24-05-2025
People Share Best And Worst Celebrity Experiences
There's often a huge gap between who celebrities appear to be onscreen and who they really are in person, and unfortunately, that reality can sometimes be more disappointing than we'd like to admit.
Over the years, the internet has been flooded with firsthand accounts from people who've crossed paths with stars, revealing just how different those encounters can be. Some celebrities sound incredibly kind, humble, and down-to-earth. Others? Not so much.
Recently, I asked the BuzzFeed Community to share their best and worst experiences working with celebrities. Here's what they had to say:
"I was working a flight from LA, and on walked William Shatner." I've been a Star Trek fan from the beginning, in part because my dad was an airline pilot with the last name Kirk, therefore Captain Kirk. I'd hoped to have William on a flight someday so I could relay this story to him. Unfortunately, when I asked him if I could get him anything prior to takeoff, all I got was, in a very angry voice, 'Don't want anything to eat or drink, just leave me alone.'"
—goldenjaguar92
"I just recently worked with Joan Jett! She was AMAZING! I've been a fan of hers for as long as I've been alive, and I collect Funko Pops. I happened to have one of her, so I asked if she could sign it because we worked together!"
"'Worked with' is pushing it, but Keanu Reeves practiced his horse stunts for a movie at my barn."
"I'm not a huge fan, but every time he came, he was genuinely nice to the fans and said hi to me every time we crossed paths and even laughed when my coworker fan girled haaaard and signed stuff for her. This was at the end of what he said was a long and hard day, so kudos to him."—progiant876
"I worked with Keith from the Try Guys last summer and his band, Lewberger. Of course, the same day that they were performing and we were working with them was the one day Houston decided to have a derecho, and a literal tornado took the roof off of the venue he was performing at."
"The first movie I ever worked on starred Patrick Swayze, amongst others. One day on set, they realized they didn't have legal approval to reference an actual place in LA, so the producers were trying to think of a made-up alternative."
"I was standing nearby and heard them and blurted out a fictional name. It was so good, they asked Patrick if he wanted to use that line. He loved it so much he asked me to come help him come up with more ideas to improv his dialogue. We became good friends after that. It broke my heart when he lost his battle with cancer. He was truly one of the kindest, talented, and funniest people I've ever met."—Anonymous, 46, Los Angeles
I was an extra in the show Portlandia. Fred Armisen was the sweetest! They were filming a skit as their book owner characters that I wasn't in, so I was waiting around the set and there was a couch, so I sat there with a couple of other extras."
"Once Fred was done with his part, he came and sat with us. He was asking everyone their names, and he remembered me! He asked how I was liking being an extra. He was still dressed as his character, which made him feel like a loving auntie. Carrie Brownstein was aloof; she didn't talk to the extras, and she didn't hang out on set. In one of the skits, I had a part as 'Carrie's Annoying Friend', and she was either acting or I truly annoyed her because she would glare at me and not talk to me in between takes. At one point, she kept saying 'go away' as we were filming, and she looked and sounded so angry, I wasn't sure if she was even acting anymore. I looked at the crew, and they just stared back, so I walked off the set and no one said anything."—Anonymous, 31, Oregon
"I volunteered to work at the National Civil Rights Museum for the Freedom Awards. Usher was one of the celebrities invited. I opened the door to let him in. He didn't have an entourage, which was very surprising. He shook hands and was very friendly."
"Our job was to shield him from excessive contact with those who might want to get too close. We told him we would follow him around to kind of shield him from the crowd. He politely asked us if we would stand back so that he could walk around and be a part of the crowd. We gave him the space he asked for, and it worked perfectly for him and his young admirers. They didn't overwhelm him, and he was friendly and personable with everyone. I was truly impressed with his friendliness and humility."—Anonymous, Memphis, Tennessee
"Worked for Jerry Bruckheimer as a receptionist in the 2010s. There was a huge fountain in the middle of the office that was always off since we were in the midst of one of California's many droughts."
"But whenever we heard Jerry was coming, we had to run to turn it on to make sure the fountain was going when he entered the lobby, even if he was only there for a few minutes. As soon as he left the building, back off it went."—Anonymous, 32, Los Angeles
"A few years ago, I was working on a production team of more than 30 people shooting a big-budget ad campaign for a prominent eyewear brand that was collaborating with Zayn Malik."
"This was around the time he was dating Gigi Hadid, and shortly after they had their child. It was a three-day shoot, and Zayn, the 'talent,' was arriving to shoot his scenes at the end of the last day for four hours. Day one was set up and preparation, day two was shooting ancillary content needed for the campaign, and day three was dedicated to setting up for the 'talent' to arrive and shoot his scenes. On day three, buzz around the set was that Zayn is extremely difficult to work with, and only essential production was to be on set when he was on set. Well, when Zayn arrived, it became apparent very quickly that he was living up to his reputation. Zayn was unhappy with the number of wardrobe changes he was asked to do between scenes, had a temper tantrum, and stormed off set like a child. We all sat there astonished at the actions of a grown adult professional until the director called it a wrap early, with barely any of the 'talent's' content shot. An entire production team worked for 2.5 days in preparation for Zayn's four hours on set, and after less than two hours, he stormed off like a child because he was asked to do wardrobe changes between scenes. The post-production team cobbled together what they could and was able to deliver an abridged campaign to the kicker is that the campaign was scheduled to launch shortly after the shoot. The launch was delayed because a week after he stormed off set, Zayn received a slew of bad press for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend's mother, Yolanda Hadid. This all tracks with what I witnessed on set the week prior. The campaign eventually launched almost a year later, after things had cooled down. "—Anonymous, 43, New York City
"Years ago, I was working at a very exclusive salon in Beverly Hills. We had a great client named 'Bob' who was funny and totally cool. After a haircut and blow dry, he invited my boss and me to a preview of his friend 'Rob's' new movie."
"My boss took a pass, but I said sure, thinking, 'Yeah, everyone has a movie in Hollywood.' I went with my roommate, not expecting much. To my surprise, everybody who was anybody in comedy was there! It turns out his friend 'Rob' was Rob Steiner, and the movie was When Harry Met Sally! I was floored! Turns out 'Bob' was Bob Zmuda, who created Comic Relief! He was the coolest guy! I never forgot it!"—Anonymous, 60, Novato, CA
"I once worked with James Earl Jones. I hired him to do the audio for a small multimedia show I was directing and producing."
"He was in a studio in New York City, and I was in a studio in my hometown. I had sent his agent the script, which he passed along to Mr. Jones, and he would read it into the telephone, and I would critique his performance.I answered the initial phone call, 'Hello, Mr Jones!' He immediately said, 'Call me Jim.' He must have detected some nervousness in my voice and said, 'Relax, Jeri, let's just have some fun here. I like doing small, innovative projects like this, and you just tell me how you want it and if I'm doing it right.' After several readings, I got EXACTLY what I wanted, and we spent the next 20 minutes talking small talk about his life in Michigan and answering many of his questions about my life. What a fantastic time we had just 'chewin' the fat.' A SELFLESS AND WONDERFUL GENTLEMAN!!"—Anonymous, 81, Grand Rapids Michigan
"Christina Aguilera screamed for her assistant to come running (from across the room) because, 'My coffee is hot. Take the lid off!'"
"Mind you, I was a) doing her makeup and could have done it for her, and b) SHE COULD HAVE USED HER OWN LEFT HAND. Needless to say, I never took a job with her again. We do not reward bad behavior."—Anonymous, 45, Los Angeles
"G-Eazy. He's rude to minimum-wage staff. Gets real nasty when he doesn't get his way. Will utilize his fan base to inflict hate on someone he doesn't like. Dude is WAY too old to be acting the way he does."
"On the opposite end, Dylan Minnette (13 Reasons Why) is an absolute sweetheart who allows the venue to buy extra water bottles for his fans at shows when he's on tour with his band Wallows. He talks with the staff and thanks them for their contributions, everyone from janitorial to security. "—Anonymous, 30, CA
"Worked at a theatre with Piper Laurie many years ago. She was the nicest person, just a sweetheart. Near the end of the run, she took everyone involved with her show, all of us backstage people, to one of the most expensive restaurants in town and bought all of us a fabulous dinner. Great memory. Wonderful, talented lady."
—Anonymous
"I worked as a tour guide and would take celebrities out to see the animals at a famous zoo. I did tours for A-list actors, athletes, and musicians. My favorite was a private tour for Mariah Carey, who insisted on bringing her hair and makeup team on the tour. They touched her up mid-tour. She was nice enough, but was very late for her scheduled tour, I'm talking two hours late for a one-hour tour."
—Anonymous, 42 California
"Worked with and for Paul Simon, nothing like his and rude individual."
—Anonymous, 67, New Canaan, Conn.
"My sister was a designer for one of Timothée Chalamet's minor movies. She told me they had one interaction in which she dropped a pile of papers. Timothée helped her pick them all up, even though he was in a rush, and thought it was his fault! It wasn't though, my sister has always been really clumsy, lol."
—Anonymous
"Used to work for the band Foster the People. They were nice to me and always had a big party after their concerts. Sometimes, Jacob Fink and I would hang out at the party and get a drink."
—Anonymous, 24, Fredrick Maryland
"I was working security for Guns N' Roses when they were just starting out in the late '80s. Tommy Lee and Heather Locklear came to a concert in Pasadena, and I was assigned to escort them."
"I approached and introduced myself. Heather Locklear immediately puts out her hand and says, 'Hello, I'm Heather, nice to meet you.' So genuine, especially since I knew exactly who she was, and she was even more attractive in person."—Anonymous, 60, Los Angeles
"Worst celebrity: Mario Andretti. He flew into where I worked and demanded instant service, got pissed and started poking me in the chest with his finger."
"The boss came out and told him if he poked me again that I had his (my boss') permission to break his arm and shove it up his ass. Then the boss told Mario to get the f*ck out of his usiness. The best celebrity was Keanu Reeves, saw his band live, and when they took a break, he sat on the edge of the stage BS'ing with us like he knew us."—Anonymous, 62, Portland, OR
"Back in the late '90s, I worked on Dharma and Greg starring Jenna Elfman. The set was filled with wonderful actors, but none shone as bright as Jenna."
"She was the consummate professional, always on time and brought the magic every time. It was a pleasure dealing with her, no matter the situation. Jenna was very kind to everyone on the set and knew all of our names and engaged with us when she had the time. I'm sure there are plenty of negative interactions people are submitting, take the worst of them, and that is the opposite of Jenna Elfman."—Anonymous, 61, Los Angeles
Do you have a story about a celebrity you'd like to share? Drop it in the comments.
