When Celebrities Descend Upon the CLE

I've had some pretty good celebrity sightings in my 32 short years. There was the time I ran into Jason Mewes from Jay & Silent Bob at a Starbucks. The time I sat behind Mila Kunis on a Southwest flight from Boston to D.C. And the time I realized I was sitting next to Maggie Grace at a Congressional hearing. Oh, & that time Katie Couric held the door for me at the Capitol. And also, notably, the time I was too chickenshit to introduce myself to my all-time favorite human, former senator & astronaut John Glenn.

But you don't really expect to see famous people in Cleveland, Ohio. It's a city, sure, but it's not, like, a glamorous, celebrity-filled, hotspot of a city. Maybe you'll catch a glimpse of Michael Symon at one of his restaurants or LeBron James visiting the local swimming pool (speaking from experience), or you might spy Usher & the Biebs as they take in a Cavs game... but celebrities on their own? Just, like, chillin' in Cleveland? Less likely.

Yesterday night, though, over Thai iced teas at Ty Fun in Tremont with my college friends Brittany & Jen, we spotted a celeb in the wild. A big celeb. Walking in the door, sitting just two tables away from us, there she was: Kate from Lost. Evangeline Lilly in the flesh, looking beautiful & casual & low-key in a flannel shirt & flip-flips. She settled in with a script & ordered a bowl of soup.

I can only imagine the looks on our facing - the highly embarrassing looks on our faces - as we realized who she was & confirmed with one another. As she slid into her booth & caught us staring, she gave us a small smile that said, "Yes, I know who I am," & went about her business (script, soup, et al). We tried to play it cool but in actuality spent a lot of time eavesdropping on her conversation with the server (she wanted her soup to be spicier)  & Googling why she was in Cleveland.

Turns out she's here to film a Netflix original TV show called Little Evil, co-starring Adam Scott... which means he's here someplace, too. Not that we spied on Evangeline Lilly or anything, but she seems to be staying at an apartment complex in my neighborhood, which has me wondering: Is she AirBnBing? Renting? Where does she go besides the Thai place? Does she want to have coffee with me? No? Damn.

After The Avengers & Fast & the Furious #58673632 filmed here, I'm excited to see Cleveland getting a little bit more play - in my small neighborhood, no less! - with another project filming within city limits. I hope our fair city is treating Evangeline & Adam well & that they'll spread the word to their fellow celebs that the 216 is where it's at. Or something. At the very least, I hope I didn't creep her out by staring a lot.