popcrazy: Secondhand Celebrity

Marc Balgavy
Coordinator

Celebrity Encounter: Lauren Graham, a.k.a. Lorelai Gilmore

The Encounter:
The Mall. Land of a thousand dreams. My friend and I were doing a little day-after-Christmas shopping in Northern Virginia. As we blissfully walked along the upper corridor, our eyes caught sight of Lauren Graham. My friend and I exchanged glances: Was that? Could it be? No way! We had to make sure. We circled around and covertly followed Lorelai into Benetton. While checking out sweaters in the front of the store I remembered reading about Lauren Graham on the Internet Movie Database. There she was, probably visiting family in the area and shopping in the mall. My heart raced.


	A Photoshop reenactment of the meeting by Sarah Feuquay.

How sure are you that it was in fact actually Lorelei? And not just a look-alike?
I'm 70% sure it was her. I was so embarrassed! I never get star-struck! I'm a total Gilmore Girls fan, though. I'd read that she was from that area. I just remember her hair being curlier than it is on the TV show. She looked of TV -- but also like she could have spent a small portion of the late '80s drinking bourbon and Coke Slurpees outside the local 7-11 with her high school friends. Her friends probably had tickets to that Judas Priest show at the Cap Center that was featured in Heavy Metal Parking Lot.

How close did you get to her?
I think I made eye contact at 5 feet. We followed her into the store and watched her for two minutes from 20 feet.

What celebrity would you most like to have an encounter with?
I'm not really aching to hang out with celebrities. And running across an unexpected celebrity at the mall is so much more fun than thinking about seeing someone famous. I'd been searching for articles on the Internet about Lauren five days beforehand. I think seeing her that day was fate.

How has meeting Lauren Graham changed your life? Do you watch Gilmore girls through different, more informed, eyes now?
Sadly, no. What makes Gilmore Girls so enjoyable is the writing and acting. I guess my life would have been changed if I'd gone up to Lauren Graham and said hello. I imagine her saying "Shoo, shoo. Leave me alone," and then feeling bad about it and offering to buy me a nice sweater. I could really use a nice sweater. I'd even wear it while watching Gilmore Girls.