For me it was Jeff Kinney. I was meeting a different author I love, but there wasn’t enough room downstairs and we had to go up. Turns out that’s exactly where Jeff Kinney works! He’s the author who got me into reading so I thought that was so cool
I lived and worked in New York and met a ton of celebrities/big names there. James Gandolfini was really nice. Bjork was not particularly nice. Tori Amos is one of the sweetest, most open and genuine people I’ve ever met. Ethan Hawke was a gross dick. Rik Okasek smells bad but is nice. I got shitcanned with Claude Coleman, my favorite drummer. My favorite celeb I have ever met though is Joan Jett, who I have met many times and is absolutely the best. It was super funny the one time I was just hanging out randomly on the street with a group of friends and this short little muscular blond lady rushed up to me, gave me a hard hug, and rushed away and I got to be like, “Oh, that was just Joan Jett” to my friends.
Wow, that’s an impressive list! Did you meet them through work? What sort of work do you do?
Believe it or not, most of the big actors and stuff I met while I was working at various big retailers in Union Square, like Circuit City (rip), Barnes and Noble, and the Virgin mega store. There are absolutely a ton more that I did not list and probably more that I have forgotten lmao. Taye Diggs (very nice, seemed shy), James Iha (super friendly and excited to meet fans), Natasha Lyonne (messy drunk), David Sedaris (nice, smells good), Elaine Aberlin (Lady Elaine from Mr. Rogers, over the moon to meet someone who recognized her as an adult, gave me lots of hugs, hard to end the conversation with haha), lots more.
I’ve always been low key and friendly when interacting with celebs, especially when seeing them while they’re just going about their business. I don’t think they’re more valuable or interesting than other people and I think most of the time that is a welcome break.
I’ve also gone to tons and tons and tons of concerts throughout my life, many while volunteering or doing activism work, and I have met a kajillion bands and performers like that. Lots of people who started out small and later made it big.
I actually met Joan Jett at a county fair, and when I saw her play again a couple months later she recognized me (and then I saw her play again like 12+ times and eventually started just bumping into her because apparently we have similar interests and hung out in similar places lol). I highly recommend going to see her at every and any opportunity. She puts on an incredible live show that feels like a party and is a super sweet and wholesome person.
That’s really cool, thanks for sharing your stories!
Met Arthur C. Clarke in 1997 in his house near Colombo, Sri Lanka… A friend of my dad had organised the meeting…when we arrived Mr Clarke was sitting in his office watching one of the first Mars rover landings live on CNN…a moment and coincidence which i was only able to understand many years later…
Kurt Vonnegut. Met him at a Brooklyn farmers market, sitting on a bench. He seemed lonely and talked to me for so long I had to excuse myself.
Thats an awesome one! Seems like the kind of guy to have a conversation in a farmers market.
I had already clicked out of this thread when I spied your comment and came back in! Your experience is a lifetime dream of mine. Poo-tee-weet?
Alan Rickman - lovely guy but didn’t take shit from anyone.
Karl Urban - didn’t really speak to him, but his PA was very rude.
Kate Mulgrew - amazing lady, very funny and also absolutely lovely.
Bill Nye (the Science Guy). Total jerk, unfortunately.
Penn & Teller. Really nice guys. Penn is ridiculously tall, and having a conversation with Teller is one of the most surreal experiences I’ve had.
I’ve also met tons of metal bands, too many to list. I’ll say the chillest/coolest I hung out with were The Black Dahlia Murder or GWAR.
They always spend like an hour in the hallways outside the Penn and Teller Theater after shows meeting fans. The people who crowd around Teller are often magicians because he is notoriously generous when it comes to helping other magicians. They both are really, but I think a majority of successful magicians in the US have a trick in their repertoire that Teller helped out with in some way or another.
I just love that, after being silent all show, he comes out and talks enthusiastically with fans and colleagues.
Yes I met them after one of their shows in Vegas.
Dolly Parton at the Nashville rotating restaurant (on top of the Sheraton in the 90s). I was having dinner with a friend and just getting to know her better. She was explaining to me how she always runs into celebrities. She carried around an autograph book everywhere she went. We go to leave and Dolly is coming in. My friend gets another autograph. Dolly was very sweet and very short.
Edit: remove extra words
I am so jealous. If I could meet one person in the world it would be Dolly. She is my absolute hero. I don’t even think I’d be able to speak, I would just start crying.
James Earl Jones. He was doing a book signing in his small hometown, not far from me, when his autobiography was published. As it was such a small shop he spent time talking with everyone who came by. Hearing Darth Vader’s voice coming from such a humble and relatively soft-spoken man was an amazing experience.
I met Jeremy Clarkson - he was alright, very pleasant and funny
Neil Armstrong. Got to shake his hand at a symposium where he gave a talk.
At the same symposium I met Dick Rutan. I was standing in a group and he was across from me wearing his full dress uniform. Out of nowhere he sucks his hand out to me and says “Hi, I’m Dick Rutan, I flew around the world. Maybe you’ve heard of me.” My response was not eloquent.
I was at E3 once talking to Jordan Weisman about MechWarrior 4 when Steven Spielberg walked up. He said, “My kids aren’t going to believe I got to meet you!”, which left Jordan and I stunned. Apparently he and his kids were big 'mech fans.
I met all of you cool guys here. Witness me!
Isaac Asimov, who called me a few times. Very kind and patient man.
Multiple times?? That’s impressive. You two must have had a good . . . Foundation
I’ll see myself out
The only celebrities that I met and had a moment to converse with were Nathan Fillion and Jon Huertas.
My wife and I met them at a release event for a small electric car company in 2011 or 2012. I had just gotten a copy of “Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along blog: The Book” and it was the first time he had seen it. So basically we flipped through the book together and Nathan pointed out things in pictures and talk about who made them or what they were made of.
Years ago I went to the Philly ComicCon with some friends. On the first day we’re walking in and I see this huge shadow come up behind me and then over top of me and then I see the tallest person I’ve ever seen walking directly in front of me. Turns out it was Peter Mayhew. He literally walked over my small 5’0" self. It was surreal.
I’ve shaken Arnold Schwarzenegger’s hand back when he was running for governor of California.
It was surreal as fuck because I only ever knew him from movies, when I was a kid, so I was shocked that he didn’t tower over me. I was actually a bit taller than him.