My Neighbor Matt Damon
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Truth be told, I don’t know where Matt lives but I do know that it’s somewhere in my neighborhood. I know this because almost every fellow Upper Westsider I know has spotted him here or there – at school, at the playground, at local restaurants – in the last couple months. Fine.
Yesterday was my turn. My sister-in-law J and I walked home from dropping Toddler at Preschool and one block from home, we saw him. At first, I didn’t notice Matt at all, but spotted his wife. She is hugely pregnant (and I mean that in the most flattering way – she looks good - but also as if she is about to pop). When I am pregnant, I tend to have a keen radar for other pregnant women in my immediate vicinity. And there she was. Walking toward me, wearing a thick gray sweater, glowing. I then looked over to the man with her. A good-looking guy in a baseball hat and jeans and glasses. He pushed an empty stroller.
Only after we passed them did I turn to J and say, “Hey, that was Matt Damon.”
J confessed that she had not noticed him. We agreed that Matt looked like many of the other dads we passed on our walk home. Dads who were on their way to drop kids at school, or dads on their way back. There was nothing assuming or conspicuous about this man. He looked like another anonymous neighbor.
And so. Yes, of course I texted Sister C (a big Matt fan) and said We just spotted Matt Damon! I was excited. I was excited to cross paths with such a big man and big talent. But more than that? I was happy to see that this celebrity was really just one of us. A parent. A person. A husband sticking close to his wife on the precipice of labor. A father dropping his daughter at school even though he could have any number of assistants do this for him. An Upper Westsider doing his thing.
Maybe it shouldn’t surprise me that when the cameras aren’t rolling some celebrities embrace lives that come close to resembling the rest of ours. Maybe my surprise here is prime evidence of the fact that too many celebrities do not go this route of outward “normalcy,” that too may pose and parade for the paparrazi they all but invite into their worlds. Maybe the fact that I’m writing this post indicates that I am yet another citizen of this culture who has a mild obsession with the celebrity species. I don’t know.
(Good for you, Matt.)
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- Any recent Matt Damon or other celeb sightings?
- Are you surprised when celebrities appear to be utterly “normal”?
- Do you think that the celebrities who get swarmed by photographers at every turn are somehow asking for it?
- Why, as a society, do you think we are so intrigued by celebrities?
Everyone struggles and...
I had a Matt Damon sighting YEARS ago. He was with Winona if that tells you how far back it was. Baseball hat and cute as ever. But not yet a dad or a family man or a husband- all things that I now think make him even sexier than he was then. Btw, have you seen him on 30 Rock? Hilarious. And I love the gray in his hair. (I think I’m also just getting old.)
Last week I saw Mikhail Baryshnikov at an arts festival. No, I didn’t see one of his performances. I saw him as he stood outside the performing arts center chatting with a friend and people watching. We exchanged smiles and I walked inside to the theater. Later, friends and family asked if I talked to him. No, the thought never crossed my mind because he was just hanging out being a regular guy. But I was still thrilled to see him!
I saw Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore in Boston last week. My first instinct was to go back and take a picture, shouting at the top of my lungs so everyone knew they were in town. Fortunately, I was running late for an appointment so I didn’t have time to make a fool of myself.
For the rest of the day, I thought about them: “their relationship MUST be real if they’re together in a place where the paparazzi won’t be around to keep tabs.” Then I thought about what their lives are like together in Hollywood.
Then I thought, why in God’s name do I care and did my best to forget the whole thing. Seems I’m mildly obsessed, too!
I have run into quite a few celebrities. Part of that is from living in Los Angeles and part work related. I have never been particularly star struck, but I have to admit that when I ran into Bruce Springsteen at the mall I stopped and stared.
He was walking by himself just minding his own business- seemed very nice.
I have also run into Magic Johnson on several occasions. He is one of the friendliest men I have encountered. Very affable and more than willing to shake your hand and say hello.
I am a big Matt Damon fan. He strikes me as the least celebrity-like celebrity and I’m glad your impression of him yesterday confirms my suspicion.
Back when I was an Upper West Sider, I walked right into Jerry Seinfeld in front of Zabar’s. He was wearing a baseball hat, jeans, and sunglasses (maybe he borrowed Matt’s?). Something tells me the encounter was less memorable for him.
I’ll admit it, I love a celebrity sighting. And I do think they remind us that we are just human, wanting the same things in life–health, happiness, and connection.
Sadly, St. Louis offers little in the way of celebrity sightings. I was once on a plane with Barack Obama back in 2006 or so. He was flying from Chi to STL to canvas the Southern half of his state. Only a handful of people knew who he was. He flew coach with two aides and I was about 4 rows behind him. I was starstruck even then. In retrospect I REALLY wish I’d asked for his autograph. Coulda, shoulda, woulda…
Loved this so much I’m sharing with my husband and on twitter. I am inspired by knowing there is a great talent who also has values that actually mean something. You know, apart from money and fame and all that jazz.
Your blog entry was very sweet and yes Matt is one of the rare celebrities who don’t put themselves above others. He’s so down-to-earth and really appreciates his fans. It’s impossible not to like/adore him.
By the way, maybe your sister C wants to check out The Matt Damon Website I launched a while ago at http://justmatt.net It focuses on his career, nothing stalkerish.
Greetings from Boston
This past weekend, I attended a very intimate and very private event. One of the performers was k.d. lang and two of the honored guests were the Secretary of State and the former President. It was a safe space (just friends, not a fundraiser) for everyone. k.d. confessed to being nervous before her doing her set but otherwise seemed normal and just hanging with her partner off stage. The honored guests let down their guard and seemed like normal people, but I couldn’t help but wonder how often they are able to do that. Such is not a life I long for.
Not sure I would draw such a big conclusion such as “…this celebrity was really just one of us. A parent. A person. A husband sticking close to his wife on the precipice of labor. A father dropping his daughter at school even though he could have any number of assistants do this for him. An Upper Westsider doing his thing.” over one little brief encounter. Maybe he is a good hubby+dad; maybe not. How do you know?
On the other hand, when you showed the photos of another couple’s PDA in front of their children(yes I have been following your entries almost daily), I don’t know if they are really that bad, either, because I don’t know enough about them.
I am not a parent or any kind of expert, but I know parenting is a complex issue and child development is even more complex. It is often tempting for us to judge other parents(I did it myself too when I was an intern at a pre-school), but I always ended up asking myself “how much do I really know these people?”
Funny you write about Matt Damon. His high school was across the street from my apartment and he also went to the same college as my brother did, at around the same time. We didn’t know him at all, but I remember thinking when he first got famous with Good Will Hunting that he was just this kid from our area who made it big. But now, if I were to see him, I would think, wow, I just saw MATT DAMON!! Hollywood does this strange thing in terms of changing our perception of celebrities.
I never notice celebrities! Boo for me! But my husband ALWAYS is able to spot a huge star! Last summer we were having dinner outside and guess who just happened to be in town and was walking right in front of us? Matt Damon! Husband spotted him immediately! I was too engaged in my food and missed him! I saw them back of him walking away by the time my hubby told me. Oh well….next time!
I saw Matt Damon in Central Park, near the West Side in the upper 80s today (5/8/11). He was pushing the baby carriage. Luciana was there with all of their kids. I was wondering why he had a winter hat on. Then a little girl, about 8 or 9 said that it was Matt Damon… This explains the odd winter grey ski hat.. I had my Red Sox hat on… I am a died hard Red Sox fan too. Grew up in New England… It looks like he and his family were having a great Mother’s Day.