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“I Landscaped Eminem’s House”: Folks Online Disclose Their Experiences When Working For Famous People And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Stories
There is a variety of jobs that seem very interesting and cool to try. One of these jobs is being an assistant to celebrities. Besides meeting some well-known and adored celebrities, you get to see the life they live, meet other interesting people, get into exclusive places and parties, and maybe receive some extra bonuses or gifts. Of course, there is a lot that we don’t know about this job, so one Reddit user decided to ask those who had been an assistant or know someone who worked for a celebrity to share their experiences.
The question was soon filled with interesting and entertaining stories about some of the celebrities people had to encounter and some more information about these people and how they are in real life.
Have you ever met someone famous or worked for them? Don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments down below!
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I landscaped Eminem's house, one of, if not the coolest guy I've ever met. He would come out probably every hour or so and ask how we were doing, offered to get us bottles of water or sodas. Talked to him about Detroit Tigers baseball for a little bit. Really down to earth humble guy.
As an audio engineer I have worked with countless names including Justin Timberlake, Bieber, Metallica, Slayer, Diplo, Frank Ocean, Ariana Grande, Imagine Dragons, Steven Stills, Skrillex, Linkin Park and so so many more. The one story I always like to bring up is working with Nickelback. I was told they would be with me for a week and my first reaction was "great, just what I needed on my resume /s." I won't leave you all in suspense. They were by far my favorite band to ever work with. Usually in every band, there is one guy who is a total d**k hole. First, the drummer shows up. He starts setting up his kit and is just the nicest dude. He asks me all sorts of questions about my life and shows a genuine interest in who I am as a person. One by one, the rest of the band rolls in each one as nice or nicer than the last. I used to play in a s***ty metal band and every one of the guys is into metal and we have a great convo about music in general. Finally the whole band is there but Chad, so I think, well he's the one then. He's the d**k. Chad finally comes strolling in and he's the nicest one of them all. They're all Canadian and the Stanley Cup finals are on. They just wanna drink beer and hang out and make music. At one point, Chad even does an impression of Patton Oswalt doing an impression of him, which by the way, was spot on. They laugh at people making fun of them because well, they are making music for a living and having a great life. They like music, chicks and money and making Nickelback songs is how they live. They like what they do and have no shame. All around they were one of my favorite experiences in the music industry. 10/10 would work with again.
Not me, but my dad, works backstage at a major theater in New Jersey. They are not allowed to ask for or receive autographs from guest performers. Every time George Carlin appeared there he would "accidentally" leave signed copies of his books behind for the crew.
Matt Damon stands out among the lot. He is the most down to earth actor I have ever been on set with. We chatted like old college buddies on the middle of a glacier each morning. If you are reading this Matt, you and the family welcome to come back anytime for a visit.
Matt Damon got trapped in a seaside village near Dublin when the lockdowns hit. The local community loved him, he was so nice and normal. They even protected him from media and refused to give stories about him as they liked him so much!! https://m.independent.ie/style/celebrity/celebrity-news/we-could-live-in-ireland-matt-damon-on-sea-swimming-dalkey-cafes-and-that-supervalu-bag-40556863.html
My mom used to work for someone in Edgewater NJ and would often go outside for a cigarette break. She said everyday or so she would say hi to a guy with a hat and a nice big dog. This went on for 3 months or so and one day the guy comes up to her on say goodbye because he was leaving. He goes "Miss, do you know I'm Joe Pesci?". She had no idea and said he was super nice and polite and we all think they were such good friends because she didn't recognize him.
I used to work in a super fancy very expensive high end restaurant when I lived in LA (Beverly Hills, go figure). Anyway, I met P!nk once, she was so nice! She tipped $100 and didn't mind when people asked for a picture or something, her daughter was with her too and the kid was so polite for such a young age. Jessica Simpson can go suck a d**k. She was insanely self entitled, called each of the servers her 'slave' and various other names, just an all around b***ch. Other celebrities came in and they were all polite but it's been a couple years
I waited on Danny DeVito, he got incredibly drunk on limoncello but was the nicest man and signed my check pad. Ditto Chase and Jen Utley.
Charles Barkley is a salt of the earth human being with a sweet family. I was the host at an Italian restaurant when he, his wife, and 2 children came in. He made a point to shake my hand (im the lowest on the totem poll as the host) and tell me he really appreciated me sitting him in the back away from people. He waited for the kitchen crew to get basketballs from their cars to sign. The loud mouth on the court and TV is a persona that his job requires/required. Dude is very kind.
I've done a lot of work on houses for celebrities and most of the time you won't ever see them and will only deal with an assistant. That being said, Jane lynch is a lovely lady and Drew Barrymore has the most normal feeling house of a celebrity I've ever seen. So many shoes though. Also Michael Jacksons house is creepy.
I was an extra on the set of a very bad movie, "A Merry Friggin' Christmas." That said, Robin Williams was incredibly nice and rather subdued. Spent a lot of the downtime playing with a couple of the smaller kid actors, kinda like Cool Uncle Robin. Wendi McClendon-Covey was also very down to earth and nice. And Joel McHale is tall. I guess he's nice. Didn't get a chance to chat with him.
Aaron Paul comes into the restaurant I work at whenever he's in town. I work in the kitchen so I don't interact with him directly, but the servers tell me that he's very humble and low-key, doesn't attract attention when he comes in, sits with a small entourage and is genuinely pleasant to be around. He tips well and tries to take a picture with every fan who asks. He looked to the kitchen and kinda thank you-waved to us last time he was in. I was kind of awestruck at how handsome he is. I know he's a hollywood actor, but I didn't expect him to look like he just rolled off a shoot where he didn't get beaten up/put into slavery.
Not my own experience but my accidental bodyguard's:
Shakira is beyond self-absorbed. She got driven around a golf cart and made him run alongside it the entire time
The Coldplay guys are fantastic and down to earth
Justin Bieber was... well, exactly how you'd expect him to be. Bodyguard eventually got so fed up with him that he ended up screwing around with him a couple times to get payback
Was he the same guy who told Bieber he looked good with a beard?? Best payback ever....
I had a chance to sit in on a recording session with India Arie. 4 time Grammy winner, so much beauty and talent, and she is as down to earth, kind, and gracious as any person I've ever met.
An angel on Earth.
My dad runs a company that does security and production for concerts. If there's been a band or a famous person that needs a stage in our town, he's met them. Zoe Deschanel doesn't. allow stage hands to make eye contact with her. Reba McIntyre travels around backstage in one of those typical looking stages cases, so she doesn't get stopped by fans. That kinda bluegrassy band that plays Timshel but who's name escapes me are apparently some of the biggest douchebags he's met. On the other hand, Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne chose to ate dinner with all the stage hands, apparently they're super nice. Def Leppard was bored one day and invited a bunch of the guys to play softball with em. The list goes on.
Mumford and Sons is the name of the "kinda bluegrassy" band.
The Zooey Deschanel one makes me sad. So tired of celebs' "don't look at me" demands. They really force 50 stage hands to control their gaze rather than focus on her own. If you don't want to make eye contact with a person, don't look at them. Ridiculous and entitled. Introvert or not. I'm an introvert and when I need time not being looked at or addressed, I isolate myself. I don't demand others go away.
So I've done a fair bit of work as an extra, occasionally getting to be on set with a few famous people. We're not allowed to just go up and chat to the talent, but from the interactions I've had:
Jeff Goldblum, cool as f**k in person.
Kevin Kline, kind of a d**k.
Morena Baccarin, seemed nice enough.
I was a stand-in for a Nicolas Cage film. He mostly kept to himself and would walk around with a cigar being all Nic Cage-like. During one fight scene there was a small amount of fire involved and something went wrong. He got super angry and started yelling at everyone. It was awesome.
John Leguizamo is just a really nice guy.
I worked at a post production facility that was doing a sound mix for him last year and he was just all around really nice.
I was backstage manager for Peter Frampton at one of his shows when he first moved to Nashville. He is shorter than you expect, but larger than life on stage. One of his guitars, a black triple-humbucker Gibson Les Paul, survived a plane crash and has the burns to prove it. Frampton is a humble, genuine and talented guy.
Peter Frampton joined the British band The Herd at age 16, before forming Humble Pie in 1969, which he left in 1971 to form Frampton's Camel. "30 Days In The Hole" is my fav Humble Pie song.
I was in a commercial with Richard Carne (Al from Home Improvement). Super super nice guy. We got to meet a mountain lion in that shoot.
I used to read scripts for the Austin Film Festival, which would earn me a pass for the writing panels and film screenings for the festival itself. I didn't work with the guests directly but they were pretty approachable, especially after panels and screening Q&A's.
Ernie Hudson, Harry Anderson (of Night Court fame) and Neil Gaiman stand out particularly as being very gracious and friendly. I chatted with Hudson after a screening of a small indie movie he was in and he couldn't have been friendlier. He signed my Ghostbusters II DVD.
Neil Gaiman stayed to sign autographs after a late screening of the film Princess Mononoke, which he wrote the English-language script for. He was also very gracious to every single fan. Got him to sign one of my Sandman trade paperbacks
Server in a fairly classy place. Have met a few notable people.
Michael McDonald (actor) extremely down to earth and nice as can be, offered me tickets to his comedy act.
Don Cheadle was kind of a prick, he didn't show much respect my way (why would he). Also very short and had halitosis. His wife was young and incredibly sweet as was the rest of his family.
The portion of the Boston Red Sox I took care of (coaches, players, and trainers) were extremely kind, laid back, and pretty funny. The coach gave my manager free tickets to the game since he's a huge fan.
George Takei has a fabulous entourage and is a great guy.
I was a chauffeur for Lilly Tomlin a couple of times. She was on the phone 99% of the time she was in the car and was definitely all business. She was not stuck up at all and was nice when she got in/out of the car.
I got to spend the day at Jay Leno's Garage during one of his video shoots. Very down to earth nice guy.
My old guild leader was a music producer. At the time he hadn't done anything big and assured us we didn't know his work. After I pressed him a bit for info he told us he had just done a Britney Spears (post K-Fed) song and didn't want to say anything because he didn't want the guild to make fun of him. The album hadn't been released yet but he was really hoping it would make the album. I could tell he was pretty excited about it.
He had only talked to Britney on the phone, which he said was amazing because she didn't even really need to contact him. She thanked him for his work and was very appreciative. Not sure if his song ever made it on the album as I had stopped playing shortly after. I hope it did.
I was accidentally cc'd in an email chain with Barbara Streisand. Her grammar seemed fine to me.
I worked at Sirius Radio, the most notable encounters I had.
Dee Snider : Hard worker, hustler
P. Diddy : Demanding a**hole prone to temper tantrums
Sam Jackson : Personable & funny
J-Lo : Always angry and in a hurry
Diamond Dallas Page : Funny guy, always on
Mick Foley : Friendly wise a**
Wes Craven : Nice to everyone, even interns
A friend of mine worked at a hotel for awhile as a summer job. Nicki Minaj was touring at the time and she stayed at the hotel. The manager(s) had to brief the entire staff to treat her in different ways according to the colour of wig she was wearing. (I guess her wigs act as a mood ring or something). My friend didn't end up interacting with her.
I did security detail for Zach Galifinakis and he is an anti social burnout that spends all day playing video games in his trailer while he smokes weed. Every day for a two weeks he just came out to eat and didn't speak much to anyone.
I haven't worked with him and I guess he's not that famous anymore, but Kevin Jonas used to come into a small shop where I worked part-time. He was always really nice and would always take pictures with fangirls and s**t. And he complimented my shoes once lol.
Worked in private clubs/nightlife in NYC for three years. Met quite a few celebrities, but the two takeaways I remember most easily;
Lindsay Lohan listens to the worst f**king music. Seriously, deplorable. She also won't let anyone else DJ. But goddamn she danced for about 11 hours straight.
Stevie J from Love and Hip-Hop and his girlfriend/fiancee? are really cool. Actually very nice, very funny, and very in love. They genuinely find the fake fights and tension on their show humorous
i caddied for darius rucker a couple times. huge douchebag, was horribly rude to everyone. this is at a top 100 course in the world.
I've worked with/rubbed shoulders with all kinds of celebrities over the decades. Fact is, they are just like everybody else. Most are pretty decent people, and there are some who are complete dickwads.
Some of these stories likely aren't true or are embellished, anyway, or the people telling them interpreted things how they wanted to without considering, for example, that a celebrity refusing an autograph or not wanting to talk to anyone is not actually rude. I would take them with a grain of salt. I think it's a bit silly and unfair to base your opinion about someone on anonymous internet stories unless a lot of people tell similar stories. Like Cosby--multiple people tried to out him as a rapist for a long time. I believed them because I'd heard it so many times, and then the public finally caught on. But I'm not going to believe one random person's story about a celebrity they probably hate. I honestly don't believe Jessica Simpson called servers "slaves." I don't even like her, but that just sounds made up.
Load More Replies...I have met a few famous/semi-famous people over the years but most were years ago and the people aren't really all that famous anymore and many were never world-famous or even USA-famous. Many were just famous in the music world at the time. I grew up with James Gandolfini and he was a great guy. Also grew up with Karen Duffy(MTV, actress, former model) and we're still friends. She's lovely. David Lee Roth tried way too hard, David Johansson was very nice, Billy Idol was a total jerk, Vera Miles was a bit too friendly(awkward!) Johnny Thunders was just as awful as you imagine, Andrew Eldritch was a huge flirt, Iggy Pop was very nice, Ann Magnuson was friendly...and had a huge crush on my brother.
I'm proud to say I haven't even heard of 75% of the people mentioned in these stories. Also, celebs getting grumpy about fans bugging them and looking at them is kinda like a fish getting annoyed that they are wet all the time. To the dickhead celebs: you wanted it - take it.
I've worked with/rubbed shoulders with all kinds of celebrities over the decades. Fact is, they are just like everybody else. Most are pretty decent people, and there are some who are complete dickwads.
Some of these stories likely aren't true or are embellished, anyway, or the people telling them interpreted things how they wanted to without considering, for example, that a celebrity refusing an autograph or not wanting to talk to anyone is not actually rude. I would take them with a grain of salt. I think it's a bit silly and unfair to base your opinion about someone on anonymous internet stories unless a lot of people tell similar stories. Like Cosby--multiple people tried to out him as a rapist for a long time. I believed them because I'd heard it so many times, and then the public finally caught on. But I'm not going to believe one random person's story about a celebrity they probably hate. I honestly don't believe Jessica Simpson called servers "slaves." I don't even like her, but that just sounds made up.
Load More Replies...I have met a few famous/semi-famous people over the years but most were years ago and the people aren't really all that famous anymore and many were never world-famous or even USA-famous. Many were just famous in the music world at the time. I grew up with James Gandolfini and he was a great guy. Also grew up with Karen Duffy(MTV, actress, former model) and we're still friends. She's lovely. David Lee Roth tried way too hard, David Johansson was very nice, Billy Idol was a total jerk, Vera Miles was a bit too friendly(awkward!) Johnny Thunders was just as awful as you imagine, Andrew Eldritch was a huge flirt, Iggy Pop was very nice, Ann Magnuson was friendly...and had a huge crush on my brother.
I'm proud to say I haven't even heard of 75% of the people mentioned in these stories. Also, celebs getting grumpy about fans bugging them and looking at them is kinda like a fish getting annoyed that they are wet all the time. To the dickhead celebs: you wanted it - take it.