I always wonder what it would be like to be best friends with a celebrity. Like Julia Roberts. She’s always talking about her BFF Paige, who seems to be a regular Jane like you or me. Can you imagine if your best friend was Julia Roberts?!?! I can’t. Would it be awesome—all the perks of the glamorous life without the stalking of the paparazzi? Or would it be fraught with the jealousy that often creeps into women’s friendships, but times a thousand because your friend is, um, Julia Roberts.
There are, of course, plenty of well-known celebrity friends. Penelope and Salma. Jennifer and Courtney. Cameron and Drew. But when you’ve got two ladies who are used to the spotlight it’s a whole different thing.
I have a close friend who is close friends with someone who is close friends with an A-list celebrity. (Got that? A friend of a friend of a friend—so, three degrees removed from me—is all kinds of a famous.) The friend of a friend (stay with me here, the girl who’s friends with both my pal and the celeb) is getting married this summer. Which means the starlet will be in attendance, perhaps even with her equally famous partner. Every time I think about this wedding, I have a variety of thoughts at once:
1) So cool. I want to go to a wedding with famous people! Remember when Oprah and Gayle (speaking of famous BFFs) went wedding crashing?
2) Not sure if I’d want to share my big-day spotlight with a star who might inadvertently become the center of attention. A good friend—no matter how famous—wouldn’t purposely steal a bride’s thunder, but if, say, Madonna is at your wedding… I mean, come on. Who’d you be looking at? (Side note: When I was in seventh grade Howard Stern came to my friend’s Bat Mitzvah. He most certainly stole the attention of a bunch of 13-year-olds, and we weren’t even allowed to listen to his show.)
3) Maybe if she were my friend, I wouldn’t worry about her stealing my thunder. I’d just want her there, because we want to share those occasions with the people close to us.
4) How do you even get an address to send a celebrity an invitation? I realize this is a stupid thought. Famous people are people. They have homes, phone numbers. But still, if I’m sharing my various thoughts I might as well be honest.
There are certain understandings in BFFship. That you confide in each other. That you’ll reciprocate friendship overtures—whether it be offering a place to crash or extending an invitation to dinner. There is, I think, a certain expectation of regular or semi-regular communication. Would any of this change if your BFF is Angelina Jolie? Or Kate Hudson? (Or how about Jenna Fischer? Because I’d love to be best friends with her.)
Does anyone out there have a celebrity friend? If so, weigh in! Is it just the same as regular friendship, just with a few more cameras when you go out to eat? If you don’t have an A-list BFF, would you want one? Who? Think it would be fun or a hassle? Or is friendship the same no matter your level of notoriety? (Which brings up the whole other question of what if your celeb BFF got caught in a train wreck scandal a la Lindsay or Britney?? Drama drama drama.)
MWF Seeking BFF 
Oh come on, you have to tell us who the celebrity friend is!
Does a very funny writer count as a celebrity? Rachel Bertsche?
I would love a famous best friend, or famous friend of a friend…of a best friend. Why not? I’m not concerned with being the center of attention. Besides, it would be fun to be at an event (even my own) where there is a celebrity center of attention. Hopefully, this CCA would be gracious enough to re-focus any misdirected attention back to the “intended main attraction.” And, if s/he did not do so, it would be just something we learned about the CCA!
During my modeling days I hung out with a few super famous people. None of them became my bff but we certainly partied together (haven’t used party as a verb in years) and had a great time. Of the two most famous (A-list singer and A-list actor), one was totally laid back and just happy to hang with people. The other seemed all too conscious of his own fame and that made it strange. I guess for a celebrity, people act as normal as they act. If they live their lives as a “famous person,” then that’s how they will be treated. But relaxed celebs soon find that others around them are relaxed too. At least in my limited experience.
All I’m wondering is who is your friend of a friend of a friend – the famous one? I’m assuming you didn’t put it in the post for a reason, but thought I’d ask anyway…
Since I didn’t have a chance to run this by the friend, or friend of a friend, and thus she didn’t agree to let me exploit her friendship on this blog, I didn’t think it’d be fair to name names.
Alison (below) took the words right out of my mouth! Think of it like a blind item! Your guesses are welcome. (I know, I hate those too…)
Amazing post. Is this going to turn into Gawker-style Blind Items? (I certainly hope so!!)
I have a friend who is going to a wedding this weekend and in their (“their” being my friend and the bride) extended group, they have a friend who is an up and coming starlet and the bride invited the starlet precisely because she wanted star wattage at the wedding.
I have another friend who got married last year and a celebrity was one of her bridesmaids, and this summer my friend will be a bridemaid for the celebrity.
My brother works in the theater industry in New York and has worked closely with a number of A-list actors. And you know what? They’re REALLY normal. I mean, actors have their quirks. But, most of them hate the spotlight in the paparazzi kind of way. At least that’s the way the New York crew seems to be. LA might be a completely different beast.
If I follow a celeb on Twitter, I call them my “friend” and then tell others what they tweeted, as if they shared the information with only me. That’s not at all crazy, right? RIGHT?
No celeb friends here.
Certainly not crazy. Just goes to show how the meaning of friend has evolved with technology. Cause if you try to tell me that Neil Patrick Harris ISN’T my friend, I’ll need to have some words…
Missy, I am totally cracking up at your comment.
I think most normal people would invite their celeb friend to the wedding for all the normal reasons of wanting to share your day with your loved ones. However, I do always think it’s weird when you see pics in tabloids of celebs as bridesmaids in a “regular” wedding. I’m not sure I would have wanted my wedding pics in US Weekly.
A really, really good friend of ours (like, drove hours to help us unpack on our recent move – twice! – and after helping us pack) went to high school with Neil Patrick Harris. So, two degrees!!
But, they’re not friends, so…….yeah.
I love love LOVE NPH. So jealous of your friend, even if they aren’t friends….
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