Paparazzi

Groupie. Fan girl. Stalker. I've never idolized any celebrity enough to be considered any of those things (Except for maybe Tina Fey). I just never liked the idea of feeding any celebrity's ego to gush over what they do or who they are. I sincerely think, in this business and this city, that it is vital to stay grounded.

That being said, I also don't mind approaching a favorite actor or actress and telling them I admire and respect their work. I think anyone whose job puts them directly in the spotlight is actually a little obligated to be gracious about meeting fans.

So when the cast and crew of one of my all-time favorite TV shows, Community, set up their catering service right outside our office door today, I carefully articulated my thoughts and said, quite eloquently,

"Gluuhhhhh."

This was my very first time meeting someone- anyone- really famous. I met Vanna White once at a hotel, but I was part of a two-hour line to get her autograph, I was around six, and I had no idea who she was. So when I worked up the balls to cross Lucy Park and thrust out my hand to Donald Glover and Joel McHale, it was a little petrifying. Donald was all of the above things I had previously mentioned a celebrity ought to be. Joel kind of hung back and, I could only imagine, silently prayed for us to leave him the f**k alone and let him get on with his lunch. But he too engaged us in conversation, which was very cool.

Then another intern who works with me, Aimee, who only knows Donald as Childish Gambino, looked straight at Joel and said, her smile wide, "Hi! I'm Aimee. What's your name?"

Joel just looked at her. And as our boss Chelsea would later point out, it is actually a little presumptuous to assume that you're famous enough for everyone to know your name (referring back to being a gracious celebrity). Nevertheless, everyone kind of froze for about 9/10 of a second to register this and McHale's next move. He did that half smile thing. waved his hand and said, "I'm Matthew Lillard. From Scream?"

"Oh! Hi, Matt! Aimee beamed as Tatiana, the other intern, looked at Joel with the focused stare she always wears on her face, even while star struck and said, point blank, "No you're not."

So Donald surrendered to some pictures and we chatted for a few minutes before leaving them alone.

Then the rest of the cast came back for dinner, and we were able to snag pictures of/with Gillian Jacobs, Ken Jeong, Alison Brie, and- my personal favorite- Martin Starr, or some of you may know him, Roman from Party Down. My favorite pic was with Ken Jeong, who literally introduced himself, even though he probably knows that we know who he is. "I'm Ken, I'm Ken," he said, taking my hand. "And your name? Emily! So nice to meet you!" Keep it up, Ken, and one day I'll hire you in one of my movies. :)

All in all, it was a pretty amazing experience, but if all goes well, this won't be the last time I meet someone famous. And not all of those famous people will be kind or gracious. But it's great to get these opportunities and see these things. In LA, people are almost as much sightseeing as any other landmark. It's an interesting balance between human and icon, and maybe one day I'll experience that first hand. Until then, I'll just work on my paparazzi pictures.