Up until yesterday, I probably would’ve answered that question with a big old ‘no,’ but yesterday, during my regular Sunday-afternoon veg-out watching horse racing on TVG, host Simon Bray cut to an interview with none other than Teri Hatcher. Apparently, every Mother’s Day, the Desperate Housewives star takes her mom and her daughter to Hollywood Park for some live racing action; Bray noted that last year, Hatcher correctly predicted (on air) that 17-1 shot Ashley’s Kitty would win the featured Railbird Stakes. This year, however, Hatcher wasn’t feeling as decisive, telling Bray that since she’d already gambled away the money she won on the third-race trifecta, she’d decided to place a win bet on every horse in the 2008 Railbird field. Lucky for her, the $31.40 payout on longshot Million Dollar Run turned out to be greater than the $16 it would’ve cost to play all eight fillies in the field, once again making Hatcher a winner, not only at the windows, but also in my fickle, horse-addicted heart.
How about you PopWatchers? Have you ever discovered something about an entertainer’s private life that turned you into an instantaneous fan?
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That Bill Nighy, Ricky Gervais and Morrissey loved cats. Can’t help it–it made them perfect to me.
I know back when Season 5 American Idol was on, any celebrity that said either they were a fan of Elliot’s or voted for him instantly became a favorite of mine.
I always like to find out I share favorite authors with celebs. I always loved Dolly Parton, but when I found out one of her favorite writers is Lee Smith I liked her even more.
I also like stars like Gary Oldman and Christian Bale who keep their families fairly private; you might see a picture of them with their kids occasionally but they’re not on the cover of People every week (I mean you, Brangelina).
When I found out that Mariska Hargitay actually trained then worked answering the NY rape crisis hotline, I was really impressed. I thought that was very un-celebrity behavior and immediately made me like her. She also helped create a foundation for sexual assault victims.
Steven Tyler’s assertion in Spin (I think it was) one of the album’s he’d take with him to a desert island was Pet Sounds made me a little more eager to hear what Aerosmith was doing.
I caught the tail end of Entertainment Tonight one night, and they were announcing celeb’s birthdays. They had taped one of the ET people catching Emily Proctor at some random event, and told her that for her birthday they made a big ole donation to an animal charity of some kind (Gee, glad I remembered the specifics before I decided to tell this story). Anyway – her love of animals is so strong that she actually teared up and was totally touched by this. So now I really like her.
I grin from ear to ear any time I see a celeb at a boxing match. Boxing’s gotten such a bad rap and has become really unpopular in the last few years, so those celeb plugs make me feel as if maybe boxing’s got more fans than folks will admit to.
But a better and more personal story involves Baltimore Native John Waters. He attended this year’s Charm City Scooter rally and hung out with the Vespa afficionados. Knowing a kickazz celeb digs the same stuff I do gives a sense of connectivity.
Finally, the band Phantom Planet earned my seal of approval (and my purchase of all their albums) when I read they are big fans of the tv show Lost.
i’m always really excited when i hear that good matches have been made: andy samberg and joanna newsom, drew barrymore and justin long, or when ryan gosling and rachel mcadams were together. i feel like it reflects well on both parties involved.
huh?
I always love it when I’m find out some actor/actress/director has a really good rapport with the fans. They work with them instead of against them. JK Rowling personally calling inviting the teenage heads of Mugglenet and Leaky Cauldron to the premier of HBP comes to mind. The Twilight production crew, Stephenie Meyer, Twilight Lexicon, and Larry from MTV blogs seem to have a whole dialog going on.
I was getting in Christian Bale when I learned Gloria Steinem was his step-mom. Awesome.
My sister’s gonna scream if she reads this, but–Angelina Jolie. I loved it when she adopted her first little boy. I loved when she used her celebrity to bring attention to third-world issues. She doesn’t claim to be an expert, but she’s trying. (Okay, I’ve adopted two cute little boys from Asia, too, so I’m a little biased.) She went from being another vapid, pretty face to a complex human being.
When David Cook admitted he was a “wordnerd” on American Idol I knew who to root for.
I never really cared much for Susan Sarandon until I read an article on how much time and money she donates to charitable causes. That made a difference to me.
I have always liked Michael J. Fox but after he was diagnosed with Parkinsons and wrote his book I really admire the man he has become and how important his family is to him.
When a celebrity is a fan of a “not cool” sports team such as the Yankees or Red Sox, Cubs or Dodgers.
When they do a USO tour or stump for a political candidate (regardless of party)
Participate in a down-market hobby.
NPH. He’s the man. When he came out, it was awesome, and then he had the balls to publicly denounce the guest casting for publicity that’s been happening on HIMYM. I think that it’s great for him and his career. I know I respect him more for it.
He’s not exactly what you’d call an entertainer, but let’s just say when I read that Barack Obama’s favorite show is “The Wire” it definitely didn’t hurt his rep in my eyes.
gwyneth paltrow is a consistently wonderful actor (Royal Tennenbaums, Proof), but when i found out that she took three years off after that superstar turn in Proof to raise her young children, my respect for her doubled. in reverse, tom cruise’s recent blatant personal wierdness doesn’t make me lose respect for him as an actor; nothing’s changed the fact that he’s good at his job.
I was very skeptical of Stephen Colbert’s true intentions until I found out he gave his profits from his Ben and Jerry’s flavor to fund lunches for poor Vermont children and that his profit from Wriststrong went to families of Iraq soldiers (or perhaps the actual soldiers – I’m not quite sure.) Knowing that made me “get” him, and now I love his show.
The horses, Slezak? You? Well, that made me like YOU more.
Sounds strange but when I read recently Susan Sarandon’s mother is an Italian (like my mother) and she made a doc in her honour about it, made me like her even more!! Also that George Clooney bought a house on Lake Como, Italy (very near my Mother’s birthplace). Viva Italia!
Johnny Depp showing up at the children’s hospital that saved his daughter’s life to read stories to the patients. In costume as Captain Jack Sparrow. Twice. At least.
I agree with Dixie- finding out I share a favorite author with a celebrity makes me like them just a teensy bit more. Also, if an actor is from the Seattle area (I live in Seattle) they get bonus points.
Knowing that David Tennant is a hard-core Doctor Who fan himself makes me appreciate him as The Doctor all the more.
I think Teri Hatcher is awesome.
Chris Noth went to my eccentric liberal artsy alma mater, Marlboro College, in the Vermont woods.
Oh, absolutely. When you find out an actor is a geek about something, or a good guy/girl or really smart, you like them more. I remember my mouth dropping at how intelligent Ben Affleck was when I caught him in an interview once, and it totally changed my impression of him, making me like him so much more. Similarly, when I find an actor is not intelligent, or does terrible things (which we know the media loves) like Mel Gibson’s drunken rant last year, then my appreciation for that actor diminishes considerably and I find I can barely watch them.
Whenever I heard/read that some celebrity is a dog lover, that makes me more favorably disposed to him or her.
This isn’t really news about their personal life, per se, but a friend of mine had the opportunity to meet Fergie when she was with Black Eyed Peas. My friend had her 9 year old daughter with her and the kid loved Fergie and she was really nice, she posed for photos with her and she took her for pizza. The next day my friend took her daughter to a Black Eyed Peas signing at Virgin megastore and Fergie recognized her daughter and came to give her a hug. I wasn’t a fan, but since then I’ve grown to like her.