PEOPLE Readers' Best Celebrity Encounters

01 of 19

Community celebrity encounters — Cinnamon Hernandez

"My mother and I met John Travolta on a very impromptu trip to Tampa! After a day at Busch Gardens, tired, not dressed perfectly, we grabbed dinner in the hotel in a five-star restaurant. To my surprise, in walks John who sits four feet away. It was surreal. We spoke to him, took photos and talked about our favorite movies. Talk about being at the right place at the right time. He was so polite and gentlemanly — made our evening!"

—Cinnamon Hernandez

02 of 19

"I was flying First Class on Air France to Cannes and had just shoved my passport haphazardly in my bag. Someone behind me reached in and handed it to me and said very kindly, 'I really don't think you want to lose this.' It was James Spader wearing a cool hat. The star of The Blacklist taught me a very valuable lesson about not being an idiot."

—Alex Apatoff

03 of 19

"In the '80s, I was in Montreal celebrating my birthday and we ran into Stevie Wonder coming out of a club. He had performed in a concert earlier that evening and was partying afterwards. He took a picture with me, kissed me on my cheek and wished me happy birthday. Best birthday ever!"

—Catherine Atwood

04 of 19

"I met Lance Bass when he came to Utah [on a promotional tour]. I asked the stupidest questions about 7th Heaven when he was on it. I was so embarrassed! He is my celebrity crush!"

—Mary Oyler

05 of 19

"Hanging out with Rod Stewart! Such a talented lovely person!"

—Leslye Phillips

06 of 19

"I received a hug from Carlos Santana wishing me a great New Years on New Years' Eve!"

—Laura Carlson

07 of 19

"Walter Gretzky bought me a beer at the last Leaf vs. Rangers game at Maple Leaf Gardens ... I was sitting beside him!"

—Bill Kostiuk

08 of 19

"This is me and Sinbad. He was performing in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He was so funny and very approachable! The year was about 2018."

—Theresa Newsom

09 of 19

"I met Lauren Graham at my college reunion and told her that I was in middle of binge watching Gilmore Girls. She told me that she hopes that I enjoy the rest of the show."

—Rina Krautwirth

10 of 19

"Our beautiful Ethiopian baby girl, Meaza Joy, was asked to come on stage at the Beach Boys concert featuring John Stamos on the drums. She got up in front of 4,000 people that night and ever since has been taking ukulele, guitar and singing lessons. Thank you to John Stamos for helping our little girl find such joy! I always like to tell people that she came home at 7 months old weighing 11 pounds, and she's always been such a strong fighter with an angelic spirit and voice."

—Marti Edwards

11 of 19

"JLo was kind enough to greet my partner and I backstage."

—Todd Fellerman

12 of 19

"I met actor Keanu Reeves back in the '90s when I was an extra in his movie Chain Reaction. He was the nicest man ever. He was going to play Hamlet in Winnipeg. I bought me and my mom tickets to Winnipeg and we went there to see Keanu for the weekend. He saw me in the audience and waved at me. When we got back on set on Monday, he couldn't believe I was there. I said you were great and asked for a hug and we talked for 10 minutes. He was just so humbled that I did that. Keanu is still my favorite actor and I still think he is so gorgeous. I would love to meet him again one day. I know he would never remember me, but I love him so much. He is so underrated as an actor and a great humanitarian."

—Angela Love

13 of 19

"The nicest celeb: I went to a book signing in New Jersey a little over a year ago, and I met Candace Cameron Bure! She was the sweetest celebrity and she noticed I was nervous so she helped me take a selfie with her! I also showed her a picture of me at the Fuller House house in San Francisco and she thought it was so awesome and talked to me for another five minutes! By far the nicest celebrity I've ever met."

—Ashley McNally

14 of 19

"I met Laura Prepon and Ben Foster in Austin a few years ago. They were staying at the hotel that I worked at, and unfortunately, one of the servers had gotten nervous when Laura opened the door and she spilled food all over her. I went up to apologize and expected to get my head chewed off — which would absolutely have been understandable considering food got all over Ben's jacket and he had to wear it to an open house. Laura was so incredibly kind and sweet! I am such a huge fan but working in the service industry, you meet a lot of not nice celebs so I never expect it. She was so awesome — even introducing me to Ben!"

—Amanda Frederick

15 of 19

"I was an extra for the movie The Waterboy, I had received free stuff from that movie, which I kept over the years. One was a T-shirt — I always wanted one of the cast members to sign it. Fast-forward 21 years later, I found out Henry Winkler was at Comic-Con in Columbus, Ohio. I went there that year and I wore the T-shirt, and met him, he signed it!"

—Angela Brotherton

16 of 19

"I had a friend who was walking with her family and dropped her son's pacifier. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see Mark Ruffalo holding the pacifier. She goes 'You're Mark Ruffalo!' To which Mark smiled and said "Yeah" and handed her the pacifier and walked away."

—Kristen Hallmark

17 of 19

"My daughter Bianca sitting on Yogi Berra's lap at his Montclair, New Jersey, office/museum. I almost fell on the floor when I saw him. He made you feel so relaxed like he'd known you for years and his sense of humor was constant. What an iconic moment!"

—Theresa Newsom

18 of 19

"I've been in hospitality for five years now and we get celebrities from time to time, and Joe Biden gave me some of the best chocolates I've ever had."

—Lauren Kelley

19 of 19

"I've been a big yankee fan for my whole life. I met Alex Rodriguez for my birthday. My friends gave me Yankees tickets when they played the Marlins down in Florida where I live. I made a big banner, and he signed it and also we took a picture together. What an amazing birthday present and to meet my favorite yankee player."

—Cheryl Cohen

PEOPLE Readers Share Stories of Their Best Celebrity Encounters