Author Topic: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!  (Read 4120 times)

Offline JKingoftheNerds

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #15 on: May 03, 2019, 06:52:10 PM »
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Not at Comic Con but on the way there. We were in Newark waiting to board a plane. All of a sudden, some people started crowding around Peter Dinklage. I didn’t approach him but I turned to make some “oh wow” comments this youngish looking guy and his female companion and we chat a bit he says he’s going to Comic Con too and is moderating a panel. I ask him his name: Christopher Paolini.

That’s an awesome anecdote! I haven’t met many celebs at SDCC (apart from passing a speed-walking Jason Mewes making hard for the MMM lol), but I have met a bunch of my favorite authors. Laini Taylor, Seanan McGuire, Pierce Brown, and Vic James were all very gracious and a blast to meet.

Offline cabler30

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #16 on: May 04, 2019, 02:24:23 PM »
I have met celebs overtime in the past at SDCC, way before it got crazy like to have chance chat them and get pic with or of them with their crew at a booth any. Met Richard Hatch from battlestar galatica before his passing years back. Gal who played hercules sister in the tv series. by chance after the fact was told james cameron had walked by us with his crew to make sure he not get swarmed any. seen variety others in the past and recent.

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #17 on: Today at 12:09:16 PM »

Offline marvelmorris

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #17 on: May 18, 2019, 04:03:17 PM »
Outside of the Comic Con signings/meet and greets, I’ve shared an elevator with the Supergirl cast once and Slash once at the Hard Rock, brushed shoulders with Olivia Munn and Camren BiCondova entering/exiting elevators there too on the twelfth floor as they were waiting to do interviews.

My first time meeting a celebrity at SDCC outside of the con was in 2008  leaving the Westin near Horton Plaza around 3:00 a.m. at the same time David Faustino and his guest was entering the hotel for the night. 

Offline TossedSalad

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #18 on: May 18, 2019, 08:29:00 PM »
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Outside of the Comic Con signings/meet and greets, I’ve shared an elevator with the Supergirl cast once and Slash once at the Hard Rock, brushed shoulders with Olivia Munn and Camren BiCondova entering/exiting elevators there too on the twelfth floor as they were waiting to do interviews.

My first time meeting a celebrity at SDCC outside of the con was in 2008  leaving the Westin near Horton Plaza around 3:00 a.m. at the same time David Faustino and his guest was entering the hotel for the night.

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Fun isn’t something one considers when preparing for Comic-Con, but attending does put a smile on my face

Offline perc2100

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #19 on: May 21, 2019, 11:12:34 AM »
Wow, in the 19 years of going to Comic-Con I've met a TON of celebrities over the years.  Here are a few of my favorites memories:

* I was hoofing it briskly going one way, looking at a paper schedule probably on my way to a panel (this was before CCI had a cellphone app.  And also before iPhones were invented).  I wasn't paying much attention and plowed into some older gentleman, knocking him down and sending his paperwork and things flying.  I started helping him up and realize I just literally ran into Stan The Man Lee.  I muttered a curse word, and started apologizing profusely.  I was afraid a crowd of angry comic fans would have pitchforks out ready to burn me at the stake, when Stan just kind of chuckled, brushed himself off, and said, "that's OK: I'm not gonna Hulk out at you or anything."  I continued to apologize, and he left it at, "don't worry about: just watch where you're going from now on, huh?"  I didn't have the nerve to try to meet him officially for nearly a decade after that (at WonderCon, the first year they were in Anaheim).  He was as nice as one could possible be after getting knocked over at Comic-Con, though to be fair this was before SDCCI sold out every day and wasn't as insane as it is now.

* Matt Groening is a favorite.  I was wondering around the Exhibit Hall and he was hanging out, chatting with some people behind a table, at the Bongo booth.  I went up to him and asked for his autograph.  He says, "I'm contractually not allowed to sign anything today, as I have a deal with Fox that I am exclusively signing stuff for them tomorrow."  He's literally signing a Simpsons poster as he's saying this.  I then brazenly ask, "well, since you're not signing anything today can you also not draw a Bart Simpson sketch for me?"  He looks up at me with a goofy grin and says, "I like the way you think" and sketches Bart for me.  A few years later, I'm wondering around with my son who was elementary-aged at that time, and we wander by the Bongo booth and Matt is there again.  This time in the middle of the booth (not behind a table), and he's kind of blowing off fans clearly on his way somewhere else.  My son just walks up to him (which is weird, because my son is shy and not one to engage strangers at all) and say, "Thank you for creating the best show ever!"  Matt stops, looks up at me, and says, "I think we HAVE to get a pic together, right dad?"  I of course was trying to tell my son to respect Matt and not 'bother' him on his way out; Matt on the flip side was engaging a little kid fan and encouraging me to take a pic of the two of them together.  It's one of my all-time favorite SDCCI photos!

* One year I was taking a picture of some LEGO thing & my older son (who was in elementary school at the time), when a guy comes up and offers to take our picture together.  He says, "Lemme take a picture of the two of you with the LEGO (thing?).  I _DO_ take pictures for a living.  I look up and it's John Landis, director of AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, COMING TO AMERICA, ANIMAL HOUSE, BLUES BROTHERS, etc: a favorite of mine.  I let him take a pic, and ironically it was a bit blurry and not very good (insert snide comment about Landis' late-career here?).

I've had a pint of beer with Edgar Wright & Simon Pegg when they were promoting SHAUN OF THE DEAD.  I've disturbed Carrie Fisher and George Lucas eating dinner in a steak house (Carrie Fisher, when I approached her, practically begged me to not tell her stories of what I might've done to a poster of her when I was a teenager: her wit was 100% brilliant always!).  I've done shots with Kevin Feigi, Joe Quesada, and other Marvel comics luminaries at a party (where I also got a pic with Michael Rooker).  I had some booze with Doc Hammer, co-creator of Venture Bros at an [adult swim] concert/party on the Midway (Dethklok concert that was equal parts metal as eff & hilarious).  I've met Pixar guys (Brad Bird, Lee Unkrich, among others); I've run into the Impractical Jokers downtown; I high-fived Robert Downey Jr. when he was in Hall H for IRON MAN THREE and 'danced' down the isles to the stage.  Jim Lee from DC gave my son and his friend Green Lantern rings one year at the DC booth on a quiet Sunday years and years ago (way before the movie).  One year Duncan Jones (director of MOON, one of the best sci-fi movies of the 00's) delivered Hostess junk food to me in an overnight line for Hall H when I caught him on Twitter saying he was going to get people hopped-up on sugar for his Warcrft panel the next morning.  I told him where I was on the sidewalk and he found me!  I was the only one in my group awake, so we chatted (whispered) for a bit.  I high-fived Zach Snyder the year he drove the Batmobile around the Convention Center the Friday night before the BATMAN V SUPERMAN panel.

I'm not one to seek out celebrities either.  I generally do my best to let them be (the Lucas/Fisher thing I just _HAD_ to tell them how much their work has meant to me over the years), but Comic-Con really can be a magically place.  I haven't run into or met any celebrities the last couple of years, though. 

Offline Angel_

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #20 on: May 21, 2019, 11:24:42 AM »
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(Carrie Fisher, when I approached her, practically begged me to not tell her stories of what I might've done to a poster of her when I was a teenager: her wit was 100% brilliant always!).

This is THE MOST Carrie Fisher Thing possible.  I'm SCREAMIN.  I tend to advise away from disturbing celebs when they're eating, but this is one of those situations where it worked out and had a memorable experience.  But Carrie Fisher always felt like an exception to all rules lol.  Thank you for sharing this wonderful memory of her.
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Offline perc2100

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #21 on: May 21, 2019, 11:44:07 AM »
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This is THE MOST Carrie Fisher Thing possible.  I'm SCREAMIN.  I tend to advise away from disturbing celebs when they're eating, but this is one of those situations where it worked out and had a memorable experience.  But Carrie Fisher always felt like an exception to all rules lol.  Thank you for sharing this wonderful memory of her.
Yeah, Carrie & George were literally my one-and-only exception to that rule.  I'm with you 100%, and Carrie was a LOT more cool about it than George.  In fact, I apologized to Carrie for disturbing her, and she got that patented Carrie Fisher smirk and said something like, "hon, you can't come anywhere near moving my disturbing dial, trust me." 

I think subconsciously I interrupted their meal on the hopes of getting a pithy bon mot from Carrie Fisher.  And damn, she 100% did not disappoint!

Offline dkd

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #22 on: May 21, 2019, 11:52:41 AM »
My advice on top of what was said already is "don't use them just as a selfie prop."

I was at a BBC America Party a few years ago when Orphan Black was still on.  Peter Capaldi and many of the Orphan Black cast were there.  They were there to meet and greet.  An endless string of people would go up to them and do nothing but ask for a selfie with them.

My friend approached them and said, "Look, I don't want a picture, I just want to tell you..." and proceeded to say something nice or start a conversation.  The actors, including Capaldi, were so thankful, some of them grabbed her hand and wanted her to stay longer.  They knew that once she left, it would be another endless bunch of people asking them for a selfie.

I've heard many celebrities say they would rather have a short conversation than for someone merely want a picture and leave.  The latter makes them feel like a trophy and not a person.  I even heard a story once of a celebrity getting approached for a picture and saying, "I could give you a picture and it will last 5 seconds.  OR, I could give you a 10 minute conversation.  The person chose the 5 second selfie.  Zachary Levi even calls people like that "takers", rather than "givers".

I've had a few conversations with celebrities over the years and remember the details of every one of them.  Sometimes I find evidence of a picture of me with a celebrity from a photo op* and I barely remember I even did it.  Just last week, I found a picture of myself with the cast of Orville from last year's Fox Network Upfront and I didn't even remember doing it.


* the few times I've done pictures are official photo ops.  I've never asked for a selfie with a celebrity.


Offline JKingoftheNerds

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #23 on: May 21, 2019, 12:41:16 PM »
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I've heard many celebrities say they would rather have a short conversation than for someone merely want a picture and leave.  The latter makes them feel like a trophy and not a person.  I even heard a story once of a celebrity getting approached for a picture and saying, "I could give you a picture and it will last 5 seconds.  OR, I could give you a 10 minute conversation.  The person chose the 5 second selfie.  Zachary Levi even calls people like that "takers", rather than "givers".

This is a really good point [member=3221]dkd[/member]! I had something of a similar experience with Orlando Jones last year, which I always forget about when discussing celeb encounters, probably because it was so low-key.

I've walked past a few celebs over the years at SDCC (Jay Mewes, Rob Benedict, Richard Speight, and Matt Ryan come to mind) but anxiety/nerves have always kept me from approaching and saying hi. But I was sitting with a group of friends waiting for our food at Rockin' Baja Lobster last year when Orlando Jones came through the Gaslamp Quarter with the Syfy brass band. I'm a huge American Gods fan, and I especially love Orlando's work on the show, so even though I was nervous, my equally anxious friend offered to go with me to say hello. The parade paused so the band could perform, and Orlando was just hanging out behind them, so my friend and I left our group in the restaurant to go seize the day. I'm not big on selfies as it is, so we didn't ask for a pic; I just walked up to him and introduced myself and told him I thought he should have been nominated for an Emmy for his performance as Mr. Nancy because he was so incredible in the role lol. He ended up asking us where we were from and we talked for a couple of minutes until the band started moving again. I think he must have been really pleasantly surprised that the inevitable selfie request never came, because he ended up shaking hands with both of us, not once but twice!

I've purchased those super fast, blink and you missed them photo ops at other cons, but I would definitely say that this experience was way better.

Offline dkd

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #24 on: May 21, 2019, 02:20:57 PM »
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I just walked up to him and introduced myself and told him I thought he should have been nominated for an Emmy for his performance as Mr. Nancy because he was so incredible in the role lol. He ended up asking us where we were from and we talked for a couple of minutes until the band started moving again. I think he must have been really pleasantly surprised that the inevitable selfie request never came, because he ended up shaking hands with both of us, not once but twice!

I've purchased those super fast, blink and you missed them photo ops at other cons, but I would definitely say that this experience was way better.

Fantastic story.

My favorite encounter story wasn't at SDCC, but it went something like this:

I was attending the Tribeca Film Festival in NY.  On a break from seeing several films, I stopped into a restaurant for a drink.  I was sitting at the bar and suddenly noticed a motorcycle helmet being plopped into the seat next to me.  I looked over and James Gandolfini(Tony Soprano) was sitting there in a motorcyle jacket.  It was his helmet.  I was in shock and all that came out of my mouth was "hey" when he saw me looking.

He said, "Hey" back.

That was our conversation.

I turned back to my drink and he started discussing something with the bartender.  He may have been there just long enough to down one drink, but I didn't disturb him or his conversation.  After he left, I asked the bartender if that was who I thought it was.  He said, "Yes, he lives in a condo above the restaurant".  I guess he felt comfortable telling me that because I didn't act like a crazy fan during the whole thing.

Offline Eric_Draven66

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #25 on: May 26, 2019, 10:22:43 PM »
ive only been to SDCC the past 2 years and stay at hotels outside of downtown so I don't get encounters in hotels. I do how ever like to stay overnight in Hall H and that's where ive seen a lot of celebs. I meet a few cast members of Game of throwns. cast of star trek discovery (they were handing out Krispy Kreme Doughnuts lol ) I took a selfie with Sonequa Martin-Green  and Doug jones. Also Matthew Lillard stopped by  and was taking selfies.

Offline DaveG

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #26 on: May 27, 2019, 07:20:38 AM »
I've only had a few encounters and usually am too worried to be seen as a crazy fan and too respectful of their privacy to even approach the celeb.  Random encounters do happen.  I've had them waiting in the Hall H line when a celeb decides to pay their fans a visit (stopped about two feet short of a head on collision with Joss Whedon while heading for the restroom in the middle of the night).  I've seen Zach Levi eating breakfast at the Broken Yolk.  I've seen a few celebs on the hotel elevators.  While not completely random, I saw Chloe Bennett in a hallway being escorted between rooms.  I'm a huge fan and happened to be wearing a Quake t-shirt promoting her charity cause.  She saw me and pulled me out of the crowd for a selfie.  It was all somewhat a blur after that.  The selfie picture was not that great, but the memory is still pretty awesome.

Offline Angie

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #27 on: May 27, 2019, 04:03:34 PM »
I don't have that many "met a celeb" stories because I usually don't like to bother people. I have had many an elevator ride with them and tons of passing them on the street.

My best story that doesn't involve actually meeting said celeb was in 2017. My friend and I were walking from our hotel to the con center. We had taken the same route a few times and I just had this feeling that we should go a different way.

So we are walking down the sidewalk (a few blocks from the con so no one was really around) and this black SUV pulls up to the curb. The door swings open and Jeff Goldblum jumps out. He starts walking fast RIGHT in front us. I mean I could have touched him if I wanted to. My friend LOVES him and is trying not to die. We keep walking and then all of a sudden this guy yells out "JEFF GOLDBLUM!" He stops abruptly and I almost ram right into back! Jeff looks at the guy and he says "Jeff Goldblum! Chris Meloni." and reaches out his hand to him. My friend and I kept walking at this point cause we didn't want to be weird. I think they went into one of the hotels after that.

By far the craziest and most random thing that has happened to me lately at sdcc.

Advice - hang out around the entrances of the Omni, Pendry and Hard Rock.

Offline JKingoftheNerds

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #28 on: May 27, 2019, 04:46:36 PM »
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I don't have that many "met a celeb" stories because I usually don't like to bother people. I have had many an elevator ride with them and tons of passing them on the street.

My best story that doesn't involve actually meeting said celeb was in 2017. My friend and I were walking from our hotel to the con center. We had taken the same route a few times and I just had this feeling that we should go a different way.

So we are walking down the sidewalk (a few blocks from the con so no one was really around) and this black SUV pulls up to the curb. The door swings open and Jeff Goldblum jumps out. He starts walking fast RIGHT in front us. I mean I could have touched him if I wanted to. My friend LOVES him and is trying not to die. We keep walking and then all of a sudden this guy yells out "JEFF GOLDBLUM!" He stops abruptly and I almost ram right into back! Jeff looks at the guy and he says "Jeff Goldblum! Chris Meloni." and reaches out his hand to him. My friend and I kept walking at this point cause we didn't want to be weird. I think they went into one of the hotels after that.

By far the craziest and most random thing that has happened to me lately at sdcc.

Advice - hang out around the entrances of the Omni, Pendry and Hard Rock.

I can definitely vouch for the Pendry--I walked by literally the whole cast of The Magicians standing outside of the Pendry last year.

Offline Angel_

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Re: Met a Celebrity at SDCC? Share Your Stories and Advice!
« Reply #29 on: May 28, 2019, 11:07:20 AM »
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I can definitely vouch for the Pendry--I walked by literally the whole cast of The Magicians standing outside of the Pendry last year.

The Pendry was a surprisingly popular spot for celebrities.  A lot of meetings taking place in the lobby.  Makes me think this is why it seemed nobody actually scored the Pendry at the hotel lottery.  Studios booked the place out.  But of all places, why the Pendry? It's not exactly the closest or fanciest hotel. Super weird.

That said, I was meeting in the lobby for a SyFy thing and there were a ton of SyFy people - actors, PR people, basically everyone - just chillin.
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