In the spirit of the Oscars, I thought it might be fun to have a little silly “Stars—they’re just like us”-style post for a Monday morning. Let’s swap stories! Having lived in both Los Angeles and New York for many years, I’ve had a lot of fun spottings and even though I play it all cool, I still get excited about recognizing famous faces around the neighborhood (even Julianne Moore, who is a West Village fixture, still prompts a “guess who I just saw” text to Aron). In fact, it was last Oscar Sunday that we saw Alan Rickman, characteristically lowering his glasses and cocking an eyebrow to read a distant sign. So cool.
My favorite sightings actually tend to involve Aron, because he’s terrible at this sort of thing. Besides literally bumping into Elle MacPherson near Union Square without noticing, or chasing down Tina Fey to try and prove me wrong that she’d just passed by, one of my favorite encounters took place in line at Magnolia Bakery. “Don’t turn around,” he whispered. “I’m pretty sure I know the girl behind us but I can’t think of her name. I think I should. Maybe we grew up together or went to school together?” So I got to the register, never looked, and then heard him start the conversation “Are you from California? Do we know each other?” and then a quite lengthy back-and-forth: “Did you go to UCLA? Are you in Medicine?” “I lived in LA.” I turned around and there was Darlene from Roseanne. She was being so polite, but her friend finally cut them off: “you know her from TV.” Yes, Aron, you did sort of grow up together!
Or the time—after we had just watched Darjeeling Limited and he’d been wanting some sunglasses like the ones Adrien Brody wears—and he pointed to a man on the street in NoLiTa: “I should ask him where he got his; they’re great.” And it was Adrien Brody.
In Los Angeles, we lived across from The Grove—which seems to be where they all hang out when they’re not eating at The Ivy, I guess—and there was an organic market just outside the mall where Winona Ryder and even Madonna would shop and I made Beck blush because he caught me staring at him in the check-out line (oops!), and said a soft “hello.” That was charming. But it almost seems like cheating to mention seeing someone at the Grove (TMZ must have a scout there 24 hours).
The equivalent here does seem to be the West Village; there’s always an actor or model to be recognized. Although once we were waiting for a table down the block from the “Friends” apartment exterior and a tour group came by. They were all snapping photos of the building when Giselle Bundchen passed by unnoticed.
Finally, Liv Tyler will always be a favorite now. She passed us on West 10th Street the other day and said hi to our Hudson and exclaimed: “Oh my goodness. What a handsome little man!” Awww, Thanks Liv! You’re not so bad either.
Any favorite celeb anecdotes?
[Photo via Denim Blog]
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Funny stories! You know I was trying to recognize the photo above. But I had to sneak at the caption. I had no idea it was Liv!
That was a great post – enjoyed it very much. The story about Aron trying to figure out where he knew the gal from Roseanne is hilarious. My husband is the same way.
Is that her son? Adorable!
I now love Liv Tyler even more as well
This made me laugh out loud. Aaron seems to act a little like my man, who is collecting stories like this too. Me getting nervous, but he seems not to be aware of their status. He simply doesn’t care, as he takes people as what they are; as human beings. I love that about him.
What a fun post! I love comparing celeb sighting stories, but I usually never have any! I am terrible at recognizing people on the street or noticing them and then I always hear “did you just see so and so?” I need to be more observant!
This is a fun post! I was on the lookout when I was visiting the West Village, but didn’t spot anyone. I am really bad at recognizing celebrities, though. When I worked for Nantucket Nectars one summer, I made a smoothie for Mike Tyson and didn’t realize it was him even though he had his big face tattoo! (I figured he must be famous, but couldn’t place him.) I’ve heard that Liv is actually really great, and I’m not surprised she finds Hudson adorable!
Mike Tyson!? That’s hilarious!!
I have to say, I rarely see celebrities…I live in a town where seeing the mayor is considered to be a big deal. But I have to say, I would FAINT if I saw Alan Rickman. I LOVE him!!!! Seriously. I have a crush on him. There…I said it…for all the interwebs to see.
He IS pretty amazing. I just watched Sense and Sensibility again and how can you not love him? Hard to believe it’s the same man who played a villain in the Die Hard series!
I live in MN and I spotted AND talked to Sandra Oh at the Como Zoo Conservatory… it was during the actor strike…I think her boyfriend is from MN… She was so delightful…
Love this post!
I once spotted Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani on the street in SoHo. That was a sweet sighting. And we’ve seen Ethan Hawke (Ed’s seen him twice) in Brooklyn, acting very obviously like he was a celebrity.
Ed has some more great celeb sightings, so hopefully he’ll post them in the comments here. He was almost run over by a very famous child-actor-turned-Academy-Award-winning-adult-actor; he bumped into a supermodel going out of Anthropologie; and he had the most famous NYC celeb sighting ever, on his first day in NYC!
And I was just reminded of another one. I was waiting in line for the bathroom at a Starbucks on the Upper East Side. There was this tall dude behind me, and some woman came up to him to ask for his autograph, for her son because he was such a huge fan. When he turned back around, I asked him if he was an athlete. He said “Yes, I play for the Yankees.” And I told him that was probably why I didn’t recognize him. I asked his name, he said “Alex.” Alex of the Yankees looked like he really had to pee, so I let him cut in front of me, under one condition–that he would hit a home run for me that weekend. He said he would, smiled, and thanked me for letting him go before me. It was only when I got into the bathroom myself that I realized I was talking to Alex Rodriguez! Oops!
How funny that you not only saw Alex Rodriguez, but that you could tell Mr. Rodriguez had to pee!! Ha ha! Love these stories!
Hehe!
My friend that lives in NYC has had so many great spots recently…love hearing about them.
Me though-to be honest-like your husband, I probably would not be so great at recognising them.
My mum said she spotted Michael Jackson (this was obviously when he was alive) once at the airport-and we were all “yeah yeah”- so everytime she thinks she sees someone she knows, it is a running to joke to say “was it Michael Jackson?”-etc etc.
I did get to shake hands with and speak to Prince Charles-but I never had the guts to ask for his son’s telephone number…like I wanted to!
To this day my mom SWEARS she saw George Clooney in London once. I don’t believe her.
She’s also known for thinking she sees celebrities at work in all sorts of odd jobs and always says “they must be preparing for a role!”
Thanks for bigging me up there honey! I haven’t seen a celebrity in ages though apart from the latest one. Prior to that was a real dry spell! I don’t think I’m that good at keeping my eyes open. In fact, I try not to bother them. However, here goes…
Not long after arriving in New York I was carrying a rug across the street in front of Port Authority after returning on the Ikea bus, as you do. Right as my foot hit the curb a blacked out sedan pulled up beside me, nearly running me over. Cursing I kept walking but heard the rear passenger get out and ask if I was ok? I turned quickly and shouted “Yeah, fine thanks!” and kept going. I only realized half a block later that the rear passenger had been Jodie Foster. Hope she has a better driver now
Helena Christensen was the leggy supermodel I saw, from across the street, outside Anthropolgie on 5th Avenue at 16th St.
My friend and I was sitting near Bethesda Fountain once in Central park when a gaggle of giggling schoolgirls ran up to this disheveled-looking guy. We had no clue who he was but someone informed us it was Carson Daly.
I once saw Cynthia Nixon inside a bar on the Upper East Side., quietly talking with a friend in a corner by the window.
At dinner with Alli and her parents at Po in the West Village The Butterscotch Stallion, Owen Wilson, and his companion were turned away from because all the tables were taken.
It was only when my wife asked “Isn’t that John Mayer over there?” in ABC Carpet and Home a few years back that I realized the gorgeous girl I had just passed and made eyes with was in fact Minky Kelly.
I’d have thought working near Time Warner Center would have meant more celebrity newscaster sightings but none had occurred in 5 years until last year when I saw Anderson Cooper in front of Time Warner Center on the Columbus Circle side with his crew.
Alli mentioned we saw Ethan Hawke together, which was at the old Planet Thai in Williamsburg on New Year’s Day 2005. I then saw him again, wife and kids in tow, walking with a stroller along Fulton in Fort Greene just last December.
I left the best to last. This was quintessential New York. I came here to work in January 2003 from the UK, but the September before that I had visited to get a flavour of whether it was for me. I was staying on the Upper East Side near my potential place of work and had decided to take a midday stroll on my first day here. I was walking down Park Avenue, in the 80′s or 70′s, when I passed an older chap walking along with a younger-looking Asian woman at his side. It confused the heck out of me and I actually thought “What’s she doing with an old man like him?” Yes, my first day in New York and I had almost literally bumped into Woody Allen and Soon Yi!
Oh my goodness! I was trying to guess who the “most famous” NYC sighting could possibly be and THAT is the best: Woody Allen! Wow!!
i did the same thing aron did, except it was here in toronto, when amber tamblyn came into a store i was working at. it was only after i asked her where she went to school (“santa monica”) that i realized she was a pretty well-known actress…and felt like a total jerk! but it’s good to know i’m not the only one who’s done that.
that’s so sweet that liv tyler complimented hudson! he is a pretty adorable little dude, though, so it’s not really a surprise i guess.
I loved reading these stories! Westwood always had them, especially near the Coffee Bean. I remember Christian Bale was in town. Whoa! Talk about hotness!
Ha! I love these kinds of stories! When I lived in LA with my ex-husband we would see “BList” celebrities every now and then but the most amusing sighting for me was ALLL the way back when I was in high school!
Apparently, Beverly Hills 90210 was filming its finale in a church that my high school drama class was also using for a class for a few days. One afternoon as we were leaving they were wrapping filming for lunch. The extras and actors came out and they all graciously answered the high school kids million questions. I was headed for the bus as I had never seen Beverly Hills 90210, and was ready to eat myself!
A friend of mine came running over and told me to take a picture of a fairly good looking actor walking in the same direction as our bus. I glanced at him and rolled my eyes, thinking that she wanted to scam on some hot extra, so I trudged over to the guy and said “Hi! My friend thinks you’re really handsome, can I take your picture” kind of chuckling as I asked.
He looked at me strangely but posed and I snapped the shot. “Did you want me to sign something or something?”
I looked at him like he had two heads “ummm no.”
I was walking back laughing at the ridiculousness of some desperate Hollywood wannabe trying to make himself sound more important by trying to sign an autograph for a little high school girl.
“I got his picture” I said and tossed the disposable to my friend.
“Did you get his autograph????!!!” she squealed.
“What? no. Seriously? What the hell?”
Turns out I had just given major side eye to Brian Austin Green.
these are great!! and how sweet is liv tyler?! amazing. one of my favorite celebrity stories is when we were in new orleans and just got done at the voodoo music festival – it was halloween night in the big easy and we decided to head over to the casino for some fun. walking in, i noticed a guy at the slots who looked like george clinton (of funkadelic fame) – we are HUGE fans of the funk and had just seen them play at the festival. i looked at my husband and said “look! look at that amazing george clinton costume!” he looked and looked back at me and said “that IS george clinton! look: that is the same wig he had on at the concert and that is his bodyguard standing in the corner over there.” i walked right up to him in my “lucy in the sky with diamonds” costume and said “mr. clinton i just wanted to tell you how much we LOVED the show tonight and have really enjoyed every parlaiment funkadelic show we’ve ever been to. you are amazing and i’m a huge fan, would you maybe take a picture with us??” he smiled and said yes and that he loved my costume (thanks mr. c!) and snapped the shot with us. we walked away and looked back and he gave us a thumbs up and then a “shhhh!” sign so as to not alert the rest of the crowd to his appearance.
Renee Zellweger shared her umbrella with me and Roman last fall when we got caught at the park in a rain storm. We were racing home (him in my arms) absolutely drenched and she covered us at the cross-walk, along with another passerby. When Renee took a left, the other woman asked me if I had realized who that was. Had a good laugh.
Awesome stories. I have been to NYC so many times and have just once seen a celebrity – or let’s better say, maybe just recognized one once. Two frinds and I walked by Jenniger Garner but before we actually realized it, she was long gone.
By the way, Liv was totaly right. Hudson is a handsome little man.
West Village is definitely the place to see celebs. I passed SJP on a street two weeks ago there–I only knew to look up because I heard her voice. As soon as she had passed I had to stop and have a mini freakout on the corner.
I’m a huge fan of Wes Anderson. I’ve written papers about his films and his whole aesthetic and writing has heavily influenced my style. I just got back from a trip to India, during which my traveling companions and I were inspired by “The Darjeeling Limited” to take a train ride from Mysore to Agra. We discovered that Wes Anderson took some liberties and it wasn’t as charming as it seemed in the movies. I vowed that I would one day give him a piece of my mind if I were to ever meet him.
Fast forward to a a few months later. I was in Newport visiting friends and we were out having dinner. The restaurant was closing down and I noticed a familiar face when I was putting on my jacket.
It was Wes Anderson.
And he was there prepping for “Moonrise Kingdom”. I fan-girled, which never happens, and I used to work at an Apple Store where a lot of celebrities would frequent! Half of my brain shut down, so I couldn’t think of any movie other than “The Royal Tenenbaums”. But he was so nice and polite. I have a photo with him, and I’m cheesing so hard, you can see my molars.
It was one of the happiest events of my life. I never did give him a piece of my mind about Indian trains.
(Sorry for the long post, but I really enjoyed your stories about celeb sightings!)
ok, we go to NYC a few times a year…and NEVER notice any celebs. We had a guy walking just ahead of us once on the upper west side and said “hey that was Lauren Bacall”….cool! The other was going to see “The MErchant of Venice” on Broadway with Al Pacinco and two rows ahead of us was “Jeremy Piven” (I’m 99.9% sure it was him)….Oh and Kathy Griffin was at the Tracey Morgan show at the Beacon…but that was way on the other side of the theatre….she flashsed her bra to the audience after some girl “flashed” herself. That’s it….that’s all I got. (going to hang in the west village next trip though with my camera at the ready!!!!)
Love the Darlene story though, that is a story to tell and remember forever. hahaha….and I LOVE magnolia. We always hit the one on Avenue of America’s up by Times Sq.
Oh gosh, I was laughing so hard when I read the Aron and Darlene story!! He is brilliant!
Despite having lived in LA for a year, I have never seen a celebrity. Oh wait, I saw Shaquille O’Neill (have no clue how to spell his name) in a club in NYC once! Would have preferred Beck, Liv or Giselle though
An MSNBC anchorwoman (who surely loves the sound of us shaking cocktails) has a window opposite ours.
Liv’s house is actually on w. 11th across the street from Tartine. She’s a real fixture in the neighborhood.
this post is so fun! i love stories like this!
one of my favorite celebrity sightings in amy poehler. her son and the little one i nanny for have played together several times at the park across from magnolia. somehow i have managed to play it cool, except for the time that max hit her little guy.. i was super embarrassed but she just smiled and said not to worry about it.
sarah
How cool that she said that!!! I adore her.
Ah, I love this! I used to live in NY (where I often saw Liv at Bigelow) and currently live in LA, so I have a collection of rando celeb sightings and interactions. I think the best one is when I saw Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman at the theater one night.
On the baby tip, Anne Hathaway stopped by our table at Gjelina (in Venice) when Ari was a little over a month old to say “what a cute baby” and now she is forever awesome in my eyes!
Liv is right- that Hudson is a cutie! My brother lives in NY and when I go and visit I sometimes see a celebrity. The first time I went in 2001, Morgan Freeman sat at a table near ours at Joe Allens. I freaked out and my brother (who apparently sees celebs all the time) told me to calm down and that I couldn’t go to his table and tell him how fabulous he was! This past November at Eatery we sat down at a table and I looked around and told my brother “Hey look at that guy over there- he looks just like Philip Seymour Hoffman!” And my brother said “That’s because it is.” I start having a mini freak out again and he again has to remind me to calm down and that I couldn’t go over and say hello! I did a bit of staring and he caught me! I grinned and he just looked at me- not smiling! I think my brother was right… he wanted to be left alone and eat in peace.
I interviewed with Liv awhile back when she needed help with her son. My friend nannied fo her for quite a while too. She is a lovely lovely girl and her son is incredibly sweet! Too funny about your hubby. I have seen and been around afew celebs in my line of work. I have seen Kate Winslet and Julianne Moore umpteen times
betwixt and between Bleeker St playgrnd and Chelsea mkt. Hve sighted a very lame Al Roker and a voluptous Nigella Lawson in the Chelsea Mkt too. Saw Ethan being a very wonderful daddy in Madison sq plygrnd and the one over on 22nd n 10th ave (which btw is a favourite of mine for a myriad of reasons). Have sighted Cynthia Nixon with her kit n kaboodle there too also saw former suprmodel Linda Evan legging n horsing arnd wth a kid in the aforementioned plygrd..Have boarded in the same joint as Caroline Murphy when she n I worked for the same family albeit in very diff circumstances. Naomi Watts haunts Citibabes with her two n on n on it goes. City Bakery is a good plce to spot famous peeps too. Saw Mathew Broderick n Kevin Bacon chowin dwn there…hve waitressed on Forbes boat goin back in the day n hve served Himself and the Missus (Don Trump and Melania) and a very humble and lovely Joan Rivers..Bottom line when your out n about with kids or working for the public in this wonderful city you’re gonna see these peeps. Oh yeah saw Jagger n Jerry donkeys yrs ago on upper westside…I hve seen lots more but im done n besides you’re prop rollin your eyes thinkin will this one ever shut up n last but not least your Little Man is da bomb!! Take care n luv reading your blog along with Jo’s…A
I remember spotted Naomi Watts with her husband and kids at the Union Square Playground–that was a favorite! So many cool stories here!
South African’s have this general blasé attitude about being in the presence of celebrities, and in turn, celebs are a bit more relaxed and more likely to be out and about in public in Cape Town. Last year when ‘Safe House’ was filming in the city, I’d stumbled upon the movie set once or twice on the weekends (mainly, the car chase scenes downtown). What I wasn’t prepared for, was running into Ryan Reynolds one Saturday night out on Long Street! The bar was basically empty, and so we ordered a drink and his friend chatted with us (upon hearing our American accents). Eventually, Ryan interjected into the conversation with an outstretched hand and an ever so cool, “Hi, I’m Ryan.” Yes, my girlfriends and I died!!! He was just as handsome and funny in person as you’d imagine, and we ended up moving on to another club with him and his friends. I woke up the next morning, looked at my wrist, and the VIP stamp was there…. so it wasn’t a dream!!
Back when I was in high school (in about ’96), some friends of mine were stranded in a parking lot in the rain with a dead car. They sat there, trying to start their car to no avail and wondering what they were going to do, when someone knocked on their window. They rolled it down, and a man held up some jumper cables and offered to help. It was Robert Downey, Jr.
Later that same year (I think), I had just come home from school and noticed a bunch of neighborhood kids running along the edge of the golf course behind our house. I ran outside with my little brothers to see what was going on, and there was Michael Jordan himself. As he finished the hole, all the little kids ran onto the green, and he very kindly stood and chatted with them for a while.
Being ol’ skool (code for old) and all and living in LA through the 80′s have a LOT of celebrity stories interactions as well as sightings – from Arnold Schw…won’t even TRY to spell that correctly in his classic caddy (didn’t see driver – yelled out cool car – flipped out when he turned and smiled and said thank you – that was back in Conan days – he was hot!), to congratulating Shirley McClaine on Oscar Night when she won for Terms of Endearment, to having George Michael sing Careless Whisper to me, hanging out at the UCLA DTD house with Michael J Fox, mistakenly being put on the Jackson family fan on the way back to Hayvenhurst from the iconic concert at the Dodger stadium, and having dinner with Madonna at a club. …. and there’s more – LA in the 80′s was like that. One of my most awkward celebrity moments was being in the “hood” kinda at an ARCO gas station and running into Will Farrell and asking him in a completely incredulous voice “What are you doing HERE” (inflection really important). He calmly replied as you’d expect him to “I’m getting Gas”…. already feeling dumb…. I just looked over and said, “well be careful”. He laughed. Of all of them, I have never been star struck….. except about 5 years ago when I saw martha stewart here in Pasadena at Saladang Thai Restaurant for lunch. (I LOVE martha)…. I think my heart started beating a little faster and I got light headed, as she passed me I looked up into her face and said earnestly, in my most worshipful voice…. “I love you”…. she glanced at me and said “Thank You”. I think that topped everything
Whoah! Those sound like incredible stories!!
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