We all dream of meeting our favorite celebrities. We fantasize about it and wonder what we would say or even do to them if we met them, from fan-girling over them, offering to buy them a drink or some food or just failingly try to act cool around them.
Sometimes though we meet them unexpectedly, or meet others who are just as famous without even realizing it! When things happen so unexpectedly, things can sometimes go bizarre or can take a turn for the worse for the fan or the celebrity.
Recently Reddit described what happened in some weird meetings they had with celebrities when they ran into them in public or at private events.
Read on to hear these Redditor's awkward stories about how they reacted during bizarre celebrity encounters.
Don't forget to check the comment section below the article for more interesting stories!
#25 Bill Nye The Elevator Guy
I had Bill Nye burst into my elevator at the airport.
"Will this get me to the D gates!?" he said.
I said: "Uh, no, this is domestics only."
"OK, thanks!" he replied and out he jumped.
To this day I'll never know if Bill Nye the Science Guy made his flight.
#24 I Hope He Didn’t Break The Bank With That
Alice Cooper was playing a show in my hometown a couple of years back. I was walking into a local establishment for breakfast that morning, and low and behold there he was, just having a bite to eat with the band.
I walked up and said hello and that I am a big fan (yadda yadda yadda) and I was looking forward to the show he was putting on that evening. I then realized this guy probably gets the same spiel every place he goes, so I told him to enjoy his meal and that I'd leave him alone.
Well, I was surprised that he invited me to join him and the crew for breakfast. We sat there for another hour or so just talking. Then like a chump, I picked up the bill.
#23 Being A Rockstar Doesn’t Pay Well These Days
I was in Hollywood doing wanna-be rockstar stuff and my band found a lady parked on Sunset Blouvard with a flat tire. Since we were all nice boys, we changed her tire. After shaking hands and saying thanks we were on our way back to our van when she came back over with something in her hands. At first, I thought it was money and was mentally preparing for the refusing her cash when she handed me a few 8x10, autographed headshots.
It was Meg Ryan. None of us recognized her.
#22 It Isn’t Always Free to Get More Leg Room
I was eating with friends in a restaurant in Beverly Hills years ago when I still lived in LA. The tables were really close together and there wasn't a lot of room between the seats. So I had been there for about 5 minutes when they seated someone at the table directly behind me. The chairs were close enough that the backs could touch.
The thing was, the person kept trying to push his chair against mine to get more room. I already was pushed in as far as I could go. But he kept trying. Increasingly, I was getting upset. Rather than turn around and confront this jerk, I pushed my chair against his.
However, I was able to move his chair back, since I am a pretty big guy and was running marathons at the time. I had the leg strength to push him right into his table. So after I did that, he gets up and walks out. So I told the people at my table what a jerk that guy was, that he was trying to push my seat into the table. "Who, Morgan Freeman?" I looked over and saw a very upset looking Morgan Freeman leaving the restaurant.
#21 I Hope Her Appetite Matches The Grapes
I sat next to Natalie Portman at a college graduation. She was the most beautiful human I've ever seen. The ceremony was really long and outside. She brought a snack with her, some grapes in a cup. She ate them with a spoon. Not even Natalie Portman can make awkwardly chasing grapes around a cup trying to get them to stay on her tiny plastic spoon and not fall off on the way to her mouth look cool.
#20 Even Rap Gods Need Milk
I was visiting family in Michigan when I met Eminem. I was given a list of food to buy at the grocery store the night before Thanksgiving, so I'm standing there eyeing eggs when I see a guy in a hoodie walk up to the milk. I glance at him, then go on about my egg-buying business. He starts messing around with the milk jugs, so I look at him again and recognize him. I kind of fidgeted for a minute before I asked, "are you who I think you are?" His epic reply? "If I wasn't, then why would I say I am?" We exchanged Happy Thanksgiving wishes and parted ways.
#19 Best Plane Ride Ever
I was on a plane with Hulk Hogan once. On the backs of all of the chairs, there were screens where you could watch movies, play trivia games or browse the internet. I played the trivia game, named myself "The Hulkster," and ended up pulling on 40-50 people who thought I was him. Most popular Delta Airlines Trivia session ever.
#18 That Raises More Quentins Than Answers
My brother was in Austin for something or another and Quentin Tarantino got on the elevator with my brother and his buddy. My brother finally asked, "you're someone famous, aren't you?" Tarantino's response was "Eh." and that's all that was said.
#17 They Dipped Out Of That One Quick
Both my parents, before they met each other, scorned Bryan Adams. My mom rejected him after he asked her to dance and my dad stole his cooler THE NEXT NIGHT after a gig. My dad's band was opening for him and thought he was being rude so they stole his cooler thinking it was full of drinks. Turned out to be full of veggies and dip.
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#16 I Bet He Had a Real Bono To Pick With Him After that
I rang up Bono at an amusement park I worked at. I honestly don't really care for U2 and didn't feel particularly starstruck so I just rang him up with pleasant but generally "I don't care" attitude like I would with anyone else.
At one point he said, "Do you know who I am?"
To which I said, "Yup!" then gave him his total.
#15 Nice Guys Do Finish Last
I went to the afterparty for the Black Eyed Peas but it was not great so we didn't stay long. On the way out we ran into Fergie and her security and said hello. She came over to chat and held my hand while we talked. When she was leaving, she gave me a kiss on the lips. About two minutes later her security guy came over and said she wanted us to come up to her room and do some adult substances. My friend shouted at him that we were not into that and pulled me away before I could say anything. And that's how I missed out on hanging out with Fergie.
#14 If Only He Paid Attention Sooner!
I grew up in Southern California and we went to the beach regularly. This was the same beach that my father liked to point out the house they used in Top Gun every single time we passed it. When I was 12 or 13 we were there, and he sent me to run a few blocks back from the beach where this little place that had amazing breakfast burritos was.
So I head up, a bit upset that I was sent, even though he gave me the money because I'm a snotty little preteen. So there I am smoldering in my head at the "unfairness" of it all when I nearly bump into two bodybuilders sitting on the curb eating their breakfast burritos. Now I'm torn between being angry they were in my way, because I've put myself in a foul mood, and just apologizing because I'm clearly not paying attention.
So I stand there hesitant for a second, caught between my irrational and rational self when all of a sudden I realize these guys are Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. So now I'm standing there dumbfounded for a second when I think I mumble something halfway between "sorry" and whatever sound a strangled goat makes. They just smile and say no problem and continue eating their breakfast and chatting about whatever it was they were going on about before the tiny kid interrupted.
I went across the street and ordered for my dad and myself then turned back around and raised the bag of burritos to them in cheers that they returned with their half-eaten burritos and I went back to tell my dad what he missed. I never complained about going to get food ever again, never went alone to get those burritos again either for that matter.
#13 A Gentleman Until The Very End
I met Donald Glover after a show, and all I had for him to sign was some right-wing propaganda someone had handed me on the street. He signed that, got a kick out of it, invited us on his bus, then hooked up with my friend. He ended up inviting my friend and me to go to New York on his tour bus. The girl said no though because she had a philosophy paper to write (Priorities?!). A bizarre situation, but a decent guy through and through, and Jesus Christ his talent makes me self-conscious. Comedy, music, and a new show, and he still has time for after-show shenanigans. Bravo sir.
#12 Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover
Eric Cornell, Nobel Prize winner for creating the Bose-Einstein Condensate was my physics lab professor at my university. Before I had him as a teacher I knew who he was because I watched a NOVA documentary about his work and one day he cruised into the coffee shop I worked at and I totally flipped my lid. At the time I practically had dreadlocks and his expression said something like, of all the people here you're the kid that recognized me, hmmm.
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#11 Steve Carell Loves His Jelly Donuts
I worked at a Dunkin' Donuts and one day this guy who looked oddly familiar came into my store. I didn't think much of it and took his order, jelly donut, and a jelly stick. He paid, I handed him his donuts and wished him a happy day and he left. The guy seemed to be in a bit of a rush but that's pretty common.
Immediately my coworker, who was working as the coffee assembler, comes running up and goes "WAS THAT STEVE CARELL!!" And it turned out that it was indeed Steve Carell. I didn't realize because I didn't watch the office so I only knew his face from ads and memes.
#10 Its The Season for Giving, Not Recognizing
I worked at Circuit City and Jordan Knight came in once looking for an iPod (this was the Christmas season RIGHT when they came out with the first one. Needless to say, we were long sold out). I didn't recognize him at first and when I told him we didn't have any, he asked if there was a special room where we kept them for "people like me" and he like winked at me as if to say "Recognize me?" It was actually kind of sad for him. He was so irrelevant at that point, but also delusional that there was some special celebrity room where we kept merchandise on the off chance that they came in for one.
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#9 Sometimes Being A Celebrity Causes Negative Attention
I was a student in a hospital going up in the elevator with Megan Phelps (From Westboro Baptist Church, this was also before she left the church). I was an exchange student and knew about them because of the Louis Theroux documentaries and it was pretty clear that she wasn't welcome as others in the elevator who were chatting away stopped as soon as she entered and gave her the death stare. I can't remember what I said but made a few light jokes and made her laugh. Everyone else looked very awkward while her and I laughed at my dumb jokes.
#8 Celebrities Have Strong Opinions Too
Ant and Dec sat under a table with my crying younger brother explaining that just because England had been kicked out of the world cup doesn’t mean they could never play football again!
#7 Pirating Doesn’t Always Go Wrong
I served Geoffrey Rush. He was really nice and down to earth. In my store we can't acknowledge that they're famous, so I whispered that he was the greatest undead pirate I knew. He gave me a high five.
#6 Everyone Needs a Little More Iron in Their Diet
I was born and raised in Vegas and while sitting in stopped traffic on the Vegas strip, my boyfriend and I look over and we see a convertible with California plates. Posted up in the back is Robert Downey Jr. My boyfriend gets a little excited and screams Bobby Soft at him (our silly nickname for him), and he just pulls down his sunglasses and says "Go see Iron Man."
#5 Don’t Be A Creep!
There was a show on CBC called North of 60. I ran into one of the actors who starred on the show and I called him by his characters name. He was so blown away that I knew who he was. We went our separate ways.
The next night I saw him at a bar and he zeroed in on me. He then offered me a drink at his hotel. I was 19 years old and he was well in his 50s. I was like, "Uhhhhhhh no thanks."
#4 Some Quality Time With The Fonz
Henry Winkler (Fonzy from Happy Days) had no line at my town's comic-con a few years ago, so my family and I talked to him for several minutes.
#3 The Force Was With You on that One
I walked into Christopher Lee once. Literally walked into him. It's when he was performing at MCM Expo in London. I was utterly speechless and he was nothing but polite about it. Security wasn't entirely happy about it though.
#2 That Went Off Without a Bang
I bumped into Taeyang of Big Bang at a department store in Tokyo, Japan. I was looking at a leather jacket and touching it while another person was trying to touch the same jacket. I looked up and it was him, wearing his surgical mask. We did the "Hello." nod to each other and walked away. He was pretty short.
#1 That Really Boosted His Self Confidence
One time I stopped at a Starbucks in Washington D.C and on my way in I saw John McCain walking behind me. My dad was with me at the time, and he was ecstatic, while I just stood there open-mouthed. My dad talked to him in line inside and when we left he shook both of our hands. This happened about a week after he lost the election to Obama.
