You hear alllll kinds of horror stories about celebs — which is why it's all the more refreshing to actually hear something nice. So when Reddit user Mr-Nobody-74 asked, "Which celebrity is an actually nice person," I loved scrolling through people's positive experiences with celebs. Some of them made sense — obviously, Dolly Parton is a gem — but some were super surprising! Here are people's best celebrity encounter stories.
1. "Paul Rudd — I ended being one of the last people in the line at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo. They were literally turning lights off in the convention center. He stood up and said not to worry, that he was gonna meet all of us. When we got up to him he was great; he shook both my wife’s hand and then mine. He got very excited that he was autographing a CrapBag friends mug and he told me it was the best thing he signed all day. He wrote out a line from the episode and signed it. Then we asked if he would do us a favor, and he said, 'anything.' We asked him to do the air piano from one of the episodes for our other family members who had been waiting on us in the half-dark. He cracked a huge smile, stood up, rolled up his sleeves, and air piano-ed perfectly! We thanked him and he shook our hands again and thanked us for waiting. It was just awesome and he really was just amazingly nice."
2. "I met Henry Winkler at a con. Instead of standing behind a table and signing without talking, he walked up and down the line talking to you before you even got to the table. At the table, he gave you a minute to pick which of the hundred or so pictures you wanted him to sign, which is when he worked the line. He pretty much ignored me and talked to my daughter the whole time. In line he got down and did a magic trick for her. When we took the picture he was hugging her. Then he turned her around and said, 'every once in a while you meet someone special and I am so glad I met you.' Scripted line, but damn if it didn't make me tear up. Then he asked if he could have a hug and she practically leapt into his arms. It will always be one of my favorite celebrity moments."
3. "I used to run into Robin Williams occasionally in San Francisco and he was always nice to people who went up to talk to him. Once I was at Tower Records and two women went up to him and told him they were fans. He thanked them. They said he 'sounded different than in the movies' and he told them he had two sets of vocal cords, one for movies and one for real life, and they seemed to believe it. It was pretty funny. He'd also show up sometimes at a comedy club in Cole Valley and do improv with a bunch of very intimidated and scared amateurs but he didn't try to overshadow them."
4. "My family ran into Bryan Cranston at my brother's law school graduation. He agreed to take a picture with us and my dad mentioned Tim Watley [the dentist from Seinfeld. Just before my mom took the picture he turned to my dad and asked, 'Are you flossing?'"
5. "A friend went to a charity thing and the name card beside her said 'Jack Black' and she said, 'how cool would it be if it was the real Jack Black?' (We live in a different country than him.) Then she hears someone behind her say 'Cool indeed'....it was Jack Black."
6. "Anne Hathaway. I was a cater waiter at a party hosted by Elton John once, so it was absolutely full of famous people. I was doing some restocking in the ladies toilets and a male counterpart (who didn't recognize her) asked her to grab me. She came in, introduced herself (as Annie), passed on the message, walked out with me, and was just really sweet in a context where she absolutely didn't need to be. Like I wasn't a fan, I was just the staff, and she still was lovely and talked to me like an equal."
7. "I met Angelina Jolie through my aunt's work and she was the nicest, most kind person you could imagine. I was a dorky teen, admitting to her that I wanted to be an archeologist because of her part in Lara Croft and that I thought the movie was so cool, yada yada... She probably thought I was a weirdo but she took so much time out of her day to have a conversation with a twelve-year-old girl and she was super kind about it. She took a photo with me and told me to always be inspired by what I want to achieve. It was such a cool moment. I'll always remember it."
8. "Christian Bale. My dad’s mate was at a film premiere (it wasn’t Bale’s film, but he was there), and he was standing talking to a group of people. My dad’s mate is from Newcastle, so he speaks in a Geordie accent. He suddenly hears (in a joking cockney voice) 'Who the hell let a fucking Geordie in here?' Turns around and boom, Christian Bale. Apparently, he stood and talked to the group for a good 20 minutes, showing a genuine interest in them all and what they did."
9. "Rachel McAdams is by far the nicest celebrity I’ve met. We sat next to each other in the audience at the taping of a reality competition show (she was a celebrity audience guest, I was just the next person over lol) and I was a MASSIVE fan at the time. This was 14 or so years ago but peak Notebook and Mean Girls fame. I told her what a fan I was and then as a 16-year-old boy kind of blacked out lol. Later as we were leaving the building, she ran up to say hi and remembered my name. She walked back to my family’s car with us, took a photo with me, and then hugged me and said goodbye. She was just SO genuinely nice."
10. "I've met Weird Al over 30 times, but one of my favorite ones was in 2019. A little backstory: in 2018 my family and I went to LA and got to see him receive his star on the Walk of Fame. We also did all the touristy things like Disneyland and studio tours. A few weeks later, my 13-year-old daughter was heading into class and her teacher, who was known to ask random questions at the start of class, pointed at her and said, 'Best vacation you ever took?' She said we had just gone to LA and the teacher asked what she had done. She then told him that we got to see Al get his star and then go to a private party thrown by him for donors. No mention of Disney or anything else. I told Al this story and he actually got a little misty eyed and said, 'You don't know how much that means to me.'"
11. "Robert Downey Jr. I had the privilege of taking care of a family member of his at a hospital back when I was a nurse. He was so down to earth and always joking. He hung out at the nurses station with us a few times and was always engaging. He ordered the entire floor In-N-Out for dinner one night. He never expected preferential treatment. And he was there daily genuinely concerned for his family member, participating in his care decision, etc. Just a cool dude. No assistant or better-than-thou attitude."
12. "Dolly Parton has been the nicest celebrity that I ever met. She even aggressively pulls you in for a hug, making sure you’re all tight with her in a picture. A lot of stars don’t want you to even look at them. She complemented me on my hair and makeup. I told her that I do hair and she said, 'I can tell I do a real good job.' ❤️❤️❤️ LOVE HER!"
13. "Olivia Newton-John ... was my wife's hero/icon and we happened to be near her when she was doing a photo shoot about 14 years ago. I asked 'her people' about saying hello and they said to me 'unlikely...Olivia is working' and I accepted that and so we kind of hung around watching and trying to look cool. 15 minutes later when my wife was distracted, Olivia walked over and introduced herself and we had a lovely chat....well, my wife couldn't speak so I did most of the talking. Olivia offered to pose for pictures and did not leave until she ensured we were happy with the pics. My wife met her hero that day and came away even more enamored with her. Lovely lady, RIP."
14. "I have worked on many seasons of Gordon Ramsay's US shows, and I can confirm that he is one of the friendliest, sweetest, most down-to-earth celebrities I’ve met. He treats the entire crew with respect, and is happy to have a conversation with anyone. He turns on the temper for the cameras, but grins mischievously about it on the other side. I think that one reason he’s outlasted many other celebrity chefs is that he’s relatively easy to work with."
15. "Kevin Smith! I used to work security at music venue and he came to do his podcast live. He ended up coming in a little later after the crowd got into the venue and I was the guy who had to put an artist wristband on him. He walked up, saying hi to everyone around as he was walking up. He extended his hand out to get a wristband but I went to shake his hand instead. He said, 'Nice to meet you too bud but am I getting one of those as well.' After his show ended, he was taking pictures with my coworkers and I wasn't able to at the time with them because I was still on the clock and in uniform. And right before he was about to leave he asked if anybody else wanted a picture."
16. "Josh Brolin. I was at the gym and normally I don’t approach celebrities, but I said, 'hey man, just wanted to say I’m a big fan of your work, don’t want to bother you though, have a great workout.' And he said, 'hey, thanks man.' Then proceeded to say, 'you look great dude I need to get back to looking like that' and that is the greatest compliment I’ve ever had. He did not need to say that. He was working out with his trainer and wife. Really nice dude."
17. "I can vouch for Ian McKellan — he was an absolute angel to a very excited stage teen at the stage door of a Broadway play he did with Patrick Stewart some years back. The kid asked him if he’d received the letter he’d sent Ian at the interval and the good man said 'yes,' patiently listened to the kid, and was generous with his time and kindness. Kid and stage mum (and all of us who witnessed this) were big fans. Patrick Stewart and Billy Crudup were there too, and they just did the blank-faced signings and buggered off."
18. "Post Malone. I met him the other day and he's so sweet. He introduced himself with his actual name, and he held the door open for me to go inside the restaurant we were at."
19. "The late John Candy. He sat with my father-in-law and had lunch on the set of Planes, Trains & Automobiles. My father-in-law was a mechanic for the actors' motor homes on set. Father-in-law was a pain-in-the-ass yet Candy treated him like a nice new acquaintance."
20. "I've had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Goldblum three times in my life. He's a sweet and fun dude. ... I have a small YouTube channel and I asked him if he could make a small video for it. He grabbed my phone and said, 'Sure! What do you want me to do?'"
21. "I met Magic Johnson at King's Island in Cincinnati years ago. He was genuinely super kind and polite. At one point, he camped out at one of the carnival basketball games and just started winning stuffed animals for all the kids around."
22. "Conan O'Brien was filming a remote for Late Night a long time ago at the casino I was working at. He was a super nice guy. He had no entourage. He drank Woodford Reserve, and after he was done filming, he bought all the bartenders and waitresses a round. I’m a Conan guy for life after that interaction."
23. "Tom Cruise. My dad and I changed the tires on his motorcycle — we didn't even know who we were meeting. He drove up in a golf cart, introduced us to his family, and talked to us for awhile — and every five minutes would come up and ask us if we needed anything. We didn't have a cell phone then, so he gave my dad his email address and sent me an autographed picture. One of the coolest experiences ever."
24. "Years ago I worked with Jamie Lee Curtis. She's super nice and kind to everyone on set. I remember talking to her about Lindsay Lohan, back then she was still getting in trouble. They had done a movie together and she seemed genuinely worried about her. I am glad they have stayed in touch and they are apparently working together again."
25. "I met Matthew Lillard once when he and his then-fiancé saw Being John Malcovich at the theater I worked at. My coworker only knew him from Scream (which was partially filmed in our town), and asked, 'Aren’t you the dude from Scream?' Matthew was nice and just said 'yeah.' I kinda gave him a little grin cause I knew more of his work. He gave me the same kinda grin like, 'What are you gonna do?' After the movie let out, I asked him how he liked it. He said it was worth a watch. I told him SLC Punk! was amazing. He seemed glad to get recognized for a smaller role. I didn’t ask for an autograph or anything, cause he was just there to see a movie, but he seemed like if I had asked he’d have been cool with it. He was just a down-to-earth, chill dude."
26. "I met Steven Tyler in Italy once. He had obviously had a few drinks and was half-walking, half-dancing out of a store while cracking jokes with the people working there when my friends and I turned the corner and saw him. We made eye contact and all I could say was, 'Oh my god, you’re Steven Tyler!' He replied with, 'Fuck yeah I am!' We asked for a picture and he was very enthusiastic and pulled us close as if we’d known him for years. He totally could have ignored us and I wouldn't have blamed him but instead took the time to give us a really great memory."
27. "Chris Paul. I met him about five years ago. My parents were members at a country club in North Carolina, he was there visiting his sister. He walked past me and my friend (we were 12 and eating lunch) and went to sit at a table with some friends. He stopped a call with his agent when my friend and I asked him for autographs and pictures, then told us to sit down, and ordered us each fries. He was a really chill guy and made me a big fan for life."
28. "Years ago in the mid-'90s, my uncle bumped into Kevin Costner on a run (Costner was also running) and they got to talking. He was apparently super nice and down to earth — however my uncle wanted to continue on, and Costner wouldn't stop chatting, lol."
29. "I met Olivia Colman very very briefly the year she won her Oscar. She was so nice! The whole interaction must have lasted five minutes, if that. But she was really lovely! She seemed really shocked almost that we recognized her. I was also star struck, and I never thought I would be that type of person. But I was!"
30. "Ke Huy Quan … is actually the kindest and sweetest, most darling man. So down-to-earth. We were doing interviews and so many journalists were like, 'we’re so happy you’re back after such a long break from working!! We missed you!!' And he would start getting really emotional and tearing up so we’d have to pause between each interview. It meant so much to him. On top of that he is the happiest, kindest person, and he has the most can-do energy in the world — like, he has no ego at all and has the biggest heart and consideration for others. He’s such a good dude!!!!"
31. "Michael Caine. ... I worked with him on a film about 14 years ago. He was one of the voices in an animated film and when he was in town, we needed him to come in and do some pickup lines. He arrived at the studio, introduced himself to EVERYONE involved in the session with 'Hello, I'm Michael Caine' and chatted to us all for a few minutes. Because of his status, we had someone on standby to get him lunch from anywhere he might like. When asked he said 'I'd love a turkey sandwich and a bottle of water if it's not too much trouble.' We did the recording session and when he left, he again made sure to come in and thank everyone. He couldn't have been nicer or more down-to-earth."
32. "Larry David was so nice to us when we asked to take pictures with him. Some set crew person angrily yelled at us to 'get away from Larry David!!!' and Larry just smiled at us and said: 'Oh, it's fine! Come on up here 😊!' and proceeded to greet and engage in small talk with us for a bit before we took pictures. He seemed like a genuinely friendly guy."
33. "The late Debbie Reynolds was one fabulous babe with a wicked sense of humour, who at 80 years old and just recovering from a broken leg, still had the energy of someone half her age. Her daughter, the late Carrie Fisher, was rather standoffish with most of the crew — until she learned I had worked with her mom for six weeks and adored her. After that, it was like we had been friends for years."
34. "Don Ameche. Admittedly I did meet him near the end of his life, but he was incredibly gracious. I was visiting my husband who was catering the movie Things Change. I woke up at a guest cabin with no food or coffee and set out on foot in the rain to the nearest convenience store (which was quite a ways) and to my surprise a stretch limo pulled up next to me and in the back was Don Ameche! He was all decked out in fancy clothes for the shoot that day and looked marvelous. He not only gave me a ride to the store but waited until I was finished and gave me a ride back to the cabin. I've met a lot of stars in my day, but he was the only one who actually made me swoon. Such a gentleman — everyone on the crew loved working with him."
35. "Adam Savage! My husband and I went to a cocktail party that he was hosting as part of the convention package that we bought, and we went and chatted with him for about 10 or so minutes. We ended up bonding over being makers — my husband and I both cosplay, but it's mostly me making stuff for him to wear, although he does happily help when he's able for other things like 3D printing and whatnot — and also hearing aids. I'm Deaf, and so we were discussing what we love about our hearing aids and how much the technology has improved over the years."
36. And finally..."Aaron Neville. We used to play Words With Friends against each other. I met him after a couple of concerts, and he knew who I was! Even told me I was 'cool'...I also got to visit his farm during his wife's plant sale, and talked to him for 90 minutes. ... He even started to sing!"
What's your best celebrity encounter — or worst? Let us know in the comments!
Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.