Jennifer Garner, Reese Witherspoon, and Others Reveal the Comments They Often Get From Strangers

When you randomly approach a celebrity on the street, take a second and think about what you're going to say before you say it. Another bit of advice? Knowing which famous person you're talking to will make the encounter run a lot smoother.

Jennifer Garner, Reese Witherspoon, Steve Carell, and Jake Gyllenhaal are among the stars who revealed to Vanity Fair the comments they most often hear from random strangers on the street — and some of them aren't exactly flattering.

Would you believe that Garner — actress, wife of Ben Affleck, and face of Neutrogena cosmetics — most frequently has people commenting on her physical appearance? More specifically, how she looks better in the flesh than she does in movies, magazines, and on the small screen. "'Oh my God, you're so much prettier in person,'" the 42-year-old said is the line she most often gets. Hello, backhanded compliment. Not exactly words to brighten up a person's day, right?

However, that's better than what Carell, 52, gets. Garner's Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day co-star said that people think he's someone else entirely. "'Stephen Colbert, love you,'" he's told. Similarly, Jennifer Connelly, 43, is mistaken for Demi Moore while Keira Knightley is asked if she is Anne Hathaway. The British actress, 29, joked, "I said no and they wouldn't believe me!"

People say the darndest things to Jennifer Garner, Steve Carell, Reese Witherspoon, and other celebrities. (Getty Images)
People say the darndest things to Jennifer Garner, Steve Carell, Reese Witherspoon, and other celebrities. (Getty Images)

Mark Ruffalo, 46, is an Academy Award nominee, but the Avengers: Age of Ultron star is just another famous face to some people. "'Can I get a picture of you?'" people frequently ask him, before adding, "'Who are you again?'"

Gyllenhaal, 33, agrees that it's all about the photo op these days. "'We don’t wanna talk to you. We just wanna take a picture with you,'" the Nightcrawler star is told.

Wild star Witherspoon, 38, gets one of the friendlier comments, which she says is, "'You're my best friend and you don't even know it.'"

Some others…

Channing Tatum: "'Can you say hi to my daughter? Hold on one second' and they turn their phones on."

Elizabeth Banks: "Most of them say that they want to put their bike in my trunk, which is a line from The 40-Year-Old Virgin."

Eddie Redmayne: "'Are you an actor?' I go, 'Yup.' They go, 'What have you been in?' 'Les Mis.' 'Never heard of it.'"

Al Pacino: "'Is that Al Pacino?' He says, 'Yeah.' 'You sure that's Al Pacino?' And he says, 'Yeah, somebody's got to be!"

Jon Stewart: "Are you OK?!"

Next time you see a famous person and can't resist saying hello, we suggest you go with an opening line like, "I loved you in…"

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