On this Wednesday afternoon, let’s talk about something fun: celeb sightings! When have you spotted famous people out in the world? Apparently, this week, Timothée Chalamet and Martin Scorsese rode the subway together, and people lost their collective minds.
Maureen, our marketing director, once met Prince Harry (!!!) on a NYC hotel roof. “My friend and I were in our 20s, drinking martinis by the pool,” she told me. “When I got into the pool, he walked over and started chatting with my friend. I was awkwardly treading water, trying to overhear their conversation. She was cool and asked what he was doing that night, and he said he was throwing the first pitch at the Mets game.” This is what he looked like that very night!
I once saw Renee Zellweger looking flustered in airport security; I ordered ice cream (and almost blacked out) next to Tina Fey in a beach town years ago; I sat near Natalie Portman and Gael García Bernal on a date at a teeny sushi spot in the East Village; and in Paris last February I stood behind Laura Dern in line at the grocery store. I’m sure there were others, but I can never remember them!
Here are some funny reader stories:
Says Annie: “My daughter was studying in Rome this summer, and one evening she and her roommate saw a man walking a dog who looked very familiar. They went up and said, ‘Excuse us, but you look like Ted Danson,’ to which he replied, ‘I feel like Ted Danson.’” Reader, it was Ted Danson.
Says Tracey: “I waved to my good friend Jamie Oliver in a cooking store here in Western Australia. Then I realized that (a) Jamie is not actually a friend of mine, and (b) I was waving to a life-sized cardboard cutout.”
Says Lissa: “A friend of mine and I were lucky to meet President Obama at a fundraiser, and my friend had her adorably chunky baby boy with her. When the President came to chat with us, he commented that the baby was so cute and clearly very well fed, and my friend blurted out, ‘Well, he’s short,’ as if she had to explain away his chubby baby rolls.”
Says Lindsay: “I once saw the Obamas drive through New York City, and even through a car window from 30 feet away OMG she is BEAUTIFUL.”
Says Alicia: “One time I was crossing the street in Chicago, when I looked up and saw William H. Macy walking towards me. We locked eyes and he saw my excited reaction. As we got closer, he just lifted his hand up, and without a second thought, I gave him the high five he was going for. We both kept on walking and it was the coolest celeb sighting I’ve ever had.”
Says Dianna: “My friend met Bill Clinton and when he shook her hand, all she could muster was, ‘your hands are so warm.’ So cringey!”
Says Julie: “I was on vacation in Paris with my family. My youngest was six and was whining at the Orsay museum. I was a little annoyed, when across the crowded gallery I spotted a couple with two kids in tow. The mom was carrying a child like a sack of potatoes, talking to someone from the museum, while studying a Monet. I realized it was Cate Blanchett.”
Says Jennifer: “When I was 16, I worked at a marina and Catherine O’Hara would often pull up in her pontoon boat at dusk. One evening, she asked me for the time, but when I looked down at my watch, my brain short-circuited. I stood there, perfectly still, staring at my watch for far longer than is reasonable, just praying that if I looked long enough, my ability to read the time would return. Giving in, but refusing to make eye contact, I finally whispered, ‘…I don’t know.’ She very gently responded, ‘It’s okay,’ then elegantly floated off into the night.”
And, of course, my friend Alison met Ethan Hawke and had the most awkward exchange of all time.
What would you add? I’d love to hear, just for fun…
P.S. The ultimate TV guide, and who’s your celebrity crush?