Meeting a celeb out in the wild can make for a pretty exciting story. A while back, I wrote about celebrity encounters people had at work. In the comments, the BuzzFeed Community came through with a TON of super interesting stories about the times they met celebs.
Here are 24 memorable encounters people had with celebrities:
Disclaimer: These stories have not been verified. The users are supposedly speaking from their own experiences as alleged employees.
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
1. "Chris Evans is genuinely a kind person and a good dog owner. I used to work at a doggy daycare a few years ago, and I live a town over from where he grew up, so he’d come down and see his parents and take his rescue dog Dodger there."
"He’s really nice and clearly loves Dodger and is patient and nicer to staff than most people who took their dogs there. "
"I treated him normally and pretended not to know who he was and didn’t ask for photos or anything (though I have some photos with Dodger). Regardless, he’s wealthy and could have acted entitled, but he just is a really nice guy."
"He wore sunglasses and a hat (though it was summer) and likely didn’t want people to know who he was, but he's really just a nice dude who’s obsessed with his rescue dog."
2. "Years ago, Thomas Brodie-Sangster from Game of Thrones came into my restaurant while I was bartending. He was a late table and took his time. He and his date were the last table in the restaurant for at least 45 minutes, when he decides to order a dessert that takes 15-20 minutes to make."
"However, before that dessert, he and his date needed to go outside for a smoke break. Every employee in the restaurant was just in the kitchen watching his table, waiting for him to leave."
"He had the entire staff waiting on just him, and he left a 15% tip — down to the penny."
3. "Katherine Schwarzenegger came to my middle school to give a talk promoting a book she had written. Later in the day as I was leaving class, she and her friends were leaving the restrooms at the bottom on the stairs. I was going down the stairs and slipped and fell at the bottom."
"Instead of saying anything, they all just started laughing and walked away."
"0/10, especially since I was legit in 7th grade."
4. "I was an extra on the movie Unbreakable when it was filmed in Philly. Samuel L. Jackson was super nice, hung with extras, and made sure everyone was okay and had waters."
5. "I was at comic-con in St. Louis a few years ago. Milo Ventimiglia from This Is Us was walking past me, and I couldn’t resist. I said, 'Hi Milo!'"
"He took my hand and called me darling. I almost passed out."
6. "My dad worked for a car dealership around 2009 or 2010, and they were asked to provide someone to drive a rental for Gene Simmons in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, for their coffeehouse opening. My dad was a top performer at the dealership and, since he was a teenager, absolutely worshipped KISS. He was allowed to go, and he drove Gene around Myrtle Beach for two or three days but also had to assist him."
"At one point, Gene told Dad to get him a Sharpie, and Dad gave him a red Sharpie. Gene threw it at him and screamed he only used silver Sharpies. That stood out and a couple other stories, but Dad said it was the coolest thing."
"TL;DR: Gene Simmons was a dick to one of his biggest fans for a whole weekend."
7. "Charlie Puth did a surprise acoustic mini-show for my daughter’s middle school class (about 30 kids) when he was in Nashville for his show because one of her classmates bought tickets online and got scammed."
"He found out about the girl getting scammed during a radio interview that morning and immediately had his team on it. They contacted the school to see if it was okay to come and do this, and it was an experience my daughter will never forget."
"After his little show (he did three or four songs), he hung out with the kids a bit and gave them all hugs and high fives and took pics with everyone. Oh, and he gave the girl and her whole family tickets to his show that night!"
8. "I worked in a five star castle hotel in the west of Ireland for many years. Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson were never toppled from their spot of most welcomed celebrity faces..."
"...but they were equalled by Sylvester Stallone. He's an absolutely beautifully spirited man who used to tidy his room before housekeeping came."
9. "John Goodman grew up in an area of St. Louis that my aunt and uncle live in. A LONG time ago, I went to their parish picnic, and John Goodman was there. I don't think it was a paid appearance or anything, like, I think he legitimately wanted to go to it."
"I don't remember this, but apparently, my uncle was holding my hand, and I started having a meltdown because my shoes were untied. John Goodman was standing nearby and heard me crying and asked why I was crying. When I told him why, he asked my uncle to pick me up and put me on his shoulders so he could tie my shoes."
"Apparently, everyone was whispering, 'Is the star of Roseanne really tying a 4-year-old's shoes right now?' What a dude."
10. "Zachary Levi (Shazam!, Chuck, Tangled, etc.) is incredibly kind, cheerful, and fun. My friend is a chef, and he said Levi complimented all the cooking several times AND was basically one of the nicest dudes ever."
"He (and his friends) left a huge tip for everyone in the restaurant, including back of house."
11. "Sean Astin came to a bar/restaurant I worked at years ago. I've never watched Lord of the Rings, but had a huge crush on Mikey from The Goonies growing up, and Rudy is one of the greatest sports movies of all time. I was the manager of the restaurant and walked him around the property...and he was literally the sweetest man ever."
"He talked with everyone, took pictures with everyone, and was smiling the whole time."
"I was so happy to find out that he is so wonderful in real life!"
12. "I’ve met Stephen Amell from Arrow a few times, and he has always been really kind and seemed genuinely interested in the people he met. The most notable was at the party for the premiere of Code 8. We got to go because we contributed to the crowdfunding for the movie. He stopped to talk to my wife and I, and it came up that her mom just got diagnosed with cancer."
"My wife asked him to make a video of him saying, 'Fuck cancer' (his charity). Instead, he escorted us to a quiet place to record a personal video encouraging her."
"We also talked about movies. We had just seen Avengers: Endgame the previous night, and he insisted I tell him everything and spoil the movie because he would be too busy to see it anytime soon."
"The next year, I saw a clip of him at a comic-con telling the story of how he made a fan spoil the movie for him. I was like, 'That was me!'"
13. "I used to work at a dark little cocktail bar in midtown NY, and we would get a lot of celebrities. My favorite high-profile guests from there were Bill Hader, Will Forte, and Paul Rudd, who came in after working on SNL."
"They were all so kind, drank nice scotch, and tipped really well.
14. "The biggest asshole [who came into my bar] was the guy who plays Will on Will & Grace — Eric McCormack. He ordered a beer, drank about half, then got up and left."
"He didn’t say anything about coming back, that he needed to step outside, or cover his drink. 20 minutes went by, so I threw out his beer."
"He came back and pitched an absolute fit at me. I ended up having to buy him a new beer and the old warm one I tossed, and he didn’t tip."
15. "My husband had a 14-hour layover in London and was walking around doing some sightseeing. While crossing one street, he saw Jack McBrayer (Kenneth the Page from 30 Rock). My husband got that 'hey, I know who you are' look in his eyes."
"Mr. McBrayer looked back with a head nod and a 'yup, I am who you think I am' look. They both walked on with their day."
16. "I work at a resort in Hawaii. I've had the pleasure of meeting Tamera Mowry. She is so beautiful in person and was really sweet when I mentioned to her that I'm a big fan as I was assisting her."
17. "I met Gaten Matarazzo from Stranger Things in a hotel lobby in Rhode Island once. He was super sweet to my sister and I and took pics with us!"
18. "I met Dove Cameron at an event, but I had no idea who she was. My boss was chatting up Kristin Chenoweth while we stood around awkwardly, but Dove introduced herself and complimented my outfit."
"Sweet woman."
19. "Sad to say, Missy Elliott was so rude to the staff at a Guitar Center (Totowa, New Jersey). She seemed annoyed that she wasn't getting special treatment and made them stay open late because she couldn't decide which synthesizer to get."
"When she finally decided, they wheeled out the giant thing, then she complained that the cardboard box had a scratch on it and made them take it back to the back and get a different one."
20. "I used to work in a retail chain. This guy came up to me one day asking for help finding headphones, super politely, and we chatted a bit. I remember thinking this was probably one of the nicest customers I’ve ever had. I thought nothing more of it until he handed me his credit card, and it said Dana Carvey."
"I hadn’t even recognized him. I was floored and got so starstruck I became speechless. He was so super nice and down to earth the whole time."
"Party on, Garth!"
21. "I wasn't his server, but Emilio Estévez came into the restaurant I used to work at. He was super nice! He stayed until closing and offered to take photos with anyone who wanted one on his way out, and he invited the staff to take photos, too."
"Incredibly gracious and humble!"
22. "I had a wonderful interaction with Judd Nelson from The Breakfast Club on a set. It was the nicest interaction I’ve had with a famous person. I was an extra in a film of his. Wardrobe had all of the women in short skirts — basically not wardrobe warm enough for 50 degrees — as we were filming outside at night. In between takes, of course, everyone would put on layers, but wardrobe continued to repeat themselves to us like we were children. 'You know you have to lose the layer when we’re rolling again, right?' Duh."
"Judd saw me shivering, and he stopped wardrobe from repeating themselves an unnecessary time and said, 'She knows. They all know. Here, have my jacket.' He let me wear his suit jacket the rest of the night in between takes."
"He was smoking and also offered me a cigarette, but I don’t smoke. Wardrobe also didn’t bother me again."
23. "I helped Alfonso Ribeiro from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air when I worked at a pet store. He just got a puppy and needed everything (food, bed, toys, etc.). I’ve met a few celebrities, and he was by far the nicest."
"He had a lot of questions and would listen intently to my answers."
24. And finally: "We saw Robin Williams at the airport luggage carousel, schlepping his own luggage."
"My brother-in-law, who was also on the same flight and picking up his stuff, saw him and went over and had a nice chat with him. He said Robin Williams was super, super nice."
