Meeting the Stars Etiquette OR how to Not Be An Idiot

“Don’t hug Nathan Fillion,” the girl scanning our ticket said. I rolled my eyes. “We've already had an incident,” she continued by way of explanation.
  Behind the curtains screening the line we waited in stood the star of Castle and the short lived sci-fi cult favorite Firefly along with his co-star Adam Baldwin. The family and I, dressed in outfits emulating our favorite sci-fi characters, looked forward to the opportunity of having our pictures taken with these men.  The girl’s admonition stuck in my head and I though “what idiot would presume to encroach on his personal space like that.”

Here are a few pointers for meeting celebrities:

(1) (unless they offer)

(2)

                        (do not give items to celebrities they have no place to put them and no room in their suitcase)  

Jonathan Frakes, Michael Dorn

(3) ON THE ‘STREET’ sometimes you will be in the right place at the right time and will meet with a celebrity as they are going from one venue to another. Stand back, obey security and have your camera ready- you just might get a candid shot.

Brent Spiner

 (4) In a Q & A session- NO PERSONAL REQUESTS they are not DJs. Over and over I’ve seen excited people come to the mic and ask for a birthday wish or for the celebrity to say “hi” to their mother, more often than not the exchange goes like this:

           
          Excited girl in a high squeaky voice: “It’s my sister’s birthday today and mine tomorrow. Could you please wish us happy birthday.”

                Celebrity, as he’s turning away, in a subdued undertone of voice, “happy birthday us” and he’s already taking the next question.  

Instead try this approach:

Oh, yeah! He gave us a nice "congratulation"

(5) At an AUTOGRAPH SIGNING- yes you have to pay for these but you should get a few minutes to have a personal chat with the celebrity- think carefully about what you want to say and don’t hyperventilate or cry while standing at their table. Also, stay just a few minutes. The star or their assistant will signal when it is time to move on. Have respect for those in line behind you and give them their few minutes.

[as a side note- S3 saved his birthday money to get Adam Baldwin’s autograph on the replica ‘Vera’ he had made, the people in front of him co-opted Mr. Baldwin’s time corning him into a pod cast interview. Mr. Baldwin tried to get them to move on, but he’s a nice guy, unfortunately it took 15 minutes and  he was on a tight time schedule so the rest of the line including S3 got slighted their time to chat with him. S3 took it well but this mama bear wishes she had there to move those rude persons along]

(6) In a professional PHOTO SHOOT- no hugging and no chatting unless the celebrity initiates it.  Step into place, smile and say thank you. If the celebrity offers shake their hand.

Most photo shoots have a limit to the number of people allow in the photo. You may be able to arrange for more than the limit, but expect to pay for it. Figure out how you will arrange your group around the celebrity before stepping into the shoot. When it is your turn get into place quickly, take a deep breath and smile.

In order to get more than four people in the photo shoot we had to buy two photos.  

Here’s the first photo:

S3 as Jayne; Adam Baldwin, SIL1 & D1 CIA agents from Chuck, Nathan Fillion, me as Aeryn Sun, Farscape, S2 Dr. Horrible, Mr. W Captain Hammer

Then, when it was understood that we got two photos, Nathan Fillion immediately said:

"Let's look to the future (short pause, cue the dramatic voice) and the future is in THAT corner"

And, yes, Nathan Fillion has his hand on my arm the whole time. BTW Mr. W loves these pictures; he’s convinced Mr. Fillion thinks I’m hot (see above video with the fist pump) he even cropped the picture (then I did a little photoshopping):

 

Here is S3 with Adam Baldwin- Mr. Baldwin’s comment “nice indexing” (meaning he like the way S3 kept his finger off the trigger- something he talked about later in his Q&A session).

S3 as Jayne with the man who played Jayne

S3, S2, Mr. W and me with Karen Gillan

Jayne, Chuck, Karen,  2 undercover CIA agents (from Chuck)

Be Respectful  Be Polite and everyone will have a Rockin' time