TALES FROM BEHIND THE POPCORN COUNTER--PART 2

 Celebrity Sightings

You wouldn’t think a little movie theater in Minneapolis tucked away near the Mississippi River would bring in any big-name Hollywood actors, but it did. In my time working behind the popcorn counter, I encountered a few different celebrities. The most fascinating encounter happened so fast, I didn’t even realize it was happening until well after it was over, which was probably for the best. Not that I would have said anything. That’s just weird. Anyway, I was ripping tickets one night. There was a snowstorm outside the big glass windows, so the place was a ghost town. It was late, the very last showing of the evening, and the very last person to walk to my podium and hand me a ticket was none other than the star of Fargo. Except he wasn’t the star of Fargo yet because the movie hadn’t been released…because it was in the midst of being filmed. Then. And there. Or at least somewhere nearby. It was obviously his night off from filming, so he decided to see one instead. Alone. He was wearing a short-brimmed hat and trench coat. I kid you not. After he was in the theater, I looked at the guy working the ticket booth. He looked at me. We were the only ones on at that point. He said, “Was that?” and I said, “Yes. I think it was.”  It wasn’t until a year or so later that I made the connection that he’d been filming Fargo. And shortly thereafter I saw the film…in that very theater. Full circle moment.

The second celeb sighting, I was actually off the clock. I was cashing in on my employee discount. I was seeing Little Women. And who did I spy walking in and sitting one row in front of me? One of the stars of the film. I’ll give you a hint. She is from Minnesota. Named after a town here, in fact. And she happened to be with her boyfriend at the time, the lead singer of a popular Minnesota band. I’d been a fan of the band in their punk rock years, so I was actually more star struck by him than her, but it was odd watching one of the stars of a movie watching the movie from her seat in front of me. Kind of like one of those infinity mirrors. Bizarre to say the least.

The third celebrity story is about me. Not because I’m a celebrity, but because I can’t count the number of times people asked me from my position behind the popcorn counter if I was Dana Delany. Now, if you are too young, let me explain to you who that is. She starred in China Beach in the late 80s. It was a television series about the Vietnam War. Great show. I just so happened to have a hairstyle at the time that was very similar to the one Ms. Delany had in the show. I thought she was cool, so I took it as a complement, but it was also just a super odd question. If I were Dana Delany, would I be shoveling popcorn into a bucket for you right now for $4.25 an hour? No. No, I would not. Nevertheless, people didn’t ever stop to think. Nobody has asked me that question for a long time. It was fun to have a doppelganger while it lasted.