I’m too scared to approach celebrities on the street

Yesterday I saw Domhnall Gleeson walking with two friends through Soho in London. I am a HUGE Domhnall fan, so this was super exciting, but it didn’t even cross my mind to approach him, because I’m too worried to do so.

Let me explain – this is not my first time spotting a celebrity out and about in London, but it is always a surprise seeing them going about their private business like everybody else, such as Jude Law shopping in Forbidden Planet and Gemma Arterton on the tube (although I have no picture evidence of these encounters, so you’ll have to take my word for it).

Nowadays, in the age of the camera phone, most people would launch themselves straight at the celeb in question and ask for a selfie, but not me. I am too scared that they will say no and ruin the illusion I have of them. I have this image of Domhnall being a nice guy as he always comes across as proper lovely in interviews and when I spoke to him at the Peter Rabbit premiere (and watched his The Revenant Q&A at the Apple Store), but he’s also incredibly private, so I don’t think I could deal if he said no, even worse if it was done in a rude way.

Also, he was enjoying his downtime from filming Star Wars: Episode IX with his friends in peace, and I didn’t want to be a pain in the ass. I didn’t think he would take too kindly to my interruption, which could lead to more interruptions, since nobody else had noticed him by that point. If I were a celeb, I would like to go about my day without these sorts of disruptions, even though it comes with the territory.

So I’ll never know if Domhnall was lovely in real life, because I was too scared of him being a dick. It all happened so quickly, from me spotting him and convincing my friend it was him, to him turning the corner of Dean Street onto Old Compton Street, that I couldn’t even snap a photo, but as a fan, seeing him with my own eyes was enough.

How do you feel about approaching celebs on the street?