Last weekend I was in New York City, and I met a male celebrity who is one of the kindest people I have ever met. I’m not sure which part of that statement is more unbelievable, that I met one of the kindest people I’ve ever met in NYC, the person is male (sorry guys, but we’re not known for our kindness), or that the person was a celebrity. The celebrity I’m writing about is Zachary Levi; he plays Luke Collins in Heroes Reborn, he’s the voice of Flynn Rider in the Disney cartoon Tangled, and he plays Chuck in the show Chuck (tip: he wasn’t a background character). Zachary Levi is currently in a Broadway musical called She Loves Me, which is being redone for its 50th anniversary. For the chick flick lovers out there, this musical inspired the writers of You’ve Got Mail arguably one of the best chick flicks ever made… which is based on the handful I’ve seen… yes, a handful. At the end of the play fans are able to line up to see some of the cast. Of course, when I say “some” I mean there might be two or three of the cast members who come out to greet people, but the guarantee is after every show Zachary Levi goes out and meets everyone. At first I figured it made sense that only a few other actors would come out because it’d be easy to feel second place to a TV celebrity, but no matter who came out, fans were thrilled to see them and asked for a photo from them too; thus, there wasn’t a reason for any of the other actors to feel second place, especially since they were just seen on stage, which gives them a celebrity factor as well. It should also be noted that Zachary Levi is only one of a number of TV celebrities in the play, but he is the only one who goes out after every show. No matter how tired he is, Zachary Levi dons on a hat and coat, hits play on his portable speaker system, and spends the next half hour to hour signing programs and taking photos with fans. The fact that he’s outside every night doing signings and taking photos is not only rare – this is the only theatre on Broadway with a designated section for fans to line up – he’s amazing at it. Sure he’s had experience doing this, but often times it’s the experience that makes this process feel tedious and annoying. Instead, he was fantastic at giving everyone the same level of cheerful connection. What made the experience all the more incredible for fans is he doesn’t just say hi and take a photo, he takes the time to make everyone feel like they matter. It was such an impressive display that people at the front of the line hung around just to watch him greet everyone else. It’s like having a bonus improv set following the show. There is a lot more I could say about this, but for the purpose of this post here are some tips for being a better person based on Zachary Levi:
- Present your best self: Meeting new people can be a great distraction from our personal junk, so enjoy the break and be as attentive to others as you can.
- Consider what others want and do what you can: Zachary Levi definitely didn’t need to meet fans after the show, but it clearly meant a lot to everyone who lined up to see him.
- Know your boundaries: We all need to be able to say no to things in order to protect ourselves from being taken advantage of. Zachary Levi was excellent at being clear on one picture per group, which kept the process moving and let him see everyone in a good amount of time.
- Be what you preach: In interviews Zachary Levi talks about the importance of being kind to others and he is clearly living that message.
- Be gracious: Fans will say the same things over and over to him, “I loved you in Chuck,” “You were great in the play,” and “You’re way more beautiful than my husband.” I don’t think Zachary Levi heard my wife say that one, but he was incredible at repeatedly hearing these same statements and not rolling his eyes or being annoyed. He graciously thanked everyone for their compliments and, if nothing else, acknowledged the effort they made in speaking to him.
- Greetings are important: I’ve mentioned in other posts about the importance of how we greet people, especially in marriage. In this case, Zachary Levi greeted everyone with a big smile and a warmth of someone who cares.
- People like to know what to expect: In his greeting Zachary Levi explained the process of how he was going to sign things for people and then go back to the front of the lines do photos. Making this clear reduced any anxiety of not seeing him or getting a signature or photo.
Bonus: Don’t underestimate your value: Some of the actors may not be saying hi because they don’t feel like they matter as much, but they still mattered to the fans of the play as was clearly demonstrated by the few who did go out to say hi, and were greeted by people wanting their signature and picture.
This week may you start to, or continue to, use the lessons from this celebrity.
Rev Chad David, www.ChadDavid.ca, Learning to love dumb people