Sunday October 14th

On Sunday I saw four famous people all within a space of half an hour (in order of appearance):

1. Richard Gere, who introduced the Dalai Lama at his Holiness' public talk at Radio City Music Hall,
2. The Dalai Lama,
3. Natalie Portman, who was sitting about an aisle away from me, and
4. Rosie Perez, as she was entering the stage door of Studio 54 for her 8PM performance of The Ritz.

More for the list

I realize that there are a whole set of other celebrities I failed to include in the list:

Tina Fey (walking on 7th Ave., between 50th and 51st)
David Morse (walking in Central Park with someone I can only assume was his wife)
Anthony Edwards (at the Columbus Circle Whole Foods, calling out to his son, Wallace, who happened to be walking next to me, crying as he looked for his mom, who was pushing the cart with the Edwards' 2 or 3 other children)
Hilary Duff (shopping with her mom and possibly Halie Duff at the Food Emporium on 49th and 8th)
Brad Garrett (having lunch at Norma's at Le Parker Meridien)
John Norris (on the 1 train)
James Denton (with Ricardo Chavira, at Scruffy Duffy's on 8th Ave.)
Ricardo Chavira (with James Denton, at Scruffy Duffy's on 8th Ave.)
Liam Neeson (doing a reading for mass at St. Malachy's)

Cafe Luxembourg

Tonight, July 21st, I went to Cafe Luxembourg with Fiona, Leigh, and Jen after watching The Devil Wears Prada. Not too long after we sat down, Ralph Fiennes and a woman sat down at a table that afforded me a full face-forward view of him. I was so tempted to talk to him and tell him (once again) that I'd seen him in Faith Healer, both in Dublin and in New York, and that I really enjoyed his performance in Land of the Blind. But I didn't, even at Fiona's urging. He wore an red-orange button-down shirt with the first 3 or even 4 buttons unbuttoned, and his hair long and face scraggly from his character, Frank Hardy, in Faith Healer.

Since moving to New York in September 2004, these are some of the people I've seen:

Chris Noth (wearing a trench rounding a corner somewhere in Midtown)
Cherry Jones (2 days after she won the Tony, walking down Broadway, at 53rd street; a couple of weeks later, walking on 8th Ave., at which time I yelled out, drunkenly, "I LOVE YOU, CHERRY JONES" and she waved back; then in Faith Healer and at the stage door where she claims she remembers the moment)
Frances Conroy (walking up 8th Ave.)
Vanessa Williams (with a bunch of her girlfriends and her daughter, at Rosa Mexicano)
Roselyn Sanchez (at Rosa Mexicano)
Paul Shaffer (on 53rd, outside the Late Show back entrance)
Billy Crystal (on 53rd, outside the Late Show back entrance)
Julian McMahon (on 53rd, outside the Late Show back entrance)
John Kerry (from my apartment window, on 53rd, outside the Late Show back entrance)
Alan Cumming (entering Oceana as I was leaving, and on 53rd, outside the Studio 54 back entrance, signing autographs for a matinee of Threepenny Opera)
Cyndi Lauper (on 53rd, outside the Studio 54 back entrance, for Threepenny Opera)
Ian McDiarmid (stage door, Faith Healer)
Ralph Fiennes (walking down 8th Ave., eating on the go; stage door, Faith Healer in New York)
Julia Roberts (Three Days of Rain, and at the stage door)
Bradley Cooper (Three Days of Rain, and walking on 8th with girlfriend Jennifer Esposito, during which I stopped to talk to them)
Jennifer Esposito (walking on 8th Ave. with boyfriend Bradley Cooper, during which I stopped to talk to them.
John Malkovich (post-film discussion to Tribeca Film Festival screening of Colour Me Kubrick)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (MI:III premiere party)
Laurence Fishburne (MI:III premiere party)
Kanye West (MI:III premiere party)
Rosie Perez (MI:III premiere party)
Jennifer Lopez (filming El Cantante, right outside my apartment building)
Sarah Jessica Parker (talking with Luke Wilson, right outside the AMC 25 theater on 42nd street, not too long after The Family Stone came out)
Luke Wilson (talking with Sarah Jessica Parker, right outside the AMC 25 theater on 42nd street, not too long after The Family Stone came out)

Beginner Gawker

Today was the fifth time I've seen Ralph Fiennes live and the third time I've had the chance to see him out and about as a normal person. I've decided that it's time I start a blog about what it's like to be a normal person - not the press or the paparazzi - seeing celebrities doing normal, everyday things.

It won't always be interesting (because the point is, well, that they're not doing anything out of the ordinary), but I've been lucky enough to see many celebrities and even on some occasions, multiple times, and it's too uncanny not to write it down and record it. So here goes.