When Did You Know You Were Famous?

CLAY AIKEN
When I went to lunch in Beverly Hills one day and there were nine photographers across the street taking pictures of me while I ate.

BEYONCE
When I saw a [Destiny's Child] video on TV for the first time. We were in the studio recording the first album. We were the happiest girls in the world. We couldn't finish the recording session. We jumped around on the couches. We jumped into each other's arms. It was the corniest but the nicest, most pure, sweetest moment.

JEWEL
Other people thought I was famous, but my brother never did. I sang for the Pope, toured with Bob Dylan, sold millions of records, and it didn't hit him until I was in a CD club. For some reason that did it for him.

ROSE McGOWAN
I was walking in an alley and I put my foot in a puddle, and there was a picture of me on a magazine that I was stepping on. That was very odd.

BILL MURRAY
I remember once I was in another country and someone from another country recognized me.

BO DEREK
We had a big penthouse at a hotel in Rome. When I went into the bathroom, I saw a photographer on the balcony. He caught me just as I was beginning to drop my drawers. It scared the hell out of me.

SANDRA BULLOCK
I wasn't paying much attention to the aftermath of [1994's] Speed until someone pushed a camera under the bathroom stall I was in. I realized I was going to have to take extra precautions from then on.

ANNE RICE
When gay men started dressing up like me—bob and bangs and glasses—for Halloween.

STAR JONES
I knew I was famous when I started to read more comments about the size of my butt than the use of my brain.

HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN
For Star Wars: Episode II, we went to Spain to do a day of filming. This was prior to me appearing in any film. Thousands upon thousands of people showed up, and they were all chanting my name.

RAY ROMANO
I went to a Taco Bell drive-through with my kids, and they were giving out toys. My kid wanted a certain toy, and the guy on the loudspeaker said they were all out, so my kid said, "Can't you just tell them you're Ray Romano?" That was when I knew maybe I was famous—and maybe I was in trouble.

JOHN LEGUIZAMO
It's pretty much the same for most guys: when you're at a urinal and guys come up trying to get an autograph. You're like, "I'm otherwise engaged, thank you!"

EMERIL LAGASSE
These construction workers were on a roof working. They saw me and started saying, "Yo, Emeril—bam!" I knew it at that moment.

NIA VARDALOS
I was buying underwear and a woman looked at me and said, "Oh my God!" and pulled out a camera to snap a picture of me and the underwear I was buying. She's showing that to her family now.