OT: Celebrities you think who may be actual, down-to-earth, good people

Van Earl Wright

 

Brook Jacoby

 

Not sure why, but I think Gwynth Paltrow is a nice person.

 

No way. She's a spoiled Hollywood princess who is as cold as cold can get.

 

Is she? Never heard otherwise.

 

I met Steve Martin in the mid-1970s when he was still sticking an arrow through his head on college campuses and hadn't quite blown up on SNL. He was talking about leaving the standup thing behind and going to Hollywood to make movies.

Nice guy at the time, but I wonder how the years have treated him ...

 

First: Everyone has their "asshole moments."

Clooney seems like a generally OK guy. My impression of John Cusack is about the same. In the generation a decade or so older, while Bill Murray has been known to howl at the moon sometimes, you don't hear too many stories of him being a flat-out dick.

Bruce Springsteen and Bono both have been known to do the "ego boogie" from time to time, but from many more stories, generally try to be decent people, even when they don't have to. Among slightly-lesser-known rock stars, I actually have met Richard Thompson a few times, and either his modest, self-deprecating attitude is the greatest act of all time, or else he really is a decent guy.

Paul Newman and James Garner, if you want to go up into the septua- (now octo-) genarian division, have always seemed to be pretty solid people. Freeman would fit into that category too.

Women. Debra Winger has seemed for the most part to have her head screwed on fairly straight. Diane Lane and Ally Sheedy, also in the 40something class of actresses, always seemed pretty cool. Minnie Driver, at least what I've seen onscreen, seems basically nice too. Natalie Portman seems like a nice person onscreen, but there were quite a few diva stories that came out with "Revenge of the Sith."

I was in an elevator once with Ali, about a decade ago. Never saw him in person before. I walked into the elevator and there were two guys in there. One guy a fairly nondescript guy, and the other was, for God's sake, Muhammad Ali. I was too star-struck to speak, but did manage a brief nod. "You tryin' to start something?," he said, with a mock-serious glare and grin. He spoke slowly, a really thick whisper, but you could still make it out. "No way, Champ," I said.

"You, me, in the elevator," he came back, by this time laughing. "Give me a week or two to train," I said. "You goin' down, chump!," he cackled, and landed a very (thank god!) light right on my shoulder.

I said, "I think I better go to the rope-a-dope," and he said, "I think you're right, big man!" (although he easily stood 6 inches taller than me). Then the elevator opened, and they walked out, laughing.

For what it's worth, I was one-on-one with Michael Jordan a couple times, and though he had no special reason to be, he was always OK with me. Shot the shit for a few minutes, "how's the weather, etc." Others have said he's an ass pretty frequently; I'll take their word for it.

 

Years ago I spent a day with Springsteen for a magazine profile. He was friendly, patient and cooperative during the afternoon before his show. At one point, he politely asked about me and my family, and I told him my wife was a huge fan of his. We had more q-a time scheduled for after the concert and he insisted that I invite my wife to come backstage and sit-in on the rest of our conversation. As unprofessional as that is, I did it. She was thrilled, and he was more relaxed and open than any celeb I've ever interviewed.


EDIT: Dolly Parton notwithstanding.

 

First guy I thought of. Whenever folks talk about how tough life can be as a celeb, and how fame must suck with paparazzi tracking your every move, I bring up Tom Hanks.

Never seen the guy attack a photog. Never seen him out at 3 a.m., coked-up and bangin' trannies (N.T.T.A.W.W.T.). Never seen him in a courtroom on DUI charges.

They live him alone because he doesn't give them shit. He's a bigger celeb than most, and how often do you see him staring you down at the checkout lane?

To add something to the list, I sumbit Don Cheadle. And Christopher Walken.

 

* Through experience, Eckstein is salt of the earth. Santana is a good guy, too.

* If you don't think Viggo is a celebrity ... I guess you just haven't been paying attention?

Anyway, I think what the OP was going for is not a name-dropping thread but a "this celeb strikes me as someone who might be an actual regular, decent person" thread.

I'll add:

* Claire Danes. Avoided the child star shit, risked her career to get an education, seems unaware she's the most beautiful woman in the world.

* Letterman. He could have parlayed his position into all kinds of stuff, but by all accounts is a regular homebody. Has he ever been to a celelbrity party?

* Jake Gyllenhaal. Self-effacing, not caught up in the life.

* Cameron Diaz. Sure she dated Timberlake, but she seems like a regular chick you could watch football with. And not just if Brett's on.

* Bruce Willis. Has everything going for him, but keeps the regular guy vibe. He's cool with his ex banging some young dude who's helping to raise his kids. That seems pretty well-adjusted.

That's just off the top of my head. Other suggestions?

 

I somehow got into a party hosted by the Coen brothers in New Orleans. They were awesome, talked with everyone, wanted to make sure all party guests had enough drinks, food, etc. Way cool to chill with and didn't mind answering all the typical questions, "so what was your favorite movie, etc. etc."

One celeb who seems down-to-earth: Minnie Driver

 

Celebs who seem down-to-earth: George Clooney, Dave Grohl, and Tina Fey

Celebs I've met that were down-to-earth: Steve Buscemi, John Waters, Eddie Vedder, Nick Cave, Theresa Russell, Wim Wenders, Neil Young, Paul Bartel, and Warren Zevon.

Absolute pricks: Billy Corrigan, Ace Frehley, Gavin Rossdale, and any member of Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Weirdest: Tie between Black Francis and Gibby Haynes.