I Want To Believe

One of the perks of this job is that famous people fly, and you get to meet them. About three months after we all started, my friends from FA school started rolling out reports of celebrities they'd had in first class. Eva Longoria is always on the Texas flight. Kirstie Alley is always on the Kansas flight. One of the old guard said she'd flown with Betty White and Harrison Ford (not together... that would be just too much). So, of course, I started to feel a little left out that, almost two years in, I hadn't had a single famous person on my plane.
Well, last trip, that all changed.

Funny thing about celebrities... they're like steamrollers. They break through all your preconceived notions about what you'd do if you met one. True story: I was living in Monterey, CA, when the whole OJ thing happened, and on a road trip to LA, we decided to carom through Brentwood to see if we could find his house. The whole way, we spouted oaths like, "He did it. I know he did it. If he's there, I'm gonna spit on him. If I see him, I'm gonna give him the bird." And naturally, right after we passed his house, there he was on a bike. He pedaled by us and said, "Whut up, fellas?" And after a stunned moment of silence, we all hung out the windows and yelled, "YAY OJ! YAY!"
Point is, I'd always thought it would be no big deal if a celebrity flew with me. I thought that, since I'm an actor too, I'd just say hi to a fellow actor if one got on the plane. If we even talked at all, I'd just thank them for bringing a great character to the masses. And then Fox Mulder gets on my plane. He's about nine feet tall, which is something you don't get on TV. He nods hello and sits down. And though I was only a general fan of The X-Files, my brain starts to chant, "Fox Mulder's on your plane. Fox Mulder's on your plane. Fox Mulder's on your plane." It was a really bizarre two hours. Serving drinks, cleaning up the galley, restocking the lav, all with my brain pointedly reminding me that Fox Mulder's still on the damn plane.
I'll go ahead and say this story doesn't have a funny ending. I'm glad about that. He was just like any other passenger, very polite, kinda quiet. Took pictures of the sunset. But it's really bizarre how seeing a person you know from TV will make you throw a rod.
We didn't talk about X-Files. Never let on that I knew him. Figured you enjoy anonymity if you're famous. But heaven help me if Mark Hamill ever gets on the plane. I will come unglued.
Or Gerardo. Damn, 'Rico Suave' was a good song.