I used to work on movie and TV sets for a while when I was younger, so I got pretty used to seeing famous people every day.
After I had been doing it for a while, it dawned on me…these folks are just people who also have to get up every day and do a lot of the same things we do: go to work, have significant others and kids, and spend time with their friends and families when they have downtime.
But still, they do live a life that 99.9999% of us will never know about, so it is interesting to find out what they’re really like outside of the bright lights.
Let’s hear from folks on AskReddit who had interactions with celebs.
1. Please don’t.
“I met Morgan Freeman when he came to my work (a symphony hall) for a show.
He was so nice, he was asking me all these questions about my life, and his voice sounded even better in person.
I held it together pretty well but as I was walking away I said to my coworker (too loudly) “omg I’m gonna pee my pants.”
And he tapped my shoulder and said “please don’t.””
2. We miss him.
“Robin Williams was in town for a performance and was having an issue with his computer.
He brought it in for repair and spent the time waiting hanging out with us, taking pictures, cracking jokes and talking to us.”
3. Hmmm…
“Several years ago I worked at a nice, sit down pizza restaurant.
One night Miley Cyrus (Party in the USA era) and her whole family came in.
I waited on them. When it was time to bring out their pizza I put it on the table and said, “It’s a pizza party in the USA!”
She did not find it as amusing as my coworkers did.”
4. That was nice.
“I used to work at an oil company where we dispatched over a radio…
A driver was delivering to Ben Affleck’s house and mentioned that it was my birthday.
Ben got up into the cab of the truck and got on the radio to wish me a happy birthday!”
5. Big mug.
“This happened to a girl I work with but still awesome.
Nick Offerman came into the coffee shop we work at and ordered a large coffee.
When she gave him the mug he looked at her and said ” that’s a satisfyingly large mug” did his awesome laugh and sat down giggling at the mug.”
6. Normal folks.
“I was working at a restaurant when Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel came in.
They were so nice and actually tried to help us bus their table!”
7. Funny.
“I was a barista at the time, and Brad Garrett (from Finding Nemo, Everybody Loves Raymond) came in.
It was a busy cafe and I had TONS of fun with customers there, while trying to be as efficient as possible.
I also had THE COOLEST eyeglasses ever at the time, they were rectangle with triangle shaped arms made of stainless steel.
It’s important that you know how cool these were (R.I.P. ?). Anyways, Brad comes over to watch me make his beverage. We make some small talk, and now Brad is wearing my glasses and impersonating me. ” I am a fancy barista, look at how cool I am with my weird glasses…” he says.
So I immediately shot back, in my most Brad Garrett-y voice: ” oh look, I’m Brad Garrett, I’m SOOOO funny and I’m a giant human” (said while walking around like Shrek). He laughed. I laughed. He even came back the next day asking where I was!
It’s the friendship that never was, but always should have been.”
8. Not a shocker.
“Taylor Swift came into the store I work in while she was in Westerly, Rhode Island and completely ignored all the workers and customers.
Her very attractive body guard was pleasant and chatted with us though!”
9. Oops.
“I work at a Starbucks drive thru and one day Kevin Bacon came through! He was wearing a beanie and sunglasses (at night ?) and I wasn’t 100% sure it was him so I decided to test it.
Right before he was gonna drive away I said “have a nice night, Kevin!” He said thank you very politely, then as if remembering he didn’t want to be recognized he mumbled “sh*t” and drove away.”
10. That voice, though.
“My mom, my sisters, and I were visiting Philadelphia on July 4, 2006. We went to the hotel penthouse to play a board game.
While we were playing, my mom realized that Lionel Richie was across the room and was being interviewed for the July 4 festivities. She was so excited that she stopped playing the game and started whispering her responses to anything Richie said as if they were having a conversation.
When he finished the interview, he walked by and my mom introduced herself. He was extremely pleasant, warm and friendly. He said to my mom, “Very nice to meet you, ma’am.” He then turned to my sisters and me and said, “You guys probably don’t know me. You probably know Nicole.”
I said, “No, we don’t go to school around here, so probably not.” He just stared at me, smiled, and gave my mom a hug. Once he left, my twin sister said, “No, you idiot, Nicole Richie. She’s on TV.” I said, “Oh, yeah, sure.” I still wasn’t sure who she was until I looked her up later.
In any case, Lionel Richie was very kind, and even though my mom apologized profusely for “bothering” him, he assured her that he always liked meeting fans and their families.”
11. That’s a weird comment.
“My family own a Mexican restaurant on the south side of Chicago. One day three men come in and talk about the charity work being done in the area. I nod along and go about serving them. One gentlemen in particular looked especially familiar but I couldn’t place him.
Eventually, they ask me about The Shawshank Redemption, if I have ever seen the movie. I said no. They point to one of the men, not the one who looked familiar, and said he was in the film. I shrug and say, “that’s cool”. All this while the one who looks familiar refuses to make direct eye contact with me, like he was shy. I almost said that he looked familiar but I didn’t want to bother them while they ate.
Eventually they finished and left, but not without telling me not to get knocked up at a young age. Later that day I tell my older brother about the encounter. He pulls up pictures of the cast. The shy gentleman who I recognized – Tim Robbins. Thanks for the life advice, Tim Robbins, 12 years later and I’m still not knocked up.”
12. It was her.
“Amanda Seyfried came into the coffee shop I used to work in.
I made her a coffee and she even complimented me on it!
When I asked if it was her, she said, ‘No but I get that a lot.’
Two days later she posted a photo on Instagram where she was obviously in the same small town.
It was totally her.”
13. Sir Ian.
“I was working at a theatre café trying to get through the usual rush before the show started when I realized I was serving Sir Ian McKellen!
I kept my cool and was disappointed to learn that the guy who was in the bar with me didn’t know who he was!
We both loved Ian’s Ugg boots though.”
14. Let’s see some ID.
“I worked at a movie theater, and made Tobey Maguire show me his ID to get into an R rated movie because I didn’t recognize him.
When I realized who he was, I had to pretend I still had no idea who he was to play it cool.
He was taken aback, but very nice about it.”
15. Make my day.
“I was working at a cinema in California when a woman walked up with two kids and bought four tickets to see Wall-E.
When I said, ‘Enjoy your movie!’
She replied, ‘Do you know who Clint Eastwood is?’
I replied, ‘Of course I know who he is!’
She said, ‘He’s parking the car and I have his ticket. Can you make sure he’s let in?’
‘Sure,’ I said.
Then my manager came over and told me to go take tickets at the door while someone else manned my register.
I got to say, ‘Welcome, Mr. Eastwood. Your family is inside already. Go on in.'”
16. A good day at work.
“A few years ago I was working in admin and I was sent to a hotel to pick up a package that a client left behind.
While I was waiting for the package, Ryan Seacrest walked up to the counter and started talking to me like we were old friends.
Apparently he was there to do a press junket for American Idol.
I ended up going back to work with the package, a free lunch, and a whole lot of American Idol gear: keychains, stickers, T shirts, a frisbee, and an autographed photo of Ryan and me.
It was by far my coolest day at work ever!”
17. Cool!
“Bill Nye the Science Guy came to the airport coffee shop I work at on the busiest day we’d ever had.
Me and one other barista were alone, serving a line at least 50 people deep. Plus, I had already slipped on a massive soap spill in the back. I was stressed…and then Bill Nye showed up.
He ordered a vanilla spice latte and I was so star struck that he had to repeat his order twice while I grinned like an idiot. He was super gracious and even left a massive tip.
Awesome guy.”
18. Paula Abdul.
“I was working at Frederick’s of Hollywood on Hollywood Blvd and one night we got a knock on the door after we had closed. It was Paula Abdul.
She was rehearsing at the dance studio upstairs and needed high heels to practice in. We brought out a couple of pairs and she danced around our store testing them and telling us how she was going to be performing on American Idol, all while wearing a neck brace.
I proceeded to give her a pep talk and when she said that she was nervous about what Simon would say I said something like, ‘You tell Simon to turn his chair the other way when you perform. He doesn’t get to witness your awesome performance’ which is not something I would normally say to anyone.
She hugged us, asked us to watch Idol that week, paid with loose change from her purse, and left.”
19. Soccer star.
“I work at a trampoline company and one time Wayne Rooney came in because his sons were attending a friend’s birthday party.
His kids were really cute, even though one of them repeatedly hit me with a pool noodle and made me lift him out of the foam pits. Wayne was lovely and thanked me for helping out his kids.
20. Who was that?
“I was working at Starbucks in Boston and I was making Frappuccinos. As it was mid-June, I was pretty busy so I had been running around all day. I was sticky and in a bad mood.
I passed a Frappuccino to a customer who asked for a straw. I was annoyed because the straws were maybe a foot to his left, so I just grabbed one and slid it across the counter in his direction before turning back to my blender.
My co-worker immediately tapped my shoulder and shout-whispered, ‘Why were you just a d*ck to Ben Affleck?’ I had no idea it was him.”
21. Power couple.
“I work in a pharmacy in the UK and one time Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry came in for a prescription. They both had shades on so I didn’t recognize them.
Thinking back, it was actually hilarious: Orlando Bloom was just sat there bossing Katy Perry around and telling her what to say while I looked for their prescription. She was giving me loads of names to look under (including Bloom, yes I know I’m clueless), while I was just getting irritated at them for not knowing the name the prescription was under.
Eventually my manager took over. As they walked away, my manager whispered to me, ‘Omg that was Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry.’ Cue me stalking them around the shop and trying to build up the courage to ask for a picture.”
22. Oops.
“Andy Serkis once came into the restaurant I work in. I’m such a massive fan that I couldn’t look at him for the whole two hours he was there.
To top it off, I dropped his cutlery on his lap when I cleared his meal.”
23. Get those digits.
“About four years ago, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds called my store asking for help with an issue they were dealing with.
For a very short time, I had Ryan Reynold’s phone number on a Post-It note. I really wish I’d kept it.”
24. W.
“My roommate and I worked for a temp agency in Dallas and we did a lot of catering. A couple years ago, the Dallas presidential library opened up and we were asked to help bartend for George Bush and his family.
Obviously we said yes. Now, George Bush drinks a special non-alcoholic beer that’s imported from another country. It even needs a special bottle opener to even open it. I was tasked with carrying the sacred bottle opener, but after hours of working he still didn’t come up to request his beer. I eventually took my half-hour lunch break and took the precious cargo with me.
As luck would have it, George Bush walked up to the bar when I was gone and asked my roommate for his imported non-alcoholic beer. Since she couldn’t find the bottle opener, she took the beer and started banging its top lid on the bar counter corner in an attempt to open it.
He stared at her blankly for a few minutes and then walked away without saying anything. He didn’t approach the bar again that day.”
Now it’s your turn!
In the comments, share your celebrity stories with us.
We’d love to hear from you!
