Sugababes at Auckland airport (this was the early nauties and I was a young child) they're teeny tiny
More "recently" Rihanna. Didn't ask for a photo I mouthed "you're Rihanna" she mouthed "I know" winked, smiled and kept moving.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Rihanna remembers you for that interaction, acknowledging you know who she is without interrupting her day, that’s the kind of fan celebrities love, it’s a lot more human feeling than getting up in their face oogling at them like they’re a Zoo animal
Nah, she must've been staying close/near the viaduct before her concert. She was literally at a shop getting snacks (from memory) it was her, and I assume an assistant or a mate?? And she wasn't dressed like she was famous. She happened it lift her Sunnies up at the time I looked.
Years ago I was hanging out at a mates food truck in christchurch, some people were in front of it with their backs turned to us. I was looking at one of the guy's boots, they were fabulous and I said to my mate "those boots look like something Noel Fielding would wear" as he turned around and it was indeed Noel Fielding. I was (still am) a huge Mighty Boosh fan and I fan girled pretty hard, he was super lovely though and drew me a picture and took a photo with me
On my first trip to NZ I was terribly jet lagged and dying for a shit. I went into a mall and shat my brains out. As I was leaving I ran into Sam Neill, who went into the stall I just destroyed.
Dr Grant inhaled my jetlag shite.
Mate of mine bumped into him at the RSA there. He thought he was having an LSD episode til he spoke to the barman who said. "Yeah, that guy comes in here a bit when he's in town".
John Campbell. Walked past him at the park with my toddler. I didn’t recognise him at first & was peering at him trying to work where I knew him.
He looked straight at me and gave me a huge smile and said Hi like we were old friends. He gave my son the loveliest, warmest, genuine smile like a proud uncle.
5 mins later I realised I didn’t know him personally at all & he was off the telly! It’s like he just decided to be friends with everyone in NZ. Seemed like a lovely guy!
He is the nicest man. Hilary Barry is great too, used to serve her in a food store on Ponsonby Rd years ago
Less nice was Denise Le’Strange-Corbet lol she was way too cool to be nice to lowly hospo workers
Was in a bar in Auckland when Taika and Rita Ora walked in a couple of years back.
Also walked out of Deadshot at the same time that Frankie Adams (Draper in The Expanse, also was in Shortie) entered which was a coincidence as I'd just started watching the series
Sam Claflin (Finnick in Hunger Games).
At a mates BBQ in Howick. Chatted to him for 15min. Easy chat, really down to earth guy. After he left I found out why all the girls were looking in our direction.
kendrick lamar went op shopping on K rd while i was in there. he rolled up in a fancy car with a driver who double parked and he and his entourage walked in smelling horribly of weed. my friend talked to him and kendrick asked what his fave song by him was and he started singing/rapping it in the store. very chilled out, but of course he was cuz he was high AF. he stayed for less than 3 mins, i don't even think they looked around? not sure why they were op shopping in the first place 😂 it felt like he was just there to see if anyone recognized him.
back when he was PM, i also saw john key and his wife shopping in Rebel Sport Panmure. well, his wife was shopping in the tennis clothes section, he just looked bored as he and his security guard stood around.
my friend used to live in Mt Eden and saw Jacinda pushing Neve around the block in her stroller back in the day
Not auckland but i sat directly behind David hasslehoff and Rhys Darby on the plane from wellington to invercargill. Rhys spent the flight trying to explain kiwi slang to the Hoff
Actually, aside from the assault that he got sacked for, he has a fantastic reputation for being a nice bloke. Everyone loves working with him, which I guess explains why he wasn't 'cancelled' when the bbc sacked him.
Yip, he was looking for recommendations for a good/better bar/pub than the one I worked in. Qantas Aircrew used to stay there too and they were all trying to tag along with him and I assume the band/crew.
I served Greg Davies an orange juice at the restaurant I worked at. He saw that I recognised him, but it was obvious he didn’t want to be bothered and we only had a small interaction.
Somewhat relevant story: I served Simon Bridges when he was having a lunch meeting with a couple others. I entered the customer name on the docket as Soimon Brudges as a little joke to myself and the chefs. Unfortunately, my
colleague was new and when Soimon came up to pay, he printed the docket with my little joke and presented it to him. It was so obvious who had named the docket that he looked over at me with such an expression of sadness that I almost felt guilty. Almost.
Ah, you’re so right. It was obvious he really wanted to stay low-key (he was even wearing a cap and sunnies to hide his face) and I would have felt bad making a fuss. Still, I’m glad I met him briefly.
Mostly see them at work:
I saw Jack Black a couple of times. Sat down and talked about guitars and Minecraft and the like.
Sampha was pretty cool and chill to talk to.
Annie Lennox (Eurythmics) She was at an after hours chemist, Wellington City, After 8 pm. She was buying Tampons! (She really did) I waited for her and what must have been her bodyguard, to exit said chemist and from a distance I said to her how much I love her music. She gave me a big smile and said Thankyou, and that she thinks New Zealand is one of the best countries she's been to.
Not huge international celebs. But iv bumped into David Tua and Jonah Lomu.
Tua pulled up next to me and a friend in new market and said to my friend he had a nice car and we started talking about cars for a few minutes.
Jonah Lomu was at the panmure Mobil gas station a few years before he died. My dad got out and didn’t even recognise him and asked him for help with something and Jonah was really nice to him and shook my dads hand. Wasn’t till dad got back in the car and I told him did he realise it was Lomu.
I used to work at the old Event in Newmarket, we held lots of premieres and events so we’d often get a lot of local celebrities coming in. There’s a couple that stick out to me.
Graham Henry, who was trying to decide which screen to go into (premiere of Dan Carter’s film - 2 screens showing it and they could go into either one). He’d had a few drinks I think but he was chill and pretty funny.
The other was Karl Urban, he came in on a regular quiet morning to see a movie. I was training a new girl on the register and he was lovely, didn’t seem to mind that it took a bit longer. Not super chatty but still friendly.
That job had far better interactions with well-known people than in the job I had prior to that in Tauranga. Thank god.
I work for one of the major luxury stores on the bottom of Queen Street. We get a fair few celebrities coming in especially at the end of last year/beginning of this year.
Notable mentions include Migos, Becky Hill, Jason Mamoa.
From my experience they all seem to absolutely love our country and our people and are very down to earth. I was expecting Migos to be the typical loud American rappers but they were very chill and were happy to chat!
My daughter saw Jack Black riding a scooter in Mt Eden a few months ago.
I've been shopping at the Victoria Park New World with Karl Urban and Neil Finn (he almost ran my daughter over with his trolley - her fault, then we passed each other in every aisle after that because we were going in opposite directions and even ended up walking out to our cars at the same time. It was kind of weird.)
I've had crepes at Ponsonby central with Rhys Darby and his wife.
At the lantern festival, John Key picked up my daughter and kissed her. I was not amused.
But my favourite story is my (now ex-) husband's. He was a member of a tennis club and had told me about an American who had started coming to classes and they would sometimes stay after and have a match. One day he come home and asked if I remembered that new American guy. Yep. He said his name was Rainn something. Hmmmm. He said, he had found out he was on the US version of The Office. I just stared at him. You've been playing tennis with Rainn Wilson all this time?! Yep. 😯😯😂😂 It was when The Meg was being filmed in Auckland.
Yep! And he didn't know it. 😂😂
I told my husband he had to invite Rainn over for Thanksgiving (I'm originally from the US) but luckily for my husband, who DID NOT want to invite him, Rainn was going back to the US and didn't need to.
Jason Momoa... Bumped into him near Victoria Park.
We were training for cricket. Pretty chilled dude. Asked about the sport and stayed for a lil while and watched
Also Jason Momoa - he was eating lunch at one of the restaurants in Wynyard. People generally seemed to leave him alone, except sneaking totally not creepy paparazzi photos.
Walked by Robin Williams in Wellington one time
Served waffles to Micheal Wincott from my food cart (it was his voice that caused me to look up). Still have a photo of him.
John Key said hello to me when I walked past him at the airport
Macy Gray, Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter on Waiheke.
Karl Urban and Katee Sackhoff in Newmarket.
Was going to get Karl to sign something for a mate of mine but the only thing I had on me was a bluray of Magic Mike (not mine, I swear) and so I decided that was not going to go well for anyone.
I shared a ride with Karl to the music awards. I had no idea who he was so I asked him what he did. He was really down to earth and nice as was his wife.
I was on a Star Trek cruise where Karl was a guest of honour. All the other guests were most interested in the TOS/TNG/DS9/VOY cast members there so I ran into him reclining on a deckchair drinking Trek craft beer. I asked why he was here, and he said he was between gigs and he was paid for a Caribbean cruise.
I mentioned I was there from Auckland and he said no kidding and invited me to get pissed with him.
Noel Edmond’s in the fancy matakana restaurant down on the water on the corner under the bridge.
Israel adesanya at bert, Tom, Theo von’s shows
Eugene bareman around mt eden
Brad riddell in p&s Glen innes and in Newmarket pools
Middle of the day, chiiling in Emily Place Reserve. Anna Faris high as a kite comes by with a friend who sits down beside us and Anna takes a photo of us all. Very random. Must of been enjoying a day off from filming the terrible Yogi Bear back in 2010.
I met Cee-Lo Green at the Downtown Mall foodcourt (RIP) with one of his entourage in early 2007. He was playing a gig with Gnarls Barkley that night. I had tickets and said I was looking forward to the show.
Jason Mamoa in Wynyard quarter last year while walking to uni.
He had just come out the hotel near the water front, can't quite remember the name.
Had a lot of people around him, family and friends I think, but he still towered wayyyy above everyone. I didn't realize how huge he is in person.
Unfortunately didn't go up to say hi as I was already late to class but seemed like he was with his people anyway, wouldn't want to intrude.
My friend and I slogged our way up a track behind Piha, it was so steep and slippy I had to take off my jandals!! And so after crawling my way up on my hands and knees, with my jandals on my elbows. At the top we were having a sit, when a dog and then a girl came along, we were chatting a little bit when along comes Kate Winslett with her not tiny baby on her back in largeish frame (she obviously hadn't needed to crawl). I didn't quite recognise her at first, an image of her on the red carpet popped up in my brain, but it didn't really connect with the human being in front of me. I offered them my seat and she was polite but obviously on a walking mission. It still didn't really connect until my friend said it after they passed.
Anyway, we do have duty as NZers to ignore celebs, they love going undercover down here.
I walked past Keifer Sutherland eating his breakfast at an outdoor cafe and we gave each other the “Bro Nod”.
Craig Parker came into my print shop to get photos for the Armageddon expo just after Lord of the Rings.
Out walking my infant nephew in his stroller back in the day and ran into Suzy Cato. I told her that he was a fan of her show (he watched it every morning) and she knelt down beside him and sang the theme song to him. Totally made his day!
Out with my sister oe night and Suzi came round a corner, my slightly tipsy sister recognised her but just as someone she knew, and went for the 'hey' hug, she realised just as they were almost hugging, and just gulped laughed, and quietly said "Suzi Cato"?, she was lovely said yip and hugged her anyway
Karl Urban pulled over to help my mum and I when we were assaulted by a homeless man in Ponsonby. He called the police for us, and when the police called us to get our statement they said it was weird that the witness gave a fake name (thinking they used Karl Urban instead of their real name) when it was actually him! He was such an awesome guy and it was super funny bc my mum had no idea who he was at the time.
I was struggling on crutches at airport security and accidentally left my keys in the tray. 50 metres away someone tapped me on the shoulder to hand my keys to me. It was Jacinda. She had run after me! I bumped into her a few years later when she was PM and mentioned it. She couldn't remember, but said those were the days when she was allowed to go through airport security. Lovely genuine lady.
Not an A list celebrity or anything, more like an internet celebrity, went to the Therapy Gecko gig last year and hung out with him after and smoked a joint and got some kai from the White Lady with him
I bumped into Seth Tankian once. Also a few years ago, Rob Zombie and Jonathon Davis were walking down the street together. Stopped and had a chat.
All of them were very nice and appeared to appreciate me not hassling them.
The bloke from men behaving badly .. Martin Clunes at Soul Bar. Rolled his eyes when I asked if I was wrong all these years believing he was Guy of Gisborne from the Robin of Sherwood thing. He wasn’t. It sort of petered out after that. He’s a pleasant bloke & he’s immensely tall.
Danger Mouse. Super cool guy, we had a good old battle about The Good the Bad and the Queen which is a wicked album IMHO & he told me his name is Brian when we went for the close of handshake. Bloody good producer and a super good guy to talk with. Also quite tall.
saw Karl Urban having a feed at St Lukes mall once
also sat in front of Neil Finn at a Fleetwood Mac show, with Lorde not far away. Poor Finn was harassed by couple drunk meat heads half the show
That is so uncool. We as NZers have a patriotic duty to leave celebs alone, especially our local ones.
International celebs love coming here for our discretion and for our egalitarianism - treating them like everyone else. Locals we should just leave alone because, just shame man that is just awkward for everyone.
The Taskmaster host (I don't know his name, partner loves him however) in Russel main street. Shit he's tall. Partner got a pic with him. He seems a bit gutted someone recognised him. Then saw him again at the nauti penguin pub Russel, we were smashed. I looked in his direction, said enjoy nz and seemed appreciative I didn't wander over to him for a drunk convo.
Matt Heath in Ponsonby. Yelled MATT! he yelled Yeah! We hi fived. I patted his dog.
I've seen Sonny Bill Williams, Joseph Parker, J. Williams (singer), Stan Walker (singer), Young Sid/Sid Diamond (rapper).
These are the only ones I could think of atm.
Bumped in to the Miz and CM Punk at the gym once when WWE was here. Had a good chat. And Yung Gravy in koru lounge twice in two days (Auckland and Dunedin) and had good session with him and his crew down there. Didn’t actually know who he was before then but the kids did.
1994. Magic Johnson walking down Queen St. I was too shocked to acknowledge him.
Anthony Kiedis, two or three times. He used to pull up at the old Ponsonby Mobil. Exchanged greetings. In those days we still had the manual credit card imprinters which he signed. I kept one of the triplicates.
Dozens of other NZ celebrities came through that Mobil. I used to work the Graveyard shift so some of them would be drunk. One of the most memorable was a fully drunk/stoned Shortland Street actor in the early hours of the morning. He kept shouting at the customers and making a nuisance of himself, so I tossed him out. Literally.
Anthony Kiedis used to own a house up where I live. He mentioned it in his book. I swear every family here has a story of meeting him in our tiny town at some point
Oh another one- the food truck i worked at at the time used to occasionally do catering at Stone street studios in welly. One morning we were doing lunch there and I'd been out partying til 6am and was dusty as fuck. Violently hungover, you know the vibe. Taking people's orders and we'd write their names so we could call them out when their food was ready, I was barely making it through. At the end of the line I took this guy's order, "cool man what's your name" and he looked at me like 🤨 "Hugo....." cool thanks man it'll be about 10. Turned around to start boxing stuff and my boss goes "you know that's Hugo Weaving aye" man idgaf rn all I can think about is a powerade and being unconscious
Gave Ben Harper a bag of East Coast weed on the steps of Auckland Museum, a real good dude. We were at his show the night before, asked him if he wanted some weed, shot back to the car and hooked him up.
Went to watch Dune 2 at the Queen St cinema and had Cillian Murphy sat next to me. Was quick to get a mask and glasses on at the end of the film for an even quicker exit!
My dog and Israel adesanyas dog played together in moire Park back when he still used to live in massey (maybe 2022). I asked him if I could give his dog a treat and he said yes. Weird tho I don't remember him being super tall ha ha. I was more busy playing with his dog lol.
Not really a celebrity but a good experience. I served John Key at work. He was dropping quite a bit of money on a gift for his helicopter instructor. He was actually super lovely. I asked him what he has been up to and we chatted about how he was off to China soon for “diplomacy reasons” (he didn’t know I knew he was going to visit Xi Jingping lmao).
He looked at my name tag and used my name in the conversation and treated me very respectfully. Much kinder than 90% of customers I had.
Austin Butler in 2017, he was working on an MTV show filming in the Waitākere’s and frequented the restaurant I worked at in Ponsonby most weeks. At this point he was only really known for the Carrie Diaries. I didn’t know who he was at first so chatted to him normally about being an American in NZ (I’m American as well). He was super lovely and knew me by name after the first time. He would bring his script to dinner and hang out for a few hours.
At the time he was dating Vanessa Hudgens and when she visited him he brought her in to show her his fav dinner spot one night… she was not very nice lol.
Not me but my friend used to work at Katmandhu in auckland and Lil Uzi Vert walked in, said nothing, walked behind the counter, posed for a photo, and bought one of every colour beanie they had in stock.
Lorde in Farro Ponsonby at the beginning of Covid when we were first allowed to go shopping but had to keep 1m apart. We were both going down the same aisle but trying to keep our distance and both apologised to each other at the same time.
In the early 90s I saw Henry Winkler at Wellington Airport. Most of you are probably too young to know who he was but he was an absolute icon as ‘The Fonz’ on the TV show Happy Days when I was a child growing up in the 1970s (back when we only had about 4 shows on TV) so he was an absolute mega-star at the time. I was sitting at a table in the cafe but my boyfriend at the time was standing right next to him ordering food. I was trying to will him to glance to his left so he’d see him but he never did.
I’m of the same vintage and this might be the best in the list. Like he was for a time probably the most famous person in the world. Not many people can say that.
Sam smith at spqr in ponsonby few years ago, had a photo with him. The. Bumped into him again a year later in Arrowtown! He was holding his friends baby.
The GREAT Jimmy Barnes (Years ago) pulled up outside the Power station (Auckland) he had a fair few people with him, but I managed to say HI and get a HI back. I love Jimmy.
Walking down Queen Street a few years back and saw Phil "the power" Taylor (Former World champion Darts.player. really nice guy and was more than happy for a photo.
Missed by moments Ryan Reynolds and Alanis Morissette when checking in to the Hilton many, many, many moons ago.
Oh, and last month, Helen Clarke and Peter Davis, who were sitting close to us at the ballet. My friend went up to her and introduced herself as we filed in. I hate introducing myself to well known people, it seems strange.
I've seen Lorde on K Rd twice. Didn't approach her. The second time her group all went up individually to pay for their drinks.... thought she might shout her mates haha.
Daniel Radcliffe when he was filming a movie.
I worked at the airport one summer and saw John Key, the Amazing Race host, Stan Walker, All Blacks and a few others I've forgotten.
Have seen Jason Mamosa a fair bit. His Auckland place is not fair from mine. Just say hey bro to each other kept walking. Never have my phone when I see him on walks or I'd ask for a selfie as my partner loves him. He's a big dude in person and very handsome.
Rage against the machine (well Zack and Tom) at Piha with Taj from system of a down I think he was showing them around before their big day out set, Tom Morello got absolutely smashed by the white wash and didn't go back in 😂😂 not one person asked for a pic 👍🏻
Guy from walking dead - daryl dixon / normam reedus. saw him in queen street. politely asked for a selfie. he looked great while i looked like thumbman in the photo...
tem morrison rang me trying to buy a car once weird experience as i was laughing thinking i was getting pranked until he showed up to see me
izzy nearly every week at the gym, volkanovski, tyson pedro, joseph parker, junior fa
most nz comedians, brendan lovegrove is always nice to me. alan carr, paul foot, jeff ross, marc maron other comedians
blindspott, 8 foot sativa, john butler trio, faithless, bleeders, pluto, elvis costello,
most of the warriors players stacey, iro, betham, charlie gubb, walker, andrew johns, ivan cleary
most of the all blacks cause i used to live at the heritage and they stayed on the same floor when they were at the world cup
Couple of years back when Taylor swift was here for her concert. She was walking alone with no body guards in the lobby of her hotel (not sure if she stayed there or not) but I was so star struck. I went up to her and said hello and told her I loved her lol!!! She said hi and said she loves me to ( just being polite obviously) I said see you on stage, she replied maybe I can see you for lunch. I froze as she walked by not even knowing what that meant.
Many years ago Lana Coc-Kroft, Ali Williams and Murray Mexted bummed some smokes off my mate as we were sitting outside a pub in Ponsonby. They joined our table, found out I was single and Ali decides to run into the bar next door to try and find me a girlfriend.
He returned empty-handed and very apologetic, and Lana said she'd have taken me home if only she wasn't married.
It was a weird night.
Anthony Ray Parker, at a cafe in Kohimarama Beach, Auckland, about 25 years ago. My daughter aged 4 was demanding cake to which we said no- huge slice which she never would have finished, pricy, family on a budget etc etc- anyway, he went up to the counter, bought the cake, sat down and said " wow, this is big, I need some help…[looking at my daughter] think you could help me out, missy?". Daughter’s eyes widened in hope and (thank goodness) checked with us first before saying yes please and off they went, demolishing said cake with quite a bit of conversation along the way. What a treasure!
rita ora, taika waitiki, milo manheim (or however you spell the last name), cillian murphy, and the best by far JACK BLACK. i saw him across the street and shouted ‘princess peach is hot’ and he shouted back ‘she’s mine’ then walked/ran away with a really goofy smile
I met Izzy at the ufc event here a few years ago. Wasn’t signed with the ufc and my friend pointed him out and said he would be the next big thing. Took pics with us, took a pic of him about to land a head kick on me 👍 chill as dude.
I saw Jacinda doing some shopping in Sandringham after she resigned. Didn’t even recognise her until a closer look since she was just in a baggy shirt and jeans.
Jason Momoa by the viaduct when he was here for a movie a few months ago.
Karl Urban in Herne bay just walking with a woman and a dog.
We walked past and said hi and kept going both scenarios.
Ran into Julian Dennison at Gogo Music Cafe on Dom Road this year and Steven Adam came to our HS back in the day. Also seen the cuz Sonny bill like 5 times across the years in various restaurants.
Sean Kingston at the luge ..he was a big lad and his bodyguards was so damn ripped that the gucci briefcase he had with him looked comical.
and serj tanken going into the Auckland Town Hall !
John Rhys Davies (Gimli from lord of the rings). He used to live in Pukekohe and I worked at countdown in the deli. He would come in every Saturday and I would serve him. He was such a lovely man and really really tall.
I went to a cafe on Jervois road years back and was saying to my girlfriend "I swear that's Jason Statham eating over there". She called bullshit but then I googled after we left and it turned out he was filming in NZ at the time and was known to hang around eateries on Jervois road.
Worked in a hotel for nearly a decade so met very many a celebrity.
Most of them are up themselves and have insane requests and tonnes of security. Under fake names obviously.
The loveliest, most down to earth, was Dr Jane Goodall - room was under her own name, she wasn’t on the VIP list so she wouldn’t have had her people notify the hotel she was coming, requested to have no housekeeping/other services as “I don’t really need anything dear!”, and called me “dear” several times every time she saw me over the course of her stay.
My favourite story though is how Aidan Gillan (Littlefinger from Game of Thrones), must have been having issues with his lovely Mrs because he was sleeping in the guest area rather than their room and later on in the day she asked me if I had seen him, I told her no and she said “ah well fuck knows what he’s doing then”.
Bumped into Gordon Ramsay a few years ago. Super cool friendly dude, was nice to my kids, even took a photo spoke to him a bit, nothing like his "persona" at all.
Jason Isaacs, John Heder, Inbar Lavi, Aimee Garcia, Cat Stevens/Yusef Islam, Tim Finn, Jason Momoa, The Nitro Circus team, Sam Witwer, The Wu Tang Clan, Justin Bieber, Nicholas Hoult + more. Met them mainly through an old job, lots of really nice people and a few arrogant battlers haha.
I saw Bert Kreischer with his family walking up Queen Street with alot of shopping bags. I would've asked for a photo but I didn't wanna get in the way
Gary McCormack judged a drunken jam I played in at the Java Jive lol. Decades ago.
Bumped into John Banks a long time back when he still had his personal security detail.
I've seen so many current & former all blacks since moving to the shore you could probably field a squad..
Sean Connerys son. Cafe off Queen street. Girl on a course I was on at AIT knew him. He apparently lived in Auckland for a while.
The Lions team at a nightclub.
Paul Holmes at the Airport. Tiny and looked a bit ill. Very nice to someone who approached him.
Dick Frizzel the artists son the one who used to do tv shows at a charity boxing match.
Outstde unity bookshop looking in the window. It was RWC and they had loads of rugby books in the window, including a big one with Richie McCaw's face on. Turned my head back to the street and standing right next to me was the man himself. Very surreal.
Met Sonny Bill Williams at the local mosque. Man, he is huge. I’m not too short at 5’8”. But I felt tiny shaking his hands. Self esteem died in just a second.
Daniel Radcliffe! this was years ago in ponsonby but he clearly didn’t want to be seen (cap dipped low, head down etc) so decided not to approach because i imagine that gets exhausting. so cool though :D
In 2006 I went into the library at my school (Epsom Girls') just as John Campbell was walking out and held the door open for him. He didn't say thank you.
Jenna Ortega at the Art Gallery. An exhibition of a designer. I didn’t know who she was but my teen daughter fangirled and got a selfie. She was tiny and very sweet.
Karl Urban post season 1 of the boys I didn’t recognise him but knew he was someone and by the time I knew he had nodded and walked by.
St Luke’s mall I was working a shit shift that I was whinging about and it made my time worth it.
Not in Auckland but I used to work at Bunnings in Christchurch and I served Jason Gunn at the checkout. I told him how much he inspired me as a kid and he was very nice about it - his TV studio Whitebait Productions is just over the road from Bunnings. His wife Janine used to also come into the store every now and then - she's gorgeous - as are her daughters Eve and Grace who I've seen out and about in Christchurch. I had the biggest crush on Grace when I was young - she was gorgeous and talented.
Also walked past Jordan Luck in a toilet block in Christchurch CBD. He's very cool.
A friend of mine also ran into Lorde while she was staying with her extended family in Herne Bay. She said hello and she was very nice apparently.
When I was young I also saw Elijah Wood at The Warehouse in Queenstown. My family didn't believe me but I was sure it was him. Would make sense since it was around the time that LOTR was being filmed and released, so I'm pretty sure it was him.
I saw Fred Armisen out for dinner once and I was just so surprised that I went “Fred Armisen?? I didn’t exact to see you here.” As if we were old friends or something 😂
I saw Rod Stewart (with Rachael Hunter and her sister) at Thorne’s Bay, that little beach between Takapuna and Milford in the 90s. I gave Rod the bro-brow - a simple “hey man, I know who you are and I’m not going to make a big deal of it” and he did the same back.
Sugababes at Auckland airport (this was the early nauties and I was a young child) they're teeny tiny More "recently" Rihanna. Didn't ask for a photo I mouthed "you're Rihanna" she mouthed "I know" winked, smiled and kept moving.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Rihanna remembers you for that interaction, acknowledging you know who she is without interrupting her day, that’s the kind of fan celebrities love, it’s a lot more human feeling than getting up in their face oogling at them like they’re a Zoo animal
I'd be surprised. Out of the thousands of people she's met during her career, this interaction would not be uncommon for her.
This is super cute omg
Na I gotta know how you ran into Rihanna 🤯 at the airport or?
Nah, she must've been staying close/near the viaduct before her concert. She was literally at a shop getting snacks (from memory) it was her, and I assume an assistant or a mate?? And she wasn't dressed like she was famous. She happened it lift her Sunnies up at the time I looked.
That is so cool! The Sugababes really excited me when I was a teen boy.
Name checks out
Tyler the creator.. quietly asked him for a photo to which he patted me on the head and said no lmao
Very Tyler
Most definitely lol
He had a few friends with him.. overall everyone was nice enough.. worked in a bakery and they were asking about the mince pies lol
Surely hooked him up with a solid mince and cheese
Years ago I was hanging out at a mates food truck in christchurch, some people were in front of it with their backs turned to us. I was looking at one of the guy's boots, they were fabulous and I said to my mate "those boots look like something Noel Fielding would wear" as he turned around and it was indeed Noel Fielding. I was (still am) a huge Mighty Boosh fan and I fan girled pretty hard, he was super lovely though and drew me a picture and took a photo with me
This is so cool! Noel is awesome
On my first trip to NZ I was terribly jet lagged and dying for a shit. I went into a mall and shat my brains out. As I was leaving I ran into Sam Neill, who went into the stall I just destroyed. Dr Grant inhaled my jetlag shite.
Wonder if that eye stinger made his memoir?
Gave him cancer.
What an honour…
Good thing he used to excavate dinosaur shit for a living so this prob was nothing.
Serj Tankian, the lead singer of System of a down. By the bakery in Matakana. Was super down to earth. 5/5 would like to meet again.
He lives out west somewhere, Piha perhaps
He has a house and studio in Matakana
Not anymore. He sold his house out west a few years back and moved out to Matakana.
He has a house in the Matakana/Leigh area, but is not there all the time. He keeps a low profile in the area but occasionally surfaces.
Mate of mine bumped into him at the RSA there. He thought he was having an LSD episode til he spoke to the barman who said. "Yeah, that guy comes in here a bit when he's in town".
I think he lives in Warkworth (or used to, at least)
Yeah he was out West. Used to see him often. Also likes to visit Devonport for some reason and seen him there a few times having coffee
I ran into him at Mitre 10 in Warkworth one day, super nice guy
John Campbell. Walked past him at the park with my toddler. I didn’t recognise him at first & was peering at him trying to work where I knew him. He looked straight at me and gave me a huge smile and said Hi like we were old friends. He gave my son the loveliest, warmest, genuine smile like a proud uncle. 5 mins later I realised I didn’t know him personally at all & he was off the telly! It’s like he just decided to be friends with everyone in NZ. Seemed like a lovely guy!
Sat next to him and his kid years ago on a plane… what a stand up guy.
I bumped into on Ponsonby road once. Very chatty guy, swears like a sailor lol
He is the nicest man. Hilary Barry is great too, used to serve her in a food store on Ponsonby Rd years ago Less nice was Denise Le’Strange-Corbet lol she was way too cool to be nice to lowly hospo workers
He comes into my work occasionally and both times I served him he was honestly one of the nicest customers ever. Such a caring and kind guy
John Campbell once apologised to me for getting in the way of the video I was filming - fortunately it didn't worry me at all. Great guy.
I served him at the bank back in the day. Nicest guy ever, used my name (from my name badge) and genuinely wanted to chat with me
Was in a bar in Auckland when Taika and Rita Ora walked in a couple of years back. Also walked out of Deadshot at the same time that Frankie Adams (Draper in The Expanse, also was in Shortie) entered which was a coincidence as I'd just started watching the series
That show is so good. Frankie killed it in that role.
Kendrick Lamar was at Hoyt’s wairau like 6 years ago that was pretty buzzy
Sam Claflin (Finnick in Hunger Games). At a mates BBQ in Howick. Chatted to him for 15min. Easy chat, really down to earth guy. After he left I found out why all the girls were looking in our direction.
kendrick lamar went op shopping on K rd while i was in there. he rolled up in a fancy car with a driver who double parked and he and his entourage walked in smelling horribly of weed. my friend talked to him and kendrick asked what his fave song by him was and he started singing/rapping it in the store. very chilled out, but of course he was cuz he was high AF. he stayed for less than 3 mins, i don't even think they looked around? not sure why they were op shopping in the first place 😂 it felt like he was just there to see if anyone recognized him. back when he was PM, i also saw john key and his wife shopping in Rebel Sport Panmure. well, his wife was shopping in the tennis clothes section, he just looked bored as he and his security guard stood around. my friend used to live in Mt Eden and saw Jacinda pushing Neve around the block in her stroller back in the day
It was either Auckland or Wellington but I sat next to James May and Richard Hammond in a cafe, back when they were top gear hosts.
Not auckland but i sat directly behind David hasslehoff and Rhys Darby on the plane from wellington to invercargill. Rhys spent the flight trying to explain kiwi slang to the Hoff
The Hoff going to Invers is so fucking random lol
Nah yeah means yiss... Etc. etc.
Jemaine Clement and Oscar Kightley having lunch at Ponsonby Central. Got a pic with them, chatted for a bit. Good dudes!
Daniel Radcliffe in the basement of a building in the CBD, I think there was a media design school a few floors up
Guns Akimbo was shot in Auckland, lots of scenes on Queen st
Yup it must've been! Lines up with when it was being shot. Thanks!
Bumped into Jeremy Clarkson walking down on the viaduct. I smiled and said hello and he ignored me.
That sounds like Jeremy
Actually, aside from the assault that he got sacked for, he has a fantastic reputation for being a nice bloke. Everyone loves working with him, which I guess explains why he wasn't 'cancelled' when the bbc sacked him.
Lemmy, when I worked in a hotel bar. I didn’t really know who he was but he was really nice.
Oh that's super cool! Did you speak to him?
Yip, he was looking for recommendations for a good/better bar/pub than the one I worked in. Qantas Aircrew used to stay there too and they were all trying to tag along with him and I assume the band/crew.
I served Greg Davies an orange juice at the restaurant I worked at. He saw that I recognised him, but it was obvious he didn’t want to be bothered and we only had a small interaction. Somewhat relevant story: I served Simon Bridges when he was having a lunch meeting with a couple others. I entered the customer name on the docket as Soimon Brudges as a little joke to myself and the chefs. Unfortunately, my colleague was new and when Soimon came up to pay, he printed the docket with my little joke and presented it to him. It was so obvious who had named the docket that he looked over at me with such an expression of sadness that I almost felt guilty. Almost.
You should've asked him for an acrostic poem.
Ah, you’re so right. It was obvious he really wanted to stay low-key (he was even wearing a cap and sunnies to hide his face) and I would have felt bad making a fuss. Still, I’m glad I met him briefly.
This just made my day 🤣
Corey Taylor from Slipknot. Bumped into him on Queen Street before their gig that night. Was real chill and happy to have a photo taken with him
I don't follow slipknot much but just realized I don't know what he looks like without a mask.
He's also the lead singer in Stone Sour - they don't wear masks. They had a few big hits in the mid 2000s
The self titled album still goes hard af
I remember hanging out in the hotel lobby and meeting alot of british actors, ian mcniece, many actors from dr who and red dwarf.
Mostly see them at work: I saw Jack Black a couple of times. Sat down and talked about guitars and Minecraft and the like. Sampha was pretty cool and chill to talk to.
Lucky! I would have given my left nut sack to have met Jack.
Annie Lennox (Eurythmics) She was at an after hours chemist, Wellington City, After 8 pm. She was buying Tampons! (She really did) I waited for her and what must have been her bodyguard, to exit said chemist and from a distance I said to her how much I love her music. She gave me a big smile and said Thankyou, and that she thinks New Zealand is one of the best countries she's been to.
Change this to “what celebrities have you shagged in Auckland” for much more interesting response
Not huge international celebs. But iv bumped into David Tua and Jonah Lomu. Tua pulled up next to me and a friend in new market and said to my friend he had a nice car and we started talking about cars for a few minutes. Jonah Lomu was at the panmure Mobil gas station a few years before he died. My dad got out and didn’t even recognise him and asked him for help with something and Jonah was really nice to him and shook my dads hand. Wasn’t till dad got back in the car and I told him did he realise it was Lomu.
[удалено]
You'd be mad too if your entire career was being Dr Chris Warner and literally nothing else for 30 years.
Guy's probably better off than 95% of actors world wide lol.
This tracks, I've heard some interesting stories about him.
I've heard he is a huge dick. So up himself, for what he Was.
Virat Kohli.
I used to work at the old Event in Newmarket, we held lots of premieres and events so we’d often get a lot of local celebrities coming in. There’s a couple that stick out to me. Graham Henry, who was trying to decide which screen to go into (premiere of Dan Carter’s film - 2 screens showing it and they could go into either one). He’d had a few drinks I think but he was chill and pretty funny. The other was Karl Urban, he came in on a regular quiet morning to see a movie. I was training a new girl on the register and he was lovely, didn’t seem to mind that it took a bit longer. Not super chatty but still friendly. That job had far better interactions with well-known people than in the job I had prior to that in Tauranga. Thank god.
I work for one of the major luxury stores on the bottom of Queen Street. We get a fair few celebrities coming in especially at the end of last year/beginning of this year. Notable mentions include Migos, Becky Hill, Jason Mamoa. From my experience they all seem to absolutely love our country and our people and are very down to earth. I was expecting Migos to be the typical loud American rappers but they were very chill and were happy to chat!
That would likely have been just before Takeoff (1/3 if Migos) died too
My daughter saw Jack Black riding a scooter in Mt Eden a few months ago. I've been shopping at the Victoria Park New World with Karl Urban and Neil Finn (he almost ran my daughter over with his trolley - her fault, then we passed each other in every aisle after that because we were going in opposite directions and even ended up walking out to our cars at the same time. It was kind of weird.) I've had crepes at Ponsonby central with Rhys Darby and his wife. At the lantern festival, John Key picked up my daughter and kissed her. I was not amused. But my favourite story is my (now ex-) husband's. He was a member of a tennis club and had told me about an American who had started coming to classes and they would sometimes stay after and have a match. One day he come home and asked if I remembered that new American guy. Yep. He said his name was Rainn something. Hmmmm. He said, he had found out he was on the US version of The Office. I just stared at him. You've been playing tennis with Rainn Wilson all this time?! Yep. 😯😯😂😂 It was when The Meg was being filmed in Auckland.
YOUR EX PLAYED TENNIS WITH DWIGHT?!
Yep! And he didn't know it. 😂😂 I told my husband he had to invite Rainn over for Thanksgiving (I'm originally from the US) but luckily for my husband, who DID NOT want to invite him, Rainn was going back to the US and didn't need to.
Waititi He was heading to the toilets from a carpark on a Shopping mall. Some people recognised him kind of late and started following him.
Jason Momoa... Bumped into him near Victoria Park. We were training for cricket. Pretty chilled dude. Asked about the sport and stayed for a lil while and watched
Ooh I met him briefly too. Super chill and nice.
Also Jason Momoa - he was eating lunch at one of the restaurants in Wynyard. People generally seemed to leave him alone, except sneaking totally not creepy paparazzi photos.
Walked by Robin Williams in Wellington one time Served waffles to Micheal Wincott from my food cart (it was his voice that caused me to look up). Still have a photo of him. John Key said hello to me when I walked past him at the airport
Macy Gray, Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter on Waiheke. Karl Urban and Katee Sackhoff in Newmarket. Was going to get Karl to sign something for a mate of mine but the only thing I had on me was a bluray of Magic Mike (not mine, I swear) and so I decided that was not going to go well for anyone.
Karl Urban in a cafe and yes, he was drinking tea .
I shared a ride with Karl to the music awards. I had no idea who he was so I asked him what he did. He was really down to earth and nice as was his wife.
Karl was a regular at the cafe i worked at in ponsonby. Super cool dude
I was on a Star Trek cruise where Karl was a guest of honour. All the other guests were most interested in the TOS/TNG/DS9/VOY cast members there so I ran into him reclining on a deckchair drinking Trek craft beer. I asked why he was here, and he said he was between gigs and he was paid for a Caribbean cruise. I mentioned I was there from Auckland and he said no kidding and invited me to get pissed with him.
Noel Edmond’s in the fancy matakana restaurant down on the water on the corner under the bridge. Israel adesanya at bert, Tom, Theo von’s shows Eugene bareman around mt eden Brad riddell in p&s Glen innes and in Newmarket pools
Middle of the day, chiiling in Emily Place Reserve. Anna Faris high as a kite comes by with a friend who sits down beside us and Anna takes a photo of us all. Very random. Must of been enjoying a day off from filming the terrible Yogi Bear back in 2010.
I love her, Crisp Rat really lucked out. Then he left her.
Pratt is far too in love with himself to make room for someone else.
I met Cee-Lo Green at the Downtown Mall foodcourt (RIP) with one of his entourage in early 2007. He was playing a gig with Gnarls Barkley that night. I had tickets and said I was looking forward to the show.
Cee-Lo green died??
Nah the downtown mall is gone now. Commercial Bay now occupies the site.
Jason Mamoa in Wynyard quarter last year while walking to uni. He had just come out the hotel near the water front, can't quite remember the name. Had a lot of people around him, family and friends I think, but he still towered wayyyy above everyone. I didn't realize how huge he is in person. Unfortunately didn't go up to say hi as I was already late to class but seemed like he was with his people anyway, wouldn't want to intrude.
My friend and I slogged our way up a track behind Piha, it was so steep and slippy I had to take off my jandals!! And so after crawling my way up on my hands and knees, with my jandals on my elbows. At the top we were having a sit, when a dog and then a girl came along, we were chatting a little bit when along comes Kate Winslett with her not tiny baby on her back in largeish frame (she obviously hadn't needed to crawl). I didn't quite recognise her at first, an image of her on the red carpet popped up in my brain, but it didn't really connect with the human being in front of me. I offered them my seat and she was polite but obviously on a walking mission. It still didn't really connect until my friend said it after they passed. Anyway, we do have duty as NZers to ignore celebs, they love going undercover down here.
David Farrier. Very nice chap. He complimented the ironing board I happened to be carrying.
My favourite comment so far! The ironing board compliment strikes me as very on brand!
I’ve had a crush on him since he was on Sam Hayes late night show. Was that Nightline?
It was! I have also had a crush on home since then! He always played the best music
I walked past Keifer Sutherland eating his breakfast at an outdoor cafe and we gave each other the “Bro Nod”. Craig Parker came into my print shop to get photos for the Armageddon expo just after Lord of the Rings. Out walking my infant nephew in his stroller back in the day and ran into Suzy Cato. I told her that he was a fan of her show (he watched it every morning) and she knelt down beside him and sang the theme song to him. Totally made his day!
Out with my sister oe night and Suzi came round a corner, my slightly tipsy sister recognised her but just as someone she knew, and went for the 'hey' hug, she realised just as they were almost hugging, and just gulped laughed, and quietly said "Suzi Cato"?, she was lovely said yip and hugged her anyway
Karl Urban pulled over to help my mum and I when we were assaulted by a homeless man in Ponsonby. He called the police for us, and when the police called us to get our statement they said it was weird that the witness gave a fake name (thinking they used Karl Urban instead of their real name) when it was actually him! He was such an awesome guy and it was super funny bc my mum had no idea who he was at the time.
I was struggling on crutches at airport security and accidentally left my keys in the tray. 50 metres away someone tapped me on the shoulder to hand my keys to me. It was Jacinda. She had run after me! I bumped into her a few years later when she was PM and mentioned it. She couldn't remember, but said those were the days when she was allowed to go through airport security. Lovely genuine lady.
Ben Kingsley. Is suspect he was drunk
great actor, sexy beast is great movie
Joe Biden in AKL when he was VP
What was he like?
Not an A list celebrity or anything, more like an internet celebrity, went to the Therapy Gecko gig last year and hung out with him after and smoked a joint and got some kai from the White Lady with him
I bumped into Seth Tankian once. Also a few years ago, Rob Zombie and Jonathon Davis were walking down the street together. Stopped and had a chat. All of them were very nice and appeared to appreciate me not hassling them.
Do you mean Serj Tankian?
Ha ha. Autocorrect in full effect. I actually wrote Serj.
Damn auto carrot
The bloke from men behaving badly .. Martin Clunes at Soul Bar. Rolled his eyes when I asked if I was wrong all these years believing he was Guy of Gisborne from the Robin of Sherwood thing. He wasn’t. It sort of petered out after that. He’s a pleasant bloke & he’s immensely tall. Danger Mouse. Super cool guy, we had a good old battle about The Good the Bad and the Queen which is a wicked album IMHO & he told me his name is Brian when we went for the close of handshake. Bloody good producer and a super good guy to talk with. Also quite tall.
saw Karl Urban having a feed at St Lukes mall once also sat in front of Neil Finn at a Fleetwood Mac show, with Lorde not far away. Poor Finn was harassed by couple drunk meat heads half the show
That is so uncool. We as NZers have a patriotic duty to leave celebs alone, especially our local ones. International celebs love coming here for our discretion and for our egalitarianism - treating them like everyone else. Locals we should just leave alone because, just shame man that is just awkward for everyone.
The Taskmaster host (I don't know his name, partner loves him however) in Russel main street. Shit he's tall. Partner got a pic with him. He seems a bit gutted someone recognised him. Then saw him again at the nauti penguin pub Russel, we were smashed. I looked in his direction, said enjoy nz and seemed appreciative I didn't wander over to him for a drunk convo. Matt Heath in Ponsonby. Yelled MATT! he yelled Yeah! We hi fived. I patted his dog.
I've seen Sonny Bill Williams, Joseph Parker, J. Williams (singer), Stan Walker (singer), Young Sid/Sid Diamond (rapper). These are the only ones I could think of atm.
Daniel Radcliffe, Mid Queen St Starbucks traffic lights, shooting a movie scene.
Bumped in to the Miz and CM Punk at the gym once when WWE was here. Had a good chat. And Yung Gravy in koru lounge twice in two days (Auckland and Dunedin) and had good session with him and his crew down there. Didn’t actually know who he was before then but the kids did.
1994. Magic Johnson walking down Queen St. I was too shocked to acknowledge him. Anthony Kiedis, two or three times. He used to pull up at the old Ponsonby Mobil. Exchanged greetings. In those days we still had the manual credit card imprinters which he signed. I kept one of the triplicates. Dozens of other NZ celebrities came through that Mobil. I used to work the Graveyard shift so some of them would be drunk. One of the most memorable was a fully drunk/stoned Shortland Street actor in the early hours of the morning. He kept shouting at the customers and making a nuisance of himself, so I tossed him out. Literally.
Anthony Kiedis used to own a house up where I live. He mentioned it in his book. I swear every family here has a story of meeting him in our tiny town at some point
Oh another one- the food truck i worked at at the time used to occasionally do catering at Stone street studios in welly. One morning we were doing lunch there and I'd been out partying til 6am and was dusty as fuck. Violently hungover, you know the vibe. Taking people's orders and we'd write their names so we could call them out when their food was ready, I was barely making it through. At the end of the line I took this guy's order, "cool man what's your name" and he looked at me like 🤨 "Hugo....." cool thanks man it'll be about 10. Turned around to start boxing stuff and my boss goes "you know that's Hugo Weaving aye" man idgaf rn all I can think about is a powerade and being unconscious
My uncle spotted Johnny Marinovich from Shortland st at Newmarket once. Some people have all the luck.
Gave Ben Harper a bag of East Coast weed on the steps of Auckland Museum, a real good dude. We were at his show the night before, asked him if he wanted some weed, shot back to the car and hooked him up.
Went to watch Dune 2 at the Queen St cinema and had Cillian Murphy sat next to me. Was quick to get a mask and glasses on at the end of the film for an even quicker exit!
My dog and Israel adesanyas dog played together in moire Park back when he still used to live in massey (maybe 2022). I asked him if I could give his dog a treat and he said yes. Weird tho I don't remember him being super tall ha ha. I was more busy playing with his dog lol.
Not really a celebrity but a good experience. I served John Key at work. He was dropping quite a bit of money on a gift for his helicopter instructor. He was actually super lovely. I asked him what he has been up to and we chatted about how he was off to China soon for “diplomacy reasons” (he didn’t know I knew he was going to visit Xi Jingping lmao). He looked at my name tag and used my name in the conversation and treated me very respectfully. Much kinder than 90% of customers I had.
Perry Farrell,Janes Addiction after BDO
Austin Butler in 2017, he was working on an MTV show filming in the Waitākere’s and frequented the restaurant I worked at in Ponsonby most weeks. At this point he was only really known for the Carrie Diaries. I didn’t know who he was at first so chatted to him normally about being an American in NZ (I’m American as well). He was super lovely and knew me by name after the first time. He would bring his script to dinner and hang out for a few hours. At the time he was dating Vanessa Hudgens and when she visited him he brought her in to show her his fav dinner spot one night… she was not very nice lol.
Not me but my friend used to work at Katmandhu in auckland and Lil Uzi Vert walked in, said nothing, walked behind the counter, posed for a photo, and bought one of every colour beanie they had in stock.
Lorde in Farro Ponsonby at the beginning of Covid when we were first allowed to go shopping but had to keep 1m apart. We were both going down the same aisle but trying to keep our distance and both apologised to each other at the same time. In the early 90s I saw Henry Winkler at Wellington Airport. Most of you are probably too young to know who he was but he was an absolute icon as ‘The Fonz’ on the TV show Happy Days when I was a child growing up in the 1970s (back when we only had about 4 shows on TV) so he was an absolute mega-star at the time. I was sitting at a table in the cafe but my boyfriend at the time was standing right next to him ordering food. I was trying to will him to glance to his left so he’d see him but he never did.
I’m of the same vintage and this might be the best in the list. Like he was for a time probably the most famous person in the world. Not many people can say that.
KJ Apa in Hoppers probably the only one
Daniella Pineda from Cowboy Bebop. Very chatty, gorgeous smile and barely be over 5ft.
Sam smith at spqr in ponsonby few years ago, had a photo with him. The. Bumped into him again a year later in Arrowtown! He was holding his friends baby.
Chris Hipkins at Sylvia Park
The GREAT Jimmy Barnes (Years ago) pulled up outside the Power station (Auckland) he had a fair few people with him, but I managed to say HI and get a HI back. I love Jimmy.
Walking down Queen Street a few years back and saw Phil "the power" Taylor (Former World champion Darts.player. really nice guy and was more than happy for a photo.
Missed by moments Ryan Reynolds and Alanis Morissette when checking in to the Hilton many, many, many moons ago. Oh, and last month, Helen Clarke and Peter Davis, who were sitting close to us at the ballet. My friend went up to her and introduced herself as we filed in. I hate introducing myself to well known people, it seems strange.
I've seen Lorde on K Rd twice. Didn't approach her. The second time her group all went up individually to pay for their drinks.... thought she might shout her mates haha. Daniel Radcliffe when he was filming a movie. I worked at the airport one summer and saw John Key, the Amazing Race host, Stan Walker, All Blacks and a few others I've forgotten.
I walked past former police commissioner, Mike Bush on Queen Street. I've got low standards; anyone I've seen on TV is a celebrity to me.
Have seen Jason Mamosa a fair bit. His Auckland place is not fair from mine. Just say hey bro to each other kept walking. Never have my phone when I see him on walks or I'd ask for a selfie as my partner loves him. He's a big dude in person and very handsome.
Rage against the machine (well Zack and Tom) at Piha with Taj from system of a down I think he was showing them around before their big day out set, Tom Morello got absolutely smashed by the white wash and didn't go back in 😂😂 not one person asked for a pic 👍🏻
Guy from walking dead - daryl dixon / normam reedus. saw him in queen street. politely asked for a selfie. he looked great while i looked like thumbman in the photo...
tem morrison rang me trying to buy a car once weird experience as i was laughing thinking i was getting pranked until he showed up to see me izzy nearly every week at the gym, volkanovski, tyson pedro, joseph parker, junior fa most nz comedians, brendan lovegrove is always nice to me. alan carr, paul foot, jeff ross, marc maron other comedians blindspott, 8 foot sativa, john butler trio, faithless, bleeders, pluto, elvis costello, most of the warriors players stacey, iro, betham, charlie gubb, walker, andrew johns, ivan cleary most of the all blacks cause i used to live at the heritage and they stayed on the same floor when they were at the world cup
Couple of years back when Taylor swift was here for her concert. She was walking alone with no body guards in the lobby of her hotel (not sure if she stayed there or not) but I was so star struck. I went up to her and said hello and told her I loved her lol!!! She said hi and said she loves me to ( just being polite obviously) I said see you on stage, she replied maybe I can see you for lunch. I froze as she walked by not even knowing what that meant.
Many years ago Lana Coc-Kroft, Ali Williams and Murray Mexted bummed some smokes off my mate as we were sitting outside a pub in Ponsonby. They joined our table, found out I was single and Ali decides to run into the bar next door to try and find me a girlfriend. He returned empty-handed and very apologetic, and Lana said she'd have taken me home if only she wasn't married. It was a weird night.
Anthony Ray Parker, at a cafe in Kohimarama Beach, Auckland, about 25 years ago. My daughter aged 4 was demanding cake to which we said no- huge slice which she never would have finished, pricy, family on a budget etc etc- anyway, he went up to the counter, bought the cake, sat down and said " wow, this is big, I need some help…[looking at my daughter] think you could help me out, missy?". Daughter’s eyes widened in hope and (thank goodness) checked with us first before saying yes please and off they went, demolishing said cake with quite a bit of conversation along the way. What a treasure!
rita ora, taika waitiki, milo manheim (or however you spell the last name), cillian murphy, and the best by far JACK BLACK. i saw him across the street and shouted ‘princess peach is hot’ and he shouted back ‘she’s mine’ then walked/ran away with a really goofy smile
Izzy. Pretty chill dude. Tall as fuck.
My training buddies at the gym also trains at CKB. They said he's tall, physically huge, and much bigger and leaner than what he appears on TV.
I met Izzy at the ufc event here a few years ago. Wasn’t signed with the ufc and my friend pointed him out and said he would be the next big thing. Took pics with us, took a pic of him about to land a head kick on me 👍 chill as dude.
I saw Jacinda doing some shopping in Sandringham after she resigned. Didn’t even recognise her until a closer look since she was just in a baggy shirt and jeans.
Going a tiny bit tatty and normcore is a great way for celebs to go unnoticed. David Bowie used to do it all the time
Jason Momoa by the viaduct when he was here for a movie a few months ago. Karl Urban in Herne bay just walking with a woman and a dog. We walked past and said hi and kept going both scenarios.
Ran into Julian Dennison at Gogo Music Cafe on Dom Road this year and Steven Adam came to our HS back in the day. Also seen the cuz Sonny bill like 5 times across the years in various restaurants.
I played blackjack with Tom Felton at Auckland casino when he was here for Armageddon expo once.
Dan Hooker was drunk at the 50cent concert 🤣
Marilyn Manson
Sean Kingston at the luge ..he was a big lad and his bodyguards was so damn ripped that the gucci briefcase he had with him looked comical. and serj tanken going into the Auckland Town Hall !
John Rhys Davies (Gimli from lord of the rings). He used to live in Pukekohe and I worked at countdown in the deli. He would come in every Saturday and I would serve him. He was such a lovely man and really really tall.
I went to a cafe on Jervois road years back and was saying to my girlfriend "I swear that's Jason Statham eating over there". She called bullshit but then I googled after we left and it turned out he was filming in NZ at the time and was known to hang around eateries on Jervois road.
I met the ghost chips kid when I was younger
Worked in a hotel for nearly a decade so met very many a celebrity. Most of them are up themselves and have insane requests and tonnes of security. Under fake names obviously. The loveliest, most down to earth, was Dr Jane Goodall - room was under her own name, she wasn’t on the VIP list so she wouldn’t have had her people notify the hotel she was coming, requested to have no housekeeping/other services as “I don’t really need anything dear!”, and called me “dear” several times every time she saw me over the course of her stay. My favourite story though is how Aidan Gillan (Littlefinger from Game of Thrones), must have been having issues with his lovely Mrs because he was sleeping in the guest area rather than their room and later on in the day she asked me if I had seen him, I told her no and she said “ah well fuck knows what he’s doing then”.
Mick Fleetwood lives part of the year in Mt Eden, he used to come in and rent dvds at Videon on Dominion Rd. He DID NOT care to be acknowledged
Nothing can top Elvis surfing at Piha beach in the 60’s
Bumped into Gordon Ramsay a few years ago. Super cool friendly dude, was nice to my kids, even took a photo spoke to him a bit, nothing like his "persona" at all.
I saw Dawn French on K Road on Wednesday with her husband and daughter
Jason Isaacs, John Heder, Inbar Lavi, Aimee Garcia, Cat Stevens/Yusef Islam, Tim Finn, Jason Momoa, The Nitro Circus team, Sam Witwer, The Wu Tang Clan, Justin Bieber, Nicholas Hoult + more. Met them mainly through an old job, lots of really nice people and a few arrogant battlers haha.
Oh and DJ Qualls was another funny one. On a night out in Ponsonby
Saw patchy yesterday on an escooter
Finally, an actual A list person
I saw Bert Kreischer with his family walking up Queen Street with alot of shopping bags. I would've asked for a photo but I didn't wanna get in the way
Gary McCormack judged a drunken jam I played in at the Java Jive lol. Decades ago. Bumped into John Banks a long time back when he still had his personal security detail. I've seen so many current & former all blacks since moving to the shore you could probably field a squad..
Karl Fletcher from ZM , boy he walks fast !!!
Going back some years worked in a hotel met Lou Reed,Stevie Ray Vaughn Elvis Costello,Stevie was cool the other two were twats
Jimmy Carr, Bill Nighy, Chad Smith
In summer I tender to see Serj from SOAD in the cbd
Suicideboys outside Skycity
Sean Connerys son. Cafe off Queen street. Girl on a course I was on at AIT knew him. He apparently lived in Auckland for a while. The Lions team at a nightclub. Paul Holmes at the Airport. Tiny and looked a bit ill. Very nice to someone who approached him. Dick Frizzel the artists son the one who used to do tv shows at a charity boxing match.
Sadly, just the guy that plays Dr Chris Warner on Shortland St, The fact I don’t even know his real name says it all 😂😂
Outstde unity bookshop looking in the window. It was RWC and they had loads of rugby books in the window, including a big one with Richie McCaw's face on. Turned my head back to the street and standing right next to me was the man himself. Very surreal.
Ali Williams but that’s just because I was working on his new house.
Met Sonny Bill Williams at the local mosque. Man, he is huge. I’m not too short at 5’8”. But I felt tiny shaking his hands. Self esteem died in just a second.
Alan Carr was amazing. Had a great chat. Ended up about post it notes.
Daniel Radcliffe! this was years ago in ponsonby but he clearly didn’t want to be seen (cap dipped low, head down etc) so decided not to approach because i imagine that gets exhausting. so cool though :D
In 2006 I went into the library at my school (Epsom Girls') just as John Campbell was walking out and held the door open for him. He didn't say thank you.
Jenna Ortega at the Art Gallery. An exhibition of a designer. I didn’t know who she was but my teen daughter fangirled and got a selfie. She was tiny and very sweet.
Karl Urban post season 1 of the boys I didn’t recognise him but knew he was someone and by the time I knew he had nodded and walked by. St Luke’s mall I was working a shit shift that I was whinging about and it made my time worth it.
Not in Auckland but I used to work at Bunnings in Christchurch and I served Jason Gunn at the checkout. I told him how much he inspired me as a kid and he was very nice about it - his TV studio Whitebait Productions is just over the road from Bunnings. His wife Janine used to also come into the store every now and then - she's gorgeous - as are her daughters Eve and Grace who I've seen out and about in Christchurch. I had the biggest crush on Grace when I was young - she was gorgeous and talented. Also walked past Jordan Luck in a toilet block in Christchurch CBD. He's very cool. A friend of mine also ran into Lorde while she was staying with her extended family in Herne Bay. She said hello and she was very nice apparently. When I was young I also saw Elijah Wood at The Warehouse in Queenstown. My family didn't believe me but I was sure it was him. Would make sense since it was around the time that LOTR was being filmed and released, so I'm pretty sure it was him.
I saw Fred Armisen out for dinner once and I was just so surprised that I went “Fred Armisen?? I didn’t exact to see you here.” As if we were old friends or something 😂
Shared an elevator with Hugo Weaving, but it was in Wellington.
I saw Rod Stewart (with Rachael Hunter and her sister) at Thorne’s Bay, that little beach between Takapuna and Milford in the 90s. I gave Rod the bro-brow - a simple “hey man, I know who you are and I’m not going to make a big deal of it” and he did the same back.
Mr Sicc (local artist) hours before he bashed A$AP Rocky