James McAvoy's embarrassing encounter with Jennifer Aniston is the clearest testimony to “Never Meet Your Heroes”

You know the old saying, “Never meet your heroes”? Well, it’s not necessarily a hard and fast rule, but more of a warning. After all, meeting someone you admire so much could quickly turn into disappointment.

For James McAvoy, who recently revealed See what's happening live Andy Cohen said he once ignored this critical phrase and met his big celebrity, Jennifer Aniston, when he was just starting his career as a celebrity.

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“I was at a party when I was very young. I was about 22 and in LA. And I met Lucy Liu and Lucy Liu was really, really nice to me,” said the Speak no evil Star recalled, “She said, 'Come and meet my friends.' There was a large group of her friends there and one of them happened to be Jennifer Aniston, and I got a parking spot right next to Jennifer Aniston.”

Right next to the Friends Star, we are sure McAvoy was tingling with anticipation as he waited for his performance. “And just as [Liu] was like, 'Hey guys, this is my new boyfriend James' … instead of saying that, she was taken aside by a guy she went to high school with,” he recalled. “She walked away and I was just left with all the people saying, 'Hey what's up, I'm new in town.'”

To make matters worse, McAvoy talked to Aniston about the only thing that came to his mind. “So, you're Jennifer Aniston and you're in Friends”, he told her. That was really embarrassing!

Looking back, McAvoy admits it was all his fault. “I met her and it wasn't great, not because she's not great,” he said. “It was hard, but she was lovely.”

Maybe it's time for a new edition?

McAvoy currently plays in Speak no evila horror film about an American couple and their daughter who spend a weekend at the idyllic country estate of a British family. “In this film you can scare people and entertain them at the same time,” he said Late Night with Seth Meyers. “He's kind of a fun character to watch and spend time with as an audience, but at the same time he's very disturbing to be around. It's like a weird balancing act.” His new film is in theaters now!

Before you go, click here to see all the celebrities who eventually dated their crush.

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