We asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us the most wholesome encounters they've had with celebrities, and it turns out many celebs were really down-to-earth, and spent quality time with them. Here are their stories.
Disclaimer: We can't confirm 100% of these stories, but some of these people are supposedly speaking from their own experiences of meeting celebrities.
Note: Some submissions were pulled from this Reddit thread by user u/willis1988.
1. Heath Ledger
"I chatted with Heath Ledger in a café/comic store place — it was kind of an underground nook. Really quiet. I think it was 2006 because Brokeback Mountain had just come out, and it was obviously a huge success. I got my coffee and book and found a seat, and I saw a handsome-looking guy in the corner. I sat in my booth, but kept glancing at him every few minutes — was it Heath Ledger? Nah, it couldn’t be. No, it was him — that’s definitely him. I finished my drink, grabbed one more look at him, and he caught me and waved at me. I went over and asked if it was him, and he said yes. He was reading Swamp Thing by Alan Moore, so I told him that it was a good read — I also complimented his work on The Brothers Grimm. He said thanks, and asked if I wanted to take a seat."
"So I sat with him and chatted about comics, movies, and life for an hour — I was 20 years old at the time, and talked about a woman I was seeing (she was one of my first girlfriends). Heath seemed genuinely interested in my problem, and gave me some advice — he was a super nice dude, pretty unpretentious, and happy to just relax without paparazzi following him.
The advice he gave me was: 'Every day [you] should give her a present — anything from a coffee to a new top.' I found out later he was riffing on Twin Peaks!"
"Waaay back yonder when I was 13, my mom and I met Angelina Jolie. After trying so hard not to freak out, Angelina and my mom just oh-so-casually hung out for 15 minutes, talking about raising kids and which diapers to use and other child-rearing stuff while I stood off to the side gasping in disbelief. Before she had to leave, she wished me good luck with school and all the things I wanted to do in my life, and when I said that she was my role model, she THANKED ME. I was so overwhelmed, I'm surprised I didn't pass out."
3. Bill Hader
"I met Bill Hader on an Acela train from New York to Boston. I was visibly drunk, and he was tired (he said he had been filming something, but I don't know what it was). I annoyingly asked if he was Bill Hader, and then, of course, he got excited and chatty. He was amazingly cool and down-to-earth and funny, and he didn't seem to mind chit-chatting. We talked about Saturday Night Live skits, and who was the most fun to work with — then he let me get a picture. He's seriously a cool guy — you would've never known he was a celebrity by the way he was just hanging out."
4. Mariah Carey
"Mariah Carey came into a bar I was working at late one night a few years ago. She was alone (I think her security was lingering outside), but she was fully decked-out in diamonds and the highest heels I had ever seen. She graciously took pictures with the staff and the few remaining customers — she sang along with the jukebox, and everyone freaked out that they were hearing Mariah Carey sing live! She then sat down and talked to my boss for a couple of hours, and they had a nice, long one-on-one conversation."
"She lightheartedly told him the Prosecco he served her was flat (it was), but she laughed it off and drank it anyway. She left a very generous tip, and said she'd be back soon.
Her security eventually came in and pulled her out of the bar — she was really down-to-earth for someone who's so famous. My boss said she seemed suspicious of most people, but was very kind."
5. Paul Rudd
"I met Paul Rudd on a flight from New York and sat next to him on the plane. My buddy leaned over and told me that he wanted to compliment him on the band T-shirt he wore while making Clueless, but he 'didn't want to be weird.' So, his solution was to write Paul Rudd a note and slip it to him. When he did this, Paul got a nervous look on his face, then opened the note and read it. He started cracking up laughing, leaned over to us, and said: 'Best note ever.' He then told us the whole story behind the Clueless T-shirt, how he fought with the costume department about it because it was the shirt he wore to set that day. We talked the whole flight — dude was super cool."
6. Jennifer Hudson
"I had the pleasure of meeting Jennifer Hudson (well, I was actually hired to do a home inspection for her). Even though I'd just started learning how to play the ukulele, I asked her if she wouldn’t mind singing if I played her a song, and I was floored when she agreed to it. She was so sweet and humble, and was gracious enough to do a duet with me — it still gives me goosebumps thinking about how extremely talented she was. I was completely gobsmacked at how amazing her voice really was, which paled in comparison to how incredibly nice she was."
7. Taylor Swift
"I met Taylor Swift at the Reputation celebration release party. She ran over to hug me as soon as I walked in the room to meet her. She was so kind! I opened up to her about how much her music has helped me, and she proceeded to call me an angel, and then listened and talked to me about my anxiety."
8. Amy Adams
"I spotted Amy Adams once and she was so, so sweet. I didn’t make a big deal or say her name loudly — I calmly walked up to her and whispered: 'I love your work.' She was wearing a hat and was with her family, so I could tell she wasn’t trying to attract any kind of attention. Once she realized I wasn’t asking for an autograph or a picture, she really opened up to me."
"I'm a cinephile and named just about her entire filmography (she was impressed I knew who directed her films as well). After a few minutes, it became a situation where we were just waiting around and killing time — she didn’t have anywhere to be, so she introduced me to her husband and daughter. I’ve met a ton of celebrities in my life, and their guard goes down if you acknowledge their work. Don’t make a scene, and don’t ask for anything."
9. Tracy Morgan
"I work at a pizza shop and Tracy Morgan lives up the street from our little downtown area. He's a regular customer since his son used to work here, and we hadn't seen too much of him since his accident. Tracy came in one day and started talking about his ordeal and everything he went through. For a good 20–30 minutes he spoke to me and a few other customers about how precious life is, and how it's so important to be thankful for everything you have since you never know when your last day will be. It was eye-opening and prolific, and good to hear from someone with so much experience in living life to the fullest. It was a very nice, down-to-earth talk."
10. Daniel Radcliffe
"My family and I met Daniel Radcliffe in a London hotel when we went out for a celebratory dinner. He was alone in the lobby, so we asked if we could join him, not expecting much. We ended up sitting with him for a good 20 minutes chatting and drinking with him — he raised his glass to my sister, who toasted Dumbledore. It was pretty much the best night of our lives."
11. Dolly Parton
"I met Dolly Parton twice while working at Dollywood. The first time we were in the park before the season started, and she was shooting commercials. When we got there that day, they had turned our shop into her dressing room, so we weren't allowed in at first. But when she found out, she let us in. There were buffet tables set up and she told us to help ourselves, and that she didn't need all of that food anyway! In-between takes, she talked to us about what we were doing, where we were going to college, what we were studying, and so on."
"The second time I met her was a year later before the park opened. She was doing an interview with one of the local news stations up in the balcony of the big emporium shop. I was with a friend down below watching, and when it was over, Dolly leaned over the railing and yelled, 'HEY! I remember you! Stay right there!' She came downstairs, gave me a big hug, and asked how I was. That was one of the most surreal moments ever — a flipping legend like Dolly remembered me a year later."
12. LeBron James
"I was in a suite at a Cleveland Guardians [formerly Cleveland Indians] game in August 2016 when a group of guys from the next suite over came out to watch the game. Lo and behold, LeBron James sat down in the seat right next to mine (a small metal railing was all that was between us). Being that the Cavs had just won the title a few months back, I was geeking out to the extreme. I kept it cool and didn't fan out all over him, but I did hear him talking about my favorite MLB player of all time: Ken Griffey Jr., and that's when LeBron pointed to my Griffey 2 sneakers I had on. He complimented them, I thanked him, and then we proceeded to talk for roughly 15 minutes about all things baseball — the guy knew his stuff, and could not have been nicer to my wife and me!"
13. Margot Robbie
"I met Margot Robbie a few years ago while performing for an interactive theater show in London. After the show, I was at the bar and she came up and sat down at the same table — she told me how great I was. We talked for about 15 minutes and she was so chill, down to earth, and so, so sweet."
14. Danny Trejo
"My cousin is a photographer, and I used to spend my summers working as his assistant. We got a job to shoot Danny Trejo for a tattoo magazine, and it turned out that the location for the shoot was at Danny's house. As we were packing up all of the gear to leave, he insisted that we stay and hang out — we ended up sitting in his living room for hours, listening to all of his funny and amazing life stories. He was the nicest dude on Earth! 14 years later, anytime I see him in a movie, I can't help but squeal in excitement, 'It's Danny!' as if I actually know him really well. But that's how I felt after getting to spend the day hanging out at his house — he was very warm and welcoming."
15. Cyndi Lauper
"I work at a local BBQ restaurant in Kansas City and I had a party of eight who showed up late, and we almost had to move them out of my section. One man told me they were waiting for two more women to show up, and about 30 minutes later, they showed up and it was motherfucking CYNDI LAUPER. I didn’t even know it was her, so the whole time I was talking to her and joking with her — she played it so cool and was so happy I wasn’t gawking at her the whole time. Once I figured it out, I of course lost my mind. A few tables recognized her and she happily went to sit and chat with each table who recognized her — she bought them all drinks without a second thought. She is such an underrated celebrity."
16. James Earl Jones
"Darth Vader, aka James Earl Jones, is from my hometown in Michigan. I was working at my grandpa's fly shop in a small, neighboring village in the same county; as a reward for my hard work, my grandpa took me out to breakfast the morning of my last day of work at the most popular inn of the area. Because it was an early Friday morning, there weren't too many people there — just us, one couple, and an older man with glasses in a booth reading a newspaper. As we started eating, the older man started reading his newspaper aloud in a very familiar voice — we both turned around to see who it was, and it was James Earl Jones!"
"My grandpa then called, 'Hey, Jimmy, long time no see! How 'bout you come over here and sit with us?' He came over, introduced himself to me, and we shook hands. As they got into their conversation, I learned that my grandpa was really good friends with James in elementary school before he moved out of the area. His voice sounded like gold, and he was a really sociable and humorous person. When we had to leave, he paid for our breakfast and then signed the daily newspaper he had been reading and gave it to me."
17. Kurt Russell
"About 11 years ago, I was eating lunch at the Charter House in Malibu with my family. My sister (who was a baby at the time) had a cold and was sneezing a lot. Suddenly, the man seated next to us said, 'Bless you!' — imagine our surprise when we realized it was Kurt Russell! He was eating by himself and we ended up having about an hour-long conversation with him. He asked my dad for his contact information after learning he was a pilot, and said he hoped they could fly together sometime. He was so kind and down-to-earth, you would have never guessed he was such a famous actor (to this day, we share a smile whenever we see him in a movie and remark what a lovely man he is)."
18. Muhammad Ali
"I worked at a magic shop in my twenties, and one day Muhammad Ali came in. My boss (a huge Ali fan from back in the day) was visibly in awe. Ali hung around for a couple of hours — we did some magic tricks for him, he did some for us, and he was beyond cool taking pictures with us. He sent us a 'thank you' postcard a week later and signed it: 'Cassius Clay — oops, I mean Muhammad Ali.'"
19. Robin Williams
"I met Robin Williams while working a booth at E3 [a video game convention]. He wandered up inquiring about some video games, then he spent the next hour debating Dark Age of Camelot (Albion vs. Midgard) with me. It was amazing — he was an extremely nice guy and an avid gamer too. I got a picture with him, and I also got him to do a couple of 'Gooooooooooooooooood morning Vietnam!' lines in exchange for a beta key :). He was an absolutely sound guy."
20. And Steve Buscemi
"Steve Buscemi meets my friend every year on 9/11 at her dad's old firehouse, since her dad died on 9/11. They go out to dinner with a huge group of people, but he always makes sure he spends a lot of time talking to my friend. The last few years I went with her, and the first conversation I had with him really showed his character. I forget the word-for-word conversation, but we were joking around and he said something like, 'So, how do you know [your friend]?' 'Oh, we met through a camp for people whose parents died on 9/11.' Do you know what his response was? 'Well, then, I guess that makes you family' — he was the nicest person."
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.