Aussies Are Sharing Stories About When They Met Celebrities And What They're Really Like

I always knew Hugh Jackman would be a legend.

1. Matt Damon

Vittorio Zunino Celotto / Getty Images

"I met Matt Damon when he was in rural NSW last year or so. I don't give a shite about celebrities — I’m a farmer. After chatting at the bakery, my wife said 'you do know who that was you were talking shit to?' He hadn’t seen a lamington before. Poor fucker hadn’t really lived. He seemed like a good bloke. Since then, I've seen some of his movies. They, however, seemed shit."

—u/Getouttherewalk

2. Kelly Slater

Tony Heff / World Surf League via Getty Images

"I had him as a passenger in my cab a few times. The first time, I didn't even know who he was because I don't really follow surfing. He just seemed like a fairly regular Gold Coast surfie and was great to chat to. But the rank supervisor at the airport was a massive surfie and fanboyed afterwards, wanting to know what he was like, etc."

—u/Remarkable_Budget_80

3. Bob Katter

Sam Mooy / Getty Images

"I had the same opinion of him as most other people. I boarded my flight in Brisbane and he was in my seat, which reinforced my predisposition. We sorted that out and he introduced himself and apologised. We then yarned for three hours on a wide variety of topics from the ancient Greeks to dirty socks. A very nice and very intelligent bloke who, I suspect, turns on the nut-job thing for the cameras. He even came and found me at the baggage carousel of our destination to offer me a lift."

—u/chicken_harness

4. Adam Liaw

Don Arnold / WireImage

"I wasn't a huge fan of meeting Adam Liaw, but I'm sure he felt the same, since I did mention to him that I'm sure I'd encountered him somewhere else...which unfortunately was an online forum where he was mercilessly trolled years before he became known. I think I inadvertently put the poor dude on the defensive."

—u/krekenzie

5. Shane Warne

Visionhaus / Visionhaus / Getty Images

"I didn't have an opinion of him either way, but my son was a huge fan. I took my son to a special family day at the MCG where a bunch of cricket players were holding bowling and batting schools and signing autographs. Warne wasn't very nice to the kids."

—u/Sure_Economy7130

6. Pinky Beecroft (Machine Gun Fellatio)

Patrick Riviere / Getty Images

"I met him at the performance of another Australian singer. He was very kind to me while I fan-girled over him, but I don't think he was used to fan interactions like mine."

—u/TrashBabyThompson

7. Bert Newton and Hugh Jackman

Lucas Dawson / Getty Images, David M. Benett / Dave Benett/Getty Images for Warner Bros

"Back in the '90s I worked on the stage musical production of Beauty and the Beast. The guy who played the talking clock was Bert Newton. He always used to say 'hi' and make conversation — UNTIL he found out I was part of the lighting crew. After that, he wouldn't even glance at me. On the same show, I used to hang out with the dude that played Gaston at the stage door, having a ciggie during interval. I only recently discovered that it was Hugh Jackman! Really nice dude."

—u/wotmate

8. Guy Pearce

Dominik Bindl / Getty Images

“Spoke to Guy Pearce a few times when I worked in hospitality. He was absolutely lovely — very soft spoken and had no expectations of special treatment, though he got it."

—u/quelana-26

9. David "Kochie" Koch

Michael Willson / Getty Images

"Always thought Kochie seemed like a mad dog on TV, until I was serving him on multiple occasions in a Circular Quay bar. Pretty rude customer, overall...never bothered with conversation or even eye contact. This place was expensive and 99% of customers left tips. Kochie would run up a bill of $500–600 easily and not leave a tip. To be honest, though, I’m gonna excuse him, because he’s been waking up at 4am for the past 30 years or whatever, so I’d probably be grumpy AF by dinner time."

—u/Ok-Cantaloupe6542

10. Kasey Chambers

Don Arnold / WireImage

"Kasey Chambers is super nice. She’ll sit and listen to you talk for ages. She’s always got time to chat with fans."

—u/Arkady2009

11. Anthony Mundine

Albert Perez / Getty Images

"I get the whole thing with putting on an act, so people pay to watch someone kick your ass, but I was still taken aback by how nice he is in person."

—u/TheCuzzyRogue

12. Ian Kenny (Birds of Tokyo)

Martin Philbey / WireImage

"I once tried to get Ian Kenny to join our pub choir, completely oblivious to who he was. I remember laying it on pretty thick about how singing was good for you, makes you feel great etc. He was so polite and let me down gently, never revealing that he was, in fact, a rock star. I think at one point he mentioned that he did a bit of singing in Sydney. Super nice guy."

—u/natacon

13. And finally, Hugh Jackman (again)

James Devaney / GC Images

"My family rented a house in Byron for a holiday with a bunch of other families. One afternoon we heard singing next door and poked our heads over the fence. Hugh Jackman was practicing for Deborah Lee Furness's birthday that night. My dad and him chatted a bit and [my dad] gave him a shirt (the dads are all in a workout group together). We got a free concert that night. The next day he wore that shirt when he went out with his kids and got papped. My dad still has the newspaper clipping of him wearing it."

—u/BadJanet

Have you met any celebs that were different in person than you imagined? Let us know in the comments!

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