I remember being a teenager and seeing Seymour Cassel across a crowded room and being incredibly star struck, and not having the courage to say, 'Hello.'
I remember being in Dublin in a café and seeing him [Jack Gleeson] two or three years ago, and he came in - Joffrey[from the Game of Thrones] came in - and I remember being so star-struck. I don't like famous people and I don't really get star-struck. But I remember seeing him and being so impressed that he was walking around. So I really like Joffrey.
I pride myself on being the nicest person in the room. My grandmother always told me, 'Manners will take you where money won't.' When I walk into a room, I say "hello" to everyone I don't care who the person is or what they do, it's simply being respectful.
I had rock-star dreams from 8 or 9 almost nonstop. I thought it was going to be like being a god on earth: having as many women as you want whenever you want them, having super powers, being incredibly wealthy, never doing laundry.
I remember seeing this image of these women wearing these bright clothes and patterns, and it struck me. I remember taking note and going, like, "What is that? Who is that?" and finding out it was Gucci and being surprised.
I remember being a teenager and watching 40-year-old Michael Jordan compete in his final All-Star game.
There's nothing more mundane than sitting across from a celebrity in a sterile gray conference room. But when the star sitting across from you is Taraji Penda Henson, you are being treated to a master class in the art of the hustle.
When you use the form of a novel, and you say 'I,' you are also saying 'I' for someone else. When you say 'you,' you are simultaneously in your room writing and in the outside world - you are seeing and being seen seeing, and this creates something slightly strange and foreign in the self.
When my stepmother had my sister, Katharine Hepburn dropped by to say hello. She came with George Cukor, who wasn't a star, but he was a famous director. He was also my grandmother's best friend, so I knew him well as a kid. But when George showed up with Katharine Hepburn, I was utterly star struck.
Standing as a witness in all things means being kind in all things, being the first to say hello, being the first to smile, being the first to make the stranger feel a part of things, being helpful, thinking of others' feelings, being inclusive.
I got to say hello to Snoop Dogg. I got to, I was being barged out of the way by his bodyguards but I got to say hello to him which was cool.
You've got to deal with the world with all of its troubles, while you've still got this alternate image. It's not about being in a different place or being in heaven, it's about seeing the world through magical eyes for a moment, and then being back in that same world, and everything is dull and gray. Having to remember the color.
In the 1995 'World War 3,' it was Dave Taylor's first WCW match. I remember looking across the ring and seeing Dave give Hogan an uppercut. Hogan wasn't used to being hit with such ferocity, and seeing the look on his face was an absolute picture.
I met Elvis first in Las Vegas. I think I was appearing with Tom Jones and he came backstage to say hello to Tom or we went to his dressing room to say hello.
People being incredibly rude and playing music incredibly badly and being incredibly obnoxious has always been a teenage sort of thing.
Own it. Just take it and say, 'Yes I will be great, I am going to be great.' Great doesn't mean being a movie star, great doesn't mean having millions of dollars. Great means being able to be confident, strong, and a solid human being that has dignity and integrity. That is great.
I joined a gym when I was 11, agreed to seeing a dietitian aged 15, and I remember being a teenager and going to shops, only to find that as a size 16, the clothes were hidden at the back or on different floors well away from the shop windows.