Flags in St Louis once and saw a dude and thought, "that really looks like Jim Neidhart. Later on we were in the same queue for a roller coaster and we got next to each other. I heard a laugh i had heard countless times and new it was in fact Jim Neidhart.
12/30/25, 04:17 PM
I had a very nice, fairly long conversation with Neil Armstrong at a banquet table in New York City in the late 1970s.
12/30/25, 04:13 PM
Was DJing at a party, a girl strode up to me - 'I know you!' she accused. I was unnerved, it was an ex's 40th, I was there with my wife - no reason really to worry, but... 'You were one of them two really pissed blokes with Bette Midler, weren't you' It was about 3 years earlier, but, I had been.
12/30/25, 04:13 PM
March 2021. Was heading to our local to have a drink, outside only as Covid restrictions were still in place. Walked pasted dickhead Dominic Cummings. My husband, who had been recently made redundant had to hold me back from making it a major interaction
12/30/25, 04:12 PM
I was at the Austin airport and there was a middle aged “college dean” looking woman who was holding up a sign that said, “Texas State.” She looked strangely giddy, but like she was trying to hold it together. Then I saw who she was waiting for and it was Jane Goodall. She glowed like an angel.
12/30/25, 04:12 PM
1st job was entertainment accountant, tho more directors/writers than actors. The handful of actors seldom came in and usually only the bookkeepers talked to them, but I did briefly get introduced and shook hands with Esai Morales. Seemed very nice, and according to his bookkeeper he very much is.
12/30/25, 04:11 PM
Please quote this from the time you didn't interact with someone famous. I saw Stan Lee at a comiccon in PIttsburgh when I was about 15. the line was way too long so I didn't get in it but I just stared at a living legend from about 20 feet away. It was so surreal to me.
12/30/25, 04:11 PM
I walked straight into Spike Lee on Broadway. I said sorry Spike & he said no problem, but to this day I can’t understand why his entourage didn’t pummel me into dust.
12/30/25, 04:08 PM
Creepy experience yesterday - pair of missionaries showed up at my house & tried to block my car from leaving while waving a Bible. Had to curse them out to get them to leave. Didn’t bother any of my neighbors so thinking Jehovah’s Witnesses bc they were randomly sending me letters during lockdown.
12/30/25, 04:03 PM
Steven Spielberg opened a door for me one time. I also made very awkward eye contact with Victor Garber in a subway station in NYC.
12/30/25, 04:00 PM
Serving at the US Embassy in Zagreb in the early 90s, I was meeting a flight with a visitor and saw Morgan Fairchild coming off the flight. No idea why. Later that evening, I was in the bar of a swanky local hotel where our visitor was staying. Fairchild popped up again out of nowhere at the bar.
12/30/25, 03:57 PM
When I was 10 we went to New Orleans coincidentally when they were opening the D-Day Museum and we ate dinner at a restaurant and my dad was convinced that a guy at a table across the room was Steven Spielberg We sat at that table waaaaay after finishing because dad thought Tom Hanks might show up
12/30/25, 03:57 PM
Walking through Kings Cross St Pancras underground station, I saw a woman walking toward me at high speed, head down. I stopped so I wouldn’t knock her over (I’m quite big). She swerved at the last second, smiling up at me in thanks. It was Lily Cole.
12/30/25, 03:56 PM
Oh, a good time to post this story. So I’ve met quite a few celebs through my various jobs and travels, but one iconic nerdy celeb I never met face to face, but had one weird interaction with… 1/
12/30/25, 03:55 PM
I was once mistaken for the guitarist in the Irish heavy metal band Primordial. Me and my mates were at a gig in the Music Center in Dublin, I think this was in 2009 or 10 or something like that. There were a lot of international fans at the gig, and the place was packed. 1/4
12/30/25, 03:53 PM
I sat next to Michael Shannon on the NYC subway while he listened to a CD player. This was like 4 years ago...and he had a CD player. Respect.
12/30/25, 03:50 PM
Babe, I have some news for you. We’ve been in an elevator at MSG before.
12/30/25, 03:47 PM
Saw so many people in LA who I vaguely recognised but couldn't place that I conceived the idea of an app for recognising celebrities, a bit like Shazam is for music. Anyone who makes one, cut me in please.
Tracy Morgan’s car drove down my block after he was filming nearby. I was coming back home from CVS with my meds. We mad...
"Tracy Morgan’s car drove down my block after he was filming nearby. I was coming back home from CVS with my meds. We made eye contact when he stopped at the corner and sort of did that awkward nod at each other."
12/30/25, 03:41 PM
Not quite a minor celeb, but the interaction was very minor.
12/30/25, 03:37 PM
'92 Newport Folk Festival... I was standing in a circle around Amy Ray (Indigo Girls) when I caught Joan Baez across the lawn walking to her bus. I quickly walked over to her and walked with her to the bus while we chatted for about ten minutes. Only regret is I hadn't yet read her autobiography.
I have many working in music but here's my Kurt Vile story. I'm large. I turned a corner at the same time as Kurt Vile,...
"I have many working in music but here's my Kurt Vile story. I'm large. I turned a corner at the same time as Kurt Vile, physically running into him. "I'm so sorry," etc. Went to my coworkers, joked "I almost accidentally killed Kurt Vile" and guess who was behind me when I said "Killed Kurt Vile.""
12/30/25, 03:37 PM
It was Kurt Vile.
12/30/25, 03:36 PM
I have many working in music but here's my Kurt Vile story. I'm large. I turned a corner at the same time as Kurt Vile, physically running into him. "I'm so sorry," etc. Went to my coworkers, joked "I almost accidentally killed Kurt Vile" and guess who was behind me when I said "Killed Kurt Vile."
12/30/25, 03:36 PM
As a kid performing with a choir group, we did a benefit concert with Rosario Dawson, Jesse L Martin, and Kenny Lee (voice of SpongeBob) — Rosario gave me a hug at one point and 12 year old me was quite smitten.
12/30/25, 03:35 PM
Met Willie McCovey at a local hardware store signing catalogs ~ ‘61. Me and my dad were the only ones in the store along with a handful of others. I was about 4. I sure wish I kept that catalog
12/30/25, 03:33 PM
Theatre tech weeks had just been reclassified as construction sites, and were under deep scrutiny for safety. Peripherally, I saw some guy wander onto the stage but couldn't take my eyes off my brush. I shouted, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IN HERE WITH NO SHOES ON [then looking up] …WOODY HARRELSON?
12/30/25, 03:28 PM
My Hartsfield sightings are also extremely on brand for Atlanta - Dikembe Mutombo - Aaron Brown from CNN - Chris Jericho
12/30/25, 03:26 PM
Those celeb encounter posts - I really think I have the winner. Shared a jacuzzi with Greg from Succession when they were filming in Dundee. Cast were all staying in our hotel.
Probably because I refuse to shut up about that incredible celebrity encounter!
"Once, when I worked at Old Navy, I rang through an order at checkout for the Season 2 runner-up of Canadian Idol"
12/30/25, 03:23 PM
Understandable and justified!
12/30/25, 03:21 PM
I wrote for the teen section of the Orlando Sentinel and they “hired” a friend & I to wait in line to ensure the film critic could see The Phantom Menace. There was no line but we did accidentally meet ‘NSync.
12/30/25, 03:20 PM
The *most* memorable was Tara Reid (does she still count as a celebrity?) spilling a whole glass of champagne down my arm, and when I looked at her she shrugged and said it was an accident before walking away. If I ever meet her in an alley it's on sight.
12/30/25, 03:18 PM
Sat next to Chris Tarrant on a train to Manchester. In silence.
"Once, when I worked at Old Navy, I rang through an order at checkout for the Season 2 runner-up of Canadian Idol"
12/30/25, 03:18 PM
Yup!
12/30/25, 03:11 PM
I was once let out at a junction by Rio Ferdinand driving his Range Rover on the school run.
"Once, when I worked at Old Navy, I rang through an order at checkout for the Season 2 runner-up of Canadian Idol"
12/30/25, 03:11 PM
Probably because I refuse to shut up about that incredible celebrity encounter!
12/30/25, 03:06 PM
I worked at a Whisky bar in Edinburgh for years, and served no celebrities, apart from one that had to be pointed out to me because I had no idea who he was. I am now pretty sure it was Don Estelle
12/30/25, 03:06 PM
I ran into Steven Tyler at Logan airport and he was VERY annoyed at being greeted by a rando.
12/30/25, 03:05 PM
when I was a kid, I was there in the car while my mom drove Peter "P.D.Q. Bach" Schickele to the airport
12/30/25, 03:05 PM
i don't know if i've ever met a celebrity actually but sid meier met my parents at a bar and got invited to their wedding (as they tell it he did come)
12/30/25, 03:03 PM
I saw Will Buxton order coffee at the hotel we were both staying at in Iowa.
"Once, when I worked at Old Navy, I rang through an order at checkout for the Season 2 runner-up of Canadian Idol"
12/30/25, 02:58 PM
I would’ve killed to be at Much back in its prime
12/30/25, 02:57 PM
Jane Wiedlin hung out at the Sugar Shack and said she and her friends were terrified of Cherie Currie, and that was before she joined the Runaways! I didn’t know what was going on but this stuff formed and informed me from childhood!
I've had a few close calls in different corners of the planet. Costa Rica & Nepal are the only counties where men didn't...
12/30/25, 02:53 PM
Mine was on my way home from work in broad daylight. My report corresponded with the ring doorbell, and school bus camera that drove by. He had turned his bodycam and vehicle cam off.
12/30/25, 02:51 PM
When I was a student, actor Tony Booth climbed in through my bedsit window clutching a bottle of whisky. He left very politely when I told him I wasn't interested in what he had in mind.
12/30/25, 02:51 PM
Once, when I worked at Old Navy, I rang through an order at checkout for the Season 2 runner-up of Canadian Idol
12/30/25, 02:49 PM
opened the front door to the Cooper Hewitt museum in NYC and encountered Jesse Eisenberg trying to get his family out the door. Held the door for them, then went in the museum.
12/30/25, 02:46 PM
Sujeté una puerta para que pasase Herrmann Tertsch. En mi defensa diré que no me di cuenta de que era él hasta que no pasó por mi lado.
12/30/25, 02:45 PM
I saw Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine walking down Pilgrim Street in Newcastle. It was at the height of their ‘30 Something’ fame.
12/30/25, 02:43 PM
I sat next to both Cilla Black and Marianne Faithfull at my hairdressers but was too scared to speak to them.
12/30/25, 02:42 PM
When I was a student actor Tony Booth climbed in through my bedsit window clutching a bottle of whisky. He left very politely when I told him I wasn't interested in what he had in mind.
12/30/25, 02:40 PM
I was running down the stairs at a dance centre outside Brussels, trying to catch up with my children, and yelled out, 'Oh hi Joanna,' who I saw at the foot of the stairs, collecting her child too. No, it was her sister Princess Claire of Belgium, who looks just like her. I was stared right through.
12/30/25, 02:38 PM
Eric Morecambe lived in the house over the road from me several years before I was born
12/30/25, 02:37 PM
Shared a mid-90s Dan Air flight from Newcastle to Belfast with the entire Newcastle United squad. I was in the front row and, as I got off, Kevin Keegan smiled and asked me a question. Unfortunately, my ears had popped and I couldn’t hear anything, so I just said “Cheers, mate” and kept walking.
12/30/25, 02:36 PM
Stuart Broad arriving for a haircut just as I was paying up.
12/30/25, 02:36 PM
Met the man earlier this year. A lovely bloke.
12/30/25, 02:32 PM
Michael Parkinson said Bob Dylan mistook him for a waiter once!
12/30/25, 02:32 PM
Oh, in that case… there was the time Donald Sutherland was in a local pub I used to drink in occasionally but I only found out days later. Tbh, this kind of thing happens a lot where I live (popular weekend hangout for celebs) but Donald Sutherland is by far the most A-list example
"rode an elevator w Michael O’Keefe and managed not to whisper “misssss it!” or “then you ain’t getting no Coke!”"
12/30/25, 02:27 PM
Once you get into the inner circle of a Masshole, you're friends for life
Holly Johnson just got on the bus. I kept my cool (by staring at him and wondering if he’d like a Teatles zine)
"Holly Johnson just got on the bus. I kept my cool (by staring at him and wondering if he’d like a Teatles zine)"
12/30/25, 02:20 PM
That is an amazing spot! He's a proper legend
12/30/25, 02:17 PM
I found myself seated next to Masi Oka on a plane and Jeffrey Toobin on the Acela (years apart) (I have face blindness, so I had to look up who they were from context clues later)
12/30/25, 02:10 PM
Sam Neill was filming at a cafe up the road from me, but when I went past he wasn’t there.
12/30/25, 02:10 PM
I saw Seán Cullen (formerly of Corky And The Juice Pigs) in a parking lot at the Toronto Zoo. He was a couple dozen yards away so I squinted. When he squinted right back at me I knew it was him. :)
12/30/25, 02:10 PM
My friends and I met Cheyenne Jackson while checking into the Grove Hotel on Fire Island. He was lovely to talk to and even asked where we were from. He was there to perform at the Ice Palace and he was brilliant.
12/30/25, 02:09 PM
I still find it amusing and bizarre in equal measure that about 10 years ago me, Edna and Mr Court were all in the same room

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Celebrity encounters