Star Struck?

As crazy as this may seem, I hardly ever recognize movie stars in New York City. As I have often told my friends, I just don't watch enough tv or go to the movies enough. Still, I ran into one star last week while shopping in the West Village.

While I was in that Oscar Wilde bookstore that I wrote about earlier, a man walked into the store and suddenly I had an epiphany. Pointing like a crazy man, I said, "Holy Cow, I know that guy!" The guy turns to my pointing finger. Remember, I am 6ft 9in tall and the store is small and quaint in size. I think I scared him.

But then, I said, "Nah, it couldn't be him" (I was talking with a friend who had accompanied me to the store). And then he opened his mouth and said, "Hi my name is Steve Hayes." And like a screaming teenage fan, I said, "Oh mah Gawd, it IS you!" I don't know if I squealed but later, after being embarrassed, I may have.

We talked for a few minutes and I told him how much I loved his supporting role in the 1999 movie, Trick. The movie is a cute comedy about two guys who, instead of hooking up, become boyfriends amidst Tori Spelling's incredibly annoying and jealous friend of Christian Campbell's character. It's a sweet story. Steve Haye's character is as a mentor to Campbell as well as part of a touching scene between Hayes and his onscreen boyfriend.

Anyways, it was a nice experience. Truth be told, I think I have only met and/or recognized about 3 actors in my 10-years in NYC. I saw Tony Randall run from a taxi to the Lincoln Center fountain when I first arrived in the city (and before he later died). I literally ran into Carol Channing in a the street. Upon running into her, she looked up at me and said in that voice everyone loves to immitate, "Oh my gawwwed, you're so taaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllll!" The way she drew out the word, "tall" was hilarious. And now, I have met Steve Hayes, who no one really knows.