The Morris Daily Herald

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

Actor visits area sandwich shop

By Vickie Speek
Herald Writer

Wednesday, March 16, 2005
CHANNAHON — You never know who might stop in for lunch, two fast food employees discovered Saturday.

Quiznos employees Christine Mendez, left, and Carol Butler pose with the  “Sahara” hat autographed Saturday by actor Matthew McConaughey. McConaughey, who stopped by the  shop  for lunch, thought Mendez’s name was Matt, and signed the hat “to Matty.”  (Herald Photo/Vickie Speek)

Christine Men-dez, a senior at Minooka Com-munity High School, and her manager, Carol Butler, were working the afternoon shift at Quiznos sandwich shop on U.S. 6 near Interstate 55 about 2:30 p.m. Saturday when an unusual group of people showed up — actor Matthew McConaughey and the film/production crew from E-TV.

The group had been in the Chicago area promoting McConaughey’s latest film, “Sahara.” The movie, which also stars Penelope Cruz, is set for release April 8.

Traveling south on Interstate 55 on their way to Kansas City, the E-TV crew stopped for refueling at a Speedway gas station, located across the street from Quiznos.

McConaughey had never eaten a Quiznos sub before, so the group decided to have lunch.

“We were working and the film crew drove up with their truck that said ‘Sahara,’ on the trailer,” Butler said. “A guy came in and said, ‘Is it okay if we bring Matthew McConaughey in for lunch?’ My jaw just dropped!”

McConaughey was wearing a leather bomber-style jacket and a baseball cap pulled down over his eyes.

“If he had come in on his own, I never would have recognized him,” Butler said. “You couldn’t tell.”

“He came over and Christine and I made him a sandwich — a small tuna sub with tomatoes and jalapeno on it,” Butler recalled. “He was absolutely gorgeous.”

“This producer/manager guy came in and said, ‘Is it okay if we shoot part of a movie here at Quiznos?’” Mendez recalled. “He (McConaughey) came in and we had to serve him as part of the video. They were filming the whole time. It was fun. It was really unexpected.”

Mendez said she also would not have recognized McConaughey if he had come into the shop by himself.

“He was dressed like — he had like a scruffy beard and he was wearing an old jacket and an old pair of work boots. I never would have expected it.”
 

"Matty-jk livin, Matthew McConaughey"

The crew ate lunch in the shop and filmed the entire visit. A segment will be shown on E-TV on April 10.

Butler and Mendez signed releases for their images to be shown on television, as did two women who were also eating lunch at Quiznos during that time.

Before he left, McConaughey gave Butler and Mendez red “Sahara” ball caps and signed his autograph on them.

It’s mandatory at Quiznos for employees to wear name tags, Butler said. Mendez had forgotten her tag Saturday so she borrowed a name tag from another employee, Matt, to wear for the day.

McConaughey looked at the name tag and asked Mendez if her name was Matt.

“I said yes, so I went along with it while they were filming because I didn’t want to feel stupid,” she said. “So on the hat he put ‘to Matty,’ and that’s not even my name.”

Butler saw the error.

“Could you please cross Matt out and sign Christine — because that’s her real name?” Butler asked McConaughey.

The actor then signed a second hat to Christine and gave it to Mendez.

“We use that other hat as an example to always wear your name tag,” Butler said.

Dave Smith, the owner of the Quiznos franchise, said it’s common for members of sports teams to come in, but not movie stars.

“We’ve had soccer teams, baseball teams, high schoolers, all those from buses that go by. You never know who’s going to come in,” Smith noted.

Butler said she has never had anything like this happen to her.

“The closest thing would be getting front row seats at a Garth Brooks concert,” she laughed.