My Awkward Celebrity Run-Ins

I've met more than a few celebrities in my lifetime.  I once lived in a city where I would easily run into a famous person here or there at random.  Like the time I ran into Carson Kressley (Queer-Eye guy) in Times Square, bumped into Michael Emerson from Lost, or shared a public bathroom sink with Dianne Wiest.  I once attended a Q&A film screening, and this annoying lady asking questions wearing a ridiculous hat the size of an area rug, didn't leave much time to allow anyone else to ask questions.  I later found out that the loquacious lady was none other than Faye Dunaway.  Who knew?  

This now leads me to share with you my awkward celebrity run-ins.  I've had more than a few.  It's bad enough to already be socially awkward and flustered by people in general.  However, to meet someone you've seen on TV, movies, or print and meet with them face-to-face is a whole different awkward experience.  Or is it?  Maybe its just me.  

Here are just a few of my bumbling moments with celebrities:

Tom Cruise (Ziegfield Theater - NYC - Mission Impossible 3 Premiere) 

Now we didn't exactly meet per se, but we had a "moment".  I was working the red carpet as a volunteer for a film festival and Tom came down the red carpet to promote his new movie MI:3.  He approached my section of the red carpet and stopped to take pictures.  He managed to step directly beside me and I asked a "handler" of his to kindly take a picture of Tom and I on my camera phone.  He gladly obliged and took the photo.  We looked awesome together!  I was so geeked about the picture that I did a little happy dance back to the car I was driving and closed my flip phone (I had a flip phone at the time).  Unbeknownst to me, I didn't know you had to save the photo first before flipping the phone closed (I just purchased the device 2 weeks earlier).  I opened up my phone and the photo was gone.  Forever.  No more Jamie and Tom together sitting in a tree.  Or at least in a freeze frame on my LG camera flip phone.  

Edward Norton (146th St - Harlem NYC - Pride & Glory Film Set)

I was so excited to be working as a production assistant on this new movie.  I saw Colin Ferrell and nearly died and was in a state of distraction.  My assignment was to stop traffic (people--not cars) from walking into the camera shot during filming.  The director yelled action during this scene and Edward Norton walks out and does his thing---you know---act.  The director yells cut and I thought the camera was stopped and the scene was over.  Edward Norton was about 60 or 70 feet away from me and started waving in my direction.  I looked over at him and thought, "Wow, he's actually waving to me and perhaps he either recognizes me or he's just being nice?" So I waved back at him and then I looked closer and realized his wave was not a "hi wave" it was more of a "get out of the way you're blocking the camera wave.  Everyone looked in my direction as they clearly noticed that not only was I in the way of the production shot, but I was waving back like a moron thinking he was greeting me instead.  Then several other crew members yelled, "Get out of the way!"

Jamie Foxx (Saddle Ranch Chop House - West Hollywood, CA)

I saw Jamie Foxx walk into a restaurant on Sunset Blvd and my BFF and I decided to stalk him when we carefully walked in several feet away from him.  He was there with a friend of his, and was seated at a table directly next to the window near the front of the diner.  I decided to go up to him, and I knew my dialogue towards him would be amateurish at best, but I figured what the hell.  I told him the obligatory "I'm such a huge fan of yours speech".  Surprisingly enough he was kind and made small talk.  Uh-oh...I wasn't expecting small-talk.  I just wanted him to soak up his mandatory compliment and keep it moving.  There was a moment of silence and I blurted out to him what I was hoping I could keep repressed and hushed.  

Jamie B: So guess what?  My name is Jamie too.

Jamie F: Is that right?

Jamie B: Isn't cool that we both have the same name?  It's spelled the same way too.  We're like twins.

Jamie F: Uh...yeah.  I guess.  

AWKWARD!  So those are just a few of my many many awkward moments with celebs.  More to come in another blog post in the future...