Ever meet anyone famous? Were they like what you expected?

As a SAG-AFTRA actor since 07, I have met many stars and directors. Most were very private and nice people but the one's I most liked ate with the extras/cast and crew when on location.

Renee Zelweger
John Travolta
Tom Sellek
Seth McFarlen
Sam Peckinpaugh RIP
Dir. Frank Miller
Natalie Portman

These are the one's I can remember.

Erin Gray...........I didn't think you were old enough for all that. For some reason I though you were a 20 something.
She was one of my first crushes. (44 now) The very first was Valerie Bertonelli. She was Hott. (with two t's)

Nope, early 40's here. I shared the Valerie crush (One Day At A Time). I think every boy our age did then.

Erin Gray, was my reason for watching Buck Rogers, and then after, Silver Spoons.

At this same convention, my wife and her friend were in an elevator with Gil Gerard (Buck, on Buck Rogers) for over a dozen floors, and only realized who he was as he was leaving the elevator.... They were getting a picture done with Ian Somerholder (Damon on Vampire Diaries) at the time.

(my wife is on the right)


One of the pics we got during that one, was my wife and I with a lot of the True Blood cast. (I photograph terrible, and especially without my goatee)


Can't wait, I get to meet the gal who plays "Pam" on True Blood in August...

Figured I'd go ahead and tell my stories, I only just mentioned the two celebrities I actually met.

Little Jimmy Dickens- I was at the Kansas City airport with my dad to pick my brother up and saw an old man in a cowboy hat standing outside with his bags. My dad said "That's Little Jimmy Dickens." I didn't believe him and told him he was going to embarrass that guy but he went up to him anyway. Turns out it really was him! That guy is really short, hence the name. He was a really nice guy who I'm pretty sure was more excited that we recognized him than we were that we'd me him! We talked to him for about 15 minutes till his car came to pick him up.

When I was going to Navy Electronics School in Great Lakes, I got volunteered to help set up for the the 4th of July celebration. I was driving fence posts for the VIP area and it was really hot. A guy walked up with a cooler and asked if I wanted some water, when I looked up it was Gary Sinise! He was there with the Lt. Dan Band to do a concert. He was a nice guy, I was surprised that he was only about 5'8 and I towered over him ( I'm only 6'0). He asked me where I was from and I talked to him for a good 45 minutes. He was a pretty nice guy.

When I was in Sonar school in San Diego some friends and I went up to Hollywood one night, we decided to go up to Beverly Hills. We were sitting at a stop light when a new red Ferarri stopped next to us. I looked over and saw the guy driving was Nicolas Cage. I yelled "Hey, you're Nicolas Cage!" and he said "Yeah, what's up guys?" Then we got into a drag race with him that we lost. I didn't list him before because we didn't really meet him, just saw him in the car next to us and exchanged a few words.

I saw Paris Hilton outside of a club in the Gas Lamp district of San Diego, but wasn't very interested in her so I didn't get any closer.

Oh, I met Billy Gibbons from ZZTop once after a concert in Miami, Ok. He was in line at Charlie's Chicken and I talked to him for a bit, he was a pretty nice guy. I didn't want to bother him too much though as he'd just done a show and looked pretty tired.

reply to post by dave_welch


Tone-Loc was my airport encounter. In Tampa, I was riding on the shuttle between terminals, and he came in, dressed to the nines, with his posse. He said (in his distinctive voice) "Wassup?" and I complemented his suit (it was damn nice). I was just thankful I was wearing one of my better suits. (back when if you flew for business, you dressed up).

reply to post by Gazrok


I know people who've met many true blood peeps,and they're all pretty awesome .

Originally posted by dave_welch I didn't list him before because we didn't really meet him, just saw him in the car next to us and exchanged a few words.
...
... but wasn't very interested in her so I didn't get any closer.
....
... I didn't want to bother him too much though as he'd just done a show and looked pretty tired.

ha... technically you met him you just don't know him like most fans..
ha... don't think i would want to get much closer to her either...
ha... tired people are cranky people, famous or not.

Thanks for sharing!!!

reply to post by tanda7


Gibby get's 'round, apparently. I've been vomited on(fake), spooged on (fake I hope) and pee'd on by Gibby (alas)... only two of which where at his shows. The Surfers (that's butthole surfers, for the children) are still a daily listen 25 yeas later.

I seriously respect that man as an artiste'. But "partying" with them and later stepping over him in some friend's wrecked house wasn't a star quality moment... but that chick (I'm assuming gender actually) who spent the night with Bowie... heh, winner.

Originally posted by Baddogma
reply to post by tanda7

 

Gibby get's 'round, apparently. I've been vomited on(fake), spooged on (fake I hope) and pee'd on by Gibby (alas)... only two of which where at his shows. The Surfers (that's butthole surfers, for the children) are still a daily listen 25 yeas later.

I seriously respect that man as an artiste'. But "partying" with them and later stepping over him in some friend's wrecked house wasn't a star quality moment... but that chick (I'm assuming gender actually) who spent the night with Bowie... heh, winner.

I would say that is definitely a star quality moment.
Where would Rock-N-Roll be without passing out in a friend's wrecked house every now and then? With people stepping over you and all.
There are two people we can think of that we have seen in that environment and both are very successful now.
We are still in contact with them a couple times a year. One was on Letterman a few months ago and the other has been touring with Tom Waits

We have never seen the Butt Hole Surfers live and knew very little about Gibby when we met him. The entire time he was in our presence, he was cool and charismatic. He had charming way of calling Mrs. tanda "momma" even though she is 20 years younger than him.
He was a gentleman and a riot at the same time.

My Sister in Law is in the business doing hair so have met some people especially in sports:

Mike Ditka, Marcus Allen & Deion Sanders on set of NFL Today years ago- nice guys especially Ditka off camera - Deion was a bit of a whatever - Marcus Allen also a very nice guy in person.

Jim Nance was at my brothers wedding super nice guy in person - really down to earth - drove down from CT to NJ to attend. Dick Stockton & Lesley Visser were also at the wedding - sports people - very nice. John Gibson from Fox had his show before Glenn Beck and now the 5 got absolutely faced at the wedding think he is in LA now doing local news but he was a helluva nice guy & took shots with him and helped him to get happy at the wedding .

Met Joe Perry from Aerosmith on the street in NYC - said hey are you Joe Perry?
He said yah and kept walking - lol

reply to post by Gazrok


Oh, and the True Blood cast nearly all have British accents and their southern drawls are unintentionally hilarious, which just adds campy fun to that stupid show.

When I heard the guy who plays Sookie's dumb brother speak in his real voice I realized he was a much better actor than I thought... not great, mind you, but better. He sounds like he went to an upper crust Public school and Oxford, heh.

I met quite a few pro wrestlers back in the mid 80s around Tampa. Some never really made it big once Vince took everything over, but a few did (Rick Rude, Lex Luger, Barry Windham).

Its not *always* the case but the often the heels (the "bad guys" in the ring) turn out to be the nicest guys in person.

Barry Windham is the one I see most often these days, but I haven't seen him since his stroke. He has some property in the area I hunt so I run into him from time to time there.

Once upon a time I worked as a clerk in a convenience store. Oliver McCall, former WBC Heavyweight Champion, used to be a regular customer. He usually dressed casually with the occasional exception of a nice suit. He usually always bought the same thing: a 40 oz bottle of Olde English Malt Liquor; sometimes he bought two. His wife would occasionally come in the store also, and she always looked glamorous -- fancy clothes, flashy rings, bracelets, and necklaces; hair done, and makeup. She always had a look on her face like she thought she was royalty.

I can remember that Oliver McCall was never impolite when I spoke to him. Some days I would notice that he had a worried look on his face, and I could tell he had something troubling on his mind; I used to wonder what was bothering him but never asked.

reply to post by Gazrok


You like True Blood, Gazrok? >.>
Hrm... lol!!

To answer the questions in the topic:

Yes. I didn't know what to expect, but the experience was more intense than I ever thought it could be. So, yes and no - they looked like I expected them to look, but I didn't expect them to be so three-dimensional, and have smell, sound and "feel" as well as the ability to stare me back!

It felt like the TV is watching ME (:

It's not supposed to be able to DO that.

I met Mother Teresa .... I didn't know what to expect. She was a very tiny woman. And very quiet. When she spoke, the world became quiet and it seemed that everyone held their breath so that they could be sure not to miss anything she said.

I've met other famous people ... but she stands out. (for obvious reasons)

I met Charlie Daniels and Taz from the Charlie Daniels band.
I knew Taz, he was my friends uncle, terrible that he passed.

Charile was a nice guy, signed a photo for me, and I got to ride in the tour bus. Taz, well what can I say about him He was trip, nice as hell to family. Could be a bit ill tempered on hotel staff though!

I remember Taz shook up this small hotel lady when she couldnt find his hotel key! I felt bad for her!

Very nice guys, and I got to drink a bit of moonshine back stage! That stuff is good, but will give your chest hairs a perm!

Oha and Taz loved to sleep, he would come with his mom to my friends house on christmas, and fall asleep after a few drinks!

I just worked with Seth Mcfarlane
and Bill Marr on "1mil ways to die in the west" both nice guys.


www.imdb.com...

and met Stevan Seagal, last winter on "Force of Execution" he's huge!!
www.youtube.com...

Back when I used to waitress at a restaurant near where they stayed I met alot of the WWE and WCW wrestlers. Most of them were pretty cool, but the The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin were the absolute best and they were both very generous tippers.

But by far the best celeb I ever met was Chris Evans aka Captain America when they filmed here over the summer. He just seemed genuinely happy to interact with the fans. And at the site they were filming at he treated everyone to ice cream on the one side of the bridge they were filming on.

I got to meet a LOT more a couple weekends ago, at DragonCon.

William Shatner was actually a much more down to Earth guy than I would have imagined. (no pun intended).

Michael Rooker (Merle on The Walking Dead) is actually extremely funny and lively in real life. Way different than Merle. He's more of a party guy.

Jaime Murray (HG Wells on Warehouse 13 and an alien wife on Defiance, and a stint in Dexter) is absolutely sweet in person (and gorgeous), and completely overwhelmed by the whole fan thing.

Julian Sands (Warlock) and Malcolm McDowell (tons of things) were both true gentlemen.

Garrett Wang (Star Trek Voyager), we met him on the street, and he was very kind and gracious.

Lots, lots more (it's a great convention for meeting sci-fi actors and actresses). None really disappointed this year, everyone was cool.

Pam (True Blood) cancelled, but I did get to meet the actress who played Tara and the actor who played Hoyt. They were both happy to be there and happy to meet folks.

Worked as a manager of a music store on Santa Monica Blvd in century city. Some of my regular customers included,

John Ritter and his wife: best celebrity customer, when he died we all where upset.

Ozzy Osborne two kids where regulars becausr one of there friends (Kelly's friend that played drums for her that got fired first seaon of the show) worked for me. They where cool acted normal.

Chris rock came in and bought all new releases himself every Tuesday , annoying as hell as how he talks in his act is how he talks...

Asheton kutcher would come in with demi's daughters, he would always sign autographs. Cool guy.

Best one mike tyson, came in bought all the rockie movies for his "come back" our alarms were broken
After telling him he freaked out when they went off.

Others include

John loveits

Harrison ford(saw an Indiana johns standie for DVD release and gave thumbs up )

Gorge Lucas

Fred savage (biggest doche I ebcoutered as celebtrity)

Ron pearlmen (was filming first he'll boy at time and handed stuff out to us)

There are many more as we had frequent artist in for signings I had to orginize.