15 Pretty Funny Stories About People Who Met Famous Celebrities And Had No Idea

Reddit user u/Kimantha_Allerdings recently asked people to share a time when they met a celebrity but didn't let the celebrity know they knew they were famous. Out of all of those responses, there were several great stories about people who had NO idea they even interacted with a celeb. Here are the best ones...

NBC

1."I was 10 years old in 2002 when my mom took me to the Bronx Zoo for the first time. It was a rainy day, so we practically had the whole place to ourselves except for three British kids running around, chaperoned by a woman. My mom quickly befriended the woman while I made like a kid and joined the hoard. When we said our goodbyes, my mother told me that the kid, Daniel, who I had been hanging out with had played Harry Potter in the movie that came out last year."

u/Syntactic_Acrobatics

2."My cousin rode a ski lift with Jack Black in Vail — just the two of them. Her husband and I were in the lift behind them, freaking out. When we got off the lift and they’d gone their separate ways, she was like, 'Wow, that guy on my lift was so nice.' We were like, 'NO SHIT THAT WAS JACK BLACK.' She was like, 'THE SCHOOL OF ROCK GUY?!?!' She was so embarrassed because she rambled on about living in Iowa for most of their conversation. We laughed our asses off."

u/palexander_6

Paramount

3."My friend's mom (over 70 years old) owns a small Asian grocery store. Post Malone came walking in with his girlfriend and his mom had no idea who he was. A few cute things happened..."

"1. She was nervous because of his tattoos, but happy/not worried once he bought a lot of food.

2. She gave him a free snack for buying so much food and told him to come back for lunchtime for cheap and tasty gyoza (he did come back the next day)!

3. She was worried he would get mugged going to his car because of three big men (they were his bodyguards) outside, so she followed him out.

She told my friend about the encounter that evening and he pulled up a YouTube video based on the description — it was him. When Post Malone came back the next day for gyoza, she got a selfie with him."

u/Resviole

4."My mom yelled at Pierce Brosnan. She and my dad were at a ski resort getting lunch. My mom was hangry and was waiting in line to order. Right as she's about to order, a guy tried to cut in front of her. She snapped and told him to go to the back of the line like everyone else. She got her food and went back to my dad sitting there mouth wide open in shock. He asked if she knew she just yelled at Pierce Brosnan. Her Response? 'Well, he shouldn't have tried to cut me.'"

u/XANA12345

giphy.com

5."We were vacationing in Maine and my father-in-law would walk his dog early on the beach everyone morning. He met this lady and they would meet up, walk their dogs together, then go their separate ways. One morning I got up early to come with him and, to my surprise, we met up with Sigourney Weaver. He had no idea who she was."

u/Londonforce

6."I met Justin Timberlake and had no idea it was him until someone told me afterward. I went to the bar to order a beer before a basketball game started. There was only one seat at the bar next to a guy in a baseball cap and sunglasses. I politely ask if the seat is taken and he just says, 'Nope, it's all you, man.' We shoot the shit for a couple of minutes. He's sitting on my right and eventually, he says he and his wife are going to go to their seats. He extends his hand and asks my name. I tell him and ask his name. He says, 'Justin. Nice to meet you dude, have a good night.'

"He and his wife leave and the bartender comes up to me and says, 'You know that was Justin Timberlake, right?' I immediately did a double-take and couldn't believe I didn't recognize him even with the hat and sunglasses. I told my girlfriend at the time who was a huge Justin Timberlake fan and she couldn't believe I met him without knowing it was him. She wouldn't let it go for like a month."

u/Ken_the_Andal

7."My wife took my son to the zoo, and he wanted to read every little plaque in the reptile area. My wife was distracted for a moment, so he asked the nearest stranger to read the plaque for him. My wife turned around to see Scarlett Johansson happily reading the info to him."

u/mojomann128

ABC

8."One of my best friends doppelganger is Ethan Hawke. It's scary how much he resembles him. One night I was walking home from work in NYC and saw who I thought was my friend, John, just walking in a kind of secluded part of town. I yelled, 'JOHN!' but he didn't turn around. So, I decided to yell it again, and instead of responding, his pace quickened. I decided the best thing to do was run at him. I caught up to him, got a closer look, and said, 'Oh, you're not John' as I walked away from a very frightened Ethan Hawke."

u/whereegosdare

9."My mom is a big sports fan. One time she was shopping and saw a really large, fit-looking man who she didn't immediately recognize, but seemed familiar. She thought it must have been a professional football player or something, so she went up to the only other person in the shop, who was this smaller guy, and asked him if he knew who the athletic-looking man was. He said, 'That's my bodyguard, I'm Elton John.'"

u/tastefulsidebutthole

NBC

10."A couple of years ago my sister and I were at Comic-Con. We were at one of the booths waiting for their giveaways when a man suddenly came up beside me all excited and in a bit of wonder. He told us how great everything was and how much of an experience it was for him to be there. He asked where we got our poster tubes and I pointed him to a far-off booth. The man was Owen Wilson. I hadn't been sure it was him because I always thought he'd be a lot taller."

u/pinecone316

11."Was at a convenience store in LA when and a very nicely-dressed gentleman and I walked up to the cashier at the same time to pay. It was nighttime, he had dark shades on, and was talking on his phone. I gave him the 'after you' gesture, nodded, and said, 'Thanks buddy.' He then paid and left. It wasn't until he was out of the store that I realized he was Jamie Foxx."

—Anonymous

Netflix

12."Jerry Seinfeld tried coming into my coffee shop, but I told him we are closing so we can’t help him. Didn’t realize it was him until I turned around. Sorry, Jerry!"

u/montaukmindcontrol

13."In 2010, at a San Diego Comic-Con, I was riding the escalator down and had made a Heath Ledger Joker Muppet as cosplay. I saw this dude with some big entourage of people following him up the escalator into the lobby. As we intersected, the dude looks over at me, points at my muppet, and goes, 'Hey, that's cool!' I said (via the muppet), 'Thanks, man!' and went on my merry way down towards the exhibition hall. I exited and it struck me that it was Ryan Reynolds (he was there for the Green Lantern panel)."

u/basa1

NBC

14."My husband was vacationing in Arizona, killing time in a bar over a burger and a beer. A guy sits next to him and my husband has a nice chat with him. The guy leaves and my husband goes to close his tab and the bartender tells him it’s been covered by the guy he was talking to. My husband has no idea it was Chuck Norris — or that he was at his bar."

u/diskebbin

15."I (almost literally) ran into Shaq at a small restaurant in LA. He was standing in the doorway. You know how some people are so tall you don't 'see' them? Well, I was exiting the doorway, and said, 'Excuse me, man' and he stepped aside so I could leave. He is one large human being."

u/etpooms

NBC

Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.

Have you ever met someone famous and didn't realize they were a celebrity?! Share your encounter in the comments!