Yahoo Lifestyle "She Yelled At Her Assistants And Constantly Stormed Off Set": People Who've Met Celebs Are Revealing What They're Actually Like
It's so heartwarming when you run into a celebrity and realize they're just as cool IRL as they seem on screen. A few years ago, I met Danny Trejo outside his donut shop in LA. We danced together for a minute, and when I turned to leave, he asked if I wanted a picture. A total sweetheart!
On the flip side, I can imagine how disappointing it must be when a celeb you love isn't as awesome as you thought. Well, Reddit user u/Feroset recently asked, "What celebrity were you most surprised to find out was a jerk IRL?" To balance out the negativity, I also included comments from folks who had great experiences with celebs. So, here are 27 celebrities who are apparently either awesome or awful:
I included responses from Reddit threads here, here, and here. Also, these are just responses from random people on the internet, so take everything with a grain of salt!
1.Awesome: Daniel Radcliffe
"I served Daniel Radcliffe his dessert at an event. I tripped and spilled some of it on him, probably due to seeing that I was serving Daniel Radcliffe, and he stood up and started apologizing profusely to ME. Was very sweet and asking if I was okay."
2.Awesome: Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
"My mom and sister met The Rock when he was still a wrestler. They had a couple car seats and tons of bags, having a hell of a time getting off the plane, and people were waiting. Then, this massive guy offered to carry some things for them, and they happily took the help. He grabbed some bags and held the baby carrier with my niece in it, helped them off the plane, and left. After people kept going up to them and asking how they knew The Rock, they were very confused until someone explained who he was."
3.Awful: Zooey Deschanel
"I had a coworker whose sister was a crew member on New Girl. Said Zooey Deschanel treated everyone like shit."
"I worked on a movie set. Zooey Deschanel is very aware that she's a big deal. Not downright mean, but remarkably entitled."
4.Awesome: Paul Rudd
"I met Paul Rudd on a flight from New York, sat next to him on the plane. My buddy leaned over and told me that he wanted to compliment him on this band shirt he wore when making Clueless, but he 'didn't want it to be weird.' So his solution was to write him a note and slip it to him, LOL. So he did this, and Paul just got this nervous look on his face, opened the note, and read it. Started cracking up laughing, leaned over to us, and said, 'Best note ever.' He then told us the whole story of the shirt and how he fought with the costume department about it because it was the shirt he wore to set that day. We talked the whole flight; dude was super cool."
5.Awesome: Jamie Lee Curtis
"I worked with young adults with disabilities and was with a client at GameStop. A woman walked in with a teenager, and they were shopping around. We were the only customers there, and when she asked for help from an associate, I loved the way she spoke. I went to ask her where she was from and blurted out, 'Wow. Has anyone told you that you look exactly like Jamie Lee Curtis?' To which she smiled and replied, 'That's because I am her.'
I apologized and let her get back to her shopping. Afterward, as she was about to leave, I asked her if it would be alright if I called my wife and told her where I ran into her (I didn't know if she wanted her location blasted), and she said, 'Of course. Want to take a picture?' Absolute solid human. Love her."
6.Awful: Jennifer Lopez
"Met J.Lo and Jane Fonda while I worked at a private FBO (an operation at a major airport for rich people to fly out of), and I said hello to J.Lo. Nope, not even a response.
Jane Fonda, on the other hand, said hi back and asked me how my day was. This was when they were filming Monster-in-Law. She was a nice lady."
7.Awesome: Samuel L. Jackson
"Samuel L. Jackson at the Calgary Stampede in Canada. He was super nice. My family went up for it because my uncle is part of the committee that organizes the Stampede every year, and he got us VIP seating. I was a kid at the time, and I was like, 'Does your wallet really say bad motherfucker?' He laughed and said he left that one at home. Of course, when I told the story at school, I told everyone his wallet did, in fact, say that."
8.Awesome: Emilia Clarke
"I met her a couple of times (I worked at a medical research institute she was working with as part of her brain injury charity). She was very down-to-earth, genuine, interested, and involved. Her mum was lovely, too."
"I was fortunate enough to meet her when working in Malibu, and she was so sweet. It was right before the last season of GOT came out."
9.Awful: Ricky Gervais
"Finding out Ricky Gervais is a dick IRL was extremely disappointing. I work in film and wanted to work with him so badly that I took a huge pay cut to work on his movie, Special Correspondents. He was an absolute terror on set. Longest two months of my career."
10.Awesome: Adam Sandler
"I ran into Adam Sandler outside of a Planet Fitness in Brooklyn in early 2016. As I was leaving Planet Fitness, it looked like he was walking in. We made eye contact, so I stopped and held the door for him. He got to the door and stopped right before he walked through, in one of those fake poses that little kids make when you tell them to freeze. I stood there holding the door, plenty confused. For about five seconds, we just stood there: him, motionless, and me, standing there holding the door. Finally, he turned his head and said in the stereotypical Adam Sandler voice, 'Ahhh, who we kidding? I'm not going in there!' Giant grin on his face. We both laughed, and then he continued down the street. Awesome."
11.Awesome: Gordon Ramsay
"Bumped into Gordon Ramsay in the lift in a hotel in Hong Kong. He was very friendly. We didn't talk to him or ask for a picture. I just blurted out, 'You're Gordon Ramsay!' And he acknowledged me and smiled. He insisted on us going first because we had our suitcases with us, wished us a nice day, and said bye several times when we saw him in the lobby again. Very friendly!"
12.Awful: Bill Nye
"Was a huge fan growing up. My brother works for NASA at Goddard in Maryland, and Mr. Nye has been a guest speaker for a number of events. The dude is apparently, according to my brother and his colleagues, a total jerk. Any time I've shared this, I get a fair amount of people disbelieving or saying it's probably a misunderstanding. Look into it for yourself, and I'm sure you'll find many anecdotes of him being an ass."
"I live in the Seattle area. Many individuals I have worked with have personally known Bill Nye (he worked at Boeing/started his Science Guy career in Seattle). They say he is one of the biggest assholes they've ever had the displeasure of working with. I've heard descriptions from 'pompous rat' to 'egotistical douchenozzle.'"
13.Awesome: Gemma Chan
"My sister has met many celebs, and one of the nicest she ever met was Gemma Chan. I’ve also never, ever heard anything other than her being a literal sweetheart when people have met her or even worked with her."
14.Awesome: Tom Hanks
"Absolutely nice. I met him when I worked at In-N-Out Burger a few years back. I took an order to his table and was startled when I saw him. I asked, 'Are you Tom Hanks?' And he looked up from his meal, gave the biggest, friendliest smile, and said, 'You betcha.' When I was clocking out, he was heading out, so I held the door open for him. I said, 'Mr. Hanks, if it’s not any trouble, could I possibly take a picture with you?' He turned around with another big grin and said, 'Walk with me, kid.'
So we talked for about 10 minutes. He asked me about my life, and I told him all of my favorite movies he is in. He gave me some life advice, and his son (very nice but just quiet) took some pictures of us. He gave me a handshake followed by a hug, saying it was nice to meet me. I said, 'I’m glad the most famous person I got to meet was you.' Then they left. Needless to say, my coworkers stared through the windows the entire time and then hounded me for a week about it."
15.Awful: Khalid
"I've been fortunate to have been a part of a lot of different events, festivals, and shows. I've met a bunch of singers and performers throughout my time at these events. The most memorable was this guy, but not for anything good. It was for his attitude towards hotel staff, my colleagues, and his own team. Arrogant asshat. I had to avoid him. I can keep my mouth shut when I have to, but I can't contain my face."
16.Awesome: Harrison Ford
"I worked for Harrison Ford's son, Ben, in his restaurant that lasted a few years in town. I was 14 at the time and a busser. One night, the restaurant was completely reserved by one party. Turns out, Harrison was coming to eat at his son's place. So, as I was pouring everyone their water, I got to the person sitting right next to Harrison, and the water pitcher spilled everywhere. No water spilled on anyone, but I started apologizing profusely anyway. Harrison was laughing his ass off and told me that it was okay, don't worry about, no water got on anyone. He was very nice about the whole thing."
17.Awesome: Megan Thee Stallion
"She is so, so nice! She stayed at the hotel I worked at in college while she was on tour, and the entire time, she and her whole team were kind, patient, and just all-around pleasant to work around! Her dog was super nice, too, LOL."
18.Awful: Rachael Ray
"I used to work for celebrity photographers so I have lots of stories. Rachael Ray is by far the worst 'celebrity' I have ever worked with. Like, shutting down set until she got a diet Coke and soda water terrible. Yelling at her assistants and constantly storming off set. Just awful."
"She was an asshole before she was famous, apparently. A friend of mine saw her doing some cooking demonstration in Times Square right before she made it big (like 2006 or something) and said she was rude to the crowd that gathered to watch her."
19.Awesome: Steve Buscemi
"Steve Buscemi is a genuinely kind man. I used to serve him all the time, and he never once was a diva, always had a smile on his face, and I don’t even think he once had a complicated order. He always ordered the most simple thing on the menu and always tipped 20%+. If he wanted to hide or be left alone, he’d bring in a physical copy of the New York Times and kind of hide behind it, which I thought was super funny because customers would still catch a glimpse of him somehow and approach him anyway. But even then, he was incredibly kind and appreciative of whatever compliments they offered."
"He was a firefighter in New York back in the '80s and spent the week after 9/11 with his old firehouse helping dig through the rubble. I've always thought that really spoke to the depth of his character."
20.Awesome: Dolly Parton
"I met Miss Dolly Parton when I was just a wee kid in Illinois. I've described it as being like meeting the sun. She was just so happy and warm and wonderful, and she was the first person I'd met in real life with a Southern accent."
21.Awful: Michael Jordan
"Met Michael Jordan while off work when I worked at Disney and just casually said, 'Hey, Michael.' Got a 'go away' as a response, which pretty much turned me off of MJ forever."
22.Awesome: Elijah Wood
"The biggest sweetheart of them all is Elijah Wood. What a great actor to interview. Humble, kind, sensitive, and very, very sweet-natured."
23.Awesome: Ice-T
"I went with my parents to a function for some charity group, and we shared a table with Ice-T. Super nice guy, down-to-earth, and not high on himself. He has a mouth on him, but when he found out my dad is a retired preacher, we never heard a bad word again the rest of the night. I ended up talking music and how he goes from rap to metal. Man is cool and knows his sh*t about the metal and punk scene."
24.Awful: Chevy Chase
"I worked for Chevy Chase once. Guy's a dick."
"I met a few celebs working as an event photographer for fundraisers from time to time. Chevy Chase, well, the stories are true. He was a huge jerk."
25.Awesome: Tom Hiddleston
"Tom Hiddleston told me my dog was awesome. So, that was the highlight of my life, LOL."
26.Awesome: Cardi B
"Ran into Cardi B at a Christmas event. Her security was kind of annoying, but when we approached her, she went out of her way to be super nice and take pictures with us. One of the more memorable celebs I've met."
27.And finally, awful: Julia Roberts
"She filmed a movie in the building I went to grad school in (it has a classic-looking lecture hall). No one reported a pleasant interaction with her. One guy rode the elevator with her and asked her to sign something. She didn’t look in his direction, and her assistant snapped, 'She’s not doing that today.'"
"There are stories from the set of the movie Hook where she earned the nickname Tinker Hell."
