I worked on movie and TV sets for a number of years when I was younger, so I got pretty used to seeing celebrities every day.
And, 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. 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.”
2. 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.'”
3. 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!”
4. 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.”
5. 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.”
6. 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.
7. 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.”
8. 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.”
9. 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.”
10. 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.”
11. 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!
