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How to meet a movie star in New York City, Part 2
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In a previous column, I suggested using subway rides for celebrity-sighting opportunities. Here's some more tips for star-shopping in New York City.
Join a gym: The more expensive the gym, the more likely it’s a celebrity magnet. Neighborhood is also a consideration. I used to work out at an Upper East Side Crunch patronized by Sigourney Weaver during the height of her post-Aliens fame. I was always a little too wary of flesh-eating monsters to approach her. Other members were more bold. None seemed to end as icky wall-splatter.
Take a walk: The sidewalk levels New York social strata, geometrically expanding your chance of a celebrity sighting. So start walking! Remember, the more expensive the neighborhood, the higher the likelihood of a celebrity sighting. I’ve found the Upper East Side to be particularly celeb-felicitous: Madeleine Kahn, Robert Redford, Barbra Streisand and Debbie Harry have crossed my path, Streisand and Redford on separate occasions (no on-the-spot reenactment of The Way We Were, unfortunately.) Madison Avenue is probably the most fertile ground.
TIP: Celebrities window shop just like the rest of us.
Buy a theater ticket. You’re not a real actor until you’ve proven yourself on the wicked stage, so movie stars come to Broadway looking for validation. If you want to go backstage afterwards and say hello, ask an usher or the house manager if visits are permitted. It helps to dress up; the more impressive you look, the more likely you’ll be allowed backstage. If going backstage doesn’t work out, the proverbial stage door really exists, and the people who hang out there prove that New York is just as full of eccentrics as ever.
TIP: Don’t expect to be invited for a cup of tea and a sob sister chat, a la All About Eve.
Be yourself. New Yorkers have a reputation for rudeness. My theory on its origin is simple: everyone here is a star and we all expect the red carpet. So live up to your New Yorker status and strut around as if you deserve the attention you crave. I’ve been asked for my autograph more than once. It broke my hard little heart to tell the hopeful but misinformed autograph hound that I wasn’t exactly a collectible. But there’s always hope.
I can’t guarantee any success from following my tips but I’ll bet you’ll be in better shape from all the exercise. Just don’t forget that stars are people too, and that Peggy Lee shook my hand once. The magic can happen to you too.
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