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ThatDamnedPanda -> RE: Have you ever met someone famous who turned out to be totally awesome? (4/16/2010 3:41:30 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: brainiacsub Later, in the 90s we also knew many of the hollywoood action stars who used to work out at Golds Gym in Venice Beach- Lou Ferrigno, Sylvester and Frank Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Dolph Lundgren, and others.
The one on Hampton? That's the original Gold's, isn't it? I work out there when I'm in LA, because I usually stay in Santa Monica and it's only a mile or so. It's still infested with stars. I never knew Jeff Goldblum was so big. He looks skinny in his movies, but he's freakin' huge. Not really what you'd call well-built anymore (looks like his age and the Hollywood lifestyle have caught up with him), but he looks as though he was a serious bodybuilder at some point in his life.
I once met someone interesting about a mile north of there, on the Santa Monica beach. I was just trucking down the beach, waiting for the sunset, and coming from the other direction I saw this dumpy little guy ambling toward me. I thought he was a bum, from the way he was dressed, and was quite surprised when he strolled past a trash can without stopping to root around in it. I kept looking at him, because he seemed so incongruous - he was dressed like he just got kicked off a boxcar, but had this weird, above-it-all presence to him. It was like he was walking 3 feet off the ground, head back, calm smile on his face, not a care in the world.
So I'm watching him come closer, and by this time he sees that I'm looking at him, so he's looking back at me with this quizzical little smile on his face. Which made me even more curious. As he got about 15 feet away, and we were looking right each other, I could see a little tease in the smile; sort of an "are you going to figure it out?" look. And there was something about the twinkle of the eye... all of a sudden, just as we drew abreast of each other, it hit me like a brick - "Jesus christ, that's Dustin Hoffman!"
The instant I got it, his face lit up with a big, warm, "you spotted me!" smile. I grinned back at him, nodded, and waved as we passed. I figured he was just out for a walk on the beach, like i was, and he had the right to enjoy himself without being pestered. But I kept thinking about it, how remarkable it was that I'd just exchanged a wave and a nod with one my all time favorite actors, and was really disappointed that I hadn't even had a chance to talk with him.
And about 20 minutes later, I'm standing there with my camera watching the sun set, hoping to catch a picture of the green flash - which i'd just seen the day before for the first time in my life. As I'm watching the sunset, with my camera ready just in case, I heard this rich, luxurious Voice from about 5 feet to my right. He was just standing there. I don't remember what he said; something about taking pictures of sunsets. I told him I was hoping to get a picture of the green flash, that I'd just seen one the day before and was hoping that since the atmospheric conditions were the same, I might get lucky. He'd never heard of it before, but seemed interested, so I explained it, and we talked for quite a few minutes about a number of things.
He's a very intelligent guy, and extremely perceptive. He doesn't miss much. Very low-key, calm, personable, just a genuinely nice human being. Very interesting conversationalist; one of those people who, no matter what you're talking about, you're going to find it fascinating, because you never know where he's going to take it next. I can't even remember all the things we talked about, but the one thing I never brought up was the fact that he was Dustin Hoffman. I figured that if he felt it was important, he'd bring it up himself, and if he didn't I was going to respect his privacy. Of course he knew that I knew who I was talking to, and he did mention the film industry a number of times, but I never talked about who he was.
I think that he kind of appreciated that, but there were a million questions I was dying to ask, and wish the situation would have been such that I'd felt comfortable doing so. If nothing else, I'd have liked to have at least told him how much I've appreciated his work over the years, and how much it's meant to me, but in the end I felt I had to leave it unsaid. Maybe someday I'll get another chance. Great guy. I could have stood there listening to that voice until I toppled over from starvation. Turns out he's originally from Santa Monica, but I never knew that before. Never knew what a tiny man he is, either, which I'm betting is part of the reason nobody who walked past us that entire time seemed to have any idea who he was.
Brad Pitt was another guy in that same vein. I met him here in Minnesota 10 or 12 years ago. Can't remember why he was here, but he was in town for a couple-three weeks, and he worked out almost every day at the YMCA where I was a member. He said he was bulking up for a movie, which i think was probably "Troy." Not many people recognized him, because he doesn't look anything like Brad Pitt when he's working out. Just looks like another guy with a baseball cap and 3-day beard. He was a really nice guy, quiet, friendly, actually kind of shy. Very soft-spoken. We talked about restaurants and golf courses; apparently he likes to golf, and was excited about all the good courses we have in the Cities.
Emilio Estevez was another. I met him while he was in Minneapolis filming "The Mighty Ducks." I took a day off from work for some reason, and my girlfriend and I decided to catch a matinee of "Bugsy." As we were going in, he was coming out, and I asked him how the film was. He looked kind of detached and distracted until i asked him how he like the movie, and then he snapped to attention. That got his interest, and he warmed right up to the subject. I didn't realize who he was until he started talking, and then I was just blown away by the level of detail with which he discussed the film and the performances. That was a great conversation for someone who loves movies as much as i do. He wasn't a really outgoing guy - kind of reserved and self-contained, but he loved talking about movies.
Oh, and Matt Dillon. He was filming something here about 5 years ago, and they were using our offices as a set for 3 days. We mixed with the actors and crew for much of the week, and they were all terrific people, except for him. Quite a prima dona. He seemed very impressed with himself, and he was probably the only person in the building who was. One young secretary was just giddy over the chance to meet him, and when she asked him excitedly but quite courteously for an autograph, he rolled his eyes and said something like, "oh, christ," before signing. I don't think anyone who worked there has a good memory of him, and members of the crew spent a lot of time following him around and apologizing to us for his attitude.
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