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Celebrities and Mere Mortals
| So I live in a city where the streets are rampant with mere mortals that move from point to another. In between these mortals prowl celebrities that wish to lead a "normal" life and not want to be hounded or chased down streets and roads by predators, also known as autograph hunters and paparazzi. I am an autograph hunter but not a full fledged one. Oh let me be clearer on that, I'm not a hunter of sorts, I just happen to bump into celebrities every now and then. London is a place that is buzzing with life, and people from all walks... of life... will be found all over London. People do not necessarily believe me when I say I've seen or met soandso, but in all honesty could the same not be said if I were in New York? Or Florida? Is it just because I'm in London that I can't meet someone from Casulty and end up with their email address? Is it because I'm not glamorous that a certain Mr. Stamp wishes me luck in Soho? Or is it just dumb luck that I bumped into Jason "Lucius Malfoy" Isaac on the street and got chatting with him? It could be a mix of things, but more along the lines of London is a great place to see celebs at their most natural. Honestly, it is! A lot of the time I will meet people from various TV shows and British films in Soho, which is one of the places where media companies seem to set up camp. I've met a couple of people from Coronation Street in a Starbucks in there. I've chased down the street (for a friend - cue blush from Girl, Interrupted) to get Graham Norton's autograph. I've stared at G4 walking past me in the street to Itsu for lunch a number of times, before running up to them for an autograph, and ended up shaking and in a nervous mess thanks to my overload of caffiene just before that burst. Eastenders characters are known to prowl the streets of Soho as well, as I've bumped into "Jake", "Danny" and "Chrissy" all in the same area. I also managed to annoy Dawn French with a request for an autograph for my mother. There are a couple of celebrities though who I've managed to spot but never managed to pluck the courage to talk to. One was John Hannah (the Mummy) who was looking very rugged in a slightly wet trench coat. Another was Dale Winters, only because he took one look at me, realised I'd recognised him but just strolled past me. I've seen Rik Mayall one more than one occassion, and on the third he just stared at me with an odd look about him, probably thought I was stalking him. But I have to say the nicest was seeing Brian May in front of me before we crossed paths crossing a road in front of the Dominion theatre where "We Will Rock You" was playing. It was probably because I'd had just started my MA in London and my new life, and it was the first time I spotted someone famous. My jaw dropped and my eyes widened, plus I was a bit of a Queen fan. He saw my expression and smiled. Realising I was catching flies, I closed my mouth, smiled shyly and made my way across the street. There are a couple more celebrities which I have met, but I can't really disclose on here, for a number of reasons. However, knowing the friends I do (TV and film producers, media researchers and location managers), only ONCE have I made contact with a celebrity, and that was in a detached form. It's sad, as these people come in contact with various names and people, and yet they do not share them. As I spoke to the owner of a media company, I mentioned how friendly Jason Isaac was, the owner turned to me and said, "who?" Maybe the world isn't split up into it's Celebrities and Mortals, but with the few in between who are not dazzled by it all because they see what they're really like without the airbrushing and entourage. It may still make me a little embaressed to ask, but I don't think I could give up the habit or lose the excitment of seeing someone famous on the street. Why should I? |
posted by Lunar Chick at 12:20 pm
