Personal / Famous People
This is a list of various celebrities I have met or just seen between 2003-2008 in Los Angeles and between 2008-2011 in London.
THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO
Probably one of the most interesting events was attending Jay Leno’s Tonight show. In one of the times we attended the show with my housemate Andrew, we sat at the first row of the audience, which are also the people that stand up and greet Jay as he enters the stage and begins the show. I also happened to be the very first person in the row (wearing a white-ish) shirt, and so I appear clearly in the first moments of the show. You can watch the relevant video here.
JIM CARREY, COLIN FIRTH & ROBERT ZEMECKIS
Disney was kind enough to let people attend the World Premiere of A Christmas Carol (in 3D!) in Leicester Square in November of 2009. All the stars of the movie where there, and they showed up right before the movie started in order to introduce the film and say hi to the audience. We were sitting in the second row, so we got to see everybody pretty close (see picture on the side).
DAVID SUCHET
I saw the most accurate Hercule Poirot at a theatrical play called “Complicit” (which wasn’t very good) near London’s Waterloo area. He portrayed an american character, so I haven’t heard him with his original british accent yet, considering that Poirot is from Belgium.
RICHARD DREYFUSS
This Oscar-winning actor was alongside David Suchet in “Complicit” above. It was cool to watch him perform, although it wasn’t a memorable experience by any means.
ROWAN ATKINSON
Mr Bean has actually turned into theater. He was playing Fagin in the popular theatrical production Oliver here in London. After the show, we saw a bunch of people lined up outside the theater’s doors. We waited with them until all the actors exit, and indeed there was Mr Bean, where he also signed my shirt! He is actually a very normal guy when you see him, nothing like his weird on-screen persona.
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY
The first week I arrived in London, I found out that the world premiere of “Duchess” was taking place at Leicester Square. I went there about 3 hours before the official start time (some people had lined up 8 - 10 hours before) and indeed I had a great spot when Dame Knightley appeared. I took a bunch of pictures and also had an autograph signed. I should say she is my favorite actress in the past few years :-) You can see more pictures and the related blog post here.
GERARD BUTLER
On a Sunday afternoon at Sundet Blvd at Hollywood, we sat for lunch outdoors in an italian place. In the table right next to us, there was Mr Butler together with a (arguably beautiful) tall, dark-skinned model. I explained what a great fan I was of “300” (which was out a few months ago) and that I love his work. I bet he must feel really good having such comments when his dates are around. He explained that he is a great fan of Greece, where he has been in several occasions. For the record, he was having rigatoni Bolognese.
FRANCIS MCDORMAND
The star of “Fargo” was in the first class in an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York on a spring Monday morning. I just glanced at her because she looked very sophisticated with her pair of glasses on, and I couldn’t tell right away it was her.
JOHN HODGMAN
The now-famous “PC Guy” from Apple’s Mac vs. PC ads (who is actually pretty smart and does a lot of other stuff beyond the ads) was travelling coach class in another Los Angeles to New York flight. He was sitting just one row in front of me, but few people seemed to recognize him.
COSTAS MANDYLOR
This is the police officer that stars in the “Saw” movies. We met him in the Greek-owned bar Mirabelle on Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles, soon after he had a few drinks :-) He is actually of Greek decent too. It was he most weird experience to chat and joke with him in real life, after seeing him serious and being a bad guy in those creepy movies. It was right after Saw 4 was released, and when I asked him if we would star in any upcoming Saw sequels, he simply replied that as long as they make money in the box office (and they keep making), they will keep filming them.
HOWIE MANDEL
We saw the host of the extremely popular American version of “Deal or no Deal” when we attended one of the show tapings back in Culver City (in the same studio warehouse that “Gone with the Wind” was filmed). We spent over 8 hours there for 45 minutes of actual filming. During the breaks (which are much longer than the commercial time breaks) there are various games that involve the audience. My wife won the first prize (a show’s shirt) in one the contests: over 200 people in the audience voted that she had the hardest name to pronounce! You can read the relevant blog post here (in greek).
JAKE GYLLENHAAL
The star of one of my more favorite movies, “Donnie Darko”, walked right by us after a movie screening at Hollywood’s Arclight cinema - probably the best movie theater there exists. Nothing special about him, just a large beard :-)
STING
This was completely unexpected. We were walking around Kodak Theater in Hollywood with my friend Dimitris (I was showing him around), and right under the great stairace he quickly walked right by us. We looked at each other with Dimitri and said: “Wasn’t that… Sting???”
JESSICA ALBA
We went to Tony’s Tavern, an upscale excellent greek restaurant on Malibu. Many celebrities go there often because the place has good food and they actually live nearby. She looked pretty, but not in the way we are used to in the magazines and movies. She was eating in a corner table, in the shadows, with 4 more guys and a girl in her party. She ate small bites in this μη-μου-άπτου way (I don’t now how to translate this).
MATTHEW PERRY
My favorite star from “Friends” happened to be hanging outside a bull-riding bar on Sunset Blvd. We got pretty close to him but didn’t talk, since he already had some company. He looked much older that we are used to seeing him in the series. I think that was also the same time where we saw a Playboy Bunny sitting in the bar patio (which, my friend Ted attempted to seduce without much success).
PARIS HILTON
That was the day we went to watch the arrivals of thr Victoria’s Secret 2006 Fashion Show at Kodak Theater. We didn’t see the Angels, but we did happen to catch Paris’ late arrival.
DEAN CANE
The star of the Superman series spinoff looked much heavier compared to when he was playing the man from steel back in the 90s. Also attended the 2006 VS Fashion Show.
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE
Upon exiting the parking lot of Arclight cinemas, there is a popular club right across the street. As we drove out I noticed an unusual number of flashes, and near the far corner of my field of view I noticed Justin. “Hm, that’s interesting”, I am thinking. A few feet away I make a 180 degree turn, and as I cross in front of the club’s doors I see him walking out and entering in the driver’s seat of his car that was waiting right there. I got a really close look at him, and he looked exactly like in TV. We then drove away, while the wife was mumbling that “I didn’t see him very well!”. “You only have a single chance in your life to look at him, and you missed it”, I responded.
A couple of blocks later, as we were stopped at the traffic light, she notices the car waiting right next to ours: “Isn’t that him?”. Indeed he was there, waiting in the driver’s seat like everyone else. So maybe people get two chances in their lifes after all.
RACHEL WEISZ
We saw pretty Rachel at the premiere of “Fountain”, at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Not from very close (they won’t let fans approach the red carpet), but we saw her nevertheless.
HUGH JACKMAN
Along with Rachel Weisz (above), we saw him at the premiere of “Fountain” at Hollywood.
TERI HATCHER
She was walking past us at Arclight cinema in Hollywood after watching a movie. She is really tiny. I just cannot describe how tiny she is. Probably the thinnest back I have ever seen.
TOM HANKS
We saw him several times on different occasions. The first was completely unexpected: waiting against a corridor wall in St. Sofia church during Easter Saturday, I saw him approaching, walking right by us, and proceeding to his seat (his wife is christian orthodox). He was then hanging around after the ceremony. He goes there every year, so that’s a sure-fire way to see him. We kept seeing him for several years.
He also sometimes attends the Greek festical around september time in Los Angeles. We saw him twice, both times sitting next to Nia Vardalos.
Probably the most amazing encounter though was at the Greek grocery store and restaurant Papachristo. As we were exiting the restaurant from the back door to head to our car, he was next to the door exiting too. He was holding the door for us to be able to exit too. “Thank you”, I said to him, and we then proceeded towards our cars.
WILL SMITH
I saw him at the late-night show of Jay Leno. Very funny and interesting guy.
THOMAS FRIEDMAN
Every year USC’s president invites a distinguished speaker to give a talk. The New York Times columnist, author of the excellent book “The World is Flat” (or “Lexus and the Olive Tree”), came to USC to give the 2007 talk. It was probably the best overall talk I have ever attended. Even though 45 minutes long, and sitting in the 3rd level from the orchestra level, he grabbed our attention 100%. Well done, Mr. Friedman.
NEIL ARMSTRONG
He was invited to the 2006 graduation ceremony of USC. He spoke very briefly about his moon experience (he must be bored talking about that), and much more about succeeding in the world.
JOHN WILLIAMS
At the perfect concert of the Youth Orchestra of Venezuela, Simon Bolivar called for a friend to come on stage. When John Williams appeared and started conducting the main theme of “Star Wars”, the Wall Disney Concert Hall became a …stadium. Words cannot describe the feelings at that concert.
Source: cinema.usc.edu
TOM HOLMAN
He is behind the letters “T” and “H” in THX: Tomlison Holman eXperiment. He is a buddy of George Lucas, and a professor at USC. He is also the guy who standardized the 5.1 audio for home theater systems. I met him in a demo at their lab, where they develop a 10.2 surround sound system (which is pretty cool). When I asked him about the 5.1 idea, he said he pitched it at a conference in 1985, when they had to decide about the standards for home theater systems. He said people were suggesting 4.0 channels, or 7 channels, or 3 channels, until he poped up and said “5.1”! The .1 is not only thr +1 for the subwoofer channel, but also the 0.1, which gives an idea for the percentage of the spectrum that the subwoofer channel covers.
WILLIAM H. MACY
Another actor I saw in Jay Leno’s show. He is actually a very fine actor and a really nice person.
TONY SHALHOUB
I first saw this guy in Men in Black, where he was an alien having his head blown :-) We were standing next to each other, waiting for our luggage to arrive at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). He had a small beard at the time, so not many people recognized him.
CHARLES BARKLEY
Now a regular commentator for NBA games, he gave a nice interview at Jay Leno’s show a few years back. He’s not that big after all :-)
CARMEN ELECTRA
I have to admit she was the prime reason I went to Jay Leno’s show for the first time :-) She is very beautiful, but not very bright as she avoided (or was incapable) of answering a lot of questions. She did exchange kisses with the audience though.
FAMKE JANSEN
The star of X-Men and James Bond went to the movies at Arclight Cinema in Hollywood, when our paths crossed for a brief moment in the big stairway that leads to the upper floors.
RALPH FIENNES
He was interviewed by Jay Leno at the Tonight Show. Cool guy, made some funny remarks, although he looked kind of reserved overall.
CAROLYN MURPHY
Every year the cover model of Sports Illustrated Swisuit Issue appears the next day at Jay Leno’s show. It was the first time I saw a supermodel from up close,. Frankly, she didn’t look as amazing as you would expect from the photographs.
HARRISON FORD
We saw Mr Ford at Jay Leno’s show. He is actually very shy and reserved when he talks in real life - nothing like the big action hero we are sometimes used to.
SHAQUILLE O’NEAL
Ah, that was an interesting one. We went to see a movie at Century City’s AMC theaters, when we saw Shaq at the very last row against the the wall (at the time he was still at the Lakers). He looked exactly twice the size of every other person in the room (seeing him next to normal people makes you realize just how huge he really is). So we went up to to talk to him. “Hey Shaq, we are Lakers fans, can we shake your hand?”. So he extended his arm as a fist, and we shook fists. And that’s how I touched the biggest man in the NBA.
FOREST WHITAKER
He was the very first person I saw in LA, within the first month I had moved there. He was sitting in a bench at Huntigton Gardens, talking to some people. Nothing fancy or unusual about him, he looked just like an average person. He also made me realize that LA is packed with celebrities.