Maya Rudolph has admitted she may have been a bit overfamiliar with George Clooney when she met him for the first time at the Oscars.
The Bridesmaids star revealed she “genuinely lost her mind” during her first time at the Academy Awards, after spotting George in the crowd and going straight in for a hug – despite them never having met.
“The first time I went to the Oscars, when we walked into the theatre, I saw George Clooney in front of me,” she told Empire magazine.
“And I put my arms open wide like I was seeing an old friend, thinking in my mind that I knew him.”
She continued: “As I’m walking over to hug him, I’m thinking, ‘Wow, I used to work with this guy. It’s so nice to see him!’ – and as my arms were coming around his back, I realised I’d never met this person in my life.”
Fortunately, Maya recalls the Gravity actor being a complete gentleman, and accepting the hug regardless of the fact they were essentially perfect strangers.
“He got right up, put a big smile on his face and opened his arms,” she said.
Maya added: “I’d never experienced that before. I genuinely lost my mind for a moment. Poor guy.
“God bless him, he just welcomed me with open arms and enveloped me. I will forever love him for that. That’s real star quality. I was in a trance.”
Seth Rogen recently shared a similar embarrassing story about coming face-to-face with an A-lister at a major awards ceremony, but his involved an encounter with Beyoncé at the Grammys.
“I charged over. Instinct took over,” Seth said. “I was hit so hard by her security guard that I spilled a drink.”
He had the last laugh, though, as the pair ended up working together almost a decade later when they both voiced characters in Disney’s remake of The Lion King.