Since today is Blog Me MAYbe's "May I tell you something about myself?" day, I thought I'd share a little about my minor (but still exciting for me) brushes with celebrity.
Several years ago, I was in New York City for a few days with my husband. He was working, so I had my days free to explore. One of the things I loved to do was walk around and take in the sights and the people around me. New York is such a great place for writers!
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| Scott Speedman at the New York film premiere of Barney's Version in January 2011. Photo by Justin Hoch, photographing for Hudson Union Society. |
I couldn't believe that I'd actually seen him--and I was surprised that no one else seemed to notice him--so I walked down to the end of the block, turned back, and walked past him again. Sure enough, it was Scott, and this time he made eye contact with me and smiled! (I smiled back, of course.)
I continued past him to the other end of the block, turned the corner, and called my sister. Her response to my excitement? "Who's he?" Oh, well. I decided to cross the street and
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| Actor Ed Westwick on the set of Gossip Girl, season 4 on July 6, 2010. Photo by Audrey Aït Kheddache. |
Several months ago, I noticed that Ed was on Twitter, so I followed him. One day I saw that he was online and responding to tweets, so I decided to try my luck and send him one myself. He ended up retweeting me, which made me schoolgirlish-ly excited. Then a few weeks later, he tweeted that he was moving over to Formspring, so, fangirl that I am, I followed him there. (Formspring is a question and answer social network.) I asked him about the best moment of his life so far, and he actually chose to answer my question, responding, "Meeting the one!" Wow: an actual comment from Ed Westwick! I floated on air for days after that.
So there you have it: the story of my celebrity encounters. Have you ever had any brushes with celebrity?
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Photo credits:
Scott Speedman. Photo by Justin Hoch (http://www.jhoch.com/), photographing for Hudson Union Society (http://www.hudsonunionsociety.com/) [CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Ed Westwick. Photo by http://www.flickr.com/photos/audreyak/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/audreyak/4769551760/)
[CC-BY-2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
I love it when a celebrity responds to a tweet - as much as I try to convince myself that they're just normal people too, I still get excited! I've only ever had 2 respond though - Holly Marie Combs and Amanda Tapping (both TV actresses).
ReplyDeleteAs for meeting celebs, I haven't had much luck. My grandpa met Boris Johnson (Mayor of London) though and there was a picture in the local newspaper ... does that count?
Absolutely. :)
DeleteWhen I was in 4th grade, we took a field trip to Jamestown (Virginia). I was in line going through the museum when a man put both hands on my shoulders to gently move me aside so he could pass through. It was Walt Disney! Then in 1965 (or '66), Miss America was in town for the Miss Portsmouth pageant. As I was getting her autograph during intermission, she said she loved my dress, a pink dress with matching jacket that my mother had made for Easter. Wow -- Miss America loves MY dress!
ReplyDeleteVery cool! Great stories. :)
DeleteI've never had any brushes with big celebrities. I did get to hand out with a few members from Squirrel Nut Zippers when I was in high school. They were killing time at the bar before going onstage, so my friend and I introduced ourselves.
ReplyDeleteWhen my husband was working at the embassy in Brussels, he met Jean Claude Van Damme. Jean Claude was in the consulate office, and one of my husband's coworkers was too shy to ask for an autograph. He volunteered to get it for her. Apparently the muscles from Brussels was in a bad mood that day, because my hubby said he was rather rude.
I had to look up the band. I'd never heard of them. LOL
DeleteThat's too bad about Jean-Claude Van Damme's mood. Was your husband able to get the autograph?
How cool with your brushes with celebrities! You would think living in San Diego area I would have seen one or another over the years but haven't (yet).
ReplyDeleteenjoy the day!
betty
I just wish I would have talked to Scott Speedman. LOL
DeleteHave a great day!
If it makes you feel any better - Scott Speedman probably appreciated you not bringing attention to him :)
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine saw Robert de Niro sitting by himself at a cafe in Paris. She went up to him and asked for his autograph. He was very sweet - but said that he couldn't because he didn't want people to notice him. My friend slipped away quietly and he was left alone.
I arranged a cultural performance for Paul McCartney when he came here :).... so got to meet him.
You're probably right--and that does help. :) Great story about Robert De Niro!
DeleteHow great that you were able to meet Paul McCartney! I think my husband would love to meet him.
I've seen several celebrities in my day (none of them highly famous, but still) and I am never able to go up to them. I see people rush up and grab hold of them and I just could never do that. It's like once you see them your ego kicks in and you don't want them to get a big head or something, or even have them be embarrassed because they were recognized on the street. However, I always end up wishing I had spoken to them or said something. Rick Springfield played a show a long time ago and my husband's band opened for him. He wore one of their t-shirts and hung out with us a bit and was so nice, so I actually did talk to him - but only because others were doing it first!
ReplyDeleteI don't know what kept me from walking up to Scott Speedman. Maybe he was using telepathy to keep me from asking for his autograph. ;) It's just one of those tiny little moments in life that I relive again and again. If I had the chance to do it over, I wonder if I'd just end up doing the same thing--nothing... :)
DeleteThose are great stories. I don't think I would be able to speak with them either!
ReplyDeleteI'm so chicken!
Heather
Thanks, Heather. :)
DeleteI've never heard of either of those guys :) A famous baseball player went to mine and my husband's wedding. Well, he didn't exactly GO to the wedding - - he was outside, waiting for a friend of his. But I think that counts, don't you??!!
ReplyDeleteEven though I don't know who either of these men are, that's very cool, because you do! I met Richard Harris once. I saw Morey Amsterdam cross the street once. I got Angela Lansbury's autograph. That's all I can think of and that's probably all!!
ReplyDeleteThat's a lot! How fun!
DeleteThat is one of the things I love the most about Twitter -- you can feel like you're actually connecting (even for the briefest moment and even if it's illusionary) with the people you admire. Neil Gaiman replied to a tweet I sent once. A tiny little thing, but it still makes me smile :)
ReplyDelete~ Rhonda Parrish
That's exactly how I feel. :)
DeleteI awarded you on my blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks. :)
DeleteI've met a few minor actors in my timewhen I worked at a pub, but I did go to a party in the mid 80s with some of the band members from the heavy metal group Saxon.
ReplyDeleteI also met a couple of Australian cricketers in the mid 80s while working at the same pub, on the night the brewery wer launching XXXX in Britain. We had a band, lights, cameras...and kept blowing the fuses. As the beer pumps were electrical, we couldn;t serve anything excpt bitter, so some of the regulars went down to the off licence and bought themselves some Fosters.
I bet that was a fun party!
DeleteLove the story about the pub. Kind of hard to run a bar without beer. ;)
i have not really seen any except local tv people---my son was an extra in the speilberg lincoln movie last fall--it was filmed in our home town---i kept hearing on the news, that so many of the stars were seen here and there but i never ran into any of them!
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad. It would have been fun to meet some of them!
DeleteStill, it's very cool that your son was an extra. :)
That's so cool that you've had two celebrity encounters. I don't blame you for not saying anything; it's so hard to walk up and start talking to someone you don't know, especially if that person happens to be famous.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if she counts as a celebrity, but I had the chance to meet Joshilyn Jackson (one of my all-time FAVORITE writers) at a luncheon earlier this year. I knew I'd have a hard time going up to meet her, so I made sure I went with a friend. :-) I was definitely star struck though.
I'm not sure if you've seen it, but I passed the Kreativ Blogger Award on to you. I really enjoy your blog.
I love Joshilyn Jackson's books! How amazing that you were able to meet her. :)
DeleteAw, thanks so much! I appreciate the award.
That is really cool! I've never had run-ins with celebrities like that. I've met some famous classical musicians through playing with orchestras, but that's about it.
ReplyDeleteI think meeting those musicians would be wonderful!
DeleteI took care of celebrities as a nurse...they look a whole lot different in a hospital bed (I guess we all do!)
ReplyDeleteHospitals do seem to be one of the great equalizers. :)
DeleteWow, what a yummy adventure you had, you are way too cool. :) At the state capitol we ran into California's last governor, Arnold(Terminator), when we lived in Sacramento a few years back. A glimpse was all that we captured as he was highly protected. Fun enough!
ReplyDeleteIt was fun seeing Scott--quite unexpected. It's cool that you caught a glimpse of Arnold. :)
Deleteoooh, Scott is way cute!
ReplyDeleteI saw Leelee Sobieski at Serendipity 3 in NYC years ago. She was waiting to get in like the rest of us (we waited 2 hours in the cold to have a frrrrozen hot chocolate)
I waited on Scott Bakula at the resort I used to work for and when my husband worked on Branson, he talked to Jay Leno.
And we get people like Obama (yee haw) and Paul McCartney traveling down Rt. 66 (we are right on it)
The place Obama ate at closed right after that. hmmmm
He is, isn't he... :)
DeleteHow cool that Leelee Sobieski was waiting, too. I thought celebrities just got moved to the head of the line.
You've met/seen a lot of celebrities! Interesting about the restaurant. :)
What fun! I get a lot of married-old-lady crushes. I feel like such a cougar sometimes! My brush with celebrity royalty happened when I was 20 and working as a security guard in Vancouver, British Columbia. I was making my rounds in a building connected to one of the posh hotels and going down the stairs. On the escalator coming up was an older handsome gentleman with two men looking like they should be Men in Black. The older man said hello and I responded in kind, and we commented on the weather. We waved and he was gone. Then it hit me. THAT was Sean Connery. Good thing I didn't realize it at the time or else I might have gone weak in the knees and fallen down the stairs!
ReplyDeleteGlad I'm not the only one with the married-old-lady crushes. ;) Sean Connery--wow! I would have been so starstruck. :)
Deleteand that is why you will show me around new york some day! cool!
ReplyDeleteI would love that! It would be so much fun. :)
DeleteI saw the Pope once.
ReplyDeleteThe dead one.
I had nothing to do with it.
And I also met Phil McConkey from the New York Giants.
He's a little fella.
Who's also not dead.
LOL Good to hear on all accounts! ;)
DeleteI met Miss America 2007. She was the speaker at an event I was hosting. I walked by Jim Palmer (now retired Orioles player) in Baltimore. I only knew him from his underwear ads. :-) My husband chatted briefly with Jesse Jackson in an airport years ago. I have to admit, I don't know they guys you mentioned. I'm old, I guess. :-) It does give you a thrill when someone famous crosses your path.
ReplyDeleteFun! I agree: it is pretty thrilling to see someone famous. :)
DeleteHow cool!
ReplyDeleteI love N.Y! I went for my first time last summer to attend Teacher's College at Columbia and I was walking down the street along side the park when I thought I saw Joakim Noah...I did a double take- he was sitting at a table tucked back at a cafe....so I went up to him and asked if he played for the Chicago Bulls...he was so nice and even let me take his picture.- I don't really watch TV...unless it is sports...so I wouldn't know a celb for TV if they were right in my face.
Happy Tuesday!
Good for you for talking to him! I wish I would have had the courage to talk to Scott Speedman.
DeleteHave a great day!
I don't think I've ever met anyone famous that I can think of. I did see The Fifth Dimension (band) before they had a hit, I guess. They were playing at a department store opening in Minneapolis! People just walked on by. I felt badly for them, so I stood and listened for a while. They smiled. :)
ReplyDeleteSweet story! :)
DeleteDana I never ever ever ever any more in my husbands presence look at an actor and say, "He is cute." I am teased forever when I do. I get comments like, "Come quickly your boyfriend is on tv." He simply cannot understand why I don't think Arnie is handsome. He is convinced if he were a girl Arnie would be his dream man ha ha.
ReplyDeleteLOL
DeleteThat's why my husband and I have agreed not to speak of these things. ;)