This Celebrity Personally Thanked Reddit Users For Sharing How Nice He (And 39 Other Celebrities) Are To Absolutely Everyone

Recently, the r/moviecritic community on Reddit did a very wholesome deep dive into the Hollywood figures who are genuine sweethearts. Phantom_avenger asked, “Who is an actor or actress that, according to others, is a genuinely nice human being?” Thousands chimed in with the sweetest personal encounters they’ve had with certain celebrities.

In response to being featured in the list, Matthew Lillard himself posted on the thread, “…this is very kind. Thank you for including me on this incredible list of goodness. Very humbling.” So, without further ado, here are the celebrities people know to have great hearts:

1. “I’ve worked with Matthew Lillard, and he was such a nice guy; big goofball, class clown, so much fun, and just so lovely. Genuinely loved working with him, and I wasn’t anyone important. He was kind to all. Such a big sweetheart.”

2. “I have had an encounter with her, and she was genuinely very nice. She is Lucy Liu.”

“I can personally attest to how kind Lucy Liu is. I work in film (in a non-exciting role), and she directed an episode of a project I worked on. She greeted me in the morning at the craft service/breakfast table and asked how I was (she had no idea who I was; she was being sincerely polite). The best though was when lunch was delivered to the production office. She bought her assistant lunch and took it to her. Just the coolest. I use her as THE top example of the nicest celebrities I have ever met (it’s a long list).”

—k3r

3. “30 years and no one has a bad word to say about John Candy to this day. I met him once in Toronto at a restaurant. His only flaw was being too considerate of people around him; he gave so much of himself that it must have been exhausting.”

4. “Christina Hendricks. She’s so lovely. I met her at an event in Scotland, and she made sure to talk to everyone, take pictures, and sign autographs for free, and she even fended off the security who were telling people to stay away.”

5. “Jeffrey Wright introduced himself to every crew member when I worked with him on a set, shook our hands, and had a convo with each of us before we started filming.”

6. “I went to Danny Trejo’s donut shop in LA one random morning. I didn’t realize that that day happened to be International Donut Day. Trejo was there handing out donut holes to people in line and saying hi to people who went to his spot for a bit.”

7. “My parents worked for our local auditorium for a long time. Dolly Parton did a show there and donated all the gifts she got to the local children’s hospital. It was very sweet.”

8. “Henry Winkler. I spilled iced tea on him and his wife when I was a waitress at a new job 20 years ago. He spent the whole meal telling me what a great job I was doing every time I passed their table. After they finished, he called the manager over to tell the manager how great I was, tipped well, and was just a delight.”

9. “I have been to many Cons, and my favorite encounter was with Cassandra Peterson. She appeared the whole weekend as Elvira. On Sunday, when things were winding down, I was in the lobby with the people from my booth, and I saw her walking towards us in civilian clothes. The lobby was packed, but I was the only one who noticed her out of costume.”

10. “Chris Tucker is so cool and likable. The dude seems to know everybody. It is wild.”

11. “Daniel Radcliffe is one of the few celebrities I’ve met in person, and he did me a serious solid long ago getting an autographed Playbill for a friend of mine who was a huge fan.”

12. “Used to hang out with Giancarlo Esposito before he got his Breaking Bad gig. He took me to a movie premiere once. I’m so happy for him. No matter what was going on in his life, he always kept grinding, and now he’s in everything he wants to be in. I lost his number years ago, but it doesn’t matter. Proud of you, G!”

13. “When I was a kid, my parents and some family and friends took us to a local festival with a music stage. Weird Al was the headlining act, and my friends and I were huge fans. The show was amazing. I remember him taking off a million sweaters for ‘You’re Pitiful.'”

14. “Kate Hudson was married to my cousin in the early ’00s when I was 10 years old, and I spent Thanksgiving one year at their place in NYC. I got sick, so she took care of me and put me at home. I’ll always remember that.”

15. “I had the pleasure of working with Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul on some Emmy promos during the height of Breaking Bad. Both were incredibly kind and personable.”

16. “A mate of mine did a trip to the States (we’re Australian), and Keanu Reeves was coming out of a supermarket, and my mate asked for a pic, and Reeves looked at my mate and said, ‘I don’t usually do this, but, you’ve come a long way, and, you kind of look like me so, alright.’ What a legend.”

17. “I met Paul Rudd in Maui 5 years ago. He was at the Haleakala Crater with his family, so we didn’t announce that we knew who he was or ask for a photo. His family looked like they were having trouble taking a photo, so my dad offered to take it. They were so nice about it, and Paul Rudd offered to take a photo of my family using my mom’s phone. He was cool the whole time, and that interaction was wholesome overall.”

18. “I’ve never heard a bad thing about Freddie Prinze Jr. and had a positive personal experience in Hawaii with him. My family and he landed simultaneously and waited to be picked up. My sister was in awe (I barely knew who he was), and he came over, said hi, and started talking to the family. Sarah Michelle Gellar, his wife, came and picked him up with her hat covering her face, and he laughed and asked her who you were hiding from (it was nighttime). I thought it was truly a sweet interaction just for any person.”

19. “A special needs student I worked with many years ago was into crime dramas and became fixated on Mariska Hargitay. As part of my job, I was paired with this student to make party plans for her 21st birthday. That included invitations. My student was set on inviting Mariska Hargitay to her party, and the best I could come up with was sending a letter to NBC Studios. I can’t even remember whose name we used on the address, but I escorted my student to mail the letter she’d typed out and printed to include with her party invitation. Honestly, life went on, and I kind of forgot about it. My student’s birthday came and went.”

20. “LeVar Burton is everything you want him to be if you meet him in person. Came into my work on Earth Day one time when I was wearing a vintage Captain Planet shirt, and he said ‘Earth!’ He came in a couple more times and was so nice about all of us gushing over how much Reading Rainbow meant to us as kids.”

21. “Lee Pace. We met him at Comic-Con, and he was thrilled to sign my DVD of The Fall. He was so excited to hear that someone liked the movie as much as he did. I had my Fall shirt on, and he told me he loved my shirt as we were going in for our photo op.”

22. “I saw Danny DeVito about to jump in a cab in Vancouver many years ago. He stopped by me and yelled, ‘Hey! Are you staring at me ‘cause I’m short or cause I’m DeVito?’. When I called ‘DeVito,’ he gave me a thumbs up and took off. Legend.”

23. “I worked with Alan Rickman on a small indie movie, and he was incredibly nice. Talked with everyone, ate lunch at the tables with the rest of us even though he could have eaten in his trailer, and was so pleasant to be around. This was 2007, so peak Harry Potter years. You could tell he loved acting and everything that comes with it, including the camaraderie of being on a set with many people. Such a great person.”

24. “I met Jack Black at a restaurant in New Orleans at Mardi Gras. He shook hands and took pics with the patrons when able (before everyone owned an iPhone). He was very jolly and good-natured when greeting everyone. He even sat in the regular part of the restaurant instead of requesting to go to the more private patio area. Seemed like a genuinely fun, nice guy.”

25. “I worked with Lady Gaga a couple of times when she was exploding in popularity in the early 2010s. I was a lighting and sound tech at a Chicago nightclub. Most celebrities treat me like a peon, ‘the help,’ but she was kind and respectful. She treated me like my skills mattered. After becoming popular, she came through again and asked for me by name. Class act.”

26. “I was working on a film set with Adam Sandler when my brother-in-law passed away. He heard about it and signed several items for an auction to help my sister. He then sent his heartfelt condolences. It was an incredibly kind gesture during one of the darkest times for our family. He is an amazing person, and I wish him the best. Someday, I hope to thank him in person for his compassion and generosity during such a difficult moment.”

27. “Elijah Wood. I was the last in his line at a Comic Con for one year, and he stood and talked to me for about 20 minutes. We ended up talking about our kids and how it is so important for them to be around family/cousins. It genuinely felt like we were friends afterward! Mind you, this is after he met and talked to thousands of people and took pictures with them that day. I was the last one, and he was probably exhausted, but he was so kind and just wanted to chat. It made an impression on me. He didn’t have to stand and chat with me, but he did. It’s one of my favorite days of all time.”

28. “Sam Elliott! He owns a house in the town I grew up in. I worked at the grocery store, and he was there weekly. He was friends with all the cashiers and called us by our names each time. He was just a regular guy when he came in. Sometimes, I didn’t even recognize it was him. He seemed so normal.”

29. “When I was a PA, I met a lot of actors — I worked in costumes and would take them to their fittings from wherever they parked, giving me 5–10 to shoot the shit. Tom Hiddleston was incredibly cool — he spoke to me in detail about the production, treating me like a peer rather than a gopher, and was generally warm and supportive in the short period we spent. He even remembered my name the next time we saw each other, which is pretty remarkable for someone who is meeting people all the time, folks who are far more important to his career than myself. I can’t express how much that kindness means when hustling in a thankless job, where you’re often invisible to the big-time people.”

30. “I met Nicolas Cage at an airport years ago — by far one of the nicest celebrities I have ever met. He took the time to answer questions and thanked everyone for their attention.”

31. “I met Idris Elba at an after-party, and he was lovely and listened to me intently. Very cool guy!”

32. “Kurt Russell. I work in photography and have worked with many celebrities over the years. They had a gig at Kurt and Goldie’s house and were normal, warm, and welcoming people. I hung out with Kurt in the backyard while discussing my job and current events.”

33. “Jennifer Garner. I worked on the Disney Studio lot in the mailroom when Alias was filmed. They had bicycles that people would ride around the lot, and I always rode one to deliver the mail. She ran into me on her bicycle on three occasions, coming around corners, etc. She was always sweet and apologetic and knew my name by our second crash.”

34. “Jon Heder is an amazing guy. I met him at an indie show festival and didn’t even recognize him without the fro and glasses. We chatted for 2 hours, discussing everyone’s short films before it finally dawned on me. I hesitated to ask for a picture, but he was happy. I still have it and treasure it deeply.”

35. “I worked with Nick Offerman. Dude is as humble and nice as it gets.”

36. “My buddy worked in a bike shop, and John C. Reilly walks in wearing a white linen shirt and pants, white fedora, and white loafers. Came in to get his mom’s bike fixed. My friend said he was the nicest guy and even remembered him when they saw each other again on a ferry ride. He talked to him and his friend and tipped big for fixing mom’s bike.”

37. “Bruce Willis is the man. My buddy was a food and beverage director at a nice hotel in a city where Bruce was filming a movie. I used to have dinner and drinks at the hotel with my buddy every week. Bruce stayed at the hotel for months filming. I had drinks with him 3-4 times; he was so down to earth, was super nice to the staff, didn’t use intermediaries to deal with staff or fans, and would take pictures and talk to anyone. He would just hang out, no pomp and circumstance. Just an overall awesome dude. He was my friend’s favorite celebrity guest he’s ever had in 20 years in the hotel industry.”

38. “Jon Stewart. My wife met him in person while working at a cafe, and she said he’s a genuinely nice guy and a very generous tipper.”

39. “JJ Abrams, and especially his wife. I worked in an office he visited and had no idea who he was at the time; I genuinely thought he was her assistant. They were very kind to everyone and super laid back. His wife is probably the nicest, most charismatic woman I’ve ever met; I’m not exaggerating. The kids were super polite. Gracie was in high school, and when they were leaving, her mom made her return and thanked me for my help.”

40. “I used to work events in Los Angeles and grew up in the film industry. Tom Hanks is one of the kindest people I have ever met. Not one of the nicest celebrities, nicest people.”

What is your favorite celebrity encounter story? Tell us about it in the comments or via this form!

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.