By IN LA BY HEIDI MANTEUFFEL
One of the perks about living in LA is not so much the people that run into you on the freeways, but the people you bump into walking around town. You don’t usually see your neighbors as often as if you lived in a town of 10,0000, but you do run into some people that can give you a different sort of glow — celebrities.
As much as I say I’m not star-struck, I never turn down the opportunity to tell someone what famous person I saw this week. All in all, you gotta admit it’s fun to call your friends and tell them you saw Steven Spielberg eating lunch while they saw your fourth grade teacher at Taco Bell. And the great thing about having so many prominent actors in LA, not to mention the plethora just on the brink of a comeback via reality shows, is that you’re always bound to have an interaction with one of them. The fact that the excitement isn’t reciprocal is besides the point.
And we all have our list we spout out to people when this specific phrase ensues: “Oh, I bet you see a lot of celebrities living in LA.” Yes we do. So here’s mine.
In my walks down old Malibu Road when I actually lived in Malibu, I ran into Adam Sandler and John Cusack as Cusack was moving in. I had my headphones on, though, and was wearing a two-piece and jean shorts for tanning purposes. So unfortunately I just ignored them as I thought they were checking me out. It wasn’t until the neighbor at the next house stopped me to asked if I knew who I had just past that I finally realized who they were. Needless to say, I was embarrassed I had been rude for no apparent reason.
My sister and I were walking around Westwood one night, and who pops up in front of us but Paul Walker. He thought my sister was cute, and she is, but 20 15-year-olds thought he was cute and rushed after him at the next stoplight. We later deduced from the blinking marquis and big hullabaloo in front of the theater that “Fast and the Furious 2” was premiering that night Down at Cross Creek in Malibu I always run into celebs. I saw Martin Sheen eating lunch with a friend and just today saw Dean Kane playing with these blondy kids which I assume are his children. But you also see the more struggling-types down there, like the witchy girl (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe) in “She’s All That,” and the underwear model (Andrew Keegan) in “Ten Things I hate about You.” I don’t think O’Keefe had to act very hard as she came across the very same way on screen as off.
The funny thing is that some stars, usually the struggling ones, are dying for you to notice them, and literally stand out for 10 minutes at a time in a parking lot, while others just want to be left alone. Mark McKinney from “Kids in the Hall” was extremely low-pro when we saw him walking down Montana Avenue. The football jock from “Can’t Hardly Wait” was extremely chill when filling up at a 76 station and surprised I even recognized them. And then there are others like Dick Van Dyke who adorably whistle when they’re behind you in line at Sav-On. Chim chim charoo.
But the problem with celebrity sightings is I often don’t see them the first time around, making me do a conspicuous 360 to get them on my radar. I think I inherited it from my mom who yelled out “Where’s Kevin Bacon? Who’s Kevin Bacon anyway?” as he sat four tables away from us in Marmalade Cafe.
So needless to say, a scene like that ensued this past Friday as my boyfriend and I attended the opening night of “Movin’ Out.” Photographers were ready to take pictures not so much of the performers in the production, but the celebrities swarming the event. Jennifer Love- Hewitt I hear was supposedly there, and Billy Joel of course attended and even played two songs at the end of the performance.
The ones that struck me as we saw them mingling in the lobby were Donald Faison, the guy from “Scrubs,” “Can’t Hardly Wait” and “Clueless,” kicking it with his girlfriend; some guy from M.A.S.H. (my boyfriend pointed him out), as well as Henry Winkler, best known as the Fonze. That’s when I did a 360 and said “Whait, where’s the Fonze.” I finally saw him and noticed Winkler rolling his eyes. I think it’s sad when they see you before you do.
But what I most noticed with all these celebrities Friday was how normal they were. Their girlfriends weren’t outlandish in the newest Etro getup. They didn’t make any special effort to be noticed, or necessarily even want to be. They were just doing everyday things like getting snow-caps at the theater’s concession stand, and standing there as they knew no one either. So I guess the next time I see a celebrity on Santa Monica Boulevard, I probably will still tell someone, but I’ll do my very best to be less conspicuous about it than they are. (Heidi Manteuffel is a resident of Santa Monica and a freelance writer. To reach her, e-mail to).
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 21, 2004. Read the original PDF.