What famous people have you seen IRL?

Stumbled upon Jeremy Clarkson biking in a European capital. We instinctively approached him to just confirm if he was us, and he politely asked to not bother him because he was on holidays. We felt a little bad and of course left him alone. It must be a little sad to be famous and be recognized everywhere

I once saw footballer John Barnes at a nightclub! I asked if he'd mind posing for a photo, he was so nice about it and got it done really quickly. He was obviously practiced. It was a really nice interaction he didn't have to do.

I saw Tom Green at a ski resort in Colorado sometime around 2005. We yelled at him from the lift, and he looked up at us then sped off down the hill.

Only a few porn stars. And Katie from Kinky Katie Radio. They are regular people just like anyone else.

I met Bruce Campbell at a book signing about 23 years ago. He was just as charming and funny in person as the characters he played. Very friendly and willing to talk for a bit with each fan. A real stand up guy all around.

Bob Vila from This Old House was in front of me in a Dunkin Donuts when I was a kid. My dad was a carpenter and we used to watch that show all the time. I pointed out who was in front of us and my dad replied “yeah, he’s an asshole” lmao. I guess he met him once and he was rude as fuck.

Been to tons of concerts too. My friend and I met the band Goblin at a small show once. They walked around and chatted with people after their set. Super nice Italian guys in their 60s and 70s. When they came to the US to tour, they didn’t bring any instruments because it was too much of a pain with customs. So they bought all of their equipment used and then practiced on it in a local studio to get things tuned and ready. Pretty cool move.

I didn’t actually meet him but one time back in the Warped Tour days, I saw Mark Hoppus from Blink-182 next to an outdoor stage waiting for their set. I said to my friends “watch this,” walked over like I had backstage access, got stopped by security (as expected) but it garnered enough attention to make Mark look over at me. When he did, I gave him a what’s up nod with a raised eyebrow, and made a kissy face at him in dorky Blink-182 fashion. He shot me back the funniest WTF face. It’s forever ingrained in my head.

Last year – Colin Farrell and Bryan Cranston hanging out at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights! Celebrity sighting in LA, of course lol. They were dressed real casual, one had a baseball cap on, and were being guided by staff. They’re not short but I remember thinking they looked shorter than expected. I saw them on the escalators going the other direction and had to do a double take. It took my brain a few extra seconds to fully process what I was seeing.

I thought, interesting pairing! Looked it up and learned they did the Total Recall (2012) remake together. Evidently they still hang out lol

Had a job booking in Apple laptops for repair at some dingy little Apple Authorised Repairer in Nth Sydney.

Told a customer he looked just like that guy Mouse from the Matrix movie.

I have a signed DVD somewhere now hahaha

I've hung out with the Reel Big Fish and Streetlight Manifesto, and met Bruce Springsteen. Everybody was super down to earth and chill.

Once I was at a punk festival and chatting with a stranger about which upcoming sets we were excited for, and when this person was unfamiliar with a classic punk band I exclaimed "how can you not know Joan Jett and the Blackhearts?" only to hear that sentence repeated by someone behind me. It was Joan Jett, and I got to hang out on stage with their VIP group during their set.

I used to deliver the newspaper to Chris Farley's parents. I saw him only once when he drove by on his way to their house, but he smiled and waved at me. Another time, I was out early delivering the Sunday paper, and a man jogging by waved to me. It took a bit longer, but I later recognized him as Tommy Thompson, the governor of Wisconsin, and later Health & Human Services secretary for Pres. Bush.

Oddly, his predecessor at HHS was Donna Shalala, who'd been here as chancellor of the university, so I may have seen her around, too. The most famous person that I've seen IRL was Cindy Crawford, but I didn't interact. She walked by in a hallway at the student union, like a totally normal person.

I shook the hands of Mr. T and David Hasslehoff at Toys 'R Us grand openings. Went to another one where it was just the Care Bears and that was super lame.

John Carpenter was very kind. I turned into an imbecile but he was nice enough to let me do my job.

Not sure if this is in the spirit of the question or not but I saw Robert Downey Jr in real life, it was behind a barrier though, I think he was going to an opening of one of his movies. I was walking down the street and looked over because I saw a bunch of people standing behind the barrier and I was like "oh wow that's Robert Downey Jr" and kept going.

Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth. He was just really nice, stayed outside after the show for about an hour talking with fans and getting photos.

Randy Bachman. My friend and I were drunk and saw him near a venue he was playing at, and he was kind and patient enough to deal with us and let me take a photo.

Dean (Deaner) from the FUBAR movies and his fake but actually real band Nightseeker. He shook hands with people lined up at the venue and we noticed he had incredibly soft hands. There was a lineup to get photos and I was the last one. When it was my turn he said he was out of time and started the show. At the time I thought it was an asshole move, but looking back it was pretty funny and in-character of him.

I’ve met a bunch of small YouTubers. Fame is completely relative, but within their small circles they are famous. There was a local YouTuber convention, so I decided to try it out. Had it been over 50 km away, I wouldn’t have gone, but I’m glad I did. I listened to some interviews, took fan photos, watched a few on stage shows etc. It was fun.

My sister says I met David Bowie as a baby. It sounds rather weird, we don't live where he did his stuff. I also don't count it because I'm technically a fan but not in that kind of way. I have nothing more than vague memories. I'm told he had a nice but rather unfocused vibe. In hindsight, it's possible we met a professional imitator and were none the wiser, though one could argue it still counts as some kind of licensing goes into imitation.

Something similar happened with Celine Dion, though in a way where I have seen the real thing, just not up close. Can't really meet someone who has so much security it's like a universal restraining order. I did not dare, but I can tell she has a good vibe.

I met an author I like but who most people probably don't know, the author of A Hero Unmasked. Not sure if it counts if they are obscure to a large degree. Incredibly fun person though, a very human but warm individual. We even talk regularly. It ranks as one of my greatest perks.

I wanted to meet Jason David Frank and had every potential to, but then he committed suicide right as it was going to materialize (do you count visiting a celebrity's grave). I cannot meet Lucy Lawless because I don't live in the same area. And I just fall short of wanting to go out of my way to meet anyone else, even Kevin Sorbo.

I also have visited things like shrines and whatnot related to my spiritual traditions. Not sure if that counts, since the person is a historical figure and you "meeting" them is "symbolic" to an outsider's eyes.

I've briefly spoken with I think three Nobel prizewinners in chemistry: Lehn, Feringa, Sauvage. Feringa and Sauvage hadn't won when I met them.

Not really, but I did manage to meet a (semi-famous) professor that got popular because of his online math lessons on an expo. He isn't that popular even within our country in general, but it's still a flex if you tell it to like an highschool student lmao

If theres any germans here:

Freaking Bruce Darnell casually strolling by me at a main street sidewalk in one of the big NRW cities

I went to a lot of concerts in my life. I don't want to meet them tho.

For a few years of my life I had a standing happy hour at a bar in the building I worked in. I was out sipping a beer with my friends, and the trailer park boys walked in!

I'm a huge fan so I was starstruck. Eventually I worked up the nerve to say hello, and they were delightful and funny. Got a quick picture, wished them luck on their show, and I went back to leaving them be. 10/10, would bother again.

Anthony Joshua used to come into my work place often when he was training nearby. Lovely guy, absolute giant.

Met Laura Jane Grace after a show once. She was chill

I've seen Ron White live on stage. Not really much to say there we didn't meet but I was in the same room as him physically. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I've shaken Arnold Swarrzenegged's hand when he was governor of California. Wasn't a very long thing, I just happened to be somewhere he coincidentally was doing a rally nearby, and when I saw him shaking hands with people, I went over to join. He was shorter than I expected; I was an inch or two taller (I was, and still am, 6'6'').

Probably the most famous person I've seen in person close up is Steve from Gamers Nexus. He's in my area and I saw him in a bakery I was at once. I didn't speak to him though, didn't want to cause a scene or take up too much of his time, though thinking about it I'm sure he would have been stoked to have a fan say hi. Whoops!

Met G.W. Bailey once at a Houston, won a meet and greet with Charles Martinet and got harassed by a drunken Amy Winehouse in Camden.

That's about it.

Some bands when I was young (it used to be much easier to sneak backstage) U2, Warren Zevon, Rush, Tom Petty, all were nice.

Some bands before they were famous, Nirvana came here in their little white van to play at a club and I bought a shirt from them. Would have asked them to sign it if I'd had any idea they would get popular.

Once I was literally being frisked against a wall when the British punk band GBH walked by and they yelled shit at the cops, and encouragement at me, which was an experience that made me question the nature of reality. It was surreal. I didn't meet them, but it certainly made an impression.

One politician, our governor at the time Bob Martinez, when he was working at a restaurant. He looked so fake.

I think all people are just people, basically. Musician, actor, politician, those are just jobs.

Cheech Marin at an art show/book signing. He was every bit as affable as I had hoped.

Back in the 90s, I worked for a major record company, and met a LOT of incredibly famous musicians. Most were cool, some were dicks, and some were really really nice.

One of my favorites was Lindsey Buckingham, who has a prickly reputation. After he sang three songs in our conference room with his acoustic guitar (amazing!), he sat to sign autographs for us. I got to him, and said "Lindsey, I meet a lot of people and I never get star struck, but you've been one of my guitar idols forever, and I really am pleased to meet you." He had been going through the motions, but at that he gave me a big genuine smile, and said, "Thats really kind of you, man, you want to take a picture?" He hadn't taken a pic with anyone else.

Of course I said yes, and sat next to him. He threw his arm around me, and I have cherished that photo, with both of us with big wide grins, ever since.

I've always heard he was a real asshole, but he was nothing but genuinely really cool to me in the 3 minutes we interacted.