Even though celebrities, in most cases, are rich and famous people, they are still simply people. If you were to strip them of their riches and status, you would likely see an average human being.
This fact is only proved by instances when people meet celebrities and don’t realize that this is that very rich and famous person and instead treat them as they would treat the majority of other strangers. And that not only humanizes these celebrities in our eyes but also creates very entertaining stories. So, today, let's take a look at several stories like this.
More info: Reddit
My aunt was working at a charity sale and was in the musical instrument area. She had a few strange instruments that she was trying to get people to bid on. Steven Tyler came by and the two of them chatted about the instruments she had for sale. They jammed with some Ode To Joy together. She asked him what he did and he said he was a professional musician - in her circle that’s usually someone who is retired and plays at small events for fun. So she chatted with him about how it was going for him and said it was cool he was doing well enough with his music to tour. He ended up buying two different instruments from her.
It wasn’t until she posted a video of the two of them singing together that she realized she was talking to anyone famous. I chatted with her on the phone a few weeks later, and she still didn’t really understand how big of a deal Aerosmith was. I played several of their songs and she knew them all, and she was happy to have chatted with him.
I bet it was refreshing to him to talk to someone who didn’t realize he was, and just to have a normal conversation.Not me, but one of my young employees when I was running a steakhouse. She comes back to get me because an old man has his money clip out and won't take no for an answer, but we are fully booked. Needs my help to talk to him. I walk up to the front desk and find Bill Murray and his friends.
He was hilarious from the start offering money to just sit on the floor somewhere out of the way to eat. Obviously that wasn't going to work. Ended up taking him to one of my other restaurants (multiple under one roof) and set him up with my best team there. He had a blast joking with my team, walked around a bit talking to regular guests, and went on his merry way.
Was pretty funny going back to my hostess. Ghost busters? No. Caddy Shack? No. Groundhogs day? Nope. She was so young none of that ever crossed her radar.Not me, but many years ago my granny was on a flight and got home and said "oh, I met the nicest man on the plane, he's a musician! We had a lovely conversation!" That man was Carlos Santana. She didn't even get an autograph ? but just raved about how nice he was.Lmao a few years ago my mom told Tom f*****g Hanks to stop talking to her cause she's there to enjoy the scenery, not talk to strangers ? she is a mean russian lady.
Edit for context:
I ran up to my mom at a pacific palisades lookout point to share that i walked by Tom Hanks. When she sees me, she goes into a rant about how everyone in california claims they're an actor and that being a lil background character doesn't mean they're famous. Said some guy was talking to her for a while and just kept asking questions and talking about himself. Then said "dont people understand this is a place of peace and quiet? I told him we should just enjoy the ocean without talking, its important to connect with nature". She gave me his business card and said "here, i dont have my purse put this away so we can see what kind of actor he is when we go home" (in russian it sounds like a sarcastic "he's not really an actor" phrase). ? blew my "i just walked by someone famous" story right out of the water. Apparently, they had a pretty long conversation. I found it hilarious that she told him how displeased she is with america.
When she found out who he was, she had a look of horror on her face and was embarrassed for being rude. I tried to urge her to call because i guess he wanted to stay in touch, but she was too embarrassed.I don’t know if this counts because I was too young to really understand what fame was, but I met Arnold Schwarzenegger when I was in 2nd grade because they filmed Kindergarten Cop at my school. I just remember how big he was and remember him laughing when I told him my dad could beat him up. My dad was 5’7” so I’m quite certain I got that one wrong.I worked at a small radio station. I worked the night shift and blasted our number out and took requests. A major highway went through the area. One night someone called and requested a Spice Girls song. We were supposed to ask their name and where they are calling from to announce it when we play the song they request. I said "sure where are you calling from?", the caller said "just traveling along 95". I said "great, and what's your name", she said "Madonna" and I said "oh cool, like the singer?". She chuckled and said "yeah, like the singer". I hung up and the more I thought about it, the more I realized the caller did sound exactly like Madonna. I did some research and found out she had been traveling that day in the direction that would take her right near our town. TLDR: I'm 90% sure I taled to Madonna on the phone and didn't realize it.I bumped into Tommy Lee (literally) at the Philly airport, years ago. I was too distracted by a guy in a lavender 3 piece suit, and didn't even notice Tommy. Turns out, dude was his assistant, who was dressed like that and walking a bit away from Tommy to purposely distract people from him. ???♀️About ten or so years ago I was out on my friends bucks night. As a gift, my friend’s father in law had gotten us on the guest list for some high end function near where we were kicking off. The last thing I remember before waking up in the taxi was five shots being lined up in front of me. That’s when my friend asks “So what were you and Heath Ledger talking about?”. Turns out it was the premier party for the film Ned Kelly and several people had spotted myself and Heath deep in conversation
Edit: 20 years ago. F**k I’m old.I delivered a Starbucks order to Kristen bell when my career wasn’t doing so well. She was fantastic, beautiful for sure, had one of her kids in tow. Didn’t even recognize her as I was doing the delivery, just happy that it was someone kind, and tipped well. It wasn’t until I got home and was watching good place that I put it all together.Was visiting Greece with my family when I was about 4 in the late 80s. We were at the Parthenon wandering around. At one point, distracted, I go to hug the leg of a person I thought was my dad. Looked up and it was not my dad ( he was like 5ft away looking the other way).
Apparently it was Chuck Norris.I was at a dive bar and some band was absolutely butchering “Cherry Pie” by Warrant and I asked the waitress who the awful band was. Turns out it was Warrant.Not me but my grandma was on vacation in New Orleans. Sitting in a restaurant, she saw Lily Tomlin. She knew she looked familiar but thought it was a friend whose name she just couldn’t remember. Trying to be polite, she walked up to her and made small talk, asking how she’d been, etc. she said Lily was very polite in return. She realized who she was later. ??Back around 2000 I was walking my dog before work and my sweet but on the larger size dog went up and sniffed this tiny dog a couple was walking. The toddler in a stroller got a bit upset and I said something about her dog being fine, that he's a really nice boy.
I then proceeded to have a brief conversation with the dad about my rescue followed by we've got to get moving because I'm going to be late for work. As I walked away, I did a double take and realized it was Ethan Hawk, Uma Thurman and the toddler was probably Maya Hawk.When I was 19 I worked briefly at the Virgin megastore on sunset. Some guy comes up to me and seems kinda familiar, pays for a bunch of vinyl with a credit card. I ask him for ID and he points at the display of Marilyn Manson’s recently released memoir that are right being me and says, “That’s me.” Im petty and because I didn’t like his music i insisted on getting the ID, lol.My wife and I went to a baseball game for my birthday, and splurged on really good seats behind home plate. The man sitting next to my wife was friendly, talking with us occasionally during the game.
The next day I watched a replay of the game, and discovered we were next to Wayne Gretzky.I had a very pleasant phone conversation with an older British gentleman who introduced himself as Tony. It took me way too long to realize it was Sir Anthony Hopkins.
On another occasion, I kept looking across the room at someone because he looked so damn familiar. Finally he came over to me and said, "Okay, you're looking at me like we went to high school together or something. Hi, I'm Wil." And then I shook Wil Wheaton's offered hand lol.Taylor Swift. In about 2009 or 2010. I was a truck driver, stopped at a rest stop to take a break. This big motor coach pulls in and a young lady and I guess her mom got out to use the restroom. I held the door for her, she said thank you. I was still out walking around when they came out. They were laughing and she said hi again, I was parked next to them and told them to drive safe. The next day I saw a truck with that same girl's picture on the side of it. It said Taylor Swift. Prior to that, I had never heard of her.George Harrison, a Beatle. A BEATLE! Walked into an empty corporate box at the Adelaide F1 Grand Prix during practice sessions. He nodded to me, I nodded to him, thinking I knew his face from somewhere while I continued making phone calls. I only realised as he gave me another nod on the way out after 10 minutes. I corpsed.I used to work at my uncle's gas station in a Seattle suburb. My mom and I worked the weekend shifts. One day, we were picking up our checks. My mom was standing in front of the door, and an older African American man came rushing in, almost knocking my mom over. He apologized to my mom and then prepaid for his gas. After he left, my cousin (who was working) looked at us and said, "You know who that is, right?"
We did not. It was Danny Glover. We learned that ours was the only gas station he he would use unless he had no other choice when he was in the area. I saw him a few times a year when I worked. Always nice and polite and prepaid for his gas in cash. Also, he has one of the warmest smiles I've seen on a human.I spent a few pleasant minutes talking with a very Scottish lady in a fairly quiet Parisian art gallery in Montmartre earlier this year. We discussed how some impressionists were actually pretty awful and that a lot of what is exhibited might be historically interesting, but is still s**te. Annie LennoxApparently, my former employer's buddy Ben who we met at the TexMex restaurant in 1998 was a performer named Ben Folds. Seemed a nice enough dude. Had no idea he was a performing artist. After lunch, my boss says, "you DO know who that is, right?" And I'm like, "yeah, your friend Ben"I exchanged a "hi, how's it going" to Owen Wilson in the line of a local coffee shop in Malibu a few years back. My wife told me after we left that it was Owen. He had shades and a trucker hat on. I was too tired to notice.Michael Jordan. I probably would’ve figured it out if he was dressed in a basketball uniform instead of like my dad. He obviously knew I didn’t know and seemed pleasantly amused. He gave me wonderful recommendations for great places to eat on the island we were both visiting at the time. I thought he was a little reserved but very personable nonetheless.Shabbily dressed dude and some family walked into a very casual BBQ place in Ohio. Kinda walked around before sitting down and an odd vibe. Hardly anyone in the place though so I watched him as he was just a little off. We walked out and I said to my wife:
“What was up with that dude?”
Her: “you mean Eric Clapton?”I met Lavar Burton at the LA airport. Super nice guy. think he liked the fact that I talked to him like a normal guy. He had a goatee which threw me off.Tom. The MySpace Tom.
Me and my friend were at Disneyland in like 2008? We realized late on our last day that we forgot to take any pictures so we were running around trying to get as many as we could. We were at the front gate and wanted to get one last photo of the two of us in front of the Mickey flowers. We asked a group close to us if someone could take our photo. A guy in a white tshirt and jeans said he would. After he snapped the picture, he said, “I better see that on MySpace tomorrow!” and walked away. The group left the park.
It was a weird thing to say, so we just have each other confused looks. Then, in proper movie-like slo mo, we looked back at the group, realization dawning on us. We looked back at each other and screamed lmao. We told that story for years.John Denver bumped into me at the Aspen Balloon Festival in the early 1980s. Knocked me down. He was sweet and kind!
I had no idea who knocked me over until my friend told me!My 10th grade history teacher met Bruno Mars in Ireland. He was in this big group and excited to see another American. They chatted a bit, and Bruno Mars mentioned being a musician. My teacher went "oh cool me too!" because he's in a band. After he left, his wife told him who he was just talking to. Can't imagine how awkward that must've felt.My wife and I were walking in New York looking for a bar we had heard about, when we noticed a couple walking towards us. We were a little lost, so we asked them for directions. He pointed us in the right direction while she looked like she was trying not to be noticed. We thanked them and went on our way. As we got to the bar, my wife said, "that was Emma Stone." We met her and Andrew Garfield and didn't even think twice about it!I was at the store with my mom and we were at the checkout counter behind the tallest man I'd ever seen in my life. Unbelievably tall. I asked him his height and he said 7'6". Then I asked him if he played basketball and he laughed and said everybody asks him that question. Two weeks later I saw the same man from the store playing basketball on television. It was Shawn Bradley, one of the tallest players to ever play in the NBA.I had a conversation with a short, gorgeous American redhead backstage at a Bauhaus concert in Europe in 1998. It was kind of nice to have a conversation with another American because I felt sort of out of place. About two minutes later, someone came through and said, “Has anybody seen Debbie Harry?” and that’s when it clicked.
In my defense I had never seen her *without* blonde hair and never would’ve expected to see her at another band’s show on a different continent unless Blondie was touring on the same bill.Keegan Michael Key…. I was not sober… it was dark… i thought he was someone else because I recognized him and I asked if he was ….. this guy from the early big brothers… i went and asked him !?????? I realized who he was shortly after and will forever be embarrassed of thatSat next to Coolio at a blackjack table in Las Vegas. Chatted away, hadn’t a clue who he was. Mate of mine saw us and later asked me what I was talking to Coolio aboutthe band Three Doors Down. I was invited to a party they were at. I had never listened to their music because i assumed a Mississippi band would be country and I hate country, so I didnt know who they were.My dad asked Jim Belushi what he did for a living. Sometimes I think he has some sort of facial blindness.To be fair I was a child at the time. But whoever played the original red power ranger. Got to meet them and child me only said I don't like power rangers.Charles Barkley. Didn't really "meet" him, he knocked me down a flight of stairs in Phoenix. After the group moved on past, some guy that was helping me pick up my stuff told me who it was. I think I remember telling the guy that I didn't care who it was, he was still an a*****e.Shaun White. He was with Nina Dobrev and I was over the MOON to see her. She was so sweet, closest person around us was him so I asked if he could take a pic of us. He was polite and said of course. Told him he looked so familiar and he said he got that a lot. Couple weeks later they went IG official and I felt like such an idiot lolWhen I was 5 years old, I was outside of a Walmart with my father, and Johnny Bower sat next to me. He jokingly asked me if he could get a sip of my water and I told him to “get your own water” and they both laughed.
Johnny Bower is one of the greatest NHL goalies of all time, played for the hometown Leafs and he actually lived 15-20 minutes from my childhood home in Mississauga.Boz Scaggs backstage before one of his shows, then knew it when he was onstage.
Muddy Waters in a club where he and 3 other men were the only people there.
Turned a corner in a bookstore's Occult section and literally ran into Marilyn Manson who scared the c**p out of me. He was amused.I sat on a plane with Terry Bradshaw in the '90s. I thought he had huge feet, that was all.In the early 90s, I literally ran into Oliver North. I was walking around a corner, and he was walking around the same corner in the opposite direction - and Wham! I just thought he was a tall guy who looked like Oliver North.
When I got back to where I worked, I told someone that I ran into a guy that looked like Oliver North. She asked where it happened, and I told her. Then she said that was really him because he was at that location giving a speech.I pulled up a seat at my local bar next to some dude with his hood up and started talking to the bartender about how I had just seen some band she liked. I thought she was acting a little weird but I figured maybe she was just disinterested in the story at that moment.
Dude in the hoodie next to me says thanks and pays his tab and gets up to leave.
It’s Shia la-f*****g-Bouf.Amanda Knox and I took two classes together in summer quarter of college and had a conversation once I can remember. This was after she'd gotten back to the US and I didn't realize who she was until after the last day of class, when I saw her in the news and was like, "Wait, why is she familiar looking?"
Very nice and super smart woman, she always had the answer to questions before even the professor could dig up the answer in his copy of the text
