The Celebrity Encounter Story I Tell At Parties*
*Just kidding, I don't go to parties.
Hi, it’s me.
The Sundance Film Festival wrapped up last week in Park City, Utah, which always brings up the memory of my favorite celebrity encounter: Talking with Josh Radnor in baggage claim about our favorite band. It just so happens that Radnor recently got married, so I thought I’d share the story again for new Pretenders who’ve joined us since last year.
In February, if my writing mojo agrees with this plan, I’ll be sharing a few stories about getting married and being married. Working titles are, “Pretend You’re Good At Fighting,” “I Got Married In a Prom Dress,” and “All Aboard the Strange Boat.” Be sure to subscribe if you don’t want to miss out on the juicy material I’m working on for my memoir draft.
Originally posted January 18, 2023.
The Sundance Film Festival starts this week, which always makes me reminisce about the time Bryan and I were there for work. The year was 2010, and we were hired to live stream celebrity interviews at the Tweet House. At that time, live streaming was still in its infancy. YouTube wasn’t offering it yet, and we were pioneering our setup with a new streaming service called Ustream.
I walked around with an iPhone 3G mounted on a monopod and streamed live as TV and Internet personality Shira Lazar interviewed celebrities as they entered the Tweet House. Here’s a video of her interviewing Bob Saget as he arrived, and you can see her point to me/the camera and say to him, “We’re right here on an iPhone!”
(Watch to the end for a cameo of LeVar Burton.)
You can also hear me bantering with Bob Saget from behind the camera at the very beginning, which I’m sure broke all kinds of unspoken cameraperson rules.
It was a little bonkers, but so fun to watch my husband in his element of prototyping new technology. Celebrities that we streamed that day included Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Beau Bridges, Adrian Granier, Joseph Gordon Levitt, and LeVar Burton. I would later drink too many glow-in-the-dark tequila shots at the afterparty and have a hangover for our flight home.
But it was the day before all this excitement that we flew into Salt Lake City with all of our gear. At this point Bryan and I were seasoned travelers used to hauling stuff around with us, whether it was video gear or toddler paraphernalia. The way it worked is that I would stand out of the crowd with the luggage (and the kids, if they were with us) while he ferried all the bags from the conveyor belt to where I was waiting.
On one of his return trips to me and the pile of gear, Bryan casually mentions, “Hey, there’s Ted from How I Met Your Mother.”
Ted was FIVE FEET AWAY.
I watched a few people ask for his autograph, grin sloppily at him while he signed it, then walk away without really saying anything. Amateurs, all of them. I was at Sundance on business, and I was not about to play around in the Fan Girl sandbox.
I was more interested in his musical taste, anyway.
Josh Radnor (that’s Ted’s Real Person name) had recently appeared on KCRW’s Guest DJ Project in which he featured my favorite band, Cloud Cult, whom no one had heard of at that point. This is a band that supports my mental health — Bryan and I never miss a Seattle show.
When Bryan disappeared again to find more luggage, I leaned toward Josh Radnor and the small group he was with.
“I heard your Guest DJ Project on KCRW,” I said. “Cloud Cult is my favorite band.”
“IS IT REALLY?” he responded.
I don’t recall if he said IS IT REALLY? exactly, but the sentiment was there. He was excited – the kind of excited you get when you love something a little obscure and you finally find your people.
To Josh Radnor, I WAS HIS PEOPLE.
We talked about how awesome Cloud Cult is, how weird it was that KCRW’s Chris Douridas had never heard of them, and how PHENOMENAL their live shows are.
“I put one of their songs in my movie, Happythankyoumoreplease!” he said. This was the movie he came to Sundance to screen and promote.
Here’s what Josh Radnor had to say about Cloud Cult in his KCRW interview:
“The lead singer is a guy named Craig Minowa, and he and his wife lost their child, a baby, when the kid was about one or two, and most of their records have been a response to this grief. When I listen to Arcade Fire, I feel like the world is ending, and Cloud Cult makes me feel like the world’s already ended and, like, now where do we go? Everything’s in shards and pieces on the ground and they’re building something new.
It’s really like this transformative experience listening to them.”
Yes, like the world already ended – now what? I feel that way most of the time, which is probably why I love the band.
Back to happy topics: I once had a conversation with Josh Radnor at Sundance!
Have you ever had a celebrity encounter? Or a celebrity sighting?
If you could talk to any famous person about any topic, who would it be and what would you talk about?
I’d love to hear your story in the comments!
Until next time,
Jen
News + Notes
Related, I also met the rapper Chamillionaire on my birthday in 2009.
I once met Bill Gates when he flew into PDX on a turboprop. I escorted him through our employee area, to a hallway that ended with a door opening out to the arrivals level road. His limo was there waiting for him. He was very unassuming, and we made some small talk that probably set a new world record for banality.
Had dinner & cigars with Jerry Springier and my cousin back when Jerry was an eye roll and a household name.
Afterward, we toured his high-rise apartment. I told him it seemed sad. He said my observations were “stunningly accurate.” I suggested he get a cat.