People Are Sharing Their Celebrity Encounters — And Some Are Simply Unforgettable

Some celebrities are nothing like their public personas — in a good way. Like chef Gordon Ramsay, for instance. “I met [him] once at a book-signing event,” IDK-to-put wrote on reddit. “I was just walking around the area and ran into him in his free time. He was actually so nice and down to Earth. Talked about food for a few minutes and how he’s liking his trip so far. Super nice guy and nothing like you see on his cooking shows.” Aww.

There are Hollywood actors who are only too happy to indulge star-struck fans. Take the time Cinnamon Hernandez and their mom ran into John Travolta in a Tampa, Florida restaurant. They told People, “It was surreal. We spoke to him, took photos and talked about our favorite movies. Talk about being at the right place at the right time. He was so polite and gentlemanly — made our evening!” How sweet!

The legendary soul singer knows how to make a fan’s day. As Catherine Atwood explained to People, “In the 1980s, I was in Montreal celebrating my birthday, and we ran into Stevie Wonder coming out of a club. He had performed in a concert earlier that evening and was partying afterwards. He took a picture with me, kissed me on my cheek and wished me [a] happy birthday. Best birthday ever!”

Reddit user BeachCop has been lucky enough to meet Hugh Jackman not once but twice. The first time he was working an event making sure no one bothered the actor — and the second blew his mind. He told Buzzfeed, “Two years later, I’m working a similar event. And Jackman approaches me to say hello, asks me how I’ve been: ‘It’s been what? Two years at least. How the hell are you?’ Icing on the cake? He remembered my first name, which was not on my uniform.”

Getting food accidentally dumped on you would surely ruin anyone’s day. Not Laura Prepon and Ben Foster, as they proved after a server got flustered around the star couple. When colleague Amanda Frederick went to apologize, Prepon couldn’t have been nicer. She told People, “Laura was so incredibly kind and sweet! ... Working in the service industry, you meet a lot of not-nice celebs, so I never expect it. She was so awesome — even introducing me to Ben!”

Not all superheroes wear capes. As Kristen Hallmark explained to People, “I had a friend who was walking with her family and dropped her son’s pacifier. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Mark Ruffalo holding the pacifier. She goes ‘You’re Mark Ruffalo!’ To which Mark smiled and said, ‘Yeah,’ and handed her the pacifier and walked away.”

After Hurricane Harvey devastated Texas in 2017, everyone wanted to help. Reddit user arabelladfigg recalled, “I was working at Austin Pets Alive, and we were taking in thousands of animals from hard-hit areas. It was insane. One day, Renee Zellweger just showed up to volunteer. No warning, no fanfare. She spent a week volunteering. She did laundry, cleaned out poop-covered crates, and drove vans of dogs from Houston to Austin.” Nice!

When the comedian was behind a mother and daughter in line at a Verizon store, he took their broken phone situation to heart. According to leese216, “The damage to [my sister’s] phone wasn’t covered under insurance, and my mom couldn’t afford [a new one]. Tracy saw my sister get emotional and ended up buying her a new phone right then and there. My mom tried to protest, but he just told her to pay it forward.” Aww.

When all round good guy Keanu Reeves played Hamlet in Winnipeg during the 1990s, he was surprised to spot an extra from his movie Chain Reaction in the audience who’d traveled up with her mom to see him. When they met back on set, the actor was blown away. As Angela Love told People, “He couldn’t believe I was there. I said [he was] great and asked for a hug, and we talked for ten minutes. He was just so humbled that I did that.”

Over on Quora, sociologist Dallas Adams recalled the time when comedy legend Robin Williams casually popped into his bike shop. An avid cyclist, the comedian stopped by before a gig that evening. The unexpected guest then spotted an ornament decorated with an AA badge, and the two shared the thoughts that the object brought to mind for them. It’s well worth looking up the post if you’re interested, and as Adams notes it’s proof that Williams was a “regular guy” who enjoyed spending time with regular people.

Poisonmonkey was at a gas station when they heard a voice beckon them over to another vehicle. It was Jeff Goldblum. The actor spotted a ring they were wearing at 20 feet and expressed how he’d been looking for something similar. The storyteller said, “I told him it was my grandfather’s, and he asked to see it up close.” After a minute of gushing and close inspection from Goldblum, the pair went about their business. “I like to think we’re friends now,” Poisonmonkey joked.

ThirstyBarbarian told BuzzFeed, “I met him at a convention during a photo op. I guess I looked scared, because he asked if I was nervous. I stuttered out, ‘Yes,’ and he put his arm around me for the photo and laughed because I tensed up. Later, when I got him to sign my bag, he said, ‘Moon of my life,’ in Dothraki to me. And I responded back with, ‘My sun and stars.’ He said my Dothraki was good.” Cute.

LL Cool J’s one of the most prolific and successful hip-hop artists of all time. Not that you’d know it from snufyou’s encounter. They recalled, “I worked at a Barnes & Noble in high school, and LL Cool J lived close by. He would come in almost daily and he knew most of our names. Really nice guy.” Indeed.

Says cwills815 on reddit, “Dave Chappelle and his family lived a few miles from where I went to college, and he and I frequented the same Starbucks. I ran into him about 10 times, and one day he sat with me for about 45 minutes and talked about screenwriting. It was amazing. He’s as down-to-earth as his stage persona suggests.” Cool.

Reddit’s elvisfan66 was lucky enough to meet his idol following a concert in Las Vegas back in 1972, after Presley spotted his Navy uniform from the stage. He said, “Near the end of the show, a man came up to me and asked if I’d like to meet Elvis ... He escorted me backstage ... and after a while, Elvis appeared, showered and hyped up.” They talked about everything from their service experiences to music and family, a moment that he described as “the most exciting thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.”

GenXer1977 had an encounter with actor Tom Hanks a while back. As he recalled, “I worked at Disneyland in the late 1990s, and I saw him giving a tour to a group of about 25 kids. He was leading the tour and the Disney tour guide was just tagging along, so I could tell he’d done this many times before.” What a guy!

When Leonardo DiCaprio dined out one night in LA during the late-1990s, he chose a Mexican restaurant where Z0MBGiEF happened to be working. Obviously incognito, the post-Titanic actor sported a baseball cap, shades, and beard. Wary of blowing his cover, the redditor left DiCaprio a note with his bill. So, grateful for the discretion, the star left his server a $100 tip, a pretty big deal for the 19-year-old — who blew it all on videogames.

Even the world’s biggest celebrities crave normalcy. Elton John found a little restaurant in Atlanta where he could enjoy just that. One of the reasons why he picked the spot was that his server, David Durham, always treated the megastar like any other customer. He’d stop by a couple times a week, ordering a coffee and paying with a $20 bill... right up until word got out and he was eventually swarmed by fans. The musician tipped $100 for the longtime discretion and was never seen there again.

BuzzFeed user MommaBearJam, had a rather disappointing experience with Oprah. She stated, “Oprah didn’t tip me on a $200 lunch. Instead, she signed a napkin for me... The kicker was when she walked in, they gave away all of my other tables so she didn’t have to wait for anything.” We can only imagine that Oprah was oblivious to the arrangements being made around her!

A group of executives were out celebrating a company win when they noticed Chuck Norris walk into the restaurant. Being fans, the group sent a $1,000 bottle of wine to his table. The martial artist later stopped for a chat for 15 minutes on his way out. As Nir Ben Eliezer recalled on Quora, “He’s the most down to earth, stand-up guy ever ... He talks to you as if you were close friends, he’s an amazing guy.”

When Dave Raponi’s friend was involved in a collision with another vehicle, it didn’t take him long to realize that the driver was Jerry Seinfeld. Though the pal said that his insurance would cover the damage as he was responsible, Seinfeld insisted on buying him a new car. He resisted at first, but the thought of the actor’s garage full of Porsches eventually persuaded him to accept the comedian’s offer.